ABSTRACT
Due to increasing red meat demand from the projected increase in world population
coupled with reductions in available grazing lands, there has been increased interest
in intensification of cow-calf production. Mature cow size has increased by over 30%
since the mid-1970s, increasing cow ME requirements, reducing pasture carrying capacity,
and increasing other input costs associated with cow maintenance. Research from the
1960s and 1970s indicates that in limited resource environments (western plains states
for instance), the reduced efficiency of larger cows may be a limiting factor to the
economics of production, whereas in less restricted environments (higher rainfall
environments such as the humid southern states or in dry-lot feeding systems), mature
cow size may not be a significantly limiting factor. Forage management strategies,
which include targeted fertilization, stockpiling, and complementary forages, can
be incorporated with improved grazing management to reduce reliance on often expensive
supplemental feed and stored forages as well as fertilizer and fuel inputs to the
enterprise. Integration of multiple management technologies (rotational grazing, stockpiling
both cool-and warm-season perennials, and planting cool-season annuals) into a production
system has been shown to enable increased stocking rates and calf BW weaned per hectare,
while also decreasing the requirement for conserved forages. By intensifying the management
of cow herds and pastures, ranch carrying capacity can be increased and thereby increase
available stocking rates, offset the effects of increased cow mature size, increase
total system productivity, and provide for an economically sustainable cow-calf production
system.
Key words
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
August 8,
2016
Received:
July 6,
2016
Identification
Copyright
Copyright © 2017, American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists. All rights reserved.
