management basics. Managing stocking rates is one of the basics.
“Several factors are involved in determining stocking rates,” explained Taylor. “First, don’t allow cattle to consume all available forage. Allow plants to develop their root systems, so they can extract water and mineral from the soil. Functioning root systems require the presence of green leaves and are important for sustaining health and productivity of pasture and rangeland. Plant reproduction is also necessary for pasture and range survival. Plants cannot compete and survive if they are frequently defoliated during the growing season by animals grazing close to the ground.”
Second, amounts and kinds of plants vary from one pasture to the next and also fluctuate greatly between years. A specific stocking rate recommendation for a large geographical area is very misleading and dangerous. The land manager must understand the plant mix and eating habits of the livestock on his/her ranch and adjust animal numbers to balance with forage supply. This is probably the most important aspect of ranching and certainly the most important component of grazing management. Success of all other practices and economic returns to the ranch depends directly on achieving a proper stocking rate.
Making annual and seasonal adjustments to animal numbers in response to fluctuations in forage production is probably the most frustrating and difficult task in grazing management. There are basically two strategies with variations of each.
“The first is a conservative approach, which is generally advocated by range scientists. It recognizes the highly variable amount of forage production even in a very short time period,” said Taylor. “Forage production for the ‘average’ year is determined, and stocking rates are set for a somewhat
lower level. This provides a margin of safety for all but the most severe droughts, and allows for range improvement during the above average forage production years. It gives maximum stability, but reduces returns per acre.”
The second approach to grazing management involves making frequent adjustments in animal numbers to match forage production. In theory, this approach will yield the maximum net return, but in practice, there are some limitations. Forage quality is good when it is green, but is generally low when it matures. This means that the stocking rate decision is made before the growing season which is very difficult to do accurately.
“A variation of the second approach is to adjust animal numbers after the growing season to utilize the mature forage,” Taylor continued. “This method results in a delay of decisions and reduces uncertainty, but the mature forage will only support animal maintenance – not growth. A flexible strategy to overcome this problem is to utilize a low base herd of breeding animals and make adjustments in numbers with stockers. This strategy will result in greater income variance, and the average level of net returns will depend upon the skill and luck of the manager.”
50 TEXAS LONGHORN JOURNAL i DECEMBER 2017
Weed and brush control
“Many land managers assume that killing brush increases forage supply and ranch income, but this assumption is not always true,” said Rector. “Killing brush may release undesirable plants or non-target plants that crowd out the desirable forage. Another possible negative result is that the new forage production may not allow enough stocking rate increase to pay for the brush control. Brush control and other land improvement practices are valuable tools when used at the right time. An understanding of the responses from use of various management tools is desirable and paramount.”
“Brush has both positive and negative effects,” wrote Tommy Welch, PhD, in Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Bulletin E-44 titled Brush Management Methods. “Because of this variation, manage brush in a manner to meet established ranch objectives.
“Various control methods are used to manage brush and a majority of the time, there is not one best method for any ranch situation. Often more effective brush management is obtained by using a combination of brush control methods in a sequence during a period of several years. An integrated management system can minimize herbicide use while
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