Are Feedlot-based Performance Cattle Limiting Ecological Services for Rangeland Ecosystems in Northern Mixed-grass prairies?

The goal of this project is to evaluate the impacts of steer frame-size and finishing time in a forage-based system. In January and November of 2016, the advisory committee met to discuss the project. The committee consists of 4 Montana ranchers who are located throughout the state. The goal of the January 2016 meeting was to outline the research project, the sampling methods, as well as discuss end-point expectations and questions. Committee members discussed the practicalities of the project, and whether or not the project was practical from a rancher standpoint. During the summer of 2016, an undergraduate student was hired to construct all fencing, as well as help put in place permanent water tanks. Four separate pastures were created, 2 which which enclosed the introduced Russian wildrye pasture that was established the previous year, and two that were larger, native range pastures.

In November 2016, the committee met once again to go out to the fields, observe the vegetation, fencing, and water availabilities, and again offer the insight. The fencing plan was changed based on some of the advice. Initial herbage mass samples were taken from all pastures, and the steers were allowed in to the Russian wildrye pastures on November 29, 2016. They stayed on the Russian wildrye pasture for about a month, and were then moved onto native range the end of December. Due to extremely cold temperatures for a prolonged period of time, steers were fed supplemental forage in order to prevent any health issues from occuring. Herbage mass, vegetation, and habitat sampling will continue to occur throughout the summer of 2017, until all animals are finished.

The group of "control" or feedlot-finished steers were put into the feedlot the same time as the forage-finished steers, and they are expected to finish sometime in May 2017.