Tall Fescue Grazing Systems in the Southern Great Plains.

Grazing cool-season grasses is common in beef cattle (Bos spp.) operations in the southern Great Plains of the USA. Annual cereal grains such as wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) are most prevalent, however there is increased interest in grazing perennials such as tall fescue [Schedonorus arundinaceus (Schreb.) Dumort., nom. cons.]. However, research is limited on the productivity and economic viability of different annual and perennial cool-season forage systems. The objective of this research was to determine the effects of different annual and perennial cool-season forage systems on animal productivity and economics of beef cattle grazing in Ardmore, OK from 2013 to 2017. Three replications of paddock (0.8 ha) treatments were 1) ‘Flecha’ tall fescue fertilized with 112 kg N ha^-1 and conventionally grazed (“TFN”), 2) Flecha tall fescue fertilized with 112 kg N ha^-1 and stockpiled (deferred for grazing) until wheat first hollow stem (FHS), 3) dual-purpose NF101 wheat grazed until FHS and then harvested for grain, and 4) Flecha tall fescue-‘Bulldog 505’ alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) (“TF-ALF”). The stockpiled tall fescue and wheat paddocks were combined into a “SPTFWHT” system treatment and are based on 1.6 ha. There were no differences in stocking rate (average 3.12 AU ha^-1) or average daily gain (average 0.86 kg day^-1) among treatments. There were more total grazing days associated with TFN (160 d) than TF-ALF (108 d), and greatest number of grazing days ha^-1 occurred with TFN (510 d ha^-1). Animal gain ha^-1 was greatest with TFN and TF-ALF (364 and 338 kg ha^-1, respectively). Economic analysis will also be conducted to determine the most economically optimal production system to assist producers in their decision making process.