Useful Beef Grazing Resources

Useful Beef Grazing Resources

by Rhonda R. Gildersleeve1

Listed below are a few of the many web-based resources and print materials on pasture management, managed grazing systems and related production information for Wisconsin beef producers.

Wisconsin & Midwest

University of Wisconsin websites:

Wisconsin Beef Information Center (WBIC): https://fyi.extension.wisc.edu/wbic/
UW-Madison Animal Sciences Extension: https://fyi.extension.wisc.edu/animalsciences/
UW Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems: http://www.cias.wisc.edu
Extension Grazing Resources & Research: https://fyi.extension.wisc.edu/grazres/
UW Extension Publications: available from your local Cooperative Extension Office at https://learningstore.extension.wisc.edu

A1525        Forage Variety Update for WI (updated annually)
A3529        Pastures for Profit: A Guide to Rotational Grazing
A3637        Identifying Pasture Grasses
A3699        Grazing Streamside Pastures
A3715        Grassland Birds: Fostering Habitats Using Rotational Grazing
A3787        Identifying Pasture Legumes
A3858-04   Guide to Raising Healthy Beef Cattle
GWQ042   Dirty Dozen & Beyond: 25 Pasture Weeds of Wisconsin
GWQ057   Managing Pastures for Water Quality: Understanding Riparian Areas
GWQ058   Managing Pastures for Water Quality: Strategies for Seasonal Livestock Use

University of Illinois:

Illinois Beef Net: http://livestocktrail.illinois.edu/beefnet/

Iowa State University:

Pasture Management Guide for Livestock Producers, ISU PM 1713, by Steve Barnhart, Dan Morrical, Jim Russell, Ken Moore, Peggy Miller, Shawn Shouse, and Charlie Brummer, rev. 2005. Available from Iowa State Extension Publications: phone: 515-294-5247, fax: 515- 294-2945; email: pubdist@iastate.edu or access an order form on the web: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/store/. Related ISU publications are also available on website or for purchase.
ISU Iowa Beef Center: http://www.iowabeefcenter.org/
ISU Veterinary Diagnostic & Production Animal Medicine: http://vetmed.iastate.edu/vdpam/

Ohio State University:

Ohio Forages Network: www.forages.osu.edu
OSU Beef Team: http://beef.osu.edu/

Purdue University:

Purdue Pasture Management Website: www.agry.purdue.edu/ext/forages/rotational/

University of Minnesota:

Beef Extension: http://www.extension.umn.edu/agriculture/beef/
Extension Forages: http://www.extension.umn.edu/forages/
Direct link to: UM Grazing Systems Planning Guide, UMBU-07606-S, 44 pages, $3.00 plus shipping, call 800-876-8636 or download at: http://www.extension.umn.edu/agriculture/beef/components/docs/grazing_systems_planning_ guide1.pdf

University of Missouri:

Forage Research Systems Center: http://aes.missouri.edu/fsrc/
Missouri Beef Grazing website: http://agebb.missouri.edu/beef/grazing/index.htm
Missouri Beef Resource Guide: http://beef.missouri.edu/index.htm
Extension Publications: http://extension.missouri.edu/publications/
Direct links to these Missouri Extension resources:
Managed Grazing Video Series: http://extension.missouri.edu/p/DVD12
Grazing Manual: http://extension.missouri.edu/p/M157
Systems for Managed Beef Grazing: http://extension.missouri.edu/p/EQ380

University of Nebraska:

Beef Extension: http://beef.unl.edu/
Center for Grassland Studies: http://www.grassland.unl.edu/
National Drought Mitigation Center: http://drought.unl.edu/ranchplan/Overview.aspx

From Across the USA

ATTRA (National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service, NCAT): https://attra.ncat.org/
Chico State University (California) All Things Grass-fed Beef website: http://www.csuchico.edu/grassfedbeef/
Cornell Forage Livestock Systems website: http://forages.org/index.php
Cornell PALS (formerly NRAES) Publications: http://palspublishing.cals.cornell.edu/nra_index.taf

NRAES 171 Animal Production Systems for Pasture Based Livestock Production
NRAES 172 Forage Production for Pasture Based Livestock Production
NRAES 173 Forage Utilization for Pasture Based Livestock Production
NRAES 174 Managing & Marketing for Pasture Based Livestock Production

Northeast Pasture Consortium Grazing Guide: http://grazingguide.net/

Oklahoma:

Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation: https://www.noble.org/ag/

Texas A& M University:

Department of Ecosystem Science & Management: http://essm.tamu.edu/
TAMU AgriLife Extension Forages Website: http://forages.tamu.edu

University of Kentucky:

Beef Cattle Extension: http://afs.ca.uky.edu/beef/extension
KY Master Grazer program: http://www2.ca.uky.edu/grazer/
Extension Forages: http://www.uky.edu/Ag/Forage/
Direct links to:
Planning Fencing Systems for Intensive Grazing: www.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/id/id74/id74.pdf
& Rotational Grazing: www.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/id/id143/id143.pdf

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS):

Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI): http://www.glci.org/
NRCS National Range & Pasture Handbook: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/national/landuse/rangepasture/?cid=STELPRD B1043084
NRCS-Missouri, Electric Fencing for Serious Graziers: https://prod.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcs144p2_010636.pdf
NRCS-Missouri, Watering Systems for Serious Graziers: http://prod.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb1144213.pdf

West Virginia University:

West Virginia Extension Pastures & Hay Website: http://anr.ext.wvu.edu/forage

Books, Magazines & Grazing Organizations

GrassWorks, Inc. (WI grazing producer organization): http://www.grassworks.org/

GRAZE Magazine: www.grazeonline.com (608) 455-3311, PO Box 48 Belleville, WI 53508, email: graze@grazeonline.com

Gerrish, Jim. 2004. Management-Intensive Grazing: The Grassroots of Grass Farming. Ridgeland MS: Green Park Press, 314 pp. Order form at his website: http://www.americangrazinglands.com/

Heitschmidt, R.K. and J.W. Stuth, editors, Grazing Management: an Ecological Perspective, view online at: http://cnrit.tamu.edu/rlem/textbook/textbook-fr.html

Hodgson, John. 1990. Grazing Management: Science into Practice. New York: Longman Scientific and Technical, 203 pp.

Kingsbury, Bob. 1989. How to Plan, Implement and Practice Controlled Grazing on Your Place. Woodinville, WA: Kingsbury Communications. 57 pp.

Merck Veterinary Manual On-line: http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/index.html

Murphy, Bill, 2nd ed., 1991. Greener Pastures on Your Side of the Fence: Better Farming with Voisin Grazing. Arriba Publishing, Colchester, VT 298 pp.

Savory, Alan. 1998. Holistic Resource Management. www.holisticmanagement.org

Smith, Burt, Pingsun-Leung, and George Love. 1986. Intensive Grazing Management: Forage, Animals, Men, Profits. Kameula, Hawaii, The Graziers’ Hui. 350 pp.

Stockman Grass Farmer Magazine, 1-800-748-9808, www.stockmangrassfarmer.com

Voisin, Andre. 1959. Grass Productivity. Island Press, PO Box 7, Covelo, CA 95428, website: http://www.islandpress.org/

Wisconsin Meadows Grass-fed Cooperative: http://wisconsingrassfed.coop/

1UW Extension Grazing Specialist, UW Lancaster Agriculture Research Station
7396 State Rd. 35 & 81
Lancaster, WI 53813
Phone: (608) 723-6243
Email: rhonda.gildersleeve@ces.uwex.edu

© University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, 2014