Arbuckle Mountain Area Chapter
 Prairie Grazing

12-30-07 articles added.... 12-12 and 12-30
Visit our Pasture - Native Prairie Page
"Most biologists agree that 5-20% of quail range should be brush covered, and the 50:50 model results in 8.7% brush coverage. Managers who are also interested in cattle forage production should note that this would leave 91.3% of an area open, an effective compromise. Quail hunters should also enjoy this landscape." Grant Huggins
Natures Lawn Mowers and Forb Growers
● Cattle can be used as a very effective tool in pasture management. 
● Cattle can be used in pasture restoration.
● Grass thatch can be reduced allowing more bare ground for loafing and seed foraging.
● Targeted brief over stocking (trampling) in forb deficient areas yield results similar to disking.
● Care should be taken to obtain the correct stocking rate, which must change during drought. 
● 2006 saw a significant decline in quail numbers resulting from drought, and most certainly the lack of cover, grasses and forbs can be seen in those areas.  Some of this reduction may be attributed to the over grazing of cattle which occurs when herds are kept betting on future rains rather than selling them prematurely at market.
● Papers on cattle....
Noble Foundation Are Cattle Compatible with Wildlife? by Russell Stevens
Noble Foundation Finding Value in Switchgrass Today Through Cattle by John Guretzky  

OSU Patch Burning and Grazing E-998 (pdf 35mb)
Texas A&M University Stocking Rates in Drought (PDF)
OSU Stocking Rates - Key to Success (PDF)  F-2871
Cattle as Managers by Grant Huggins (pdf 23kb)
Grazing as a Tool Grazing as a Technique for Prairie Restoration (pdf 123kb)
Proper Management Habitat Managed Through Proper Grazing, Burning or Rest by Mike Porter
Cattlemen's Magazine Quail and Cattle Grazing Considerations by Burk Rutherford
Management Impact Coffey Resource Management and Demonstration Ranch: Ten Years of Management and Its Impact by Noble Foundation

 

Signs of Over Grazing for Quail Management
● Throw a softball as far as you can, if you can see it, grasses are too short
● Native bunch grass clumps are less than 6 inches tall