Coordinating Beef Cattle Management with the Range Forage Resource

Seasonal changes in forage production and quality occur due to climatic factors, principally precipitation. Increased efficiency of livestock production could occur if livestock management were coordinated to the changes that occur in forage quality. Traditionally, calves are born in the spring in much of the western United States. Weaning then occurs sometime in late fall. Management practices of early weaning, supplementation on the range, time of calving, and length of the breeding period can be incorporated into a livestock system to take advantage of forage at its highest quality and therefore to maximize beef production from the existing forage resource.