Diet mixing : increasing intake of unpalatable plants

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Utah State University Extension

Publisher

NR/Rangelands/2012-01pr

Publication Date

4-2012

Last Page

4pp.

Abstract

The cows at Ray Banister’s ranch readily eat plants that cows don’t normally eat, such as sagebrush and snowberry. Banister uses a management style he calls boom-bust grazing. It involves short, intensive periods of grazing followed by two growing seasons of rest. He monitors the least palatable plants and moves his cows only after they’ve eaten most of these species reducing the competitive advantage unpalatable plants normally have over more palatable species. As a result, his ranch has some of the greatest biodiversity and highest plant cover in eastern Montana.

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