Extending grazing into the winter, as opposed to feeding of harvested forages, can increase the sustainability of ranching in the western US. This study was conducted to determine the economic value of grazing stockpiled forage kochia (Kochia prostrata [L.] Scrad.) and crested wheatgrass (Agropyron desertorum [Fisch. Ex Link] Schultes) during the fall and winter. Changes in cow body weight, bod...

Trade-offs between predation risk and forage fundamentally drive resource selection by animals. Among migratory ungulates, trade-offs can occur at large spatial scales through migration, which allows an "escape" from predation, but trade-offs can also occur at finer spatial scales. Previous authors suggest that ungulates will avoid predation risk at the largest scale, although few studies have ...

One of the challenges to increase milk production in a large pasture-based herd with an automatic milking system (AMS) is to grow forages within a 1-km radius, as increases in walking distance increases milking interval and reduces yield. The main objective of this study was to explore sustainable forage option technologies that can supply high amount of grazeable forages for AMS herds using th...

Silage is not a replacement for good pasture management, but it is a means of making the most of a sound grassland programme. It is an effective method of preserving surpluses of immature forage for use when pasture is in short supply or completely lacking. While quality silage is an excellent feed it is still a substitute .for the original product-pasture herbage. The problem in making silage ...

The research presented here is the result of a collaboration of government, industry and private non-profit organizations that formed in 2002 as the Consortium for Alfalfa Improvement. Scientists from the U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center/ARS-USDA, Forage Genetics International, Pioneer HiBred and The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Inc., have been conducting a focused biotech research effort ...

Factors affecting forage production, quality, marketing, and utilization include urbanization; availability of crop production resources; approaches to environmental stewardship; and other social and economic forces. Two factors of particular interest are 1) availability of pesticides for use in alfalfa and other forage crops; and 2) new laboratory procedures for predicting forage nutritional v...

The nutrient status of grazing beef cattle from four selected soil order regions of Florida was examined. Liver, blood, hair and feces samples from 14 heifers and 14 cows, plus forage samples, were collected during two periods of the year from nine ranches located in four different regions. Soil samples were collected during one period. The soil order regions were the Histosol (southeast), Spod...

Intercropping perennial legumes with trees can reduce Nitrogen (N) losses, due to the high amount of N accumulated in stable forms soil and permanent cover during whole year. Although cycling improvement mature agroforestry systems (AFS) was well documented, there is a lack knowledge regarding transition AF. In this work, we studied association two forage crops, namely ryegrass (Lolium multiflo...

short distances and at low altitudes. Females, on the other hand, were usually in the upper extremities of the trees and made longer flights. Males and females appeared to forage in the same way, and uncommonly did feed close together. Probing and peering were the primary means of food searching, although the birds tapped the trunk and larger limbs as they moved along them. Birds of both sexes ...