Climate change models are predicting increased frequency and severity of droughts in arid and semiarid environments, and these areas are responsible for much of the world's livestock production. Because cattle (Bos taurus) grazing can impact the abundance, distribution, and ecological function of native plant and animal communities, it is important...
Assessment of beef cow energy balance
and efficiency in grazing-extensive rangelands has
occurred on a nominal basis over short time intervals and
has not accounted for the complexity of metabolic and
digestive responses; behavioral adaptations to climatic,
terrain, and vegetation variables; and documentation of
the effects of nutrient form and...
A 2-yr study utilizing 120 mature,
crossbred (Angus × Herford) cows/year, evaluated the
influence of cow BCS and dried distillers grains with
solubles (DDGS) supplementation during late gestation
on cow performance and productivity of subsequent
offspring. Treatments were arranged as a 2 × 2 factorial
in a randomized complete block...
Three experiments compared ruminal, physiological, and performance responses of beef steers consuming hay ad libitum and receiving grain-based supplements without (control) or with (CAM) the inclusion of camelina meal. In Exp. 1, 9 steers fitted with ruminal cannulas received CAM (2.04 kg of DM/d; n = 5) or control (2.20...
The objective was to compare the acute-phase response of steers receiving different doses of bovine corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH). Fourteen weaned Angus steers (BW = 191 ± 2.1 kg, age = 167 ± 4.7 d) fitted with an indwelling jugular catheter and a rectal temperature (RT) monitoring device were assigned to...
Management and conservation of rangelands are increasingly concerned with maintaining productivity, species composition, and diversity of native plant communities. We estimated aboveground annual productivity, species composition, and diversity of a native bunchgrass type community across 1152, 0.5 m2 plots at The Nature Conservancy’s Zumwalt Prairie Preserve in northeastern Oregon. Standing...
The estimation of standing crop is important in the management of rangeland resources. Direct measurements by clipping, drying, and weighing of herbaceous vegetation are time-consuming and labor-intensive. Therefore, non-destructive methods for efficiently and accurately estimating standing crop are needed in rangeland forage management. We assessed a visual obstruction (VO) technique...
The objective of this study was to evaluate changes in the quantity, quality, and moisture of available forage in a riparian pasture, and shrub utilization by cattle during a 30-d late summer grazing period. A riparian pasture (44.7 ha) in northeast of Oregon was grazed with 30 yearlings (419 kg,...
A study was conducted to determine foraging efficiency of cattle, mule deer, and elk in response to previous grazing by elk and cattle. Four enclosures, in previously logged mixed conifer (Abies grandis) rangelands were chosen, and within each enclosure, three 0.75 ha pastures were either: 1) ungrazed, 2) grazed by...
The western states include a complex combination of geological, topographical, climatic, and vegetative features. The region extends through 1900 km of latitude and contains three major north-south, storm-directing mountain systems. Most of the region is arid (annual precipitation < 50 em); however, sizeable agriculturally important areas west of the Cascade...