Foxtail (hare barley) and medusahead adversely affect rangeland forage quality across much of California�s annual rangeland.� This project used yearling cattle to evaluate the economic utility of replacing foxtail and medusahead dominated pastures with ryegrass, a much preferred forage species.� We created three replicated experimental pastures and three adjacent equal sized controls.� Treatment plots received a fall glyphosate treatment and light disking prior to planting.� Then were seeded with Gulf annual ryegrass at 20 lbs/acre, and harrowed to cover the seed.� Cattle were weighed and introduced to the plots in March.� Grazing continued until June when forage quality diminished due to drying.� Grazing metrics included cattle gain and AUM harvest. Forage biomass, species composition and quality data were collected.� Costs were calculated and economics considered in the analysis.
Oral presentation and poster titles, abstracts, and authors from the Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Meetings and Tradeshows, from 2013 forward.