The Role of Drought Preparedness in Improving the Sustainability of Great Plains Ranches

2012 Annual Report for ENC11-126

Project Type: Professional Development Program
Funds awarded in 2011: $56,366.00
Projected End Date: 12/31/2013
Region: North Central
State: Nebraska
Project Coordinator:
Tonya Haigh
National Drought Mitigation Center

The Role of Drought Preparedness in Improving the Sustainability of Great Plains Ranches

Summary

In order to improve drought resilience and long-term sustainability of ranches and rangeland in the North Central Region, this project provides education on monitoring and planning for drought. The primary output is a series of five webinars on drought planning, targeted to a wide range of ranch advisors and professionals in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas. Participants may also view archived webinars. Archived webinars are available for public use, at http://www.drought.unl.edu/ranchplan. As a result, approximately 100 agricultural professionals and educators will increase their ability to help rangeland managers mitigate and plan for drought.

Objectives/Performance Targets

Project Goal: To increase the technical support available to help rangeland managers mitigate and plan for drought in ways that enhance ecological, economic, and social sustainability.
Project Objectives:
1. To increase agricultural educator/professional awareness of the need for, and challenges of, drought mitigation and planning for sustainable ranch management
2. To increase agricultural educator/professional knowledge of drought mitigation and planning strategies that improve ranch sustainability
3. To increase agricultural educator/professional knowledge of, and ability to comfortably use, drought monitoring and decision-making tools

Accomplishments/Milestones

Project staff worked with ranchers and ranch educators (Ranch Drought Management Advisor Group) to develop the webinar program over the summer of 2012. We also worked with NCR SARE Professional Development Coordinators in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas to select appropriate dates for the webinars. The program was finalized in fall 2012, and included:
January 30: Managing Drought Risk on the Ranch: The Planning Process, by Jerry Volesky, Range and Forage Specialist at the UNL West Central Research and Extension Center in North Platte, Nebraska, and Lynn Myers, owner of Tippets-Myers Ranch in western Nebraska.
February 27: Avoiding Analysis Paralysis: Monitoring and Setting Critical Dates for Decision Making During Drought, by Dwayne Rice, Rangeland Management Specialist, NRCS, Kansas; Ted Alexander, owner of Alexander Ranch in south-central Kansas; and Cal Adams, owner of Adams Ranch in north-central Kansas.
March 27: The New Cumulative Forage Reduction (CFR) Index: Assessing Drought Impacts and Planning a Grazing Strategy, by Pat Reece, owner and senior consultant of Prairie Montane Enterprises and Professor Emeritus of the University of Nebraska – Lincoln.
April 24: Using a Drought Calculator to Assist Stocking Decisions, Stan Boltz, State Range Management Specialist, NRCS, South Dakota.
May 29: Economic Factors to Weigh in Making Decisions during Drought, by Matt Stockton, Agricultural Economist at the UNL West Central Research and Extension Center in North Platte, Nebraska.
In response to the severity of the 2012 drought in the Great Plains region, webinar organizers recognized that it would be very beneficial to provide a drought outlook as part of each webinar. Indeed, these months are critical to ranchers in many parts of the region for decision-making about 2013. NDMC climatologists, who are also U.S. Drought Monitor authors, agreed to provide an update and outlook on each date.
Project staff began advertising the webinar series in late fall 2012, developing a press release and a flyer. The press release and flyer were sent by email to over fifty contacts including Cooperative Extension Educators; NRCS Technical Committee members, technical service providers, and staff; Conservation District and Natural Resource District staff and supervisors; Forest Service specialists, technicians and education coordinators; Nature Conservancy staff; Pheasants Forever regional field reps; and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Field Office staff in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas, asking them to help spread the word. We also worked with NCR SARE Professional Development Coordinators in the target states to advertise the series. The University of Nebraska – Lincoln sent out the press release to statewide media, and in South Dakota the story was distributed through iGrow and NRCS Public Affairs, resulting in print and broadcast coverage in these two states. The webinar series was also advertised via eXtension and the Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN).
An on-line registration page was launched in December 2012 and advertised with the methods described above. A pre-survey was administered with the registration process, asking registrants about their organizational affiliation, level of confidence with the topics to be discussed, and current frequency of work with ranchers on drought plans.

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

Through this project, we expect 100 agricultural professionals and educators to increase awareness of the need for (and effectiveness of) drought planning in improving sustainability of ranch operations, and increase their knowledge of drought planning methods, monitoring, decision-making and drought planning tools. As a result, we expect participants will demonstrate an increased amount time spent talking with producers about drought mitigation and planning activities, increased use of the featured monitoring, decision-making, and drought planning tools, and progress in developing a drought plan, as a consultant, advisor, or end user.

Collaborators:

Cody Knutson

cknutson1@unl.edu
Water Resources Specialist
National Drought Mitigation Center
PO Box 830988
Lincoln, NE 68583-0988
Office Phone: 4024726718
Nicole Wall

nwall2@unl.edu
Public Participation Specialist
National Drought Mitigation Center
PO Box 830988
Lincoln, NE 68583-0988
Office Phone: 4024726776
Tonya Bernadt

tbernadt2@unl.edu
Education and Outreach Specialist
National Drought Mitigation Center
PO Box 830988
Lincoln, NE 68583-0988
Office Phone: 4024722712
Jeff Nothwehr

jnothwehr2@unl.edu
GIS and Web Specialist
National Drought Mitigation Center
PO Box 830988
Lincoln, NE 68583-0988
Office Phone: 4024728293
Tonya Haigh

thaigh2@unl.edu
Rural Sociologist
National Drought Mitigation Center
PO Box 830988
Lincoln, NE 68583-0988
Office Phone: 4024726781
Jerry Volesky

jvolesky1@unl.edu
UNL Range and Forage Specialist
West Central Research & Extension Center
WCREC 402 W State Farm Rd
North Platte, , NE 69101-7751
Office Phone: 3086966710