Drought

Drought plan/wet weather/ winter recovery plan and steps for recovery

* Get some hay and/ or haylage in if you don't have long stalky grass and get neds off the land and into a sacrifice area with forage. Ideally, use a netted round bale so you can mulch with the hay wastage and utilise all the seeds that fall from it, thus having a plan to restore your sacrifice area .... Oh and throw some Cocksfoot seeds in when they're off

* If you have long stalky grass, you lucky buggers! But do rotate and rest paddocks more frequently

* Deny access to pasture when grass is 3 to 4 inches high (or less), and dont allow them access until grass grows to 6 to 8 inches. Leave leaf otherwise you will get weeds and sugary "laminitic risk" regrowth.

* Exiting drought with stressed grass means much less chance of recovery of a diverse sward, people will tell you "it always recovers" but here's the thing ..... many species may have been lost and that is a tragedy. Loss of a diverse sward means less supply of varied nutrients to your ned, and mostly the evil rye survives .... and who wants to feed an expensive supplement? Not me!

* Overgrazing during drought leads to soil erosion, compaction, low fertility and weeds. However, if the soil is baked and cracked, that can be viewed as a good thing .... It's a natural form of aeration to get oxygen in and saves you spiking it

* Lack of moisture suppresses plant growth as roots can't take moisture and nutrients from soil.

* To survive, grass relies on leaves to capture solar energy and manufacture sugars through the process of photosynthesis (remember basic biology in school), so neds grazing taking the leaves and their hoof traffic during drought will further weaken grass. Remember, growth is ALREADY limited by the drought, without grazing neds, preventing photosynthesis and with their hooves compacting the ground, blocking oxygen to the soil.

* Leave some leaf behind for rebounding and photosynthesis

* Leave some leaf behind as leaves shade the ground and reduce evaporation of soil moisture

* Give pastures longer rest periods, subdivide and rotate paddocks to do this

* Stay on top of weed invasions in recovery. Consider spot spraying, rather than blanket spraying as you will destroy all the beneficial living organisms in the soil. Weeds steal sunlight, soil nutrients and water from desirable pasture plants. Mow and mulch your weeds so the thieves can work your land for you by giving back what they stole. Remember the lovely long taproots of some aerate the soil! Mowing and spot spraying is cheap

* Provide a MINERAL and salt lick ..... Vital, non negotiable

* Coming Out of a drought assess what's survived. Some pastures will recover with rest, restricted grazing, and fertilisation. Others may require complete renovation and or overseeding

* Resist the urge to graze immediately. Moisture alone won't overcome drought stress. Plants use their energy stores to survive drought and need a period of recovery to replenish their energy stores BEFORE they establish new root growth. Complete rest is the most effective and fastest way for pastures to recover. Ideally, pastures should rest for an entire growing season. Don't we all wish we could do that ! But we have to be realistic ....

* Delay rotational grazing until plants become established in the first paddock you use

* Apply fertilizer if appropriate but not until moisture levels are up, otherwise it will deplete moisture further and burn the grass ......but don't put any chemical fertiliser on without knowing whats needed. If you've been saving your muck, throw it on, it's fertiliser, organic matter being returned and hence "black gold" that will help sustain a permaculture ..... And it's free!

* Overseed in Early Autumn if a lot of grass hasn't survived. Note., it's always better to overseed Autumn, not Spring due to dry summer periods. Consider adding some legumes in your overseed to naturally fertilise the soil by fixing in nitrogen, if you've wrecked your land by overgrazing during drought. Oh and don't forget to add some Cocksfoot seed too, it is tolerant of drought, can survive being quite closely grazed, is low starch and carb and is a deep rooted grass plant that can help aerate soil and not be dragged out by its root in winter or summer. Rest. Lovely jubbly!