Get reliable rangeland science

Intensive early stocking was introduced nearly a half century ago in eastern Kansas, and has since been adopted as a major management tool to increase animal production, efficiency of production, and economic return almost exclusively by using young stocker animals.� Meanwhile, perennial grassland acres available for cattle production are declining in many western and mid-western states. Using management practices that mimic a modified intensive early stocking strategy to increase beef cattle stocking density for breeding herds may allow producers to maintain or increase cow numbers for beef production on fewer perennial grassland resources.� The objective of this project was to compare beef cattle reproductive herd performance and rangeland characteristics of traditional continuous season-long stocking and modified intensive early stocking systems. On native mixed-grass rangelands, cow/calf pairs at two locations were stocked at either 1.45X the typical stocking density May through July or at a 1X density.� Calves from the more densely spring stocked 1.45X cows were weaned mid-growing season and were backgrounded, reducing stocking rate and density for the last portion of the growing season.� Calves from 1X cows were weaned in October.� At a third location, breeding heifers were also stocked at a 1.6X rate early in the season and were compared to heifers stocked at a 1X rate.� At midseason, heifers that conceived to artificial insemination (AI) in the 1.6X pastures remained on pasture, while heifers not pregnant to AI were removed from pasture.� Body weights, body condition and pregnancy rates were measured, and all pastures were monitored for plant composition, ground cover, and biomass at key ecological sites to compare rangeland health between modified intensive early stocking and continuous stocking systems.