USU to research grazing land use
Plots will be ready this spring for a new Utah State University research program on livestock-feeding methods.
The research is currently being prepared at the Caine Dairy Resource Center by students and faculty. The new research, called “intensive rotational grazing,” will examine the way mixtures of grasses and legumes respond to livestock grazing and how livestock respond to those different mixtures.
The goal of this research is to use land in such a way that decreases physical labor, promotes healthier animals and uses chemicals that are less environmentally harmful, said Jennifer MacAdam, a professor in the Plants, Soils and Biometeorology department.
Livestock will graze in three-to-four-week cycles beginning with grass mixtures of optimum maturity. During this stage, younger grasses will have time to grow and prepare for grazing.
Previously-grazed grass will have time to rest and grow. As livestock cycle through, they will fertilize the plots and the grass and legume mixtures will be used continually to maximize performance.
This will reduce the amount of outside chemicals and fertilizers necessary to keep soil fertile, MacAdam said. It will also result in animals that feed more naturally and land that is efficiently cultivated.
Researchers will examine how the animals respond to eight different mixtures of grasses and legumes by looking at what was there before the livestock grazed and what was left after. They will also examine the quality of the water, the distribution of nitrogen in the soil, how animals used the nitrogen and how the plants used the water.
Currently, studies are being done concerning root growth and botanical composition to determine effective plant yields, and the land is being prepared for livestock grazing in the spring.