Don't Feed Through a Drought. Think Through a Drought.

Every drought starts the same way. The grass gets a little shorter. You check the weather forecast a little more often. You tell yourself, "If we could just get one good rain..."

Then one week turns into two, three, a month, then sometimes even longer. 

You buy a little hay. You put out some protein tubs. You cut back just enough to get by. Every decision feels temporary because surely the weather is about to change.

That's what makes drought so dangerous.

It rarely forces one catastrophic decision. Instead, it encourages dozens of small decisions that slowly eliminate your options.

During a recent Ranching.FYI discussion on the Market Pulse, one of our team had just driven across southern Colorado, where drought conditions had become severe. His observation wasn't really about the weather.

It was about how people respond to it.

"People are just trudging forward, doing what they've always done. Hanging on hope... hoping something's going to change."

Then he added something every rancher should remember.

"That's where I see people get painted into a corner."

That sentence isn't really about drought. It's about business.

Drought Doesn't Take Away Options. Waiting Does.

One of the biggest misconceptions about drought is that the weather forces bad outcomes.

More often than not, delayed decisions do. Think of drought as reaching a crossroads. Your ranch simply isn't producing enough grazing days to support the same herd. At that point, you have choices. Do you buy feed? Do you sell cows? Do you move cattle? Do you lease grass? 

The problem is that many ranchers never really answer those questions, instead, they postpone them. They buy another week. Then another. Then another. Hope quietly becomes the management plan.

Before long, they've run out of both grass and options. That is why we believe one simple principle:

Don't feed through a drought. Think through it. 

Feeding Through a Drought Isn't the Same as Managing One

One of the most interesting conversations centered around something almost every rancher has considered during a dry year.

Protein tubs. Supplement. Additional feed. These are tools and they definitely have a place, but here’s a question.

"What happens when we put more protein in front of cattle?" They eat more. That one answer changes the entire conversation.

If grass is already your limiting resource, increasing consumption doesn't solve the problem, it accelerates it. Sometimes feeding is absolutely the correct decision, but before spending more money, ask yourself a harder question.

Am I feeding through this drought... or am I thinking through it?

Feeding asks: "How do I keep these cows here another week?" Thinking says "Should these cows still be here at all?"

Get to 30,000 Feet

When you're standing in the pasture, it's hard to think beyond what you see ,dust, grasshoppers, dry ponds, hungry cows.

At ground level, every decision feels urgent. But step back and look at things from a little further away. Get yourself to 30,000 feet and see what changes. 

At that height you are probably focused on cash flow, replacement value, relationships, and long term goals. It is time to stop staring at the drought and start looking at the business.

After all what if selling the cows wasn't the end of the business? What if it was the beginning of a better one?

Options Exist

One of the most thought-provoking ideas from the discussion the other day wasn't simply destocking. It was changing inventory.

Ryan walked through an example of selling mature cows, keeping the calves, then buying additional calves until your ranch once again matched the forage you actually had available.

On paper, it sounds backwards ,but in reality, you're matching your inventory to your resources. A mature cow consumes dramatically more forage than a 500-pound calf. If forage production has been cut nearly in half, why insist on carrying the heaviest inventory possible?

This is exactly what we mean by business thinking, don't become emotionally attached to one class of cattle, become attached to making the best use of your resources.

Another assumption is that cattle have to stay on your ranch. Why?

If another region has grass… Or a custom grow yard… Or a backgrounding yard with excess capacity… Why not move the cattle instead of forcing your ranch to carry them?

Many grow yards and feedlots are operating well below capacity, so if someone else can care for your cattle for the same or even lower cost than you can during a drought, why not use their resources while protecting your own?

Too often we become emotionally attached to where cattle are located. Successful businesses become attached to where resources are available.

The Earlier You Decide, the More Cattle You Keep

https://youtu.be/9ltbAjWMdKI

Whatever you decide, it is ket to decide early. It was pointed out that early decisions don't just protect the market, they protect your inventory. If you reduce forage demand early in the season, the remaining forage lasts much longer.

That means you often end up selling fewer cattle than if you had waited until everything was gone. Waiting until late summer often forces much deeper liquidation than acting early.

Wally Olson will tell you forage production doesn't decline in a straight line. Suppose your pasture normally produces 3,000 pounds of forage. If drought cuts production in half, you don't suddenly have half the grazing, you still need enough residual to protect the soil. Once that residual is accounted for, your usable forage may have fallen by 75% or more.

Think of it like two kitchen sponges. One has been sitting dry under the sink for years, the other is already moist, then he ask:

"Which sponge will absorb more water?"

Most people guess the dry sponge. The answer is the wet sponge. The dry sponge has become hard, water simply runs off it, pastures work the same way. If we graze them to the ground during a drought, they lose much of their ability to capture the very rain we've been praying for.

Residual isn't something we leave because we can afford to, residual is what allows the ranch to recover when moisture finally returns.

Change Your Mindset Before You Change Your Management

The final question, is drought a problem or an opportunity?

None of this means drought is enjoyable. It means every difficult season creates opportunities for those willing to think differently. It’s not just about planning for drought but for planning for the good years too. The ranches that recover the fastest are often the ones that protected their resources before the rain ever came.

Your Move

If you're facing drought today, don't let the weather become your only focus.

Instead, ask yourself:

• What decisions am I delaying?

• What opportunities exist because everyone else is waiting?

• Am I protecting my cows at the expense of my land?

• Am I protecting my land at the expense of my business?

• What inventory actually fits the resources I have today?

• Am I feeding through this drought… or thinking through it?

  
  

Remember rain comes at the end of every dry spellm so will your ranch will be positioned to thrive when it does.

Join Elite Membership for More of These Discussions

The ideas in this article started as a live discussion during Market Pulse, where ranchers from across the country ask questions, challenge assumptions, and work through real-world decisions together. If you enjoy practical conversations about ranch management, cattle marketing, business thinking, and decision-making, we'd love to have you join us.

Market Pulse meets live every Monday at 6:30 AM Mountain Time and is available exclusively to Ranching.FYI Elite Forum members. If you're ready to sharpen your thinking, learn from other progressive ranchers, and participate in the discussion instead of just reading about it, become an Elite member and join us next Monday morning.

Click here to create your free profile, then click upgrade in the top right hand corner to upgrade and get access to the Market Pulse.