LIVESTOCK AND VEGETATION RESPONSES TO STOCKING RATE AND GRAZING SYSTEM

Vegetation and livestock responses from a 25 year (1982-2006) grazing system and stocking rate study in the northern mixed-grass prairie at the USDA-Agricultural Research Service, High Plains Grasslands Research Station near Cheyenne, Wyoming are presented here. This study was longest known grazing system X stocking rate study in North America and was one of the few studies to use the same stocking rates for grazing system comparisons. Results from this study have been used to further development of, and validate, rangeland models for tactical (within-year) and strategic (across years) decision support tools for producers