Mark Sip Grassland Management Project

2006 Report Sip Grassland Management Project
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The 2006 grazing season at the Sip demonstration site began on May 13 when 166 Red Angus and Red Angus cross steers were turned out on the pasture. On June 6, one additional steer was added to the pasture. The average turn-out weight of the steers was 737 lbs. The steers made two rotations through the eight paddocks within the pasture with average forage availability at the beginning of each grazing period being 2500 lbs per acre. During the first rotation, the steers were allotted approximately seven acres per day and during the second rotation they were allotted approximately five acres per day. This resulted in stock densities on the first and second rotations of 24 and 33 steers per acre, respectively. The drought conditions which gripped most of the Plains states during 2006 resulted in dramatic declines in forage quality and quantity by the middle of July and the decision was made to market the cattle at that point in time. The steers were loaded off the pasture on July 25.
The sale weight of the steers was 864 lbs. The ADG expressed by the steers was 1.7 lbs. This was the highest ADG expressed by the steers since the demonstration project has been going on this site. The total live weight gain which occurred was 21,024 lbs and the total amount of AUMs harvested was 325. This resulted in live weight gain per acre and AUM production per acre being 95 and 1.48 respectively.
Riparian Area at Sip's
Total rainfall during April, May, June, and July was the lowest amount registered since the demonstration project began. While the desired effect of initiating any agricultural production practice is to increase profitability either through increased productivity, or decreased expenses, or a combination of these two factors, reduced availabilities of moisture may prevent this goal from being achieved and just maintaining production levels which occurred in previous years could be considered a validation of the practice’s cost-effectiveness. The fact that live weight gain and AUM production in 2006 was similar to that which occurred in previous years in spite of the fact that rainfall amounts were approximately 40% lower is an indication of the effect that a managed grazing system has on promoting the productivity and viability of a grassland plant community.