Due to drought there is going to be starving livestock. When things start drying up it can be hard to supply enough hay to help compensate for lack of grass. Sometimes the number of livestock are downsized when a few are sold to meet the food demands of the the remaining livestock. Since there will be competition among ranchers and farmers for hay when the supplies start to drop the price of hay may increase. Alternative solutions will have to be sought if the price of hay becomes unaffordable to some or there is no hay to buy.
Since lack of water will make it hard to keep grass alive it may be necessary to look for dead dried grass in the front and back yard of the homestead. A portion of grass in yards will likely die off in patches or areas when there is restricted watering and when there is extreme heat in temperatures above one hundred which last for days and months. Farmers and ranchers could use this as a temporary fix for livestock such as cattle. More than likely the yard will be raked and dead grass will get raked up along with leaves. The dead grass is similar to hay. It can be fed to livestock depending on what type of grass it is and on whether there is dangerous pesticides or fertilizers that have been put on the grass. The grass should also be free of chemical spills such as cleaning supplies or auto leaks and it should be free of food or drink substances that have been spilled such as soda.
If dead yard grass were to be fed to livestock it would have to be cleaned up. The leaves and sticks would have to be separated from the grass. If the yard was continually kept free of leaves and sticks all that would be left to do would be to rake the grass. The grass can be fed right away or it could be put in a container or sack until it is needed.
A farmer or rancher could even choose livestock related grasses to plant around their house as grass in their yard to help replenish their hay and feed supply during tough drought stricken times or they could plant grass gardens with livestock grasses such as alfalfa much like vegetable gardens except there will be no vegetables in this crop when it comes time to harvest the goods.