Keeping Today’s Drought from Becoming Tomorrow’s Problem

Across the prairies, many producers are facing extreme drought conditions. As many regions start to declare agricultural states of emergency, and with little rain in the forecast, it can feel as though producers are faced with making immediate decisions that can have long-term impacts on farm productivity and profitability.   “During a drought, feed resources are the limiting factor and producers have some tough decisions to make around finding feed or culling the herd to ensure cattle maintain a proper body condition score,” says Dr. John Campbell, veterinarian and professor in the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine. While it might seem tempting to allow cows to drop a condition score, Dr. Bart Lardner, Ministry of Agriculture Strategic Research Program Chair in Cow-Calf and Forage Systems and professor at the University of Saskatchewan, reminds producers that this can cause long-term issues such as reproductive wrecks in the f