Beef-Forage Systems for the Southeastern United States

Beef cattle production in the southeastern United States is an inefficient and often unprofitable enterprise. An efficient poultry industry poses a serious challenge to the beef industry. However, the potential of the ruminant animal to utilize forage grown on land generally not well-suited for grain crops is an opportunity that has not been fully exploited in the southeastern United States. Improved management of high quality forage species can make beef cattle production more competitive. Most forage-livestock research in the southeastern United States has been on individual components rather than systems of production. Beef cow-calf production efficiency can be improved by a controlled breeding season, good animal health care and better forages such as winter annual clovers in the Lower South. Forages such as endophyte-free tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.), white clover (Trifolium repens L.), birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus L.) and improved sericea lespedeza [Lespedeza cuneata (Dumont) G. Don.] should be seeded and managed in the Upper South to provide the highest quality at the time of greatest need by the beef enterprise. Too often, beef production is characterized by using grass in maintaining a mature cow for one year to produce one small calf. The potential exists for increasing profit by putting more salable weight on the calf before it is marketed, thereby spreading the cost of maintaining the cow over a broader economic base. The greatest opportunity for profitability is stockering beef steers on high quality pasture such as endophyte-free tall fescue, alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), small grains and clover, and possibly improved bermudagrasses [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.] . Improved grazing management is needed to maintain pasture at the highest forage quality possible under the existing environmental constraints and convert it into saleable animal product. Beef pasture systems research is needed to identify problem areas, develop efficient year-around systems and predict future opportunities. In many areas, integrated production of grain and oilseed crops with cattle from pastures may offer long-term benefits of reduced soil erosion and better watershed management, in addition to the sale of commodities.