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Major symptoms of drought-stressed plants are slow orstunted growth, yellow-brown leaf color, and sometimes curled grass leaves or wilted legume stems.
This will negatively affect plant growth and ultimately animal performance, resulting in economic loss. Here are several ways to beat summer slump for forages and pastures.

1. Plan ahead. Nobody knows exactly what kind of summer weather we will have but producers should prepare for the worst scenario from hot and dry weather conditions.

2. Leave 3 to 4 inches residual. Close grazing in early spring leaving a 2-inch residual helps pastures prepare for summer slump by encouraging grasses to tiller and thickening the stand. As the summer slump approaches, leave more residues (approximately 3 to 4 inches).

3. Stretch grazing rotations. In spring, pasture paddocks are rotated more frequently (every 20 days) due to fast plant growth. However, hot and dry summer conditions result in slower forage
growth. Therefore, paddock rotations should be stretched to every 35 to 40 days. This will give each paddock more time to recover and allow for more residues to cover the soil.

4. Graze hay fields as needed. During the summer slump period, grazers can bring other hay fields into the pasture system if they start to run out of pasture.

5. Consider warm-season annuals or perennials. Whencool-season forages are in a summer slump, warm- season annuals (sorghum-sudangrass or millets) and
perennials (switchgrass) were still able to grow.

6. Watch your fertilizer. Fertilizing pasture with nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium at green-up and after first and second grazing cycles prior to dry conditions will help it survive a drought
better than poorly fertilized pasture by having healthy stands and roots.

7. Restore drought-damaged pasture. Do not graze too early or overgraze drought-damaged plants too soon. If pasture is grazed soon after the drought is over, there won’t be enough plant materials left for photosynthesis.

8. Extend the grazing season. Last thing to consider is how to replace lost summer forage yield due to dry weather. Consider a fall annual forage crop like brassicas (forage rape, turnip, or kale) or small grain forage to extend the grazing season and reduce the need for supplemental feeding of harvested forage.

Electric fences are now being used to ward off bears in Lincoln County – and for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks’ bear management specialist Kim Annis,  the fences are an effective way to prevent conflicts with people.

The fences have already been installed at two Libby homes, Annis said.

Annis said electric fencing is one of her primary tools in resolving bear conflicts in the area because they are simple and effective. Residents living in bear country can use fencing by participating in a loan program that allows for the use of a temporary electric fence for the spring, summer or fall seasons. Prior bear conflicts are not necessary to obtain a fence, as the goal is prevention not correction. 

“We work for the residents and the bears,” Annis said. “We don’t want to chase conflicts around as they happen, but prevent them before they do. Electric fencing does work and it can work for more situations than people may be aware of.” 

The loan program may be a temporary source of prevention; however, through the efforts of the Fish, Wildlife & Parks and Defenders of Wildlife, a non-profit organization, a long-term solution is available. Defenders of Wildlife will reimburse 50 percent of costs associated with electric fencing used to protect bear attractants, with a limit of $500. The organization has helped more than 100 residents with fences in the past four years.

Libby resident, Joel Chandler, had a fence installed by Annis three weeks ago. Chandler doesn’t have fully enclosed indoor location to store his trash, so Annis loaned and installed a 50-foot electrified net fence and energizer for bear prevention. 

“The fence works great,” Chandler said. “It went from a constant problem to no problem at all.” 

While more people are becoming aware of the electric fencing program, the reason for the program is perhaps the most important preventative measure.  

“Bears are one-time learners,” Annis said. “All it takes is for them to get into a person’s trash, one time, and they know they can get it again. It is like learning your ABC’s, once you know it, you know it.” 

With bears learning and adapting to easily accessible food sources, such as trash and fruit trees, the level of conflict rises. As bears continually find food sources near residences, they move closer to the homes and create potentially dangerous situations. Bears that constantly appear near residences are often euthanized, which leaves the issue unresolved as other bears will be attracted to the same food sources. 

“Getting rid of the bears is not the solution, it’s a band aid,” Annis said. “Another bear will find the trash and start the same process over again. The only way to keep bears wild is to prevent this situation in the first place.” 

Fruit trees, gardens, garbage containers, dog kennels, chicken coops, compost piles and storage sheds are all typical bear attractants.  Some of these attractants, such as trees and livestock cannot be moved to prevent bears from accessing them, hence the need for electric fencing.  Fencing can be created and set up in numerous ways that make it usable for almost any area. 

Erin Edge, a Defenders of Wildlife representative, wrote about the possibility of peace between humans and bears in a commentary published in the Western News earlier this summer.  

“With a little effort it is possible for both bears and people to live together on this land,” Edge said. “Electric fencing allows bears to move through western Montana without coming into conflict and keeps people and their property safe.”

Every situation is handled differently when Annis is called to assess potential or present bear conflicts. However, the goal of bear prevention conflict techniques remains the same - to protect both bears and humans. 

Pasture management is dependent on three basic areas of animal control:

1. Control of the area to be grazed.
2. Control of the number of animals to be grazed.
3. Control of the grazing time.

These three controls are fundamental to any pasture management programme.

Control of the area to be grazed
Control of a grazing area is achieved economically with Gallagher power fence systems, using either permanent or portable fences. Fencing allows specific areas of pasture to be grazed, while ensuring other pasture areas rest and re-grow.

When a pasture is rested, the plants " tiller " or produce leafy shoots from the base of the plant. Tillering produces high quality, palatable pasture. To encourage these shoots to grow, regular but controlled grazing is required.

Control of the number of animal numbers to be grazed
This control factor determines the stocking density of the grazing area. The stocking density is the number of animals in a given grazing area for a stated point of time. Stocking density determines how efficiently the available pasture is grazed.

Control of the grazing time 
Control of the grazing time, determines the annual production of the pasture area. It is important that the plants are not grazed down too low, as the leaves are required for the process of photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is vital for the plant itself to grow and feed its own root system. Good root reserves are needed to provide healthy tillering and leaf growth.

Pasture that is maintained at the tillering stage is young, lush, green pasture with high protein and high energy levels.

Farm animals have a very acute sense of taste and smell and will only eat pasture 4-6 weeks after dung and urine have been deposited.

Subdivision with high stocking density of pasture ensures animal manure is spread more evenly over the whole grazing area.

To achieve quality pasture rotational/controlled grazing is the preferred grazing method. Rotational/controlled grazing involves grazing paddocks in rotation by shifting the power fence regularly to allow the stock an allocated ration. The stock are contained by both a front and a back fence. The back fence protects the recently-grazed area to allow it to recover so it can be grazed again at a later stage.

Set stocking can also be used to successfully manage pastures, however, care must be taken to achieve the right balance between the number of animals contained in a grazing area and the length of grazing time. The grazing area or paddocks generally vary in size. Set stocking should be done for each, individual paddock. Large paddocks, can be fenced off into smaller more manageable grazing areas, with a portable power fence.