Blog

By Kent Solberg • Senior Technical Advisor

Even with pastures greening up fast, 2025 is shaping up to be another drought year.  Much of Minnesota (>74%) is still rated as Abnormally Dry or Moderate Drought according to the US Drought Monitor.  Most of Minnesota was dry last fall and the snowpack for much of the state was below average.  Pasture grasses require adequate moisture in the fall to build energy reserves and root mass for the next spring. This is the 5th consecutive year of moderate or more severe drought for portions of north central and south west Minnesota; thus we have not recovered from previous drought in some areas.

The majority of cool season grass (our dominant forages) growth for the year occurs during May and June.  The National Weather Service forecast for the next 10 days shows zero chance of rain and temperatures in the high 80’s and even 90’s in some areas for a number of those days.  If you graze livestock, you should already be preparing for reduced forage resources this year.  The following tips can help stretch and protect forage and soil resources.  We MUST keep the ground covered to stretch the soil moisture you currently have and to protect soil biology:  

1) Delay grazing until your dominant cool season grasses are at least 10-12″ tall and have three full leaves to help shade the ground, minimizing evaporative loss.  Bare soil temperatures can exceed 130°F on 85-90°F days allowing for 100% loss of soil moisture to evaporation.  Soil temperatures in grass shade can be 15-35 degrees cooler.  Temperatures greater than 130°F begin to kill soil microbiology. Given the current conditions, be more concerned about protecting soil moisture vs. losing sleep over cool season grasses forming a seed head.  

2) Take no more than 20-30% of the standing forage biomass to protect overhead cover/shade.  

3) Consider part-time grazing, limiting livestock access to three hours per day during midday or afternoon on small paddocks to take advantage of higher Brix concentration.  Do not graze the same paddock two days in a row.  Limit livestock utilization to <35%.  Plan for extended rest after this grazing event.  Bale graze or unroll hay on a site that could use extra fertility the remaining 21 hours.  Confine animals to this “opportunity paddock” to minimize damage to the larger pasture.  Hay is relatively inexpensive right now, so it’s a good “insurance policy” to grab some now and feed longer to let pastures get more mature.

4)  Reduce the number of mouths to feed.  If you don’t have a cull list, build one NOW.  Cattle prices remain at all time highs.  Better to sell animals that are not fully meeting your expectations sooner rather than later during good market prices than waiting and hoping for rain that may not come.  We don’t know how long these high cattle prices will hold.  If you direct market, work to move up butcher dates.  Income from marketed animals can be leveraged into additional hay or feed to stretch pastures, and simply having less mouths to feed will also help.  Keeping the best of the best of your herd or flock will be the foundation of stronger genetics in the future.  

5) Identify and secure reserve pasture acreage in your area.  This may or may not be possible nearby.  It may require transporting animals at some point this season, but if you are resistant to culling you will likely need additional acres to support your herd or flock this year.  

6) Plan for an extended forage recovery period.  The amount of precipitation we receive is one of the greatest factors determining how quickly forages recover.  If we don’t get adequate rains soon, it will take that much longer for forages to recover.  

7) DO NOT throw the gates open to let the animals “fend for themselves”.  

8) Hope is not a plan.  If you don’t have a drought plan now, this needs to be your top priority.  Waiting can be extremely costly and you may pay the price for years to come.  

If you have questions, please contact me at kent@sfa-mn.org or Jonathan at jonathan@sfa-mn.org.