Annual forages planted in late summer can provide an early winter grazing option to complement rangeland and serve as an alternative to dry lot feeding. From 2012 to 2014, three grazing treatments were tested on two cropping systems. A single-crop (annual cocktail forage crop) and dual-crop (cereal crop/annual cocktail forage crop) system were subjected to the following treatments: 1) full use, 2) 50 percent degree of disappearance and 3) no use. Mid-gestation beef heifers were assigned to paddocks for a grazing period that began in mid-October and was projected to last 60 days. The objective was to identify which treatment would best maintain soil health while also serving the nutrient demands of beef cattle. Cattle fed in a dry lot system served as the control. In 2012 and 2014, barley served as the cereal crop and yielded an average of 1681.25 and 2152 kg/ha, respectively. The cereal crop in 2013, oats and peas, was deemed as a production failure. In 2012 and 2013, all systems provided neutral or increased final body condition score (BCS) and average daily gain (ADG). Of treatment types, cattle performance was greatest on 50 percent use of the cocktail crop, resulting in a two-year ADG of 0.88 kg/day. The greatest return/head and return/hectare was experienced in 2012 with full use of the dual-crop system. A decrease in soil bulk density was experienced at a depth of 0-3 cm in all years and among all treatment types. It is hopeful that future data will continue to shed light on soil health and cattle performance under an annual crop regime.
Oral presentation and poster titles, abstracts, and authors from the Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Meetings and Tradeshows, from 2013 forward.