Raising livestock isn?t a simple task. There are a lot of factors that producers have to consider every day, like feed, shelter, water, weather, and even pests and predators. One other factor is nigh-unavoidable: the heat. There?s only so much you can do to protect a herd of cattle from sweltering heat, and you have to worry about how you?re going to get enough feed when the plants and forage are struggling too. As a result, cattle producers often have to make the difficult choice to cull some of their herd.
Dave Lalman is a Beef Cattle Specialist with Oklahoma State University. He said producers need to make some hard choices about which cows need to get culled in order to help conserve the remaining forage.
?I think that’s the priority,? Lalman said. ?The long-term the adjustments made should ensure that the forage base is not damaged due to overgrazing, primarily. That’s what we’re trying to avoid, is damaging that natural resource, that?s the foundation of the ranching enterprise.?
On top of managing the available environmental resources, cattle producers also have to make sure the cattle are well cared for during a drought. Lalman said producers have to try to conserve the market value of their livestock by keeping them healthy throughout the hot weather.
?That’s got to follow close behind protecting the soil on the ranch,? Lalman said. ?Following right behind that is going to be taking good care of those animals and making sure that they’re not compromised in terms of the body condition, which leads to, first of all, lower market value if you have to de-stock and sell some of those animals and most people are going to have need to do that, who are out there in that more intensified drought region. But secondly, it also compromises their health status, and certainly, the health status of their new babies.?
Lalman added that good recordkeeping will help producers make culling decisions on which cattle need to go to make the most of the available resources that are left.
?To me, it seems like it’d be important, especially if you’re entering into a period of risk related to drought, to have kind of a priority list,? Lalman said. ?Hopefully, the rancher has good enough records to sort of create that list of priorities, which animals should go first in terms of what animals are still of good value but not very productive? We sort of suggest people simply think about this with a three O’s: open, old, and other problems. And there’s probably some overlap among those categories.?
For weekly updates on the current drought conditions in your area, check out the USDA?s U.S. Drought Monitor.
