Pasture Types of Western Kansas in Relation to the Intensity of Utilization in Past Years

Abstract

Introduction Short grass pastures on the high plains of Western Kansas vary in their ability to produce forage for livestock consumption. One of the reasons for this difference is a variation in the degree of utilization in past years. Forage production of short grass ranges has been reduced to about one-half after only a few decades of improper grazing; therefore the problem of proper utilization is becoming more important every year (Forest Service, 1936). When the early settlers came to western Kansas they found an almost complete cover of native vegetation and for a number of years only a small portion of the range was put under cultivation. With the coming of the dry land farmer, however, a large percentage of the native prairie was broken. A recent survey shows that in the Great Plains Region there are about 17 million acres of range land as compared to approximately 11 million acres of crop land (Great Plains Committee, 1936). Many operators have been unable to adjust their livestock programs to the range lands that are diminishing in area and yield. Some have reduced their stocking rate so much that it has resulted in their pastures being undergrazed. Many operators, however, have retained too many animal units on their pastures, thereby producing some badly overgrazed grasslands. The detrimental effects of improper management of the short grass ranges have never been fully understood. Farm operators have observed that some pastures are inferior to others, but they have been unable to correlate these conditions with past treatment. Many have been unable to recognize areas that have been either too lightly or too heavily utilized. This inability is probably due to the enormous changes that take place in the vegetative cover of the pastures during extreme variations in climatic conditions as well as those that result