Excerpt from Cattle Gains and Plant Responses From Spring Grazing on Crested Wheatgrass in Northern New Mexico The only available research results that relate to grazing crested wheatgrass ln New Mexico are from fall grazing trials on Glorieta Mesa, near Pecos (reynolds and Springfield 2 Three years of grazing trials showed that daily gains of yearling cattle averaged 1. 1 pounds under the heaviest grazmg compared with pounds under moderate grazing for a month long fall season. Wide fluctuations 111 production from year to year were found at the Glorieta Mesa site. Conclusions based on these trials were to remove not more than 45 to 55 percent of the current year's growth during the early fall. Higher degrees of utilization at this time resulted in loss of plant vigor and decline in herbage production. Crested wheatgrass proved to be poorly adapted on this site, however, since nearly all plants inside protected plots as well as in the pastures died within a few years be cause of a combination of drought and gopher damage. Investigations in other regions have furnished information of value in interpreting results of the New Mexico experiments. One of the more comprehensive experiments on spring grazing of crested wheat grass was at Benmore, Utah (frischknecht et al. Results of the first 4 years of study showed that adult cattle gained and pounds a day under light (50 percent herbage removal), medium (65 percent), and heavy grazing (80 percent), respectively. Intensity of grazing likewise influenced daily calf gains, which were significantly less under heavy grazing. Heavy grazmg produced slightly more gain per acre than medium grazmg during the first 2 years, but this was reversed 1n the next 2 ye e.ars Stocking rates for 4 years averaged 3. 1 acres per cow-month for the light intensity, acres for the medium, and 1. 8 acres for the heavy. Light grazing allowed considerable old growth to accumulate on grass bunches, but utilization was more uni form and old growth did not accumulate under the medium and heavy grazing. Density of crested wheatgrass. Increased 54 percent on the average, and no difference due to grazing treatment was detected. Fewer young wheatgrass plants, however, became established under heavy grazing. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.