Latest Grazing Stories

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., May 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Ranchers manage the forces of mother nature every day, but recent extreme drought conditions are posing new challenges to anyone working with land management on ranches in the "Dust Bowl" states of the Midwest and Southwest. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, parts of Texas covered by extreme drought have tripled to 40 percent in recent months. Officials say it's a similar situation in Oklahoma where the four months following...

Rotational grazing in native pasturelands benefits wildlifeRotational grazing of cattle in native pasturelands in Brazil's Pantanal and Cerrado regions can benefit both cattle and wildlife, according to a new study by the Wildlife Conservation Society.The technique, which has been adapted for a variety of livestock worldwide, calls for cattle to graze in small areas for shorter periods of time before moving onto other pastures. The result is a greater forage base that produces larger, more...

Cattle ranchers in southwestern Alberta have suspected it for a long time and now, GPS tracking equipment confirms it: wolf packs in the area are making cow meat a substantial part of their diets.University of Alberta researchers tracked wolves to bone yards, where ranchers dispose of dead cattle, and to sites of fresh cow kills. The study was done over two grazing seasons in 2008 and 2009. The vast study area in southwestern Alberta includes private ranchland and wooded public lands...

A team of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists has given growers in the Piedmont guidance on how to restore degraded soils and make the land productive. Researchers with the USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) found that if cattle are managed so that they graze moderately, soil quality can be restored and emissions of carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas) can be reduced.ARS is USDA's principal intramural scientific research agency. The research, published in the Soil Science...

Fire, cattle and even prairie dogs all could play a role in sustaining the biodiversity of the western Great Plains, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) researcher.As large grazers, cattle now perform the historical role of buffalo on the Great Plains. Ecologist David Augustine and his colleagues-in collaboration with state, federal, and university researchers-have results from several studies over the past 13 years showing that fire, cattle and prairie dogs together maintain...

A new field study confirms that an invasive weed called medusahead has growth advantages over most other grass species, suggesting it will continue to spread across much of the West, disrupt native ecosystems and make millions of acres of grazing land almost worthless.The research, by scientists from Oregon State University and the Agricultural Research Service, was one of the most comprehensive studies ever done that compared the "relative growth rate" of this invasive annual grass to that...

University of North Carolina, Greensboro researchers are studying native grasses to develop a better understanding of the workings of fungal endophytesLegend has it that five railroad surveyors killed by Indians in 1854 in New Mexico lost their lives because they unwittingly allowed their horses to graze on "sleepy grass" the night before. The next morning, under attack, the surveyors jumped on their horses to escape--but the animals were frozen in place. Without the means for a...

Climate change may be combated by changing the diet of livestock, whose farting and manure, along with the feed crops produced, contribute to 18 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new study.The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), which conducted the study, said as the growing global demand for meat and milk surges it recommends simple steps to curb livestock-related greenhouse gas emissions. ILRI recommended using more nutritious grasses,...

See this family on new YouTube video! SACAMENTO, Calif., July 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Tim Koopmann and his family were honored in June at the annual fundraiser for the California Rangeland Trust with the third annual Conservationist of the Year Award for their life-long commitment to ranching, the environment and rangeland conservation. Tim, his wife Melinda and children Clayton and Carrisa, operate a family-run beef cattle ranch in Sunol, a small community in Alameda County. They...

Deworming lambs can be minimized with rotational grazing and checking the animals' eye color, according to an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) study.Animal scientist Joan Burke at the ARS Dale Bumpers Small Farms Research Center in Booneville, Ark., and colleagues made this finding as part of a continuing collaboration with scientists, veterinarians, and extension agents from the Southern Consortium for Small Ruminant Parasite Control.The consortium was formed in response to the threats...