Evaluation of a Fertilized 3-Pasture System Grazed by Yearling Steers

Abstract

A grazing trial comparing fertilized and unfertilized 3-pasture systems has shown that the addition of 56 kg nitrogen (N)/ha substantially improved forage and beef production. Forage production from the fertilized system was increased by 46% over the unfertilized system while per acre beef gains were increased 35%. Each 3-pasture system utilized crested wheatgrass for spring and early summer, native mixed grass prairie for mid and late summer and Russian wildrye for fall grazing. Comparison of Hereford and Angus-Hereford crossbreds indicated a slight gain advantage for the crossbred animals, although the increase was not statistically significant. The addition of the biuret supplement Kedlor was found to improve gains of steers grazing the native pastures in late summer but resulted in decreased gains on fall-grazed Russian wildrye pastures. Analysis of the forage samples showed that in all samples except one, the addition of N fertilizer increased the protein content.