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Now showing items 1-17 of 17
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A Step Toward Automatic Weighing of Range CattleA battery-operated electronic scale recorded range cattle weights accurately on oscillograph charts without disturbing the animals. With refinement, the system could operate automatically.
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Cheatgrass Range in Southern Idaho: Seasonal Cattle Gains and Grazing CapacitiesYearling cattle gained weight satisfactorily on cheatgrass range under rotational (moderate) and continuous (moderate and heavy) grazing systems during a 3-year study. This study was designed to determine effects of these systems on the rangeland-not on individual plant species. Assignment of these systems to different pastures each year precluded evaluation of long-term vegetal response to the treatments. Weight gain was greatest in late spring. Grazing capacity of the range and cattle gain per acre increased through the summer, then declined. Yearly variation in production of forage and beef was apparently due to weather. Grazing capacity and beef production increased under continuous heavy grazing, but possible vegetation changes not evaluated in this study make heavy grazing undesirable.
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Deferred-rotation Grazing with Steers in the Kansas Flint HillsDeferred-rotation grazing of Kansas Flint Hills' range grazed by steers May 1 to October 1 was compared to season-long stocking from 1950 through 1966. Deferred-rotation pastures had higher forage production and range condition than season-long stocked pastures. Steer gains were higher on season-long than deferred-rotation pastures. Increased stocking rates were more feasible on deferred-rotation pastures than on season-long pastures.
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Forage and Animal Gains of Coastal Bermuda and Pensacola BahiaSimilarly fertilized "Coastal" bermudagrass and "Pensacola" bahiagrass were clipped from May 18 until October 22, 1964, at monthly intervals, ground, pelleted, composited, and fed to beef steers. Forage production of bermudagrass was more uniform during the growing season than was that of the bahiagrass. Forage harvested earliest and latest in the season had a higher apparent dry matter digestibility, lower cell wall, acid detergent fiber, and acid detergent lignin content than that harvested in the middle of the season. The growth habit of bahiagrass does not suggest that it is a desirable hay plant. Animal performance showed that both forages produced slightly lower gains than did ground snapped corn. Only gains on bahiagrass were significantly lower, however. Plants such as bermudagrass and bahiagrass are probably more satisfactory forage plants when kept young by either mowing or grazing.
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Rotation Burning: A Forage Management System for Longleaf Pine-Bluestem RangesIn a Louisiana test, heavy utilization during growing seasons following fires applied at 3-year intervals improved forage palatability and nutritive content; the ensuing 2 years of lighter use restored plant vigor. Burning also top-killed brush and aided herbage growth by removing pine litter. Cows with calves gained weight throughout the growing season on rotation-burned range.
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Seasonal Grazing of Crested Wheatgrass by CattleThirty-six pastures of crested wheatgrass were grazed in early spring plus early fall; late spring; all spring; early summer; late summer; early fall; and late fall. Summer and fall treatments included grazing with and without supplement. Yearlings made substantial gains in all seasons except during late fall when they lost weight. They finished the entire grazing period with an average gain of 224 lb. Calves gained 249 lb. Yearlings and calves did as well on crested wheatgrass as on forest range, and supplementation provided no additional gain. Cows on supplement gained 125 lb as compared to 50 lb for non-supplemented cows. In years with no fall regrowth, second grazing of crested wheatgrass without supplement produced daily gains in early fall equal to those for single grazing with supplement.
