Note: This site is for reviewing legacy plan of work data from 2007-2011. If you are looking for the current plan of work interface, visit pow.nmsu.edu.

Impact Report

For plan Applied Reproductive Management for Cattle (Rio Arriba County)
Date October 13, 2008, 6:30 pm
For Objective Long-term Show long-term objectives
Impact Report 2007-2008 Program Year Range monitoring continues on three different ranges. Ghost Ranch is privately owned by the Presbyterian Church while Cerro Azul and Jarita Mesa are on USFS lands. Over the past few years these ranges have been assessed to manage for forage supply and demand. Since these ranges change from year to year an assessment gives the range managers option on systems to implement for the year. Drought in the past ten years has drastically changed the methods that range managers used in order to manage forage supply and demand. The Range Improvement Task Force (RITF) has been intricately involved in the Jarita Mesa range analysis since wild horses have been part of the mix of herbivores that graze on land year round. Conflict has existed since the horses have taken advantage of forage resources year round with no management by the USFS. In the past two years approximately 100 out 170 have been removed. Prelimary indications show that range conditions are improving. Additional precipitation has obviously helped. As for the Ghost Ranch winter range, it was stock heavily with up to 900 head for a short time. Ghost Ranch is on a high intensity, short duration stocking rate. Livestock preformed adequately for the time period that they were on the Ghost Ranch property. As for the Cerro Azul winter grazing allotment it was stocked to capacity. The forage supply met the forage demand of the livestock. Winter grazing has assisted producers with feeding less or no harvested hay. The implications of having enough feed during critical periods of gestation in a beef cow herd are profound. Nutrition is especially important during the third trimester of pregnancy. Having adequate feed will lead to increased reproductive efficiency.