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Prairie dogs have long been seen as being in competition with cattle.� Prairie dogs can reduce the carrying capacity on rangelands by up to 50% through direct consumption of vegetation and by clipping plants to improve predator detection.� Studies have shown that forage quality and digestibility are greater on prairie dog towns than off-town, however research is lacking that quantifies rates of forage and nutrition intake by cattle.� In 2012-2016, we conducted a study in northcentral South Dakota to evaluate livestock grazing behavior, forage quality, and rate of intake on three plant communities in pastures occupied by prairie dogs.� Plant communities studied were grass-dominated on-town sites, forb-dominated on-town sites, and grass dominated off-town sites.� Three pasture with varying levels of prairie dog occupation (0%, 19%, and 40%) were studied.� Remote sensing was used to identify plant communities in each pasture. Each pasture was grazed by a separate herd of yearling steers, a random subset of which were fitted with GPS collars equipped with motion sensors to determine graze locations.� Daily time spent grazing was estimated for each plant community and averaged by month for each pasture. Intake was estimated using ruminally fistulated steers that were allowed to graze in 30 minute increments in temporary exclosures within each plant community and pasture for June, July, and August of each year.� Rumen forage samples were weighed and analyzed for OM, CP, NDF, and ADF.� Intake was calculated as the rate of OM per minute and multiplied by average monthly grazing time based on GPS collar data.� Overall quality of the diet was calculated. Results from this study will further our understanding of diet selection and diet composition of free ranging cattle in pastures occupied by prairie dogs, and inform land managers of potential forage contributions of on-town and off-town plant communities.