Daily behavior and performance for cows engaged in targeted grazing in southeast Idaho

• Cattle increased grazing on south-facing slopes during a better forage-quality year and grazed more on north-facing slopes during a poor-quality forage year. • During a poor-quality forage year, cattle increased daily grazing times except when winter storms prevailed. • Targeted grazing in a year with substantial rainfall before the end of the grazing season resulted in weight gain for cattle with no added protein supplements. • Increased grazing time in a year with poor forage quality resulted in increased weight loss, suggesting that the energy contained in forage did not compensate for the extra energy required to acquire it. • Satellite Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) imagery can assist in predicting when protein supplements should be used in a targeted grazing project.