16 NEBRASKA CATTLEMAN June/July 2025 Nutrition During Drought Creative Solutions and Elemental Answers TRESSA LAWRENCE | CONTRIBUTING WRITER Nebraskans are no stranger to drought. Limited precipitation throughout the winter paired with a forecasted dry summer left many cattle producers spiffing up their drought plans as we head into the hottest months of the year. When designing your drought plan, start by identifying your operation’s goals, finding “trigger points” for decisions – such as specific dates or precipitation markers – and then identifying the strategies you can implement to reduce the economic and ecological impacts of drought. The strategies put into place can be everything from culling the old or hard-keeping cows to supplementing feed and nutrition, but what does that mean in your operation? “It really helps to have a game plan going into summer,” says Karla Wilke, Ph.D., Nebraska Extension cow-calf systems and stocker management specialist. “Most of us are pretty familiar with feeding dry, pregnant cows some supplements and some hay in the wintertime. But we can’t feed just that if we’re going to feed cows in confinement through a drought because their needs due to lactation are so much higher than the needs due to gestation.” As the grass gets shorter, it is important to keep an eye on the cattle to ensure that they are staying healthy and to help determine when to start supplementing their nutrition. Good indicators of animal health from a visual standpoint are maintaining a body condition score at 5 or more and efficiently shedding their winter coats. A glance at their manure can help determine if the cattle are getting enough protein. Ideally, manure pats stack up nicely, not splattering or coming out as solid “rocks.” Creative Solutions If culling the herd down is not in your drought plan, there are many other options to help get you through the dry season. As Wilke referenced earlier, feeding cows in confinement situations may be an option for some producers – either sendPRODUCTION
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