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Ag Data Commons migration begins October 18, 2023

The Ag Data Commons is migrating to a new platform – an institutional portal on Figshare. Starting October 18 the current system will be available for search and download only. Submissions will resume after the launch of our portal on Figshare in November. Stay tuned for details!

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: 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.

      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.