Esophageally fistulated cows were used on forested range in northeastern Oregon to collect diet samples which were then analyzed by the microhistological technique. Grasses, forbs, and shrubs averaged 61, 16, and 23% of the diet, respectively. Composition of diets differed among years and with seasonal advance. Idaho fescue and elk sedge were the most important forage species consumed. Forbs were used heavily in the early part of the grazing season before maturation. Browse comprised as much as 47% of the diet when green grass was unavailable. Cattle were opportunistic grazers and did not limit their selection to grass species. On forested ranges cattle diets varied among grazing periods within each year as well as among years. 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.