Grazing

Most cattle producers can tell you the body condition score of their cattle, but do they know the condition of their pastures?

Cover crop acreage is expected to increase in response to the USDA Risk Management Agency’s revision to the preventive planting insurance provisions, allowing producers to hay or graze a cover crop on preventive-plant acres beginning Sept. 1.

“He can paint the light off horse hide shining, the great passing herds of the buffalo. A cow camp cold on a windy morning, the twisting wrist of the Houlihan throw”

As the days get shorter and morning temperatures stay cooler in many parts of the country, producers are reminded that fall and winter are on the way, which means hay feeding season will soon begin.

In the Intermountain West, the sagebrush steppe ecosystem is a crucial resource for the livestock industry because it provides a large portion of forages for grazing livestock. Sagebrush steppe also provides important habitat for hundreds of wildlife species.

Grazing residual affects everything in the pasture. What is residual? Residual is the living plant material remaining after a grazing event. Residual is often confused with residue, which is the dead plant material on the soil surface. While residue definitely has its benefits, residual is everything.