March 2024 NEBRASKA CATTLEMAN 27 605-835-8790 www.rancherslivestockequipment.com Ranchers Bale Feeders SAVE HAY! When hay is in short supply you don’t want to waste it. Ranchers Bale Feeders will save you hay and money. They don’t break and they don’t bend which saves you time and money because you don’t have to fix or replace them. You don’t have to fill as often because there is little waste and that in turn saves you money too. Check out our SAVE HAY page and the Testimonials on our website and see why it is time for you to make the smart choice and get a Ranchers Bale Feeder. Heavy Duty, Hay Saving Bale Feeders grazing-related conservation treatment activities for one or more resource concerns. By using the tools discussed earlier in the article, producers can look at their pastures and grasslands from a scientific perspective, utilizing that data to better understand what the drought impacts truly are in comparison to average years. This data is great, but what do we do with it? There are many experts at both local and state levels who can help you establish a grazing plan, or even lend a new perspective to an already established plan. Regional educators and state specialists with UNL Beef Extension are reliable, readily accessible resources who can help you or point you in the direction of an expert to help you. The ultimate goal of utilizing a grazing plan, especially in drought-ridden years, is to balance forage supply and demand in terms of stocking rates. Common recommendations for producers in areas that were dry in 2023 may include reducing stocking rates, increasing or implementing rotational grazing or delaying initial turn-out to pastures so forages have a chance to get a stronger start. “There’s a number of other great organizations out there that have really skillful people, like the NRCS and Nebraska Grazing Lands Coalition, that have really good resources available to producers,” Stephenson says. The Nebraska Grazing Lands Coalition (NGLC) is comprised of a rancher-led board of directors, as well as a team of advisors from various agencies, including Nebraska Game & Parks, Pheasants Forever, Fisheries and Wildlife, UNL Extension and others. The NGLC is a nonprofit that works with grants to provide educational opportunities, including grazing schools and succession-planning workshops. In addition to the educational opportunities, NGLC also provides boots-on-the-ground technical-grazing advice and services for producers developing their grazing plans. “The technical assistance dollars we have are to actually help landowners prepare for a prescribed burn that they would like to put on, as well as technical grazing advice and services,” says Leah Peterson, NGLC executive director. “That’s a fairly new development for us. We’re still working that program out, but dollars are available to actually get the educator or expert to your place and help you work on a grazing plan. We’re really excited about what that is going to look like – to be able to actually get a person out to someone’s place and have them look at their pastures, fences and water, and help them come up with a grazing plan that’ll work for their own unique situation.” When looking at spring and summer outlooks, as optimists, we hope that last year’s moisture has set up the majority of the state for a normal start from a moisture and grass standpoint. The realist side of us knows to prepare our grazing plans and stocking rates so we are set up for success no matter the outcome. Reach out to any of the experts or resources listed in this article to help your operation be prepared to thrive this growing season. ~NC~ /agribusiness Overlooking nothing. Ready for everything. Farmers and ranchers, the world relies on you. And you deserve a bank that’s rooted in the details and dedicated to helping you do more.
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