Get reliable science

Many ranchers and livestock producers utilize western wheatgrass (Pascopyrum smithii) pasture during winter in the mixed grass prairie and shortgrass prairie regions. A high proportion of these ranchers defer grazing on these pastures until the dormant season, commonly known as stockpiling grass pasture. However, few of these ranchers know what the forage value of the stockpiled pasture is during the winter or how this method of forage management compares to a low input alternative such as putting forage in windrows. In this study, we compared putting grass in windrows (treatment) to stockpiling pasture (control). Our objective was to determine if cutting western wheatgrass in late summer and putting the grass in windrows would provide superior forage value than leaving the forage to remain standing in the pasture. The study was conducted from 2011 to 2012 in northeast Colorado. Two large western wheatgrass pastures were each divided into two study plots, each receiving a windrow treatment and a control of 8 ha in size. Pastures were excluded from grazing during the study, and pastures had not been grazed since the winter of 2010. Forage samples of the stockpiled vegetation and the windrows were taken from each study plot during October, December, and early March. Crude protein, acid detergent fiber, and total digestible nutrient values were determined. Treatment comparisons of forage values will be presented.