Supplementing late-summer native shortgrass range with 1.5 lb of cottonseed meal or 1.5 lb of sorghum grain resulted in similar 10-year average gains with yearling steers. During seven of ten years the steers receiving sorghum grain gained as much or more than cottonseed meal-fed steers. In the other three years animals fed cottonseed meal gained more during the supplementation period. This work indicates the occurrence of significant interactions in supplementation studies on native range in areas with variable climatic conditions. Specifically, the experiments suggest that if rainfall has been high and lush grass growth is present during late summer, animal response to a high protein supplement is greater than to an energy supplement. On the other hand, supplementing with grain appears as beneficial and less expensive than cottonseed meal in dry years.

Twenty methods of seeding high-elevation tarweed infested ranges were tested over a 10-year period on a harsh site in southeastern Idaho. The most practical method was spraying in the spring with 1.5 to 2 lb/acre of 2,4-D, drilling in the fall without further seedbed preparation, and respraying with 1 lb/acre of 2,4-D the next spring. This method also gave excellent results when tested on eight large-scale seedings.

Range Research faces a challenge to help maintain a healthy range livestock industry and productive use of rangelands for water yields, wildlife, and recreation. Research findings could well mean the difference between a declining resource and a realization of potential productivity from rangelands, worldwide.

The mid-summer food habits of white-tailed deer on the Welder Wildlife Refuge were studied by rumen analysis, using the point analysis method. Preference ratings were developed from the data collected. Deer diet in relation to soil type was: clay areas 70% forbs, 22% browse, and 8% grasses; and sandy areas 53% forbs, 45% browse, and 2% grasses. Seven species from the combined sand and clay areas made up 50% of the deer diet. Mast averaged 29% of the diet from the combined sand and clay areas.

White-tailed deer were primarily grazers, rather than browsers, during the winter-spring periods of 1963, 1964, and 1965, in South Texas. There were only minor differences in distribution of major forage classes in deer diets from distinct range site groups, but major differences existed in species composition of diets in relation to site. Complexity of diet reduced the importance of any one or several species in the diet. Among high priority forage species, perennials were more important than annuals. Deer food habits varied according to availability and phenology of range vegetation, and were further modified by forage preferences.

Winter-fallowing, planting grass into a clean seedbed, and controlling weeds during the seedling year, has been a particularly successful range-improvement practice in north-central Colorado. During the 3-year period (1964-1966), season-long hand weeding and spraying with 2,4-D when weeds were 6 to 12 inches high produced good stands in a year of average precipitation. However, neither spraying at later dates nor mowing the weeds at any date reduced competition from weeds sufficiently to produce a satisfactory grass stand. In a wet year, weed control in the seedling stand was not beneficial. In a year of extreme drouth, satisfactory stands were not obtained with any level of weed control. It was concluded that a technique of planting into a clean seedbed and spraying to control broadleaf weeds during the seedling year of the grasses offers the best chance for a successful seeding if wind erosion does not become a serious problem.

Quick, precise, and even seed distribution was obtained with a plastic seeding device and wood trough, both of which cost less than $7 for material and required less than four man-hours for construction. These two items appreciably reduced the time required to plant grasses and legumes on small experimental plots.