Drought Endurance
California ranchers find alternative feedstuffs and make water development improvements amidst historic drought.
Now in its fourth year, the California drought has required its fair share of sacrifices from California ranchers. Wells and water holes have gone dry. Feed on native rangeland is hard to find for some. Almost everyone has reduced his or her herd significantly. The remaining cattle still need something to eat, so ranchers have found alternative feed sources.
In good years and bad, Ryan Nelson, Nelson Land and Cattle Co. of Wilton, Calif., says he supplements his cattle with protein tubs while on native range. Lately, he has been supplementing extra protein.
Alfalfa hay, a good source of forage and protein, has been the ‘go to’ option for many ranchers, but due to associated high costs, it may not be a long-term solution, according to Darrel Sweet, commercial-Angus rancher from Livermore, Calif.
Nelson agrees, adding, “It’s $250 to $300 per ton. It’s kind of been close to there for the last several years. That’s expensive when you’re feeding it twice a day every day.”
Sweet says purchasing out-of-state hay is not unusual, but the drought has been widespread enough to have also affected Oregon’s hay supply.
Last winter, Sweet fed almond hulls to his range cattle. Typically, byproducts like almond hulls have gone to dairies and feedlots, but if you can find a way to feed them to range cattle, they make a good supplement, he claims.
“It doesn’t make up the whole diet, but it can reduce the hay bill. Almond hulls are about 70% TDN (total digestible nutrients),” he explains.
For those seeking a more traditional feeding method, alternative pastures are few and far between, but in some cases, they can be found, states Sweet.
“Numbers have been reduced enough that in some cases, some places have been destocked, and then it rains, and some grass grows, and so you kind of have an opportunity to rent some of that,” he says. “But renting extra pasture is hard to do when there isn’t much pasture available and everyone is looking for it.”
Still, progress has been made during the drought as producers have invested in water developments throughout their ranges.
“We’ve had a lot of springs go dry. A lot of shallow wells have gone dry. A lot of ponds have gone dry. The source of water for the ponds is runoff. If you don’t get much runoff, the ponds don’t fill,” Sweet describes. Some producers have worked on spring development and water storage options. Others have survived by hauling water in water trucks.
“There’s been a lot of trucking of water. There’s pastures that have feed but have no stock water, so trucking water has made them work,” says Sweet. “People have even been trucking [water] in the winter.”
Solar pumps on wells have enabled Marty Williamson, commercial-Angus rancher near Exeter, Calif., to keep his cattle on the range. The number of workable well sites is limited, he says, so he keeps a vigilant eye on the stock water.
Nelson has installed three water troughs on the ranch that work year-round. Before the well development, he was relying on some seasonal ponds for water.
“If you can consider yourself any kind of progressive producer, you’re trying to develop water,” he states.
According to Sweet, some water developments have, in fact, added carrying capacity, even during the worst drought years.
He adds, “A lot of those water systems developments have added grazing capacity by getting water into areas that didn’t have water very well before.”
Editor’s Note: Read the full California Drought article in the September Angus Journal. Paige Nelson is a freelance writer and cattlewoman from Rigby, Idaho.