Livestock Management After the Drought - November 28th at OSU Extension

By Eric Barrett

The drought of 2007 was one of the worst on record for local farmers – but most significantly on livestock farmers due to losing over half of the pasture and hay crops in the Mid-Ohio Valley.
 
Starting with the April freeze, pastures and hayfields were off to a bad start and never really recovered.  The even more extreme drought situations in the south increased the demand for area hay early in the summer, which only added to an already high demand for an unusually low supply.  This has created hay prices well above what farmers can afford to pay in order to feed their livestock.
 
Thus, feeding cattle and other livestock this winter is going to be a daunting task for area farmers.  That’s why OSU Extension is sponsoring a ‘Managing Livestock – After the Drought’ meeting on Wednesday, November 28.
 
The program will help farmers look into every possible option for keeping livestock healthy and growing this winter.

Bill Weiss, OSU Extension Livestock Nutritionist will be the featured presenter.  Dr. Weiss will cover the details of distillers grains coming out of all of the ethanol plants and how it might be used to feed livestock in the area.  He will also cover other options for alternative feeds.
 
Chris Penrose, from OSU Extension in Morgan County, will then present information on post-drought management including the idea of feeding corn instead of hay – because it’s much cheaper.  Chris will also cover reseeding and restoring drought damaged pastures come late winter and spring.
 
To finish the evening, local representatives from USDA and Soil & Water will present a round table on everything from assistance programs to tax issues dealing with the drought.
 
The evening will begin at 6:00pm with refreshments co-sponsored by Seaman’s General Merchandise & Green Valley Cooperative.  The program will be held at the OSU Extension office in Marietta at 202 Davis Avenue, near Marietta High School and the District 10 ODOT building.

For a copy of the flyer, click here:
http://washington.osu.edu/ag/drought-management-program