grazing in drought

In a drought, we watch for mineral deficiencies. Dry soil is dormant soil - the soil biota shut down when there's not enough water. That means there's less of the biological activity that makes minerals bioavailable, so even when the grass is growing, it has to do it with fewer micronutrients. Without those trace minerals, many of the valuable phytochemicals that make for healthy plants - and healthy grazing animals - can't be constructed.

We were worried about breeding this year - between the heat and the mineral deficiencies, we thought the cows might not settle. So we really celebrated when all the pregchecks came back positive except one - the little heifer we hoped wouldn't get bred. Nature never makes a mistake, but she's also never overlooks one of ours. It's good to see that our all-grass animals can maintain their own fertility during a drought.