With the worsening drought conditions the University of California has organized a meeting on January 29 entitled “Mitigating Drought – Optimizing Pasture and Supplemental feed and Managing Risk.” The meeting is designed to provide ranchers with information to assist them managing their herd during periods of low feed supply. The discussion will focus on an array of practical tools and strategies that ranchers can deploy to mitigate drought including: practices to get the most effective use out of limited dryland and irrigated pasture forage, alternative protein and roughage supplementation, understanding the economics of supplementation, managing animal health, making culling decisions as well as the tax and insurance components related to drought. The meeting will be held at the UC Sierra Foothill Research & Extension Center in Browns Valley. While attendance on site will allow participation in key field demonstration, for those unable to travel to the Center the program also will be broadcast on the web. To view the agenda and register to attend on site or the webcast go to http://ucanr.org/sites/sfrec/