When in Drought… Real Talk with Ranchers
June 8, 2022
According to a recent U.S. Drought Monitor, Just over 60 percent of the U.S. was in some degree of drought. What’s worse is that over half of the country reached drought status back in the summer of 2020 and has remained there since. Given such, drought has been cussed and discussed in depth for the past two summers, but Good Grazing Makes Cent$, a new program by the Society for Range Management, along with the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance, is planning a unique panel discussion driven specifically by real ranchers, with real questions, answered by real experts.
Join other ranchers and range managers on June 8 at 7 p.m. for the free event, “When in Drought… Real Talk with Ranchers” on Facebook or YouTube. The live discussion will cover planning for drought, marketing cattle during drought, managing grass through drought, and more.
The panel will be moderated by Dave Voth, a ranch manager in Nevada, who experienced firsthand the tough decisions drought brings to an operation last summer.
“This is the year that I’ve learned probably as much as I’m ever going to learn about drought,” Voth said late last summer. “I’ve learned all the things I should have done and wish I would have planned out better. Going through the steps of planning for drought and trying to maintain that upper hand both with your grass and your marketability of your calves every year starts in the year before drought.”
While much of the U.S. is in the midst of drought right now, there is still value in planning ahead and resources to help make the best decisions for your operation in the months ahead.
Panelist ShayLe Stewart, DTN Livestock Market Analyst and founder of Cattle Market News, will help viewers understand the many dynamics impacting the cattle markets and how to take these into consideration when making challenging marketing decisions during drought.
Grace Woodmansee, Livestock and Natural Resources Advisor at UC Cooperative Extension, Siskiyou County, will further explain the “Drought Decision Support Tool” and how both planning ahead while practicing flexibility during drought can help avoid sunken costs.
Ranchers Stewardship Alliance (RSA) Conservation Coordinator Martin Townsend will add perspective on best management practices for range conservation and further explain the 15-step drought plan RSA member Dale Veseth of Malta, Montana, created and recently implemented during last summer’s drought.
The event is focused on real conversation, so panelists will briefly present, leaving plenty of time for live questions and answers which can simply be submitted by commenting during the livestream. The livestream can be found at https://fb.me/e/5B2INawHk or by searching for “When in Drought…” on Facebook. It can also be viewed on the Good Grazing Makes Cent$ YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtV_R6twiZp_KENwSxjJ-4Q or by searching YouTube for Good Grazing Makes Cent$.
Good Grazing Makes Cent$ was launched by the Society for Range Management in January 2022 to provide practical, applicable, and economically feasible range management solutions which can ultimately improve productivity of the land and the bottom dollar of the ranch through conversation and collaboration between range scientists and ranchers. Membership is $75 per year or $50 to individuals that are members of participating livestock associations. Learn more about it at goodgrazing.org.
Ranchers Stewardship Alliance is a nonprofit based in Malta, Montana, with the mission to promote the ecological, social, and economic conditions that will sustain the biodiversity and integrity of America’s northern mixed-grass prairie for present and future generations. Learn more about it at ranchstewards.org
Source: Society for Range Management and Ranchers Stewardship Alliance
