Economic assessment of using Bermudagrass stockpiling and annual cereal pasture to extend grazing in cow-calf operations.

Bermudagrass ( Cynodon dactylon L.) stockpiling and cool-season annual pastures can extend grazing seasons in cow-calf operations and reduce winter feeding costs, but less is known about how these practices interact and their effect on producer profitability. Data from a completely randomized-design experiment in South-Central Oklahoma were collected on three grazing systems for cows and calves: bermudagrass pasture (CONTROL), stockpiled bermudagrass and interseeded cool-season pasture (SPINT), and stockpiled bermudagrass plus cropland no-till seeded with a summer cover-crop followed by cool-season annuals (SPCROP). A mixed model was used to estimate the effects of grazing system on weaning weights, total hay, and total range cubes (crude protein [CP] = 30%) fed in each system. Enterprise budgeting was used to calculate the expected net return of each system. Weaning weight did not vary between systems ( P  = 0.6940), resulting in similar revenues. Relative to other treatments, the quantity of cubes fed in the CONTROL system were significantly higher ( P  < 0.0001) while hay fed was significantly higher in the SPCROP system ( P  = 0.0036). Increased machinery costs, seed costs, and fertilization requirements in bermudagrass stockpiling, interseeding, and cropland production outweighed the cost savings associated with less feeding. Total costs were $446 ha ^-1 ($722 hd ^-1 ), $451 ha ^-1 ($732 hd ^-1 ), and $553 ha ^-1 ($895 ha ^-1 ) for the CONTROL, SPINT, and SPCROP systems, respectively. Overall, the CONTROL system was $3.13 ha ^-1 ($5.08 hd ^-1 ) and $98.91 ha ^-1 ($160.10 hd ^-1 ) more profitable than the SPINT and SPCROP systems.
Competing Interests: None declared.
(© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Society of Animal Science.)