Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Participants included 15 public sector personnel and five stakeholders. Items for the WCC-1002 web site currently under construction should be forwarded to Don Snyder as a PDF or MSWord file or a connecting link. It was suggested that links to other agencies, such as NRCS, also be included on the WCC-1002 web site. There was interest in pursuing travel funding for private sector project members (in the range of $500 per producer), and Jennifer MacAdam will follow up on this. A goal of two stakeholders per state as official participants of the committee was suggested, and these individuals could include representatives of ag business.

It was proposed that future programs combine a review of public sector research followed by feedback on research priorities from private sector members, and a program that will address an issue of interest to stakeholders. Recommendations on research priorities made by stakeholders in listening sessions held at Utah State University in 1997 and in the Northeast Region in 1998 were summarized by Jennifer MacAdam preliminary to a similar discussion of research priorities among committee members. Public sector members briefly outlined their current research, and comments were solicited from private sector members. Future managed grazing systems research priorities for the Intermountain West were discussed and prioritized. The issues of greatest interest to the members were divided into two categories: sociological issues and bio-physical issues. Three sociological issues were identified as (in order) changing producer attitudes, follow-up or peer support for change, and the impact of externalities on producers. Five bio-physical issues were identified as (in order) the transferability of plant materials across environments, the question of whether grass-based products were really better, the restoration of cheatgrass infested ranges, the challenges associated with the wildlife-domestic livestock grazing interface, and nutrient management in dairy production. Other concerns of interest were pasture seeding and establishment, the need for recommendations that would work within the constraints of real farms, and the reliability of the quality of beef finished on grass. Protocols for trials of hay and pasture plant species or varieties were reviewed by Tom Griggs, and several details were discussed: Should grazing be based on developmental stage or height? How long should paddocks be grazed? What developmental criteria should be met before newly planted stands are grazed or cut for the first time (e.g., does a grass need to go through one reproductive cycle?).

The program for the next meeting will include brief oral state reports (plus a written report of no more than two pages with the same information written for producers) followed by a producer breakout session and feedback on the research presentations in the morning, and an afternoon presentation that addresses a stakeholder-identified issue. The issue of greatest overall interest was changing producer attitudes, and two speakers were suggested: Mark Brunson from Utah State University and Lori Higgins from the University of Idaho. Although he was not able to be present, Doug Zalesky was elevated to chair of WCC-1002, and Paul Nyren was elected vice-chair. Chad Cheyney opted to continue as secretary. The next meeting will be in Salt Lake City and will be arranged for early January to coincide with a meeting of the BEHAVE advisory board, so members of both can attend the two meetings consecutively. The goal will be for WCC-1002 to meet on a Friday following the BEHAVE meeting. Following the WCC-1002 meeting, Mark Brunson (also a member of the BEHAVE advisory board) agreed to speak at the next WCC-1002 meeting, and Doug Zalesky informed the past chair that he will be unable to serve as chair due to budget constraints. While there was good interaction between the two WCC committees, it was clear the initial interest in merging the committees was not appropriate.

Objective 1: The web site for WCC-1002 will be hosted by the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station, and Don Snyder has been working with the UAES webmaster to establish the site. Don presented the basic structure of the site, and was given feedback. In the coming year the web site should be developed to the point where participants can begin to uplink publications.

Objective 2: Standard protocols for both irrigated hay and grazing studies were supplied by Glenn Shewmaker and presented at the meeting by Tom Griggs. These protocols are being developed by Glenn for application in the West in collaboration with scientists at the University of Wisconsin. Several suggestions for revision will be made to Glenn, but the draft protocols will provide a good basis for newly established grazing and forage production studies.

Objective 3:
Colorado: Three different grass/legume mixes were established on a center pivot irrigation system that will be evaluated under intensive grazing with yearling cattle. A fourth mix with Italian ryegrass will be established in the spring of 2004. A field day was held on September 4, 2003 in which approximately 25 participants viewed and discussed the established mixes.

Idaho: We conducted two successful grazing schools this past summer. One in Salmon at the Cummings Center and one with the help of a past graduate and continuing student in the Soda Springs area.The success of our Management intensive Grazing (MiG) schools cannot be measured in numbers of participants. Rather it can be measured in a change in philosophy (a change in paradigms if you wish) in how participants think about the industry they are in. Most, if not all, of our students come away knowing that they are in the energy business. That is, their job is to capture solar energy in plants and covert that energy into a saleable product such as pounds of beef or chicken or whatever. We also spent time developing a SARE grant proposal that made the first cut but were unsuccessful in getting it funded during the second round. A lot of time and effort went into this proposal and it needs to be funded through some source of funds so that we can demonstrate the benefits of MiG in an actual setting since all of us tend to be from Missouri and need to be shown in our on backyard that something will indeed work. We are going ahead with at least part of the project proposal at the Cummings Center since we have created a "summer calving" set of cows to better match the energy and grass cycle with the idea that we can cut winter feeding costs and thus lower the cost of production and in turn hopefully increase the bottom line. The thing this project will lack is the ability to track changes in soil fertility, compaction, nutrient cycling, etc. With some 12-13 alumni in Custer County, I have a small nucleus of grazers that ask for advise and encouragement. I have spent some time with them as well as helping with the grazing schools which take approximately 4 days of preparation for the four days of school at a minimum. Word is also spreading and other producers are asking questions and seeking advise.

North Dakota (Nyren): A long term grazing intensity study was initiated at Central Grasslands Research Extension Center (CGREC). The study includes five levels of grazing intensity. These are: No grazing, light, moderate, heavy, and extreme grazing. The goals of this research are to determine the effect of grazing intensity on livestock performance and profitability, and its effect on the sustainability of forage production. Long term (15 years) to date indicate that forage production has decreased on the non-grazed pastures and on the extreme grazed pastures. A simulated drought study was recently imposed on the grazing intensity study to evaluate the impact of both the level of grazing and the effect of drought. A means of controlling the amount of precipitation on the pastures was needed. For this purpose, Paul designed and built small portable, automated, low cost rainout shelters that could be placed on similar ranges on the normal and extreme grazed pastures. The objectives of this study are to evaluate forage production and species composition of native range subjected to simulated drought, average precipitation, and naturally occurring precipitation. The design of an ecosystem model for grassland management in the Missouri Coteau of North Dakota. This study will measure specific eco-physiological features of nine range plants and soil characteristics for the understanding of important plant-soil processes. The expected outcome of this research will capture the general pattern of long term ecosystem dynamics and reveal the ecological complexity of these systems. Paul coordinates two major public range tours of Central Grasslands Research Extension Center each year in which scientists and speakers from various agencies including ND Game and Fish, ND Forest Service, NRCS, etc. make presentations to the public on various range management topics.

Utah (MacAdam): Data were collected for the final year of a three-year-long grazing study of eight grass-legume mixtures under rotational stocking. Preliminary data analyses were completed and data comparing the productivity of the mixtures in the grazing study to the same mixtures in an earlier simulated grazing were presented at the CSSA meeting.
Utah (Snyder): Continued work on enterprise budgets related to data collected by ADVS and PSB scientists.

Wyoming: Among 16 species evaluated near Cheyenne, WY, the wildryes (altai, basin, Russian) maintained dry matter better through the winter than other species. Forage kochia had the best winter forage quality. However, before this species can be further promoted, reliable establishment methods need to be developed. A sterile, high-sugar corn provided sufficient nutritional base to support body weight gain of pregnant beef cows in the fall and early winter. Animals performed better on stockpiled standing corn than on windrowed corn. After 5 years of winter grazing of summer windrowed grass meadows, compared with hay feeding on the same meadow, windrow grazing, properly managed, is a suitable alternative to feeding baled forage to beef cows in winter.