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Data from USDA ARS Central Plains Experimental Range (CPER) near Nunn, CO: Cattle weight gains managed with light, moderate and heavy grazing intensities

    The USDA-Agricultural Research Service Central Plains Experimental Range (CPER) is a Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) network site located ~20 km northeast of Nunn, in north-central Colorado, USA. In 1939, scientists established the Long-term Grazing Intensity study (LTGI) with four replications of light, moderate, and heavy grazing. Each replication had three 129.5 ha pastures with the grazing intensity treatment randomly assigned. Today, one replication remains. Light grazing occurs in pasture 23W (9.3 Animal Unit Days (AUD)/ha, targeted for 20% utilization of peak growing-season biomass), moderate grazing in pasture 15E (12.5 AUD/ha, 40% utilization), and heavy grazing in pasture 23E (18.6 AUD/ha, 60% utilization). British- and continental-breed yearling cattle graze the pastures season-long from mid-May to October except when forage limitations shorten the grazing season. Individual raw data on cattle entry and exit weights, as well as weights every 28-days during the grazing season are available from 2000 to 2019. Cattle entry and exit weights are included in this dataset. Weight outliers (± 2 SD) are flagged for calculating summary statistics or performing statistical analysis.

    Data from USDA ARS High Plains Grasslands Research Station (East Unit) near Cheyenne, WY: Yearling cattle weight gains managed in light, moderate and heavily stocked pastures (1982-2022)

      The USDA-Agricultural Research Service High Plains Grasslands Research Station (HPGRS) is located in Cheyenne, Wyoming, USA. In 1982, a long-term stocking rate study on northern mixed-grass prairie was initiated with season-long (early June to October) grazing. Stocking rates defined as light (35% below NRCS recommended rate, 15 yearlings per 80 ha), moderate (NRCS recommended rate, 4 yearlings per 12ha), and heavy (33% above NRCS recommended rate, 4 yearlings per 9 ha). British- and continental-breed yearling cattle were used throughout the study years. When forage supply was limited due to drought, grazing seasons were shortened or cattle were not grazed for that season. Individual raw data on cattle entry and exit weights are available from 1982 to 2022. No grazing occurred in the years 1989, 2000, and 2002 due to drought conditions. Weight gain outliers (± 2 sd of treatment mean) were removed from the dataset.

      Data from: Conservation Practices Induce Tradeoffs in Soil Function: Observations from the Northern Great Plains

        Near-surface (0-5 cm) measurements of soil physical, chemical, and biological properties over a 3-yr period for contrasting long-term experimental treatments at the USDA-ARS Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory were conducted to quantify soil property responses to crop diversity/intensity, cover crops, and livestock integration under controlled experimental conditions, and land use (dryland cropping, native grassland, untilled pasture) on working farms and ranches, all on a common soil type in southcentral North Dakota, USA.

        Data from: USDA ARS Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory (NGPRL) legacy livestock production (1916-2016) under various rangeland managements with stocking rate and seeded crested wheatgrass

          Established in 1912, the Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory (NGPRL) is a USDA Agricultural Research Service facility located in Mandan, Morton County, North Dakota. In 1916, NGPRL scientists established a long-term rangeland management research project focusing on developing the most appropriate stocking rates for rangelands in the region. The research project ran for 100 years and included pasture 62, a heavily stocked pasture, and 66, a moderately stocked pasture for the entire time. Also, in 1931, pasture 37 was converted from smooth bromegrass to crested wheatgrass, which was both lightly and moderately stocked. The legacy livestock production data from these pastures include 100 years (1916-2016) of livestock production data from pastures 62 and 66 and 84 years (1932-2016) from pasture 37.

          Data from: Pasture dragging fails to reliably suppress the emergence of horn flies (Haematobia irritans) and face flies (Musca autumnalis) from dung pats in a Mid-Atlantic North American climate

            In order to determine if pasture dragging suppresses the emergence of horn flies (Haematobia irritans) and face flies (Musca autumnalis) from dung pats in a Mid-Atlantic North American climate, bovine dung pats were spread with pasture drag or plaster knife and covered with emergence traps, and emerging flies quantified.

            Data from: Can measurements of foraging behaviour predict variation in weight gains of free-ranging cattle?

              This study examines whether four different ways of measuring daily foraging behaviour (grazing-bout duration, grazing time per day, velocity while grazing, and turn angle while grazing) were related to weight gain by free-ranging yearling steers grazing semiarid rangeland. Data include measurements interpreted from neck collars supporting a solar-powered device that measured GPS locations at 5 min intervals and an accelerometer to predict grazing activity at 4 sec intervals.

              27 years of livestock production data under different stocking rate levels at the Central Grasslands Research Extension Center near Streeter, North Dakota

                The effects of stocking rate on livestock performance and profitability were monitored on 12 pastures at the Central Grasslands Research Extension Center (CGREC) near Streeter, ND from 1989 through 2015. These data were produced from an investigation of how the impacts of grazing intensity on native range, in addition an economic component, was included to determine grazing intensity effect on animal production.

                Data from: Predicting spatial-temporal patterns of diet quality and large herbivore performance using satellite time series

                  Analysis-ready tabular data from "Predicting spatial-temporal patterns of diet quality and large herbivore performance using satellite time series" in Ecological Applications, Kearney et al., 2021. Data is tabular data only, summarized to the pasture scale. Weight gain data for individual cattle and the STARFM-derived Landsat-MODIS fusion imagery can be made available upon request.

                  LTAR Archbold - University of Florida Phenocam archboldpnotx

                  NAL Geospatial Catalog
                    Phenocam overlooking Paspalum notatum – dominated field, Archbold's Buck Island Ranch, Florida. Tracking seasonal changes in greenness of a semi-native pasture, a third of which is burned annually, another one-third is burned in the subsequent year and so on. Takes RGB and IR photographs daily (every half hour between 6am and 8 pm) and sends them to phenocam network server at https://phenocam.sr.unh.edu/webcam/ where images are available to the public for downloads and processing.

                    LTAR Archbold - University of Florida Phenocam archboldavir

                    NAL Geospatial Catalog
                      Phenocam overlooking A. virginicus Field, Archbold's Buck Island Ranch, Florida. Tracking seasonal changes in greenness of a semi-native pasture entirely burned once every three years. Takes RGB and IR photographs daily (every half hour between 6am and 8 pm) and sends them to phenocam network server at https://phenocam.sr.unh.edu/webcam/ where images are available to the public for downloads and processing.