Goats benefit from a little drought

This map shows drought conditions across the U.S. on May 22, 2012.

Conditions range from Abnormaly Dry (yellow) to 

Exceptional Drought (dark brown).

 

I just knew when I checked the U.S. Drought Monitor this morning that northwest Mississippi would be under a dark brown Exceptional Drought alert. I was surprised, however, that we are just Abnormally Dry. Our area is 12 inches behind in rainfall this year and my pastures are beginning to show it. Fortunately we had plenty of spring moisture and early warm weather, so our pastures were knee deep in grass by the end of March. With only about 100 head of goats on 175 acres, they have made only a slight dent in the forage.

The forage that is out there has a low moisture content, which makes for better grazing. As the grasses dry, the nutrient content condenses; in a normal year, our grass is probably 90 percent water. It's a lot harder for the goats to get the nutrition they need from such high-moisture grasses.

There was an article in this month's Stockman Grass Farmer about the benefit of feeding good hay to cattle while they are grazing on high-moisture pastures. It helps with nutrition and digestion. The same thing probably holds true for goats. Right now, however, I literally have "standing hay" in some areas. I guess it is good for the goats because they sure look good right now.

The dry weather also has helped with the fly problems. A month ago I had to keep fly traps out and spray occasionally around the lounging areas to control the flies. For the past week I have noticed that the flies are not nearly as bad. All the mud holes have dried up too, so that has helped with the mosquitoes.

When raising goats, some dry weather is beneficial. I just hope Mother Nature doesn't go to any extremes.