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Grazing winter cereal pasture with stocker cattle is a common production practice on water‐limited cropland acres in the southern Great Plains. Soil erosion and loss of soil water holding capacity from interactions with tillage operations, wind, and rainfall are common problems with these systems. Despite the environmental and economic benefits reported for no‐till (NT) techniques, clean‐till (CT) establishment remains a common practice in the region. The objectives were to determine the effects of tillage system (CT and NT) on measures of animal performance and net returns, and to determine the sensitivity of net returns to the prices of glyphosate, labor, and fuel. Data representing average daily gain (ADG), steer grazing days (SGD) (ha−1), and total gain (TG) (ha−1) were obtained from a 4‐year (2010–2013) grazing trial conducted in south‐central Oklahoma. Enterprise budgeting was used to determine average revenues, costs, and net returns for each establishment system. Mixed model regression results indicated that SGD ha−1 was 11.1 greater (p < 0.0001) for CT compared to NT but ADG was 0.025 kg day−1 greater (p < 0.0001) for the NT system. The CT system realized a TG of 6.63 kg ha−1 greater (p < 0.0001) than NT. Conversely, the NT system realized a total cost of US$1067.27 ha−1, which was $105.29 ha−1 lower than the cost of the CT system. On average, the NT system realized a $67.63 ha−1 greater net return than CT. The NT system remained the most profitable even with substantial changes in prices of glyphosate, machinery labor, and fuel. Core Ideas: No‐till establishment has been shown to be economical compared to clean‐till.Despite being economical, adoption of no‐till continues to lag expectations.Animal performance and production data were produced in a scientific grazing trial.Results suggest that no‐tilling is US$68 ha−1 more profitable than clean‐till establishment.Relative profitability of no‐till was not overly sensitive to changes in prices of glyphosate, labor, and fuel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our objectives were to 1) determine diet selection of goats and cattle grazing woody plant-encroached tallgrass prairie, and, 2) determine the effect of the presence of goats on cattle diet selection. In 2019, pastures (n = 6) were allocated to 1 of 2 experimental grazing treatments. Pastures (n = 3) grazed by cattle only (crossbred Angus yearling heifers) were moderately grazed year-round at 4.2 ha per heifer. Pastures (n = 3) grazed by cattle (similar heifers) and goats (Boer x Spanish crossbred mature does) were moderately grazed year-round at 4.7 ha per heifer and 2.3 ha per goat simultaneously. Each pasture was burned in 6 patches (2 patches per year) to facilitate range management objectives. Every 35 d from May 2022 until June 2023, fecal samples were collected from all animals and stored frozen and later composited into 2 composites per animal species per pasture. Composites were then analyzed by a commercial lab with DNA barcoding and high-throughput sequencing. For statistical analysis, the top 50 Exact Sequence Variants (ESVs), representing species of forage, across all treatments were used for analysis. Each ESV was georeferenced to eliminate plants that did not grow in the study area, and assigned to a representative functional group: graminoid, forb, legume, and woody plant. Analysis of variance and Tukey's post-hoc separation of estimated marginal means were performed to assess the effects of season, grazer species, and the interaction. The interaction of season and grazer species was significant (P < 0.01) for the percentage of diet selected from each functional group of plants. As expected, goats selected a greater percentage of their diet as woody plants in summer (57%) and winter (74%) compared with cattle (27%). Cattle selected more grass in winter (34%) than goats (11%). Goats selected more forbs in spring (33%) than cattle (10%). However, goats selected a lesser percentage of their diet as legumes in summer (16%) than cattle (58%), which was unexpected. Overall, these results indicate that both species of grazers select a diverse diet from these diverse pastures, and selection is dynamic over time. Goat presence in a pasture does not seem to drastically alter cattle selection, actually complementing cattle in these pastures where goats can be used to target species cattle do not prefer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ruminant livestock provides meat and dairy products that sustain health and livelihood for much of the world's population. Grazing lands that support ruminant livestock provide numerous ecosystem services, including provision of food, water, and genetic resources; climate and water regulation; support of soil formation; nutrient cycling; and cultural services. In the U.S. southern Great Plains, beef production on pastures, rangelands, and hay is a major economic activity. The region's climate is characterized by extremes of heat and cold and extremes of drought and flooding. Grazing lands occupy a large portion of the region's land, significantly affecting carbon, nitrogen, and water budgets. To understand vulnerabilities and enhance resilience of beef production, a multi-institutional Coordinated Agricultural Project (CAP), the 'grazing CAP,' was established. Integrative research and extension spanning biophysical, socioeconomic, and agricultural disciplines address management effects on productivity and environmental footprints of production systems. Knowledge and tools being developed will allow farmers and ranchers to evaluate risks and increase resilience to dynamic conditions. The knowledge and tools developed will also have relevance to grazing lands in semiarid and subhumid regions of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective was to determine if restricting drinking water affects animal performance and hematological responses in cattle grazing high-moisture-content, fresh wheat pasture. Angus-cross steers (n = 10, 411 kg ± 24.5 kg) were randomly assigned to either 100% or 50% of baseline (d -7 to 0) water intake. The design of this experiment was a completely randomized design with 5 replications, with steer as experimental unit. Steers were individually hand-watered 1X per d for the entire experiment (d -7 to 28). Body weight, packed-cell volume (PCV), plasma total solids (PTS), fecal DM (F_DM), eyeball recession score (ERS) and skin turgor score (STS) were recorded from each steer weekly. Forage mass and forage DM were calculated weekly by hand-clipping ten, randomly-located samples using a 0.96-m forage hoop. Data were analyzed using ANOVA methods in SAS v9.4, and pairwise comparisons of means were completed using Fisher's LSD methods at the nominal 0.05 level of significance. Restricted steers gained less than unrestricted steers (P < 0.01, 1.04 vs. 1.35 kg / d, respectively). Fecal DM percentage did not differ (P = 0.26). There was no difference in PCV (P = 0.15) or PTS (P = 0.27); however PCV and PTS linearly decreased (P < 0.001) from d -7 to 28 for both treatment groups. Eyeball recession score and STS did not differ between treatment groups (P = 0.34). The mean forage mass and forage DM (d -7 to 28) were 2,229 kg per hectare and 24%, respectively. In conclusion, restricting water intake to cattle grazing wheat pasture resulted in lower ADG; however differences in hematological measures of dehydration were not observed in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 72-d trial was conducted to estimate the combined effect of forage allowance and a fiber-based energy supplement in stocker cattle grazing wheat. Eight pastures (2.7 to 5.1 ha) each contained seven test steers (initial BW = 210 ± 36 kg). Weekly, additional steers were stocked in each pasture in a put and take method to achieve forage allowance of either 2.5 or 5.5 kg forage DM / kg steer BW (4 pastures each). Two pastures in each forage allowance were fed daily with a supplement containing 50% wheat midds and 50% soybean hulls at the rate of 1.5 kg per steer. Forage mass was measured twice weekly using a calibrated rising plate meter. Cattle were weighed weekly on calibrated scales. Data were analyzed using linear regression with pasture as the experimental unit. Mean ADG was 1.36 kg/d. One pasture in the high forage allowance, non-supplemented treatment was removed because we were unable to maintain the designed forage allowance. The interaction of forage allowance and supplement was not significant (P = 0.37) for ADG, and supplementation did not affect ADG (P = 0.20), however increased forage allowance tended to improve ADG (P = 0.06, 0.21 kg ADG per kg forage allowance). To further investigate forage DMI, a 14-d trial began on day 36. Three of the seven test steers in each pasture were randomly chosen and administered 7 ± 0.1 g of TiO2 daily at 0700 as an external marker to estimate fecal output. Forage DMI (at an assumed 72% DM digestibility) averaged 2.1% of midpoint BW, below our expectation. Additional forage allowance tended to improve estimated forage DMI (P= 0.06), but supplement had minimal effect (P = 0.30). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Use of cool-season perennial grasses may decrease annual establishment cost and improve returns to stocker cattle producers. The objective of this 5-yr field study was to compare the performance of two stocker cattle grazing forage systems: cool-season annual (rye [Secale cereale L.]-annual ryegrass [Lolium multifiorum Lam.]) vs. cool-season perennial tall fescue [Schedonorus arundinaceus (Schreb.) Dumort; formerly Festuca arundinacea Schreb., 'Texoma'], with a nontoxic endophyte (MaxQ II). Paddocks of four replicates consisted of a cereal rye and annual ryegrass mixture that was planted annually in early September 2005 through 2009, whereas tall fescue was planted once in late September 2005. Steers (273 ± 55kg initial body weight) were weighed every 28 d of each grazing season, and stocking rates were adjusted with put-and-take steers based on forage mass. In each 28-d grazing period, forage mass, forage nutritive value, and stocker average daily gain (ADG) and total gain (TG) were measured. Animals performed well in both systems with ADG of 1.05 and 0.93 kg d-1, and TG of 491 and 349 kg ha-1 for rye-annual rye- grass and tall fescue, respectively. The 5-yr average annual production cost was less for the tall fescue system ($336 ha-1) than for the rye-annual ryegrass system ($455 ha-1). The assumed amortization of the tall fescue was especially influential on net return; with a 5-yr amortization, net return was greater for the rye-annual ryegrass ($279 ha-1) than for the tall fescue ($217 ha-1) system, but with 12-yr amortization, the net return of these two systems was identical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to determine the relative effects of stocker-phase implant strategies on growth and carcass characteristics of beef steers. In each of 2 locations (OK and MS), steers were grazed on cool-season annual pastures in fall 2018 through spring 2019. Steers (n = 300 in MS, n = 240 in OK) were randomly assigned to one of three implant treatments, 1) a single Synovex® One Grass implant at d 0, 2) a single Component® TE-G with Tylan implant at d 0, or 3) a reimplant treatment receiving Component® TE-G with Tylan at d 0 and again at d 82 (OK) or 85 (MS). Steers from each treatment were commingled in 2 (OK) or 3 (MS) pastures for 159 (OK) or 161 d (MS). Following grazing, steers were shipped to a commercial feedyard for finishing, sorted into 3 pens based on BW with each treatment equally represented in each pen, and were managed according to that site's BMPs. Steers from all treatments were implanted identically in the feedyard. Steers were slaughtered when the pen was visually estimated to be at 1 cm backfat. Carcass data of individuals were collected by camera grading equipment in the packing plant. Data were analyzed as a completely random design with animal as the experimental unit, treatment as a fixed effect, and pasture within location as a random effect. Marbling score tended to be greater in the single Component® TE-G with Tylan (treatment 2) vs. the other 2 treatments (425 vs 408 and 410, P = 0.07). No other production variables, including stocker-phase ADG, approached a significant difference (P > 0.39). No evidence was found to recommend stocker-phase reimplanting even in relatively long stocker phases with high ADG, and producers should consider selecting the most cost-effective implant at grazing initiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of supplementation level and type on forage intake of steers grazing a high-quality native range. This study was conducted in late May through the end of June. On d 0, steers (n=16, initial BW = 193.7 kg ± 14.3 kg) were randomly assigned to one of 5 dietary treatments, fed once daily in individual stalls for 28 d. Treatments were control (no supplement, n=4), or supplemented with either cottonseed meal or dry rolled corn, each at either 0.45 kg or 1.81 kg as-fed/d (n=3 for each combination). Beginning on d 7, steers were orally administered titanium dioxide boluses (10 g/steer) once daily for 21 d. Fecal samples were collected from the rectum once daily for 14 d, analyzed for Ti concentration via a handheld X-ray fluorescence analyzer, and total fecal output was estimated. Diet digestibility was estimated after a 288-h in situ incubation of forage and fecal samples to determine indigestible NDF. Some steers had orts, therefore actual mean supplement intake was used in analysis. Results were analyzed with regression, with animal as the experimental unit. Mean estimated forage DMI of unsupplemented animals was 1.6% BW. Contrary to expectation, corn supplemented steers exhibited greater forage DMI as a percentage of BW than cottonseed meal supplemented steers (P = 0.01; 1.5 vs. 1.1, respectively). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]