Backyard Gardener: Drought Management | News, Sports, Jobs

WVU Extension is hosting a “Drought management” Educational workshop on the current drought here in the Mid-Ohio Valley next Tuesday, September 10th at 6pm at the Jackson County Regional Livestock Market in Ripley.

The market is located at 3907 Cedar Lakes Road.

The meeting is a cooperative effort of WVU Extension, Farm Service Agency, WV Conservation Districts, The Natural Resource Conservation Service and Jackson County Regional Livestock Market.

The Central Ohio Valley is struggling with drought conditions and feed shortages resulting from prolonged dry weather. Due to the prolonged drought, there is little pasture regeneration and many producers are feeding their animals hay.

In a normal year, this hay would be used to feed the animals for the coming winter. Unfortunately, local hay supplies are limited and prices will rise due to increased demand.

Hay will be in high demand this fall and winter due to the drought, and prices are already inflated compared to previous years.

There is little second- or third-cut hay in the area. Cattle ranchers can use shelled corn or byproducts to replace some of that hay to feed their cattle.

I will be teaching about “Use of corn and by-products in diets for beef cattle.” If farmers are experiencing hay shortages, a viable option is to limit feeding cows whole shelled corn or byproducts. Corn is a readily available supplemental energy source. Limiting feeding a corn-based diet can be a cost-effective option to meet the nutritional requirements of beef cows when hay is scarce.

Byproducts such as soybean hull pellets, distillers grains, corn gluten pellets, and wheat bran can also be fed to cattle to replace some of the hay in the diet.

The summer of 2024 has been exceptionally dry. Since 1900, West Virginia has experienced several notable droughts, including those of 1904, 1930-31, 1941, 1954, 1966, and 1988. During the 1930-31 drought, nearly 100% of the Mountain State experienced what would now be referred to as D4, or “exceptional drought”, for eight months.

Proper livestock care is the top priority when facing drought, but farmers should also take this opportunity to implement necessary management changes. Controlled grazing practices, such as pasture rotation, sufficient recovery periods, and appropriate stocking rates, make grasslands naturally more tolerant of drought conditions.

Continuously grazed fields quickly become overgrazed and unproductive. In a rotational grazing system, animals move across the grasslands using available forage until there is no grassland left ready for grazing.

At that time, the animals are managed in a slaughter area where they are fed hay. Once the rains return, well-rested pastures will recover quickly, while overgrazed pastures will do so much more slowly.

WVU Agricultural Extension Agent Daisy Fryman of Calhoun County will speak about… “Sacrifice areas and grassland recovery.”

“Ranchers should select a sacrifice paddock or grazing field to feed hay to animals and give other fields time to recover until they receive some rain.” Fryman explained.

“If all pastures are opened and animals eat the grass and turn it into soil, it will take much longer for forage plants to recover from drought.” She said.

The drought is having a major impact on livestock farms. Many local farmers have weaned their calves early and have sold some animals from their herd.

“Many farmers have sold this year’s calves early,” explained Daniel Mitchell, co-owner of the Jackson County Regional Livestock Market.

“Due to the drought, we sold 1,810 head of cattle on August 24, and 1,480 of them were feeder calves. It was the largest sale in our history.” said.

At the Drought Education Workshop, Brandy Brabham of WVU Extension in Roane County will speak “Water resources for livestock farming”.

“Many producers are hauling water for livestock due to drying up streams, creeks and ponds and diminishing flow from natural springs. High temperatures and heat stress are also causing animals to drink more,” Brabham said.

“Mid-Ohio Valley farmers should contact their Conservation District to enroll in water resource cost-sharing programs.” he added.

Due to this summer’s drought, Little Kanawha and Western Conservation Districts in West Virginia are offering an emergency agricultural improvement program to assist livestock producers. The livestock watering program covers water carrying tanks, portable waterers, water pumps, public water connection/tap, and associated fittings and hoses. They will reimburse 50% of the costs up to a maximum of $500.

If you have saved receipts for purchased materials, retroactive payments will be made beginning June 25. You must complete a Cooperative Agreement, an Agricultural Improvement Demand Program Application, and an IRS Form W-9. Applications are due by September 13.

Currently, in West Virginia, all counties in the Little Kanawha Conservation District (Wood, Wirt, Ritchie, Roan, and Calhoun) and the Western Conservation District (Jackson, Mason, and Putnam) have been designated as D-3 (extreme drought). Contact the Little Kanawha District and the Western District for more details.

The U.S. Drought Monitor describes the location and intensity of drought across the country using five classifications: Abnormally Dry (D0), which shows areas that may be entering or exiting drought, and four levels of drought (D1-D4). More information is available on the U.S. Drought Monitor website at drought.gov.

The D-3 designation allows livestock producers to obtain federal funding for USDA Disaster Assistance Programs, including the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP). The LFP is administered by the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA).

This program provides compensation to eligible livestock producers who have suffered grazing losses for covered livestock and who are also producers of forage crop acres grazed on native and improved grasslands with permanent vegetative cover or acres planted specifically for grazing.

Grazing losses must occur on land physically located in a county experiencing a qualifying drought during the county’s normal grazing period. D3 (extreme drought) intensity in any area of ​​the county at any time during the normal grazing period is eligible for assistance in an amount equal to three monthly payments.

FSA will calculate LFP payments for an eligible livestock producer for grazing losses due to a qualified drought equal to payment factors of one, three, four, or five times the monthly LFP payment rate (payment rates). The monthly drought LFP payment rate is equal to 60% of the lower of the following two values: the monthly feed cost.

The monthly LFP payment rate for losses due to a qualified drought is calculated at 60% of the lesser of the following values: monthly feed cost per head payment rate in the table above or the monthly feed cost based on the normal carrying capacity of the eligible grazing acres or rangeland.

Evan Wilson from WVU Extension in Mason County will speak about “Strip-grazed hay fields.”

“Many farmers can use temporary electric fencing to allow livestock to graze on hay fields. This allows them to save diesel fuel and equipment costs so the animals can harvest their own feed.” Wilson said.

Strip grazing involves using a mobile electric fence to allocate sufficient forage for a short period of time and then moving the fence forward to provide a new allocation. A back fence is typically not used in this method and therefore grazing should begin in the area closest to the water source to reduce wastage due to trampling. Strip grazing can increase forage utilization and decrease animal selectivity.

For more information about the Drought Education Meeting, please contact me at the Wood County WVU Extension Office at 304-424-1960 or email me at [email protected] with questions.