Episode #38: Drought Information with Stacey Domolewski (BCRC)

Stacey Domolewski is a Research and Innovation Coordinator with the Beef Cattle Research Council.  She grew up on a cow/calf operation in Southern Alberta and received both her Bachelors and Masters of Animal Science at the University of Saskatchewan.  Stacey now lives on a grain farm near Maple Creek, Saskatchewan.

At the Beef Cattle Research Council Stacey works primarily in the areas of forage, environment, and cattle feeding and feed grains. Her role involves both being involved with research funding and the development and maintenance of the extensive resources available on beefresearch.ca.

According to the map on the Government of Canada’s Canadian Drought Monitor, as of June 23, 2023, close to half of Canada is currently abnormally dry or in moderate drought conditions.  Further to that, there are pockets in BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec, New Brunswick and the Northwest Territories that are currently either in severe or extreme drought. Especially in the prairie provinces, the drought situation has worsened in the past month.  The Beef Cattle Research Council released an online article on June 16th titled, “Facing Drought? Six things Beef Producers Can Focus On” and another on Aug 18th, 2021 titled, “Decision Making During Drought.”  The links for both BCRC articles and the Drought Monitor are available below.

The ideas shared in this episode from the above mentioned article are feed inventory and feed testing; including potentially dangerous substances and supplementation.  We also discuss ideas for alternative feeds, water testing, culling, dry lotting and early weaning.  Further to these topics, we discuss proactive steps to drought planning and how critical rain dates can assist in making big decisions.

We know this can be a very stressful and emotional time for producers.  Stacey encourages producers to reach out to professionals for help, or visit The Do More Agriculture Foundation website at https://www.domore.ag/ for resources surrounding mental health.

References and Links in this episode:

Canadian Drought Monitor:

https://agriculture.canada.ca/en/agricultural-production/weather/canadian-drought-monitor

"Decision Making During Drought", June 16,2023, Beef Cattle Research Council: 

https://www.beefresearch.ca/blog/decision-making-during-drought/

"Facing Drought? Six Things Beef Producers Can Focus On" Aug 18, 2021  - Beef Cattle Research Council:

https://www.beefresearch.ca/blog/six-things-beef-producers-can-do-in-drought/?utm_source=BCRC+Blog+Subscribers&utm_campaign=65572117ba-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_03_22_05_49_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-73388c1b81-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D

BCRC Drought Resource Page:

https://www.beefresearch.ca/drought https://www.beefresearch.ca/topics/drought-management-strategies/ 

The value of salvaged crops calculator: https://www.beefresearch.ca/blog/salvaging-a-crop-here-are-some-things-to-consider-when-valuing-a-crop-for-feed/

The feed testing tool: https://www.beefresearch.ca/blog/new-feed-testing-tools/

The Do More Agriculture Foundation: https://www.domore.ag/

The research programs and daily operations at MBFI would not be possible without the funding from the Province of Manitoba, Government of Canada, and Canadian Agricultural Partnership, as well as the partnership with Manitoba Agriculture, Manitoba Beef Producers (MBP) and Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC).

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