Preserving pastures during drought?

[SugarCubes]

I’m in the midwest and haven’t had to deal with this in years past but we’re having a tough year rain-wise and the pastures are suffering. My pastures look like they would normally look in late August and there is hardly any new growth, it’s mostly gone dormant due to extreme heat and no rain. I’ve been limiting my two horses to a few hours per day, but I’m afraid unless we start getting rain I’m not going to have grass left…

What is the best management in this situation? Keep them in their drylots or limit turnout to just a couple of hours? Is there anything I can do to “help” the grass? I’ve thought about setting out a few sprinklers and moving them throughout the day so at least some areas of the pasture grow. The hay situation in my area is dire as well, I’ve bought all the hay I can store but even that won’t get me until next spring. UGH…come on rain!!!

[Madhouse]

I’m not sure how big you pastures are - I’m assuming sprinklers wouldn’t be effective.

We let our horses over graze our pastures last year. I’m afraid it will take a few years for them to recover completely - We have a lot more weeds and the horse-preferred grass varieties are mostly gone. I would recommend using the dry lot - Unfortunately that doesn’t help your hay supply.

Good luck.

[bangboombaby]

a sprinkler system like k-line irrigation is easy to move around for a large field. or you can get a bunch so you don’t have to move them. they are horse safe.

[S1969]

I can’t imagine using a sprinkler to water my pastures. For one thing, it would probably drain my well, which would be worse than having no grass. But I can’t really imagine it being worth the cost to irrigate versus feed hay. I only have about 4 acres of pasture but it’s been very dry here. To give it enough water that it can actually grow/recover for grazing during a drought must require a lot of water when it’s hot and dry.

The only thing you can really do to preserve them is to limit grazing. I’m not really limiting grazing now but know that I am just trading one problem for another…grass eaten now means feeding more hay sooner…

[SugarCubes]

@S1969

The only thing you can really do to preserve them is to limit grazing. I’m not really limiting grazing now but know that I am just trading one problem for another…grass eaten now means feeding more hay sooner…

Exactly! There’s the rub…limit pasture turnout now and go through more hay or let them graze down my pastures. UGH.

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

I vote limit pastures now and feed more hay. Sorry. But it will cost more in the long run to have to redo the pasture.

[moving_to_dc]

Limit grazing. Or ELIMINATE grazing.

The barn I manage over grazed their pastures for over a decade. The pastures were nothing but “green dirt”. I was finally allowed to get Soil Conservation out last summer, and develop a plan to revitalize the pastures. I have kept the horses COMPLETELY OFF the fields for just over a year now, about 14 months, and the fields are finally starting to look good. It is not a quick process to bring the field back from abuse…

[TCA_Arabians]

Not sure how large a space you’re talking about. You can make or buy some spigots that water in a 50’ radius. Water at night and rotate sections. You likely wouldn’t need to do it all that much to regenerate growth and mimic natural rain.
I agree with pulling the horses off it for awhile. Look around for some feed and stock up now.

[Guilherme]

Irrigation is about the only thing you can do to assist growth during drought times.

To protect your stand you may have to limit grazing, mowing, etc. until Mother Nature decides to make it rain.

G.

[fjordmom]

Limit/eliminate grazing the pasture and feed hay in the dry lot instead. In the end that will be the most cost effective and healthier both for your horses and your pastures. If you need to make your hay feedings last, consider using small hole hay nets. They will extend the feeding time and greatly save on waste.

“Irrigating”, that means truly deep watering of 1" or more of water per week, will take a lot of work, water, and well power. If you can’t fully do the job, you’ll only encourage the development of shallow roots. It may look green, but the grass will not really be equipped to handle long term stress and once you start irrigating, you will have to keep it up for the season or until you have gotten adequate rain.

Also consider that stressed grass is high NSC grass. If your horse has any tendency toward insulin resistance or laminitis, this is not grass you want them grazing on.

We’re in the upper Midwest too. It has been horribly dry. We got a teaser rain about a week ago, just enough to green thing for a day or two, but it’s drying up fast again. Showers predicted for tomorrow. Right now, when I’m not on my knees looking to the cloudless sky, I’m doing the best, most powerful rain dance I can muster. Bring on the rain, please!

[SugarCubes]

Thanks, all. Good point about irrigating, @fjordmom. It would no doubt turn into an endless chore that still wouldn’t yield great results. Looks like I’ll be continuing my rain dance and drastically limiting turnout :no:. I’m SO not used to this! I’m usually begging the horses to eat more grass so I don’t have to mow as often in the summer! What a weird year weather-wise we’ve had.

[Jealoushe]

I have a similar issue…I have been using a sprinkler every night I have a really excellent well so no worries there.

I also dump all the buckets in the AM into the pasture if there is anything left in the,…every little bit helps. My guys also have a choice to eat round bales…they pick between the grass and hay all day.

[Jarpur]

During the drought years here, we kept our horses on a dry-lot, with hay in slow feed nets. Paid more for hay during that time than ever before, or since (and prices have never gone down to pre-drought levels).

We sectioned off a small piece (about 3500 s.f.), which we were able to keep irrigated with a hose and sprinkler system (we have a good well). This allowed us to turn the horses onto this tiny bit of green, for anywhere from 10-15 minutes to twice that, depending upon how the grass was doing. Just this miniscule amount of grazing seemed to be worthwhile, and they kept their good attitudes.

Our pastures survived, and the grass (mainly mixed native grasses; we’ve over-seeded several times over the years with a native pasture mix) came back well, when the rains eventually returned; various neighbors who allowed their pastures to be grazed down to dirt didn’t fare so well.

[SugarCubes]

@Jealoushe

I have a similar issue…I have been using a sprinkler every night I have a really excellent well so no worries there.

I also dump all the buckets in the AM into the pasture if there is anything left in the,…every little bit helps. My guys also have a choice to eat round bales…they pick between the grass and hay all day.

Hmmm…we’re surprisingly on city water so running a sprinkler would actually be feasible.

@Jarpur

During the drought years here, we kept our horses on a dry-lot, with hay in slow feed nets. Paid more for hay during that time than ever before, or since (and prices have never gone down to pre-drought levels).

We sectioned off a small piece (about 3500 s.f.), which we were able to keep irrigated with a hose and sprinkler system (we have a good well). This allowed us to turn the horses onto this tiny bit of green, for anywhere from 10-15 minutes to twice that, depending upon how the grass was doing. Just this miniscule amount of grazing seemed to be worthwhile, and they kept their good attitudes.

Our pastures survived, and the grass (mainly mixed native grasses; we’ve over-seeded several times over the years with a native pasture mix) came back well, when the rains eventually returned; various neighbors who allowed their pastures to be grazed down to dirt didn’t fare so well.

That’s a good idea! My guys tend to get very grumpy when locked in their dry lots, and need to graze for their sanity. I have my pastures split up, if I close all of the gates, my smallest section is only about 3/4 of an acre which wouldn’t be too hard to irrigate. Will have to research sprinklers and see if it’s worth it to try.

We got a little teaser shower yesterday. Sky was black and thunder rumbled all day long, we probably got a total of 30 minutes of light rain throughout the day. Better than nothing

[Palm_Beach]

Agree that grazing needs to be eliminated once the pastures are grazed down and there is no regrowth due to lack of rain.

[Jarpur]

@SugarCubes

Hmmm…we’re surprisingly on city water so running a sprinkler would actually be feasible.

That’s a good idea! My guys tend to get very grumpy when locked in their dry lots, and need to graze for their sanity. I have my pastures split up, if I close all of the gates, my smallest section is only about 3/4 of an acre which wouldn’t be too hard to irrigate. Will have to research sprinklers and see if it’s worth it to try.

We got a little teaser shower yesterday. Sky was black and thunder rumbled all day long, we probably got a total of 30 minutes of light rain throughout the day. Better than nothing

It was amazing how the horses appreciated just a few minutes grazing. On days the little grass patch could withstand grazing, they’d get turned out on it and yet willingly be called back to the dry lot when their time was up; on days they had to stay off of it, they’d line up at the fence looking longingly at the green (didn’t get grumpy just a bit sad-faced). I really felt it was worthwhile to make the effort for them - just a little something seemed to make a difference.

[DMK]

During the drought here in the SE a few years ago it was pretty awful. Most people fed hay in summer like they expected to in winter and by September what little “local” hay actually grew enough to get baled (and by local I mean w/in a 500 mile radius) was gone and we were poaching your midwest hay for premium prices (call me shocked - the price of hay has not gone back down since).

My pastures were absolutely awful going into winter and I thought they were toast. But the next few years were average/above average rain (or at least well timed rain, which is half the battle) so they had a fighting chance to recover. What I did end up spending my money on was weed killer (Pasture Pro) since what really got a strong hold (of course) were the weeds. It’s been a few years and they are looking halfway decent this year, although I did end up with a lot of garbage grass (foxtail, perennial rye) that weed killer isn’t going to get rid of. Here’s hoping this fall is kind to my fescue overseed plans…

[SugarCubes]

@Jarpur Yes! That’s the same look I get, not necessarily grumpy but they look like the saddest horses that ever lived while they stand at the gate staring at the pasture. Then, I remind them they could go back to trainer’s barn where the ONLY turnout was tiny gravel paddocks and hope they realize how good they have it at home :lol:

@DMK The hay situation here is getting scary. From what I’ve heard, many of our local suppliers are already shipping truckloads out west for upwards of $15/bale and what they’ve been getting this year is about half of what they got last year (and last year was bad too!).

That’s reassuring to hear about your pastures, at this point I’m mostly weeds too. Our property is for sale, so I’m hoping it’s not my problem to have to deal with next year but I do plan on having someone out this fall to spray and seed if we’re still here. And YES, please Mother Nature, give us a nice fall conducive to seeding