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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: 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.

      Manure Cycling Interview Data

      Jornada Experimental Range LTAR
        Exploring the potential for nutrient circularity in the beef production system requires an understanding of current practices. Manure nutrients produced in feedlots are an ample source of fertilizer for phosphorus deficient crop and hay lands.

        Data from: Compound hydroclimatic extremes in a semi-arid grassland: Drought, deluge and the carbon cycle

          These data were generated to evaluate the effects of compound hydroclimatic extremes – a deluge during drought – on production and carbon cycling in a semi-arid (shortgrass steppe) grassland in Colorado (USA). The study experimentally imposed an extreme drought and then interrupted this drought with either a single extreme deluge event or the equivalent amount of precipitation provided in several smaller events

          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.