Cow-Calf Corner | May 16, 2022
Hay Stocks Tighter in 2022
Derrell S. Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist
The May USDA Crop Production report included hay stocks for the beginning of the hay crop year, May 1. Total U.S. hay stocks were down 6.9 percent year over year and are 15.1 percent below the 2012-2021 average. This follows a nearly 12 percent decline in May 1 stocks last year and a December 1 stock level that was down six percent year over year. The ongoing drought continues to squeeze available hay supplies and widespread drought this year is a severe threat to 2022 hay (and range/pasture) production.
May 1 hay stocks in the 17 plains and western states were down 17.7 percent year over year. After two years of drought in some areas, hay stocks in the West are down 36.6 percent from 2020 levels and are down 27.1 percent from the 2012-2021 average. The hardest hit region is the northern plains and Rocky Mountain states with Montana down 53.6 percent year over year, and down 55.4 percent from the ten-year average for the state. Also sharply lower were North Dakota, down 45.3 percent, South Dakota, down 50.5 percent, and Wyoming, down 38.5 percent from 2021 levels. In total, this four-state region had May 1 hay stocks down 49.2 percent year over year. This level is down 48.1 percent from the ten-year average level for the four-state total. These four states had 15.1 percent of beef cows on January 1.
The southern plains region of Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas had May 1 hay stocks down 12.0 percent year over year and down 25.3 percent from the 2012-2021 average. Oklahoma hay stocks on May 1 were down 47.8 percent year over year, and are 43.5 percent below the ten-year average for the state. Kansas hay stocks were down 26.4 percent from last year and 32.5 percent below the 2012-2021 average. May 1 hay stocks in Texas were up 33.3 percent year over year but remain 10.6 below the ten-year average for the state. The three states accounted for 26.6 percent of beef cows in the country on January 1, 2022.
The Four Corners region of Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and Utah has been in drought since 2020. The region uses relatively little hay and has a low density of beef cows. May 1 hay stocks in the four-state area was up 19.4 percent over last year but remain 32.5 percent below the 2012-2021 average. Hay stocks were down year over year in Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada but up from last year in Utah. These four states account for an average of 2.9 percent of U.S. May 1 hay stocks and included 4.0 percent of U.S. beef cows on January 1.
California and the Pacific Northwest states of Washington, Oregon and Idaho had May 1 hay stocks up 6.1 percent from last year, but down 15.0 percent from the ten-year average. Hay stocks were up in California by 27.3 percent and slightly above the ten-year average. Idaho also had May 1 hay stocks above last year by 29.3 percent but is 10.3 percent below the 2012-2021 average for the state. Washington and Oregon were both down year over year, 18.2 and 24.1 percent respectively, and both are more than 25 percent below the ten-year average for each state. This region accounts for 6.3 percent of the total beef cow herd.
In terms of May 1 hay stocks, Colorado and Nebraska are unique among the 17 western states. Colorado had hay stocks up 152.2 percent year over year and up 30.3 percent over the ten-year average. Nebraska had May 1 hay stocks up 25.0 percent year over year and 14.1 percent above the 2012-2021 average. Despite the improvement in hay stocks for these two states, drought conditions persist and pasture and range conditions are diminished in 2022.
In all of these 17 western states, drought continues widespread. More than 50 percent of the U.S. beef cow herd is directly threatened by drought. Across the country more than 50 percent of pastures and range are in poor to very poor condition. That majority of this pasture and range is in these western states. The bleak prospects for pasture and hay production, combined with continued diminishment of hay stocks, suggests that significant and severe impacts on cattle herds are ahead as summer approaches.
Should I Fertilize My Bermudagrass Pasture This Year?
Mark Z. Johnson, Oklahoma State University Extension Beef Cattle Breeding Specialist
This has been a frequently asked question over the past few months as we have seen fertilizer prices skyrocket to unprecedented levels. These high prices have many producers wondering if it is too expensive to use fertilizer in 2022. The issue is further complicated by the reality of drought. Even with some recent rainfall, much of Oklahoma remains starved for moisture. From the standpoint of cow-calf operations, a bottomline approach considering the number of cows and calves on inventory and how much they need to consume will determine an individual producer’s forage needs. Determining the price at which fertilizer becomes economically cost prohibitive needs to consider the following:
An average cow will eat, trample on, lie on, defecate on or waste 43 lbs. of forage
per day.
A 300 lb. growing calf will consume about 9 lbs. of forage dry matter per day.
A 600 lb. growing calf will consume about 18 lbs. of forage dry matter per day
Bermudagrass responds to Nitrogen fertilizer at a linear rate when there is ample rainfall to permit growth. By applying 50 lbs. of nitrogen (109 lbs. of Urea) per acre, we expect Bermuda to yield one ton of forage. Each additional 50 lbs. of nitrogen applied should result in an additional ton of forage produced. Bermuda is considered an improved grass meaning it needs fertilizer, weed control, proper stocking rate and moisture. Without any nitrogen applied, a reasonable expectation of yield should be well under ton/acre.
Analysis by OSU Farm Management specialist JJ Jones indicates Urea fertilizer at prices of less than $1,000 per ton, is a more economical
option for feeding cows than harvested forages.
Although fertilizer prices are relatively high compared to the past it is still more
economically feasible to fertilize pasture instead of buying hay. Producers that elect
not to fertilize to meet forage needs will have to either spend more money in the
fall to purchase hay or reduce stocking rates to match forage availability.
Do the math. Determine your forage needs based on your inventory. Sustaining cows on grazed forage will be a more cost effective than other means of meeting nutritional requirements.
Reference: OSU Beef Cattle Manual, Eighth edition.
Manage Pastures Now for Improved Drought Recovery Later
Paul Beck, Oklahoma State University Extension Beef Nutrition Specialist
Dry weather occurs at some point nearly every summer. But in the last few years we appear to be in a dry cycle with many areas in the West experiencing much lower than normal rainfall. Over the last 365 days the Mesonet system shows that Oklahoma has experience slight reductions in rainfall in Central Oklahoma to severe reductions in rainfall in western Oklahoma and the Panhandle.
Failure to take preventative action and plan ahead at early signs of drought results in overgrazing damage to pastures, excessive feeding, and herd liquidation. Although drought cannot be avoided entirely, a good forage management plan will lessen the impact on forages and hasten pasture recovery when growing conditions return. Planning ahead for forage requirements helps to maintain a herd through the drought crisis.
Drought management for pastures includes three primary categories:
1) Develop a balanced seasonal forage system to avoid drought impacts.
A balanced forage program and good pasture grazing plan reduce the impact of a drought and extend the grazing season. Extending the grazing season has a strong positive impact on profitability of livestock operations. Many farms already have an adequate forage base to produce enough forage for the livestock, but management is often focused on producing hay for a long hay feeding season instead of producing more lower-cost grazing days. The most important part of a balanced forage system is the planning and strategy used with the existing forages. Longer grazing seasons can usually be achieved by simply changing forage management. Planning a longer grazing season requires a seasonal approach to forage production and management. Spring, summer, and fall seasons are managed as 100 days each, leaving a 65-day winter season. Forage management plans should be made at least one season in advance to ensure timeliness of implementation and to allow options in case of unexpected growing conditions such as drought. Plans for spring pasture are made in fall and winter; plans for summer are made in winter and spring; and so on. Various forages should be used to fill out a grazing program, using the ones that fit your environment and fill the desired niche are important considerations.
2) Manage forage for efficient utilization during drought.
It always rains after a drought. It is important to manage pastures carefully during a drought to ensure good recovery when the drought ends. Management decisions should be made quickly during early stages of drought to maintain enough forage to feed the herd. Culling poor performing animals is one choice to reduce the amount of forage needed, but improving pasture management can also be effective. Producers who plan forage and grazing practices ahead get themselves into a position to take advantage of better growing conditions when those conditions eventually return. When pastures become grazed short and producers are feeding hay, management strategies must focus on pasture recovery after drought. Main points to consider for managing forages during dry weather include the following:
- Avoid continued overgrazing before pastures become grazed short. Overgrazing weakens plants and leads to shortened root systems causing them to respond more slowly to rain and fertilizer. Overgrazing causes higher soil temperatures because it removes residue that shades the soil surface. During the 2011 drought in Oklahoma, soil temperatures in bare, overgrazed pastures reached as much as 150 degrees.
- Rotational grazing is a good drought management tool. Rotational grazing helps maintain forage growth longer into a drought period than continuous grazing. Rotating pastures during drought conditions can help protect standing forage for later grazing and will improve recovery due to more rest time for each paddock.
- Feeding hay and limit grazing during dry weather can stretch available forage on drought-stressed pastures. If all pastures are already grazed short and no regrowth is being produced then cattle can be shut in a single “sacrifice pasture” and fed hay until better growing conditions arrive. This practice limits overgrazing damage to one pasture and helps protect forage in other pastures that will needed for later grazing.
3) Manage pastures for recovery after drought.
Some pasture forages will be killed or severely thinned by drought. Evaluate pastures and determine which fields will recover, which fields need overseeding, and which fields need complete renovation. Good assessment of actual forage damage and weed pressure is critical. Soil testing all pastures is necessary. Not all pastures will show the same level of drought damage so improvement strategies need not be the same across the farm. Some pastures may fully recover with time and management while others may need complete renovation.
The following options should be considered to improve drought recovery of forages:
- Manage to let the surviving forages regrow without reseeding
- Try to thicken the thin pastures with more of the same species
- Add legumes, winter annuals, or forage brassica to thin fields
- Renovate severely damaged pastures by converting to other forages
When rainfall occurs and pastures begin to greenup, defer grazing to allow top-growth and roots to regrow. During and after recovery, graze the best pastures last. This practice will help ensure the best pastures continue to be the best pastures. Grazing too soon before adequate recovery will cause stand thinning, weed encroachment, and decline of pasture condition.
Scout pastures closely for weeds. Some weeds such as wooly croton are avoided by livestock and populations can build unnoticed. Winter annual weeds will germinate in fall at the same time as volunteer clover or cool-season grasses. Weeds can take over a weakened pasture quickly when rainfall occurs, preventing forage regrowth and sharply reducing volunteer reseeding of desirable forages. Use concentrated grazing pressure, mowing, or herbicide as appropriate to control specific weed species.