More nutrients are found in plant leaves than stems. New foliage is more nutritious than old foliage and live plants contain more nutrients than dead plants. “There is a relationship between vegetative characteristics and diet quality. Nutrients include protein, energy, vitamins and minerals,” Tolleson continues. “The other side of the grazing equation is forage quality, which is the amount of nutrients in the forage. Field sampling provides the platform for the model, and range condition is further monitored using satellite imagery. The model will provide early warning of drought to give producers time to reduce stocking rates or make other appropriate management decisions. LEWS has been implemented in East Africa and is now undergoing adaptation for use in the U.S.
New technologies for measuring forage quantity, such as the Livestock Early Warning System (LEWS) are in development. Doug Tolleson, Texas A&M AgriLife Research. The sample is weighed and the necessary math is used to calculate pounds of forage per acre,” says Dr. “A common method of measuring forage quantity is to lay a measured size of frame or hoop on the ground in a representative number of areas and clip the enclosed forage. Site potential is defined as the capacity of an area to support a distinct species composition and/or total biomass. The Natural Resources Conservation Service originated the term, “range site.” They define the term as principal units of rangeland based on categorizing vegetation according to site potential. For accurate measurement, it is important to only collect samples representative of the range site or vegetation types. Sagebrush: Bane of the range or valuable winter feed?įorage quantity is measurable by several different sampling methods and is expressed as dry matter weight per unit area at a given point of time.
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