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CapitalPress.com
Friday, June 24, 2022
Study fi nds off -season cattle grazing can help control cheatgrass
By SIERRA DAWN McCLAIN
Capital Press
RENO, Nev. — Scientists
at the University of Neva-
da-Reno have found that tar-
geted cattle grazing during
the dormant season can help
control cheatgrass, an inva-
sive annual grass responsi-
ble for increasing wildfi re
danger in the Intermountain
West.
Researchers say cheat-
grass is an “ecological
threat” in the Western U.S.,
dominating more than 20%
of the sagebrush steppe
and covering about 11,000
square miles of the Great
Basin, according to a new
study in Elsevier’s jour-
nal Rangeland Ecology and
Management.
“We’re facing chal-
lenges right now in sage-
brush rangelands the likes of
which nobody’s ever seen,”
Chad Boyd, a rangeland sci-
entist with USDA’s Agricul-
tural Research Service, told
the Capital Press. “I mean,
when you look at the annual
grass problem, when you
look at the tens upon mil-
lions of acres that it impacts
West-wide, nobody’s ever
faced a problem that big.”
University of Nevada-Reno
Cattle grazing on cheatgrass.
To combat infestation,
researchers have been study-
ing use of off -season tar-
geted cattle grazing as a tool
for reducing cheatgrass.
University of Neva-
da-Reno researchers have
found that an eff ective
method for getting cattle to
graze in cheatgrass-invaded
systems involves setting up
supplemental protein feed-
ing stations near areas with
fi ne fuel buildup. Drawn to
the feeding stations, cattle
also eat nearby cheatgrass.
According to Barry Per-
ryman, professor of range-
land sciences at the univer-
sity and an author of the
study, putting out protein
supplements in the fall and
early winter can attract cat-
tle to locations dominated
by cheatgrass. The cattle
then reduce standing fi ne-
fuel biomass by more than
50%, he said. That makes
room for native grasses to
grow.
In turn, this can poten-
tially reduce wildfi re danger.
“Reducing the amount
of cheatgrass fuel carryover
may eff ectively reduce the
amount of total fuel avail-
able during the next year’s
fi re season,” said Perryman.
“If several hundred pounds
per acre of cheatgrass can
be removed during the fall
through cattle grazing, that
is several hundred pounds
that will not be added to the
next year’s fuel load.”
Perryman’s conclusions
build on previous studies.
One small-scale study
showed that targeted graz-
ing during spring can reduce
above-ground biomass by
80% to 90%, resulting in
reduced fl ame length and
rate of fi re spread the follow-
ing October. Another study,
done on sagebrush and
native perennial grass plant
communities, found that
reducing biomass by 40% to
60% through winter grazing
reduced fl ame height, rate of
spread and area burned com-
pared to a control area that
was not grazed.
For the new study, Per-
ryman and the scientists he
worked with used liquid pro-
tein supplements in October
and November from 2014 to
2017 at a production-scale
working ranch with a herd
size ranging from 650 to
1,200 head of cattle.
The pasture the research-
ers experimented on was a
mixture of rangeland and
abandoned farmland heavily
invaded by cheatgrass.
The study found that pro-
tein supplements can suc-
cessfully attract cattle away
from water toward cheat-
grass-infested areas on large
pastures.
Where cattle grazed along
the transect line of the sup-
plemental feeding stations,
their consumption of cheat-
grass averaged 48% to 81%.
Besides Perryman, other
authors on the study included
Mitchell Stephenson, who
was a post-doctoral stu-
dent of Perryman’s during
the study and is now a range
management specialist at the
University of Nebraska-Lin-
coln; Brad Schultz, professor
and extension educator at the
University of Nevada-Reno;
and Chad Boyd, Kirk Davies
and Tony Svejcar, rangeland
scientists with USDA.
Buckwheat handler expects strong demand, calls for more acres of the crop
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
War between Russia and
Ukraine has thrown buck-
wheat supplies “upside
down,” says a Washington
grain handler, who hopes to
increase production of the
crop in the Columbia Basin
to meet demand.
Russia and Ukraine are
the No. 1 and No. 3 produc-
tion countries for buckwheat
in the world, with China No.
2, said Darrel Otness, owner
of Washington Producers
Inc. in Basin City, Wash.
The
company
con-
tracts with farmers to grow
buckwheat.
About 99% of Otness’
customers are in Japan, with
a small number from South
Korea. Russia has stopped
exporting buckwheat to
Japan, negatively impacting
Otness’ customers.
“They need to buy more
buckwheat, and we are look-
ing for more buckwheat,” he
said. “It’s hard to fi nd buck-
wheat with all of the crops
being so high-priced.”
Buckwheat is typically
grown as a second crop in
the Columbia Basin, Otness
said — after wheat, peas,
early sweet corn and the fi rst
cut of timothy hay.
“That’s when it works
economically and agronom-
ically for the grower,” he
said.
Rachel Breslauer/WSU
With top buckwheat-producing countries Russia and
Ukraine at war, a Washington grain handler hopes for
more production in the Columbia Basin to meet demand.
The Washington Grain
Commission recommends
not following buckwheat
with a wheat crop due to
concerns about volunteer
plants in the wheat.
Otness works with 40 to
50 farmers, who raise 8,000
to 10,000 acres of buck-
wheat in their crop rota-
tions. He estimates there are
12,000 to 14,000 total acres
in Oregon and Washington.
“Now that demand is
stronger and everyone’s
fi ghting for acres, we’re
looking for more acres of
buckwheat,” he said.
Otness is looking for
“a couple thousand” more
acres.
He’s concerned about
cool spring weather delays
on other crops, possibly
shortening the buckwheat
production period, or pre-
venting planting altogether.
Buckwheat prices have
increased from 25 cents per
pound to 30 cents per pound
in the last fi ve years.
“It’s a very profi table
crop because it uses so lit-
tle inputs,” Otness said.
“There’s no sprays you can
put on it for herbicides. You
can spray grass weeds out,
but it doesn’t need any other
chemical sprays, very lit-
tle fertilizer usage. So it is
quite economical as a sec-
ond crop.”
Contact Otness at 509-
521-7535 or d.otness@
wapro.us for more informa-
tion. He recommends tex-
ting or emailing fi rst.
“A lot of guys have seen
their neighbors raise it and
they’re curious about it,” he
said.
He expects Ukraine to
request buckwheat for food
aid, noting it’s a staple there.
“I think we’re going to
have a whole new demand
when this war situation gets
squared away,” Otness said.
“I honestly think we won’t
be able to get enough buck-
wheat for the next fi ve to 10
years.”
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