Integrating use of seeded perennial cool-season grass pastures with native rangeland can increase available forage and provide a high plane of nutrition for grazing livestock. Our objective was to compare performance of yearling beef heifers grazing native rangeland with those grazing an integrated system that included seeded forages. Twice-replicated, 3-ha pastures seeded to either ‘Rosana’ we...

Replicated cow herds of 15 Angus x Hereford (AH) and 15 Brahman x Hereford (BH) F1 cows each were placed on native rangeland (NR) or native rangeland-complementary forage (NRCF) systems. The NR was 8.1 ha of sagebrush-mixed prairie per cow-calf unit and the NRCF used the same mixed prairie complemented by .4 ha of double-cropped winter wheat and summer annual forage replacing about 30% of the m...

converting the native rangelands to simplified agronomic communities causessome changes in soil carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus. establishing of perennial plantcommunities on formerly cultivated rangelands is expected to stabilize soil properties andincrease the amount of c, n, p stored in rangeland soils, but there is little information on whatplant communities are the most effective for impro...

Biodiversity in rangelands is decreasing, due to intense utilization for livestock production and conversion of rangeland into cropland; yet the outlook of rangeland biodiversity has not been considered in view of future global demand for food. Here we assess the impact of future livestock production on the global rangelands area and their biodiversity. First we formalized existing knowledge ab...

Converting the native rangelands to simplified agronomic communities causessome changes in soil carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus. Establishing of perennial plantcommunities on formerly cultivated rangelands is expected to stabilize soil properties andincrease the amount of C, N, P stored in rangeland soils, but there is little information on whatplant communities are the most effective for impro...

Globally, new combinations of introduced and native plant and animal species have changed rangelands into novel ecosystems. Whereas many rangeland stakeholders (people who use or have an interest in rangelands) view intentional species introductions to improve forage and control erosion as beneficial, others focus on unintended costs, such as increased fire risk, loss of rangeland biodiversity,...

The objective of this study was to determine nursing calf forage intake prior to weaning in the Nebraska Sandhills range. Eight crossbred cow-calf pairs in year one and 12 pairs in year two were selected for each trial. Pairs were randomly assigned to one of two rotation groups, pasture (Graze) or individual fed dry lot pens for each pair (Pen). Pen pairs were fed harvested meadow hay of simila...