A 2-year study evaluated the efficacy of supplements for beef cows grazing mixed grass prairie during the fall and winter. Cows were allotted to 3 treatments: (1) range forage only, (2) range forage plus 1.2-1.3 kg alfalfa cubes hd-1 d-1, and (3) range forage plus .9 kg cottonseed meal-barley cake hd-1 d-1. Supplements were fed daily to provide approximately 50% of crude protein requirements. Treatment effects did not depend (P<0.10) on year for independent variables evaluated. Although weather conditions differed among years, observed changes in weight and condition score were similar (P<0.10) for both years. Supplemented cows gained weight; but supplement type did not influence weight gains. In contrast, unsupplemented cows displayed significant weight loss. Supplemented cows either maintained or slightly increased in body condition during the fall-winter period. However, body condition of unsupplemented cows decreased (P<.05) compared with condition of supplemented cows. Supplementation with alfalfa cubes resulted in similar performance compared with supplementation with cottonseed meal-barley cake. Supplementing diets of wintering range cows with feeds high in protein improved performance compared with no supplementation. This material was digitized as part of a cooperative project between the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. The Journal of Range Management archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact lbry-journals@email.arizona.edu for further information. Migrated from OJS platform August 2020
Scholarly peer-reviewed articles published by the Society for Range Management. Access articles on a rolling-window basis from vol. 1, 1948 up to 5 years from the current year. Formerly Journal of Range Management (JRM). More recent content is available by subscription from SRM.