Drought preparation is more than just a good idea, it’s a lifeline. It is possible to not just survive dry spells, but thrive through them by building drought resilience into your soil, animals, and water sources. As farmers, we know the land gives back what we put into it; so let’s talk about how to properly steward over your farm even when the skies run dry.
Watch Your Drought Forecast
First, keep up-to-date on your local drought conditions. The National Integrated Drought Information System offers current and predictive data for moisture levels in your area. They also offer helpful tips specific to the farming community.
How to Protect Livestock During Drought
The right mineral program can fill in the gaps in your animals’ diet and condition their bodies to be more resilient during weather stress.
Replenish Electrolytes
Bodies lose a lot more than water during dry spells; they also lose electrolytes. Do not wait until you notice physical stress and dehydration in your animals. Provide your animals with an unrestricted supply of electrolytes to help them get the most out of every drop of water they drink. Remember that electrolytes control the water balance in their cells, and power all the electrical impulses their brain, heart, and muscles need to function.
Expand Your Mineral Profile
Offering your animals a more expansive mineral profile helps them better utilize what they are already eating and drinking. Avoid the temptation to offer low salt/heavy mineral mixes because they can be very bitter and hard for your animals to eat. A higher salt to mineral ratio with a greater variety of trace minerals provides more balanced electrolytes and resolves deficiencies more effectively than heavy mineral mixes.
Watch for Pica Behaviors
Pica is an eating disorder that causes animals to chew on or lick non-food substances, like: rocks, dirt, wood, plaster, etc. If you see these behaviors in your animals, they most likely are suffering from mineral deficiencies, typically salt. Consult your vet/nutritionist and try using a higher salt to mineral ratio and offer a more expansive mineral profile.
Switch from Blocks to Loose Minerals
Mineral blocks have plenty of benefits, and there are many circumstances where they are preferable. However, switching to loose minerals during drought conditions can help increase your animals’ intake. Moving your mineral stations closer to water sources and adding mineral stations will also make it easier for your livestock to get what they need. Here are some helpful tips about when to use blocks vs. loose minerals.
Test Your Feed and Forage
Each plant in your pasture reacts differently to moisture stress. With less water mobility in the soil, some nutrients may not make it into your vegetation, while other substances (like nitrates) can build up to unsafe levels. Feed that is harvested under moisture stress and stored for later can also be high in nitrates and other substances that can cause toxicosis. Test the feed and forage you are offering your animals to watch for deficiencies and toxicities so you can supplement accordingly.
Protect Rumen and Gut Health
During drought conditions, your animals' digestive tracts need to absorb every drop of moisture, and every speck of nutrition that they can. Adding a digestive conditioner, like volcanic bentonite clay, helps:
- Recycle excess nitrates
- Bind to toxins
- Balance gut pH (prevent acidosis)
- Improve nutrient absorption
How to Protect Water Sources During Drought
Improving your stewardship over the water you do have can help your farm safely weather drought conditions.
Change the Way You Irrigate
Watering more conservatively (ie. shorter and more frequent watering sessions) reduces runoff so water can actually infiltrate soil. Consider using a smart irrigation controller that can help you optimize your water usage based on what is happening in your exact location.
Shade Water Troughs
Did you know that standing water can lose over 4 inches of water to evaporation in a single day? Move water troughs to shaded areas and check in throughout the day to make sure they are shaded as much as possible as the sun moves.
Build and Reinforce Natural Water Sources
Protect in-ground water sources from ground loss. Applying Western Clay’s PondSeal® creates a natural water containment membrane to keep vital water where your animals need it most. Click to learn more about how to naturally seal a pond or stock tank on your land.
Believe it or not, planting certain trees, shrubs and other embankment plants in a buffer around your natural water sources can also help your land’s water holding capacity. These riparian buffers increase the “sponginess” of your land so it can hold more water when it is available. Learn more about agroforestry and how to build a riparian buffer on your farm.
How to Protect Soil and Plants During Drought
Amend Soil for Drought Resilience
Put simply, healthy soil is more drought resilient. Properly amending with sea minerals, volcanic conditioner, and humates will improve:
- Energy levels in your soil’s ecosystem (electrical conductivity)
- Ability to store and access water and nutrients (cation exchange capacity)
Redmond Mineralyte is nature’s perfect recipe for conditioning your soil into a more healthy and drought resilient environment for crops, pastures, and gardens. Learn more about how to improve soil quality with Mineralyte.
Use Rotational Grazing
Rotational grazing relieves pressure on stressed vegetation so your animals have a more consistent grazing supply. This carefully managed approach to grazing improves the quality of your pastures, more evenly distributes plant-boosting manure around your land, and helps keep soil covered.
Keep Soil Covered
Bare ground loses more moisture than covered ground through evaporation into the air and can actually lower your water table. Here are some tips for keeping your soil covered to improve your land’s water-holding capacity:
- Leave crop residue (conservation tillage) after harvesting crops
- Plant cover crops
- Try permaculture or agroforestry practices
Go No-Till or Low-Till
Soil moisture loss increases the deeper and more frequently you till your ground. Many farmers are turning to regenerative ag practices of either no-tilling or very low depth tilling to help keep hard-earned nutrients and moisture on their land.
Drought Proof Your Farm with Redmond
Since the 1950s, Redmond has supported healthy farms all across the country. Our unique sea mineral and volcanic deposits in central Utah are the foundation of a wide family of products. With electrolyte mixes for you, your soil, and your animals, Redmond can help your entire farm thrive.
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