Drought Management
By David Everhart
Representing the Colorado Section of the Society for Range Management
High School Youth Forum – Spokane, Washington – February 2012
Abstract
The Webster definition of drought is a prolonged period of dryness. Drought has a severe
impact on rangeland ecosystems. There are no easy ways for ranchers to combat drought.
Rangeland plants are drought tolerant to some extent. Drought works in cycles of varying
duration. Drought is measured in five stages with each stage getting dryer. Drought can also
affect the lives of the people who depend on the land for their livelihood. Drought cannot be
avoided; some places have it more often than others but at some point in time almost everywhere
will have or has had a drought.
Introduction
Many people know that we are in a drought, but do these people know what a drought is
and the affects that it has on different environments? Many people do not know how severe
drought can be and how it affects different parts of our country. Central Texas was in an
extreme drought in 2011. This resulted in the loss of dollars worth of agriculture products. The
purpose of this paper is to provide information about drought and how ranchers can plan ahead to
deal with and survive this kind of crisis.
Meaning of Drought
The Webster definition of drought is a prolonged period of dryness; then it goes on to
say, one that causes extensive damage to crops or prevents their successful growth. That
definition is too basic because there is much more to drought than simply defining it as “dry
weather!” But to have a little bit of declaration with what I have found is that the definitory
drought is dependent on the climate of the location being referred to. Different places receive
different amounts of moisture and the rangeland vegetation expresses that long term precipitation
pattern. The rangelands of eastern Colorado and central Texas don’t receive as much moisture
as do the rangelands of states further east. The vegetation on these semi-arid rangelands is
adapted to dry growing conditions and so the declaration of the drought take longer to occur.
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Whereas, in more moist environments, a short dry spell could mean drought when precipitation
is below normal for only a few weeks. This is because the rangeland plants of moist
environments are adapted to a climate that delivers reliable and higher amounts of precipitation,
and when even a relatively short dry spell occurs the plants are negatively affected.
Effects of Drought
Whether in a semi-arid or moist environments, drought has severe impacts on rangeland
ecosystems.
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Vegetation production is reduced
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Plant mortality increases
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Amount of bare ground increases
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Soil erosion become more prevalent

Opportunities for rangeland fires increase
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Forage value declines due to longer dormant periods

Livestock carrying capacity decreases

Ranchers cull heavily to avoid having to feed livestock (feeding in a drought is VERY
uneconomical)
When in drought plant life has little energy to survive. Plants start to draw energy from their
roots, leaves and stems to support growth. The main parts of the plants become dry and brittle.
When this happens it is relatively easy to start fires that can spread quickly. Also when the
conditions are like this the grasses do not contain much food value for the livestock and the
wildlife in the area of the drought. The effects take their toll on livestock nutrition because the
forage that they have been eating does not have the same amount of food value. The result is
that some ranchers may have to supplement protein to make up for the reduced quality of the
rangeland forage.
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Combat the Drought with Drought Planning
There are no easy ways for ranchers to combat drought. Cow-calf operators can cull their
herd or supplement with hay. From the rangeland side of things it is better to cull so that there is
less pressure on the land and on the rancher. The rancher’s view point is usually holding on to
the best animals to maintain the best genetics while supplementing hay for a minimal amount of
time to avoid losing too much money, There is not an ideal way to deal with drought. It depends
on the locale of the ranch, the duration of the drought and what the rancher can afford to do
while properly caring for the rangeland. This is where drought management planning becomes a
must; Planning ahead enables ranchers to be proactive rather than reactive in making the
necessary drought decisions. Andy Welch manages his family’s ranch in southeast Colorado.
Regarding drought planning Andy states:
“Ahead of drought our grazing rotation system is a great help to get through dry periods.
It stockpiles grass ahead of you. So if I can stockpile grass out ahead of my grazing herd, then I
can use it later on. During drought we've got planned destocking. Rotation grazing and timely
destocking help after drought because the grass can respond faster and come back quicker”.
Andy has these recommendations for ranchers making drought plans:

Don't assume precipitation will immediately make grass

Consider a rest rotation grazing system

Make a destocking plan ahead of time and write it down

Make decisions based on current conditions
Drought Tolerant Plants: Natures Drought Plan
All of the native rangeland plants are drought tolerant to some extent. This is true
because they have persisted for thousands of years and have gone through many droughts. Some
native plants are more tolerant of dry conditions than others. This is nature’s design for a
drought plan. As certain plants become weaken and leave the plant community other natives are
ready to return to take their place as growing conditions become more favorable. Proper grazing
management is then needed to insure that nature’s drought plan is successful.
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In my home county of Pueblo a serious problem is that drought weakened plants have a
hard time fighting off invasive plants when they have been over grazed following drought.
These invasive plants are kochia, Russian thistle, bindweed, Russian knapweed, Canada thistle
and leafy spurge. A good way of telling if someone is managing their grass well following
drought is if they have mostly native plants and only a minimal amount of invasive plants. After
this happens it takes time to reverse this and could require months or years and thousands of
dollars to take care of the problems. Although are native plants have been around for thousands
of years due to their tolerance of drought, they are still fragile and exist in a brittle environment.
This mandates that ranchers implement proper grazing management before, during and after
drought! This will insure that these naturally drought tolerant plants will be here for the future
farmers and ranchers.
Drought Cycle
Drought works in cycles. It can be a long cycle or a short cycle; some places are
fortunate and go through drought that last only a couple years at a time. Some drought cycles can
last up to 20 years depending on the El Niño and La Niña cycles. El Niño is the warm cycle
involving the heating of the water in the Pacific Ocean. La Niña is the cooling of the Pacific
Ocean water. Drought cycles are predicted by historical data. Using this data helps climatologists
predict what will happen based on historical accounts of when droughts occurred and how long
they lasted. Drought is currently occurring in southern Colorado where my family farms. I have
been told that it is a 20 year drought. This cycle started in 2000; and so we are just over half way
out. We may be in a 20 year drought, but we still have good years and years that are very dry.
This up and down roller-coaster is part of the longer cycle. We are thankful when a good year
comes around and try to not get overly optimistic that the drought may have ended!
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Drought is Measured by Severity
Drought is measured in five stages with each stage getting dryer. This measure of the
severity of drought is based on the U.S. Drought Monitor. This information is based on
measurements of precipitation that are tweaked to reflect real-world conditions as reported by
numerous experts throughout the country.
The first state that drought is measured in is not really drought; an area could be in this
state for very short period of time such as a week or two and that would be the abnormally dry
stage. The next stage is moderate drought; it can still be a short term drought and last a few
weeks to months but it is also serous and can take its toll. The next stage of drought is the severe
drought; usually once you get to this stage, from what I have seen archived, is that once you
reach this point you typically go to the next stage of drought. The next stage of drought is
extreme drought and it is very extensive and takes a big toll on corps and livestock. The final
stage of drought is exceptional drought. This is the worst condition. In this stage an area has not
received any rain for several mouths. The condition of the land shows a major lack of water for
plant growth and domestic uses. The result is widespread crop & pasture losses and shortages of
water in reservoirs, streams and well. Refer to the table below for a description of the possible
impacts of each drought category.
Category Description
Possible Impacts
D0
Abnormally Going into drought: short-term dryness slowing planting, growth
of crops or pastures. Coming out of drought: some lingering water
Dry
deficits; pastures or crops not fully recovered
D1
Moderate Some damage to crops, pastures; streams, reservoirs, or wells low,
some water shortages developing or imminent; voluntary waterDrought use restrictions requested
D2
D3
D4
Severe
Drought
Extreme
Drought
Exceptional
Drought
Crop or pasture losses likely; water shortages common; water
restrictions imposed
Major crop/pasture losses; widespread water shortages or
restrictions
Exceptional and widespread crop/pasture losses; shortages of
water in reservoirs, streams, and wells creating water emergencies
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Personal Impacts of Drought on the Well-being of Ranching
Families
Drought has an enormous impact on the rangeland. However, it can also affect the lives
of the people who depend on the land for their livelihood.
Some symptoms could be:






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Depression
Anxiety
Family disputes
Arguing
Stress
Feelings of loss of control over the situation
Financial burden
These affects can be devastating to a family. However, in spite of this, our ranchers and farmers
continue to persist.
Conclusion
Drought is something that cannot be avoided. Some places experience drought more
often than others but at some point in time almost everywhere will have a drought. At these
points in time it is important how ranchers manage their rangeland so they do not have as many
problems and their grassland is sustained for the future. Drought is not something that can be
avoided, but it is something that can be managed. It is not always easy to manage, for some it is
harder than the others. But proper drought planning is important. Some ranchers have to cut
their stocking rate while others provide supplemental feed. Drought has been a periodic
occurrence in the past and will undoubtedly continue to be in the future. If ranchers properly plan
and manage for drought, and not over graze their rangeland, the result will be sustainable
rangelands for the future generations.
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Bibliography
Berlinger, Ben, personal interview, 2011
" Managing Drought Risk on the Ranch." National Drought Mitigation Center. Great Plains
Examples, n.d. Web. 1 Dec 2011.
<http://www.drought.unl.edu/ranchplan/WriteaPlan/SampleDroughtPlans/SouthernColor
adoWelchRanch.asp&xgt;.
NOAA's El Niño Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Nov 2011.
<http://www.elnino.noaa.gov/>.
. U.S. Drought Monitor. N.p., November 22, 2011. Web. October,17.
<http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/>.
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