RANCHERS SEEK AID AFTER LATE RAINS STRAIN RESOURCES.

Byline: Cecilia Chan Staff Writer

ALISO CANYON - Driving a four-wheel drive over his 4,500-acre ranch, modern-day cowboy Bud Sloan surveys the dry pastures where his herd of 260 cows and 16 Black Angus bulls graze.

``These knolls should be loaded with grass right now,'' Sloan said. ``Our cows should be loving it.''

But for the past two years, the rains that usually fall every October failed to materialize until much later. As a result, there hasn't been enough grass to feed nursing cows during the crucial four-month calving season, and Ventura County ranchers have had to buy hay on the open market to feed their herds.

``It just becomes a very expensive ordeal,'' said Sloan, 51, who estimated he spent $36,000 for hay during last year's calving season. ``Last year the rains didn't come until February, and we really needed the rain and grass in late November.''

Ventura County ranchers now are seeking reimbursement from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Livestock Assistance Program. The county Board of Supervisors is scheduled Tuesday to declare an official state of emergency, the first step in getting federal aid for the local ranchers.

Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Oxnard, is helping their effort by making sure the ranchers understand the application guidelines. He also is working to make the assistance program more flexible for California ranchers.

``The months that are crucial to feed-growing in California are different from states like Texas and Oklahoma,'' said Tom Pfeiffer, a Gallegly spokesman in Washington, D.C. ``And right now the rules are set up to go with the rainfall in the plains states.''

Bill Adkins, president of the 123-member Ventura County Cattlemen's Association, estimated local ranchers spent $160,000 to feed about 5,000 head of cattle for four months last year.

``Without the rain we don't have the green grass to properly nourish the mother cow to produce proper milk for calves,'' said Adkins, who owns 50 cows.

The cattle industry - mainly cow-calf operations - is a $2 million-a-year business in Ventura County, where agriculture is the No. 1 industry.

``If you look at the average (rainfall), the average was there,'' said Earl McPhail, who has been the county's agricultural commissioner for more than a quarter-century. ``But the lack of rain was when they really needed it. There was not enough rain to grow grass in the hillsides.''

Ranchers say this year looks like another bad one. Grass that should now be 6 inches tall is just stubble. The below-normal fall temperatures also hampered the growth.

``This is the third year we are going into a situation where there (was) no moisture in the fall,'' said Rob Frost, president of the California Cattlemen's Association and a Santa Paula rancher. ``That means we have to buy hay to keep these cows going until we have grass.''

Unlike farmers who grow row crops or citrus trees and can irrigate their land, ranchers totally rely on Mother Nature's whim.

Bill Hoffer, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard, said 8.57 inches of rain have fallen in Ventura County this season - which is about average.

But Sloan, who keeps a meticulous record, noted just 2.6 inches of rain fell in October, providing a few mouthfuls of grass for his herd.

``We need a certain amount of rain spread over a period of time to give ourselves a reasonably long green-grass season,'' said Sloan, whose ranch between Santa Paula and Ventura is one of the larger cattle operations in the county. ``The last two years have been extremely short.''

The shortened grazing season also has nearly doubled the time to 120 days it takes for mother cows to get back into breeding shape, he said. A cow's gestation period is nine months.

Sloan understands cattle, having given up his veterinary practice in 1990 to return full time to his family's century-old cattle operation.

``We've been hit hard a lot,'' he said of the region's cattle industry. ``But this is the first time we are asking for any help.''

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