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Simple Summary: Nutrient losses from grazing systems are a source of water and air pollution and a cost to producers, as these nutrients must be replaced. Improved management systems are needed in order to reduce nutrient losses. Feeding cattle directly and allowing manure to fertilize the grass improved nutrient use efficiency, but was not always more economical compared to fertilizing the grass directly. Replacing fertilizer with feed supplements is a viable management system to reduce nutrient losses from grazing systems. The objective was to examine the effects of dried distillers' grains supplementation and fertilization strategies on the cattle performance and resource use efficiency of stocker cattle grazing on Plains Old World bluestem. Over 4 consecutive years, heifers and steers (average n = 239) were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 treatments: (1) low input, low stocking density, and no fertilizer or distillers grains supplementation (LOW); (2) high stocking density and no fertilizer with distillers grains supplementation (DDGS); (3) high stocking density and 90 kg of nitrogen/ha with no distillers grains supplementation (NFERT); (4) high stocking density, 90 kg of nitrogen/ha, and 39 kg of phosphorus/ha with no distillers grains supplementation (NPFERT). Cattle grazed in the pastures from mid-May to mid-September each year, except for 2011, when the experiment ended in July due to lack of forage. Data were analyzed using a linear model with fixed effects of treatment, year, and treatment × year (R software). Nitrogen use efficiency (retained/inputs) was affected by a treatment × year interaction, where LOW had the greatest efficiency in all years and DDGS was greater than NFERT and NPFERT in all years except 2012, with NFERT and NPFERT being not different in all years. The estimated total carbon equivalent emissions were greater for DDGS, NFERT, and NPFERT than LOW, but the carbon footprint (kg CO2eq/kg weight gain) was lesser for LOW and DDGS, which were not different, than NFERT and NPFERT, which were also not different. Replacing nitrogen fertilizer with dried distiller's grains improved the cattle performance and the efficiency of resource use, and could be a viable economic alternative to traditional systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]