Restoring a pasture after a drought requires rest, management and targeted reseeding. This is especially true since we have experienced our second year in a row of drought conditions.
Now that rainfall has returned to our area — and hopefully we will get some more in the next few weeks — we need to give pastures a few weeks to green up before evaluating the damage. We should avoid rushing to renovate, as many grasses appear dead but are only dormant. Even yards that were brown and crunchy have started to green up again.
Assess the pasture damage after the regrowth has started. Damage is assigned in three classes. Minor damage is when less than 30% of the stand is lost. These stands will likely recover well with proper rest, fertilization and weed control.
Moderate damage will have a 30% to 60% stand loss. These pastures will probably need reseeding and fertilizer to make a full recovery, as well as some weed control and grazing management.
Severe damage is when more than 60% of the grass stand is lost due to drought. These pastures may require a complete renovation, including killing the existing stand and reseeding, starting completely over.
Management
Regardless of the damage level your pastures may have, several management steps are critical for helping pastures bounce back after drought. Rest is vital to pastures to allow plants to rebuild their root systems and energy reserves.
Use a sacrifice area, such as a feeding area or sacrifice pasture, to feed hay and reduce stress. Once recovered, let grass get to between 6 to 10 inches before resuming grazing and incorporating rotational grazing practices.
The next step is to test and fertilize the soil, as weakened plants struggle to access soil nutrients. First, prioritize Phosphorus (P) to stimulate root growth which is critical for a strong, fast recovery of the pasture. Potassium (K) is the nutrient that helps plants resist stress, including future droughts. Nitrogen (N) needs to be applied only when moisture is present to avoid losing it to runoff.
Wait until plants have regrown in height before applying nitrogen. Adjusting soil pH can also improve fertilizer efficiency.
Make sure that you aggressively control weeds after drought. Weeds can easily move into sparse, stressed pastures and compete with desirable forage for limited water and nutrients. Timely application of herbicides when weeds are small and actively growing is most effective.
For best results, apply herbicides after the drought has broken, not when plants are dormant. Targeted grazing can be an effective control method for weeds, too.
Renovation options
There are options for pasture renovation after drought. If the stand is moderately damaged but still has a number of desirable plants, interseeding can help fill in thin areas.
Adding legumes such as red and white clover or alfalfa can be excellent choices as they fix nitrogen in the soil. Using a no-till drill is often the best way to interseed as it maximizes seed-to-soil contact and reduces competition. Frost seeding red and white clovers in late winter takes advantage of the freeze-thaw cycles to work the seed into the soils and is also a good renovation practice.
Severely drought-damaged pastures may need to be completely renovated and maybe the most economical long-term solution. The first step in total renovation is to eliminate the existing, low-quality forage and weed population either using tillage or herbicides or maybe a combination of both.
The next step is to create a smooth, firm seedbed before planting. Select a high-quality, drought-tolerant pasture seed mix for the region you are located in. Some good options include tall fescue, orchardgrass and legumes. Once new pasture plantings are established, carefully manage grazing during the first year to allow the new plants to establish a deep, resilient root system.
Hopefully, we will not have another drought next year. But if we do, consider the old saying, what happens once happens twice happens three times.
There are some ways to be prepared for future droughts. Improve soil health by increasing organic matter in your soil to improve its structure and water-holding capacity. Regular mowing will help control weeds and promotes a more resilient pasture. Make sure that you use the proper stocking rate with your livestock to avoid overgrazing, which weakens pastures and their root systems. Lastly, plan ahead and store enough hay to last through the next potential drought.
