The effects of mowing, burning, and grazing on big sacaton (Sporobolus wrightii) grasslands were measured 80 km south of Tucson, Arizona (31° 47' N; 110° 37' W). Study area was fenced into four pastures and each pasture received one of 4 treatments (control-no treatment, spring-summer grazing, mowed followed by spring-summer grazing, and burned followed by spring-summer grazing) annually for three years. Mowing and burning treatments were applied February 27, and cattle grazed from May 1 to July 15. Live and dead biomass was sampled 8 times through the course of a growing season looking at biomass present before treatment, biomass present before grazing, forage disappearance and animal preference, and plant growth after summer growing season. Pastures were stocked with steers and heifers with a target utilization rate of 60%.
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