Drought is one of those things that every cattle producer will have to deal with at some point. It ranks right up there with Death and Taxes. Just like those two though it is unavoidable it is also something that most producers find themselves unprepared for.
But what is drought? Drought is simply a deficiency in precipitation over an extended period of time and is a part of normal climate variability. The duration of a drought can vary widely from just a matter or weeks to months or even years. Although hurricanes and tornadoes are more dramatic droughts are among the most costly weather related events.
Since these are slow-moving and doesn’t usually involve direct property damage we tend to underestimate the effects of drought. This is the wrong way to look at it as I mentioned above. A study done by FEMA back in 1995 concluded that droughts costs the United States an average of $6 to $8 billion per year.
Now that I have gotten you good and scared, sorry about that by the way, you may be asking yourself “How can I mitigate the effects that drought will have on my place?”. Well fear not, I have 5 tips here that you can follow to make the economic impact a little more bearable for you.
Having calves weaned early is often something that occurs during periods of low forage quality. This typically happens during extremely dry periods, such as what is currently happening in many western states. But what exactly does it mean to wean early?
Weaning time is once again upon us. It is a magical time where everything runs smoothly. Also absolutely nothing wrong ever….. 
It is weaning time again out on the range. This is the time of year that you as a rancher get to see the fruits of your labor. Labors such as with your breeding programs. But that does beg the question about success.
Weaning time is upon us again. As anyone in the cattle business will tell you it is a stressful time- for both cattle and the producer.
What does weaning success or failure mean to you? This is a tough question to answer because different people will have different answers to this. They can be as varied as the operations that raise cattle.
