WHITING, Kan. (AP) -- The Kansas Rural Center and the Natural Resources Conservation Service will hold workshops next month on evaluating the effect of the drought on eastern Kansas pastures.

The Rural Center says the four sessions are scheduled for the first week of April in Pottawatomie, McPherson, Reno and Coffey counties.

They're aimed at helping cattle ranchers determine how well their ranges and pastures can support livestock after about two years of drought. The sessions will also focus on what steps can be taken to protect grazing resources.

The workshops will be led by a rangeland management specialist from the Natural Resources Conservation Service, which is a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Kansas specialist, David Kraft, says early April is the time for making adjustments to maintain drought-stricken pastures.