Planning is important because droughts are inevitable.
Unfortunately, we usually can not predict when drought will occur, or how long a given one will last. Hence, flexibility in planning becomes crucial. The crux of the problem lies in balancing forage supply to the animal's dry matter demand, as well as their ever-changing diet quality requirements. An initial step should probably involve some sort of a forage inventory. Remember that an animal requires 2 to 3 percent of its body weight per day in dry forage.