Drought Management

Forage Resiliency Webinars are posted on YouTube

If you missed attending, we recorded them for you!

In response to challenging weather conditions over the past year, the OSU Integrated Forage Team offered a webinar series in the Spring of 2025 to address the needs of forage growers across Ohio. The webinar series consisted of three 60-minute webinars and focused on Weather Damage Evaluation, Options for Spring Planting, and Emergency Forages.

In case you missed one or would like a review, the playlist for these webinars may be found at https://go.osu.edu/forageresiliencywebinars

To graze or not to graze?

– Garth Ruff, Beef Cattle Field Specialist, OSU Extension

Green does not mean ready to graze!

As spring begins, we may be ready to turn our herds out to graze, but there are things to consider before making the move.

It’s still dry. Across most of the southern and eastern part of the state, soil moisture is still at a premium. Winter brought some much needed recharging of ponds and streams; however, with the ground being frozen, a large portion of the precipitation ran off into surface water sources.

With limited soil moisture, the greatest concern currently is how to manage what little regrowth that is greening up across the region. Nearly 30% of Ohio is abnormally dry as I write this in late March, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Balancing act
What happens if we turn out to pasture without additional soil moisture? How Continue reading To graze or not to graze? →

Practice patience before turning out!

– Victor Shelton, Retired NRCS Agronomist/Grazing Specialist

Very short, green early grass may catch the eye, but it’s just a teaser. The true feast comes later-and it’s worth the wait for better production and health.

Some pastures that were grazed too tightly last fall may appear greener than those with adequate residual. However, this “greener” appearance can often be misleading. In many cases, it signals that the plants are struggling to survive, pushing out new growth as a last-ditch effort to recover.  If this is the case, these pastures urgently need recovery time. Overgrazing in the fall leaves plants facing several challenges, including depleted energy reserves and weakened root systems, which hinders their spring recovery. There is a lot of this in areas that were droughty.

When pastures are grazed too closely in the fall, especially before plants have gone dormant, essential plant material—particularly photosynthesizing leaves—are removed. These leaves were vital for energy production through photosynthesis. Without them, plants can’t replenish energy reserves for dormancy, leaving them with minimal resources to survive the winter. As a result, they Continue reading Practice patience before turning out! →

Early spring seeded forage to fill shortfalls

– Jason Hartschuh, OSU Extension Field Specialist, Dairy Management and Precision Livestock

Spring seeded oats are an option for early forage.

The past six to nine months have been brutal for perennial forage production, from drought conditions that have damaged pastures and hay fields. To winter annuals that look much browner than we are used to this winter. Additionally, the colder than normal winter weather conditions caused livestock to need more energy than in recent winters, causing them to eat more hay than usual. Some drought damaged pastures may require remediation practices this year. All of these factors may lead to a need for early spring seeded forage.

It definitely feels like spring is here, and it is time to think about planting as the sun shines and my thermometer has risen to 63°F today. While it might still be a little early in Northern Ohio for spring planting, for the southern part of the state, we can start planting spring summer annuals soon. These forages can provide high-quality feed for livestock, improve soil health, and enhance pasture productivity by allowing reseeded pastures to rest. Planting of spring annuals can begin once Continue reading Early spring seeded forage to fill shortfalls →

Virtual Beef School focuses on Drought Recovery

Register today!

The intensity of Ohio’s 2024 drought may have subsided, but its lingering affects will likely be with us for months to come. Themed “High Cattle Prices and Drought Recovery,” the second session of the 2025 Ohio Virtual Beef School will address those concerns.

Beginning at 6:30 p.m. on February 26, Noble County OSU Extension Educator Christine Gelley will focus her presentation on “Post Drought Pasture Management.” Following Gelley,  OSU Extension Field Specialist Jason Hartschuh will discuss the management of “Annual Forages as Supplemental Feed.”

Registration is free for any of the 2025 Virtual Beef School webinars by visiting: go.osu.edu/beefschool25.

Agronomy & Farm Management Podcast: Managing forages and pastures in challenging times

Check out this recent podcast!

On last week’s podcast Christine Gelley addresses the various challenges forage and beef producers are facing from the 2024 drought in southeastern Ohio. Gelley is the Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Educator in Noble County. She specializes in forages and pasture management, where she is the team leader for OSU Extension’s Integrated Forage Management Team and is the Vice President for the Ohio Forage & Grasslands Council.

Find the podcast and additional resources posted here.

Ohio Virtual Beef School begins January 29: An evening with Kenny Burdine

Plan to join us for one or all of these sessions!

The OSU Extension Beef Team is pleased to be offering a Virtual Beef School featuring one webinar per month beginning January 29 and concluding in April.

For the first session join us – either in person in the Fairfield County Ag Center in Lancaster, or via ZOOM – on January 29 as we spend an evening exploring the economics of the beef cattle and livestock sector with University of Kentucky Extension economist Kenny Burdine.

Going into 2025 beef cattle prices are at record highs! Can it continue? How long will the consumer continue to support these price levels? Is it too late to Continue reading Ohio Virtual Beef School begins January 29: An evening with Kenny Burdine →

Livestock Water Development

– Mark Landefeld, Extension Educator (retired), Agricultural and Natural Resources, Monroe County and Jeff Bettinger, Lead District Conservationist, Natural Resources Conservation Service

The tank should hold a minimum of 25% of the daily herd requirement and allow 5 to 10% of the animals to drink at one time.

Many factors need to be considered when developing watering sources for livestock. Adequate amounts of water are needed to maintain high levels of production. Limiting water intake reduces animal performance quicker and more drastically than any other nutrient deficiency (Boyles). Improving springs or seeps by excavating, cleaning, capping or providing a collection and storage area improves the distribution of water and preserves water quality.

The Water Trough or Tank
The trough or tank should have adequate capacity to meet the requirements of all livestock. This should include the stor age volume necessary for carry-over between periods of replenishment. The trough or tank, when installed, should be . . .

Continue reading the OSU Extension Fact Sheet Livestock Water Development

Management Strategies in Times of Drought

Attend and learn more about drought disaster assistance.

Some suggest during this year Southeastern Ohio experienced what might be the worst drought in our history. Regardless where it may rank, few of this generation have the experience of managing through a time when feed resources were in such short supply for a commodity as valuable as beef cattle and other ruminant livestock.

That said, please plan to join us in the Fairfield County Ag Center on Monday, December 2 beginning at 7 p.m. when we will explore not only feed management strategies for times such as these, but also the drought disaster relief programs presently available to farmers in much of Ohio. Representatives from Ohio State University Extension, USDA/NRCS and the Farm Service Agency will discuss feed alternatives, feed management strategies, Federal and State drought “disaster” programs and funding opportunities for both feed and water.

Reservations are encouraged but not required by contacting OSU Extension in Fairfield County (740-653-5419) or simply following this link: go.osu.edu/feedmanagement

Drought Damaged Pasture; What’s next?

– Jordan Penrose, Ohio State University Extension Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator, Morgan County

Despite recent rainfall, drought conditions persist in SE Ohio.

Drought conditions have affected most of Ohio at one point or more this summer and fall, and we need to consider the long-term effects that this could have on forages. Where I am at in Morgan County, in the southeastern part of the state we are still in D4 Exceptional Drought, and most farmers have been feeding hay and hauling water for a couple of months now. Forages have taken the back seat for now, as we try to make sure livestock have feed and water. While getting livestock through the winter is the main goal right now, we need to start looking at what will need to be done with pastures and hayfields. When we got rain in October from Hurricane Helene, our pastures and hayfields came out of dormancy and started to grow on my family’s farm. Hopefully, most of you took note as well if that rain brought your pastures and hayfields out of dormancy and had some sort of growth. The reason that I hope you took note is to gauge what Continue reading Drought Damaged Pasture; What’s next? →