Responses of Vegetation and Cattle to Various Systems of Grazing on Seeded and Native Mountain Rangelands in Eastern Utah

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Several grazing systems were compared on the Diamond Mountain Cattle Allotment of the Ashley National Forest in Utah. The area is about 8,000 ft in elevation and receives 20-25 inches of precipitation annually. On native sagebrush-grass range, a comparison of summer-long (July-September) grazing every year, summer-long in alternate years, and 3-unit rest-rotation systems revealed no differences between systems in cover, production, or species composition of vegetation after 7 years of grazing. Average daily gains of cattle over the entire period were the same for all systems. During the period of study on this range, which was in fair to good condition and grazed at a moderate intensity, rest-rotation was not a better system than summer-long grazing. The key to this lack of difference was management. Rest-rotation systems require intensive management of water, salt, riding, etc. All units in both systems in the study had good distribution of water and salt and adequate riding to insure uniform cattle distribution. The unit grazed summer-long every year received the same degree of management and thus remained as productive as ranges under restrotation management. On seeded units of the allotment, heavy grazing in June in alternate years increased production on areas dominated by crested wheatgrass and smooth brome. Practical and efficient methods of managing cattle on highelevation ranges of the Intermountain area are needed. This study was started in 1959 and continued through 1967 and was designed to test two systems of spring (June) grazing on seeded mountain rangeland and three systems of summer grazing on native rangeland. The relative effects of the grazing systems on forage production, amount and pattern of utilization, ground cover, and cattle production were compared. It was a cooperative effort of the Diamond Mountain Cattle Association and the Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station and the Ashley National Forest of the U.S. Forest Service.