Cattle use of foothills rangeland near dehydrated molasses supplement

Strategic supplement placement has been shown to be an effective tool to lu re cattle to underutilized rangeland. The goal of this study was to determi ne where cattle grazed when supplement was placed in foothills rangeland. T he study was conducted in 4 pastures in northern R;Montana that were domina ted by cool-season grasses. For 2-week periods beginning in October 1998 an d ending in January 1999, dehydrated molasses blocks (30% CP) were placed i n locations within 3 pastures that were steeper and further from water. For age utilization was measured at the time of supplement placement and again at removal. Increases in forage utilization during each period (14%) were s imilar (P > 0.1) at distances of 30 to 600 m from supplement, and increases were additive across periods. Forage utilization was evaluated in a fourth pasture during August and September 1999 at distances of 50 to 3,000 m fro m the supplement. Forage use declined (P < 0.01) at further distances from supplement, and forage use at distances less than 600 to 800 m from supplem ent was greater than the average of all measurements collected throughout t he pasture. During the autumn and early winter at the 2 pastures located ne ar Havre, Mont., 53% of the cows were observed within 600 m of supplement a nd 47% were observed at greater distances from supplement. Eighty-one of th e 159 cows grazing the 2 pastures near Havre (245 and 330 ha) were fitted w ith Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking collars. The collared cows spe nt 37% of their time within 600 m of supplement, Uniformity of cattle grazi ng can be enhanced by the placement of dehydrated molasses supplement in ru gged topography, and the area influenced can include distances up to 600 m from supplement.