Viewpoint: Forage and Range Research Needs in the Central Great Plains
Issue Date
1985-09-01Keywords
marginal landgreat plains states of usa
economic viability
yield increases
forage crops
soil erosion
agricultural research
pastures
crop yield
rangelands
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Vogel, K. P., Gorz, H. J., & Haskins, F. A. (1985). Viewpoint: Forage and range research needs in the central Great Plains. Journal of Range Management, 38(5), 477-479.Publisher
Society for Range ManagementJournal
Journal of Range ManagementDOI
10.2307/3899727Additional Links
https://rangelands.org/Abstract
In the central Great Plains, pastures and rangelands often are not economically competitive with grain crops. This has led to increases in acreages of row crops at the expense of rangelands, pastures, and hay crops on marginal lands resulting in severe erosion problems. The productivity of forages, pastures, and rangelands needs to be increased to levels that would make them economically competitive with grain crops. Innovative research will be needed to develop the required knowledge and technology upon which productivity increases can be based. Pastures and rangelands in this area are usually components of production systems which may also include the feeding of hay, silage, crop residues, and other feeds. Coordinated research teams need to be formed that can focus on all components of these production systems. Research needs and objectives of these research teams can be categorized by the land capability classes of the three major ecological regions in this area, the tall-grass, mid-grass, and short-grass prairie. In all of these regions, a classification system that is production-oriented rather than climax-oriented is needed for both pastures and rangelands if effective control of soil erosion and optimal income per land unit are to be achieved. Interstate cooperation in establishing a research team for major ecological region would facilitate the most efficient use of research resources.Type
textArticle
Language
enISSN
0022-409Xae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.2307/3899727