HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text Free Full Text (PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Baumhardt, R. L. Articles by MacDonald, J. C. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Baumhardt, R. L. Articles by MacDonald, J. C. Agricola Articles by Baumhardt, R. L. Articles by MacDonald, J. C. Related Collections Grazing Management

GRAZING MANAGEMENT

Cattle Gain and Crop Yield for a Dryland Wheat-Sorghum-Fallow Rotation

^a USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Conservation and Production Research Laboratory, P.O. Drawer 10, Bushland, TX 79012-0010
^b Dep. Animal Science, 209 Animal Sciences, Auburn Univ., Auburn, AL. 36849
^c Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center, 6500 Amarillo Blvd. W., Amarillo, TX, 79106

^* Corresponding author (r.louis.baumhardt{at}ars.usda.gov).

Increasing pumping costs and declining well capacities in the U.S. Southern High Plains have led to greater reliance on less productive and inherently riskier dryland cropping systems. Dryland wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and grain sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] are typically grown in a 3-yr wheat-sorghum-fallow (WSF) rotation that may be intensified by integrating cattle (Bos taurus) grazing. Suitability of grazing dryland crops in the WSF rotation has not been evaluated. Our objectives were to quantify (i) cattle gain during limited grazing of dryland wheat and sorghum stover, and (ii) grazing effects on the growth and yield of the grazed wheat and subsequent sorghum crop. We established, concurrently, all WSF rotation phases in duplicate ungrazed and grazed plots in three replicated paddocks on a gently sloping Pullman silty clay loam (fine, mixed, superactive, thermic Torrertic Paleustoll) at the USDA-ARS, Conservation and Production Research Laboratory, Bushland, TX (35°11' N, 102°5' W). Cattle gain, fallow soil water storage, and the growth and yield of wheat and subsequent grain sorghum were compared from 2000 to 2007 within a randomized complete block. Dryland wheat was grazed an average of 31 d during 7 of 8 test years by cattle stocked at 1.7 Mg ha^–1 and produced a mean gain of 123 kg ha^–1. Wheat grain yield averaged 1.72 Mg ha^–1 without grazing and was not different from the 1.57 Mg ha^–1 grain yield with grazing. Grazing decreased wheat straw yield, but subsequent soil water storage was unaffected. Sorghum grain yields of 2.26 Mg ha^–1 in ungrazed plots were not different from grazed plots averaging 2.20 Mg ha^–1. Overall productivity of the WSF cropping system was increased using limited grazing of dryland wheat forage and sorghum stover with no significant reduction in wheat or sorghum grain yields.

Abbreviations: G, grazed • LAI, leaf area index (m² m^–2) • UG, ungrazed • WSF, wheat-sorghum-fallow rotation

¹ The mention of trade names of commercial products in this article is solely for the purpose of providing specific information and does not imply recommendation or endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

All rights reserved. No part of this periodical may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Received for publication March 31, 2008.