Ranchers on the front lines of rangeland drought

2020 is a year many will long remember for COVID-19, but area ranchers will remember it for other reasons beyond the issues caused by the virus. Many cattle ranchers in Hot Springs County are on the front lines of a drought. They are struggling amid poor range conditions, low water supplies, slow or little hay growth and grasshoppers. They are not only trying to figure out how to survive the virus but a drought as well.

Earlier this year some ranchers were left with a backlog of cattle when meatpacking plants slowed or even closed because of COVID-19 outbreaks among employees and public health orders forced restaurants to shut down dining. The packing plants were not buying cattle from feedlots, the feedlots were filling up, the prices for beef at the grocery stores were rising and the ranchers were the ones taking a hit on dropping prices for their cattle. Ranchers are now facing the compounding challenge of a drought, which is decreasing the rangeland and amount of available hay and forcing more tough choices about herd management. While not all ranchers in the county are facing the same tough issues, many are dealing with some or all of the challenges.

Ranchers

Most ranchers are professional optimists, always looking for the silver lining to a situation; maybe it’ll rain tomorrow, they’re predicting more snow this winter or it’ll be better next year. They generally love their lifestyle and knowing they are helping provide food and commodities for other families. This year is testing the hardiest of ranchers in our county. The ones that have spent their lifetime in the business basically have a well established pattern or schedule for their operation adjusting those occasionally to fit the year. However in years of drought when conditions get bad you are constantly changing your mode of operation, and as Owl Creek rancher Matt Brown said, “Those changes in normal patterns always cost money. If you’re working on your water systems that costs money, if you have to buy hay that costs money, if you spray for grasshoppers that costs money.” When asked if he’d ever seen a drought this bad, he remembers 2000/2001. “That was a bad drought year and costly then, too!”

Chip Axtell, who operates a ranch mostly in the eastern part of Hot Springs County, doesn’t recall a drought like this where the range condition is in such poor shape. He says the body condition of his cows has suffered and their pregnancy rate dropped this year.

Josh Longwell, ranch manager for the HD in the western part of the county, said, “The drought has really affected us this year. Not only has feed been short but we’ve had more bear kills this year than ever before.” He attributes that to less forage for grizzly bears and moth site hatches were smaller. Grizzlies feed on the fat-rich moths that rest under loose rocks. So when there are less moths available, the bears go hunting for other food sources.

Lack of feed/hay

Below normal precipitation, fast snow melt and cooler spring temperatures didn’t provide the ideal growing season for spring and summer pastures for ranchers. Many ranchers have fought feed issues all summer, shuffling livestock from one pasture to another trying to make sure there is feed and water for the livestock.

On upper Owl Creek this spring, water levels were low and some reservoirs, usually full of water, were dry. HD Ranch pushed their cows up high to their summer pastures. The feed was short but there was plenty of water, and now that the feed is gone up high, they’ve brought them lower where there is feed and water again. Many ranchers are hitting their fall pastures early which will then cut them short going into winter and most likely lead to feeding hay earlier than usual. Many ranchers set up rotation patterns for their pastures so they can let some pastures rest and regrow.

Axtell confirmed that it is a constant state of maneuvering, even having to use one of their “resting” pastures to make sure there was feed for the cows. Other feed barriers sometimes include constraints imposed by federal lease terms. Federal grazing leases specify dates when animals may graze an allotment, making it more difficult to respond to drought conditions by adjusting seasons of use.

Ranchers that rely on creeks for irrigation were having a tough time putting up hay this year. This summer’s windy, dry conditions and lack of irrigation water made it difficult to grow hay, which is used to feed the cattle over the winter.

Brown said “I put up a fraction of the hay I normally put up. If you don’t get moisture in April and May, you don’t get a good hay crop.”

Longwell agreed that hay was an issue; they only put up a quarter of the hay they usually do, leaving them and many others to buy hay this year.

Even though Axtell said they had a good hay crop by irrigating from the river, they will still be buying some hay. As the talk of buying hay comes up, most say they saw the drought coming and have already bought hay. For those that haven’t, the price goes up almost daily. Some local hay seems high priced because you can find cheap hay out of state but then you ending up paying a lot on the freight for getting it trucked here, so you’re not saving anything. Along with hay many are also supplementing the feed with protein tubs, beet pulp, barley hay.

Grasshoppers

Earlier this Spring, University of Wyoming Extension entomologist Scott Schell warned that parts of Wyoming could see an outbreak of pestilent grasshoppers this year, based on population surveys in the summer 2019.

“This proved especially true for the upper end of Owl Creek as well as other sporadic areas around the county,” stated Barton Stam, the UW Extension range specialist. “We are hoping that with the early frost and snow on Sept. 8, some of the grasshopper eggs will have frozen, thus reducing the number of hatchlings next Spring.”

Other experts have said that grasshopper populations thrive when winters are milder, such was the case last winter.

Schell stated that grasshoppers can easily outcompete livestock and other wildlife for forage. Being small is an advantage for the grasshoppers. They can clip down forage and then eat the grass as it grows from the crown. This prevents the forage from getting tall enough for larger grass-eating animals to grasp with their teeth. Pest grasshoppers, when their preferred food plants are gone, will then start feeding on shrubs like sagebrush and mountain mahogany. These shrubs are what other wildlife, such as sage grouse and mule deer, depend on for winter browse. In drought years, when there is little regrowth of grasses and forbs, pest grasshoppers will migrate to find food, thus causing problems where they usually don’t.

Livestock Health

Considerations

Water needs for livestock may increase substantially during a drought due to above-average daytime temperatures and low-quality feedstuffs. Because of the high importance to metabolic functions, failure to provide enough water will reduce animal performance more quickly and severely than any other nutrient. Drought conditions will also force cattle to graze on shorter and shorter forage, increasing the risk of picking up the soil-borne pathogens. Dry, hot weather can leave pastures thin and short. Occasionally, this may entice cattle to browse on weeds they wouldn’t typically eat with adequate forage available. Some weeds can be very toxic to cattle and other livestock.

Local veterinarian Dr. Kevin Dickey can attest to the fact that nutritional deficiencies also have an adverse effect on cattle conception rates during a drought. Conception rates will first decline in lactating first-calf heifers because they still need nutrients for growth, in contrast to mature cows. Lactation increases cow nutrient requirements substantially. Continued nursing further delays a cow’s return to estrus when nutritional deficiencies occur.

Fall is when Dr. Dickey usually books up with pregnancy testing cows for ranchers. Already he has seen the effects of the drought with many young cows coming up open (not pregnant).

“During a drought it is not unusual for cows to go into nutritional anestrus; basically they quit cycling and can’t conceive. A cow has to be nutritionally sound; they need to be on the gain, not losing body condition. The first thing that goes is the cows ability to cycle,” said Dickey “Leaving ranchers with cows that aren’t producing calves.”

Destocking

As ranchers are facing lack of feed in pastures and skyrocketing hay prices, one of the options is destocking or selling off cattle. This time of year, they usually wean and sell the calves. More ranchers are weaning earlier than usual in order to get the calves off the cows so the cows aren’t being “dragged down” and lose any more body condition. Early weaning is not a decision that’s made lightly. It means the calves won’t grow as large, which means less income this year.

As ranchers pregnancy test their cows all open cows should be culled as a first priority, since they will not contribute income to the ranch. Aged cows are next in line to be sold. When body condition score is kept high, age may not affect reproductive performance, but age can reduce the ability of a cow to hold a high body condition score.

One study (Bourdon and Brinks 1987) showed that a cow’s feed intake begins to decline at age eight. The study also found that milk production in range cattle begins to decline at the same time. Teeth health is also a factor to consider. Cows should be “mouthed” during pregnancy testing. Cows with missing teeth, called “broken mouths,” can be easily identified and culled. Broken-mouth cattle have more difficulty consuming forage, particularly in short feed years.

Waiting too late to destock can be an issue in itself, not only because sale prices will be abnormally low, but also because the land will take longer to recover from overgrazing. Sometimes ranchers focus too much on producing pounds of beef and not enough on their soil and forage resources.

Ranchers have to consider ecological management, the health of the land during and after a drought important. The earlier they can destock the more time the land has time to recover and be available for future use.

Federal Assistance

The Farm Service Agency (FSA) serves farmers, ranchers and agricultural partners through many agricultural programs. They offer a strong safety net through the administration of farm commodity and disaster programs.

In April, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) in which farmers and ranchers whose operation had been directly impacted by the coronavirus pandemic could apply for assistance. Then on Sept. 18 the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced they would continue with CFAP2.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is using funds being made available from the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) Charter Act and CARES Act to support row crops, livestock, specialty crops, dairy, aquaculture and many additional commodities. USDA has incorporated improvements in CFAP 2 based from stakeholder engagement and public feedback to better meet the needs of impacted farmers and ranchers.

Producers can apply for CFAP 2 at USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) county offices.

Applications are open until Dec. 11.

Other FSA programs that can potentially offer funding and assistance are:

Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) provides emergency funding and technical assistance to farmers and ranchers to rehabilitate farmland and conservation structures damaged by natural disasters and implement emergency water conservation measures in periods of severe drought. This can help with waterlines, well drilling, stock tanks and solar panels. Applications open until Oct. 23.

Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) provides payments to eligible livestock owners and contract growers who have covered livestock and who are also producers of grazed forage crop acreage (native and improved pasture land with permanent vegetative cover or certain crops planted specifically for grazing) that have suffered a loss of grazed forage due to a qualifying drought during the normal grazing period for the county. Applications open until Jan. 30, 2021.

Non-Insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) provides financial assistance to producers of non-insurable crops to protect against natural disasters, such as drought, that result in lower yields or crop losses, or prevents crop planting. Applications open until Dec. 1.

Emergency Livestock Assistance Program (ELAP) provides financial assistance to eligible producers of livestock, honeybees and farm-raised fish for losses due to disease, certain adverse weather events or loss conditions, including blizzards, drought and wildfires. ELAP assistance is provided for losses not covered by other disaster assistance programs. This can help with instances when the producer has to haul water to livestock. Applications open until January 30, 2021.

Washakie County Farm Service Agency’s Executive Director, Lisa Bower encourages residents to participate in the National Drought Mitigation Center’s Condition Monitoring Observer Reports (CMOR). Citizens can report drought-related conditions and impacts within the U.S. It is a nation-wide service based at the University of Nebraska, in partnership with the National Integrated Drought Information System. Information submitted by using this form appears on the drought condition observer map and becomes part of a permanent public record. It is important for Wyoming residents to report on local conditions. While it doesn’t determine drought conditions, it can call attention to the area conditions and then trigger further investigations that can result in federal programs being offered in that area. The report is easy to submit, asking for location or address, with categories to report impacts and a section to upload relevant photos. CMOR recommends that you submit a photo each month or each season, to provide an ongoing comparison of wet, dry and normal conditions. Find the website at https://droughtimpacts.unl.edu/ConditionMonitoringObservations.aspx

More information about FSA programs, services and to locate the local FSA service center can be found on the FSA website at https://www.fsa.usda.gov/state-offices/Wyoming

Tax Relief

Federal tax structure can sometimes impede rapid response to drought. If a producer destocks early and sells all or part of the herd, the income is treated as a capital gain that is heavily taxed. This, in turn, can lead to a shift in income tax bracket, making it more difficult to retain the cash needed to restock when the drought is over.

In a news release dated Sept. 22 from the Internal Revenue Service, there is an extension of replacement period for livestock sold on account of drought. Drought-stricken farmers and ranchers have more time to replace livestock. Farmers and ranchers who were forced to sell livestock due to drought may have an additional year to replace the livestock and defer tax on any gains from the forced sales, according to the Internal Revenue Service.

To qualify for relief, the farm or ranch must be in an applicable region. The Wyoming counties included in this designation are Albany, Big Horn, Campbell, Carbon, Converse, Fremont, Goshen, Hot Springs, Johnson, Laramie, Natrona, Niobrara, Platte, Sheridan, Sweetwater, Uinta, and Washakie. Details, including an example of how this provision works, can be found in Notice 2006-82, available at IRS.gov.

Surviving the Drought

Rebuilding after a drought can take years and have a lasting impact on an operation’s financial viability. The choices faced by producers in this condition are often complicated by the nature of the cattle production and personal values. Producers often have many years of careful breeding involved in producing a specific type of animal and are reluctant to lose the fruits of their efforts. Many ranchers are part of a family legacy and view ranching not so much as business but as a life style and heritage, and it becomes difficult to make some of the tough decisions that seem to threaten that life. Ranchers in Hot Springs and neighboring counties will be making difficult choices this next month as they head into winter.

Brown, Axtell and Longwell all agreed that there are many decisions to make this year including how many cows to sell, what federal assistance programs they qualify for and did they buy enough hay to make it through the winter with the cows they did keep.

The ranchers silver lining: When they restock and rebuild the herd, it will be the perfect time to improve herd genetics!