Proper pasture management can help minimize a drought’s impact on grazing land, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service forage specialist and agronomist, but there’s still no silver bullet. Early in drought, careful management can make the land resilient to its impacts and rebound faster when precipitation becomes sufficient.

Proper livestock management early in a drought looks like stock rate reductions through strategic culling. A delay in this decision incurs more significant losses over time. Grazing management early in a drought looks like allowing at least six inches of new growth before allowing livestock to graze. Please think twice before applying herbicides in a drought as plant mechanisms during a drought prevent the adequate entry of the herbicide into its system.

Read more on early pasture management during drought conditions here.