The U.S. Drought Monitor map released Thursday showed the 79.83 percent of the state with some drought rating. Severe drought appeared in 2.19 percent of the state. Moderate drought covered some 35.85 percent of Arkansas.
USA - Growing drought squeezing Arkansas cattle producers
12.07.2018 143 views
Drought has put its grip on nearly 80 percent of Arkansas and the state’s ranchers are having to make decisions to handle rapidly dwindling amounts of forage for their cattle.
The six to 10 day outlook from the Climate Prediction Center showed a better than 40 percent chance all of the state would see above normal temperatures through July 15, but normal odds of getting rain over the same period. However, the chances for some precipitation were in the forecast from Sunday through Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service at Little Rock.
“Within the last week, week-and-a-half, I’ve been getting calls and emails from people looking for hay,” Brian See, interim Marion County extension staff chair for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, said Friday.
He recounted a recent visit to a client who asked See to look at his pasture. “It was just crunchy. Just burned up,” See said. “There was nothing green except for patches of crabgrass. He hadn’t had rain in a month.”
“Some people hadn’t even gotten their first cutting of hay,” he said. “Some did and it was half of normal.”
So far, ponds have been holding, See said. “I haven’t heard of any water problems yet.”
John Jennings, extension forage specialist for the Division of Agriculture, said that even with the scattered showers of the last few days, “pasture recovery will require more than a few rain showers due to the dry soil profile and continued high temperatures.”
Ranchers will need to make management decisions quickly during 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,” he said. “Producers who plan ahead get themselves into a position to take advantage of better growing conditions when those conditions eventually arrive.”
Where pastures still have forage, Jennings recommended “protecting any remaining standing forage by shutting pasture gates or by using temporary electric fencing. Manage it like standing hay and feed it a few acres at a time to make it last as long as possible.”
Rotational grazing is a good drought management tool. Rotational grazing helps maintain forage growth longer into a drought period than continuous grazing. Overgrazing weakens plants and leads to shortened root systems causing them to respond more slowly to rain and fertilizer than do healthier plants. Rotating pastures during drought conditions can help protect the pastures that will be needed for summer production.
Although all forages produce yield less during drought, some species including bermudagrass and KY-31 tall fescue, can tolerate heavy grazing and still survive. Manage grazing pressure carefully during prolonged dry weather to prevent loss of high quality forage species such as novel endophyte fescue, clover, and orchardgrass.
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 pasture and fed hay until better growing conditions arrive. This practice may be detrimental to that pasture, but it helps protect forage in other pastures that will needed for later grazing.
Where pastures are grazed down to the soil and ranchers are feeding hay, “management strategies must focus on drought recovery.”
Don Hubbell, head of the Livestock and Forestry Station in Batesville, said now “is also a good time for producers to be thinking about stockpiling fescue and bermudagrass for winter feeding.
“I know they are thinking about today, but we need to also be looking ahead to set up our fall pasture plans,” he said. “Rotational grazing will help set up the stockpiling scenario. If the dry weather ends, rotational grazing will promote more forage growth, distribute manure and urine more evenly and possibly reduce fertilizer cost.”
Source - http://www.hpj.com
EVENTS
2024 AgroInsurance International Conference: New Partners and Agenda updates
26.02.20242024 AgroInsurance International Conference will take place on June 3-5, 2024 in Belgrade, Serbia, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Planet Labs (USA) and GAF AG (Germany) are sponsors of our conference. Agremo (Serbia) has been confirmed as the Organization Partner. More partners and sponsors to be announced in March 2024.
RISK EVENTS
Spain - 30% of La Palma's banana production has already been lost due to the advance of the lava
14.10.2021More than three weeks after the Cumbre Vieja volcano erupted, the lava that continues to flow from its interior continues to devastate everything in its path, destroying houses, infrastructure, and banana plantations. The production of Platanos de Canarias is the economic engine of the island, accounting for 50% of its GDP and 30% of the jobs on the island.
25.04.2024
Ukraine - Frosts damaged part of harvest of early apples and stone fruits
As a result of the latest frosts in Ukraine, the peak of which occurred on April 19-20 of this year, orchards of apples, pears and stone fruits were partially damaged, EastFruit analysts report.
25.04.2024
Italy - Strong demand for strawberries but yields dropped by up to 50% compared to a year ago
Favorable prices and low yields are marking this recent part of the strawberry season in Southern Italy. "Here in the Basilicata region, in about 40 days, the campaign will be over for many, referring to traditional cultivars like the Sabrosa-Candonga," says Maria Ferrara of the wholesale fruit and vegetable company Fe.Vi Frutta.
25.04.2024
South Africa - Water scarcity threatens the agricultural sector and food security
South Africa is naturally a water-scarce country – among the 30 driest countries in the world. But, combined with unpredictable climate changes that tend towards hotter and drier conditions, diminishing water tables, and the chronic mismanagement of water systems, water availability is becoming a cause for concern across all sectors of the economy.
25.04.2024
India - Farmers claim crop damage on 7,800 acres in Indri, Nilokheri
In the wake of recent rain and hailstorm that lashed the region on Friday, nearly 1,500 farmers in the Indri and Nilokheri blocks of the district have registered claims on the e-Kshatipurti portal, stating extensive losses to their wheat crop on approximately 7,800 acres of land.
25.04.2024
Hunger in Southern Africa: addressing climate change effect
As a result of climate disasters, millions of people in Southern Africa face the threat of starvation. The onset of El Niño caused scorching heat waves that destroyed crops and dried up essential water sources in the region.
25.04.2024
Safeguarding crop diversity in genebanks
Ensuring food security and agricultural resilience in the face of environmental challenges depends on preserving and utilizing crop diversity, according to the Crop Trust. Genebanks serve as the ultimate guardians of this diversity. However, they are susceptible to various risks that could jeopardize their invaluable collections.
25.04.2024
USA - Northwest Ohio farms prepare to protect crops from the cold temperatures
With the expected cold weather this week, farmers are starting to monitor their crops. It isn't strawberry season yet, but farmers are starting to prepare the plants now. The freezing temperatures could impact the crops.
25.04.2024
Singapore - Researchers pioneer nanosensor multiplexing for real-time decoding of different plant stresses
Researchers from the Disruptive & Sustainable Technologies for Agricultural Precision (DiSTAP) Interdisciplinary Research Group (IRG) of Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), MIT’s research enterprise in Singapore, in collaboration with Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory (TLL) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), have developed a cutting-edge nanosensor that allows for the real-time monitoring of salicylic a cid (SA) during the early stages of stress response.