Getting Ready for Winter on the Range

Sean Kelly SDSU Extension Range Management Field Specialist With much of South Dakota experiencing drought conditions this past summer and now continuing into fall, the opportunity for winter grazing may be very limited or not available at all. A ranch manager must try to ensure that enough residual plant height and vegetation cover of the soil surface is available through the winter to aid in recovery of the rangeland. In order to capture…

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Water: The Unappreciated Nutrient

Warren Rusche SDSU Extension Beef Feedlot Management Associate Water might be the Rodney Dangerfield of nutrients—it just doesn’t get any respect. We could use the latest edition of “Nutrient Requirements of Beef Cattle” as an example. Of the six classes of nutrients discussed in that resource, water is the last topic and the shortest chapter even though water makes up 99% of every molecule in an animal. It is easy to fall into…

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