Determine what constitutes a drought or ‘dry year’ for you in your environment. For example, it may be a failed spring followed by a failed autumn.
Set trigger points for action, for example “If certain weather conditions occur, I will take this action by this date”. This could include selling surplus stock, conserving fodder or buying in grain, beginning supplementary feeding in containment, turning off lambs earlier, etc.
Be ready for a drought or dry year – they are inevitable. This will include keeping adequate feed reserves, having containment areas/drought lots, and a plan to determine which stock will be sold and which will be kept and fed in the drought lot. Decisions about which stock to keep or sell will depend on their value at the time, the probable cost of feeding, the value of any production that would be gained if they are kept and their future replacement value, should that be necessary. There are several publications and tools which can help you prepare such a plan.