Management of Livestock on Forest Range 



The studies under this project have two major objectives: 



To find practical systems of grazing forest ranges 

 with no significant damage to timber; and 



To find a system of range beef cattle management 

 that will greatly increase beef production per cow 

 and per acre. 



The nature and extent of grazing damage has been determined and 

 reported sufficiently for landowners and livestock owners to eliminate 

 most of the damage, if they work together. However, studies so far 

 have not developed an acceptable management system to increase beef 

 production. 



Hog damage to pine reproduction. --Free-ranging woods hogs 

 destroy longleaf pine plantations that are not fenced or otherwise pro- 

 tected for the first 5 to 10 years. Hogs also prevent the establishment 

 and growth of natural longleaf seedlings. Very few longleaf plantations 

 or natural seedling stands in central and southwest Louisiana have been 

 kept free of hogs long enough to produce good stands of second-growth 

 longleaf. 



Many people believe that hogs get a spring tonic from eating pine 

 roots. The truth is that the fleshy root has a very high percent of carbo- 

 hydrates- -80 percent, about equal to corn- -and hogs eat the bark because 

 they are hungry. Nearly all hog damage to pines occurs in late winter 

 and spring. At this season pine and oak mast is gone and other food is 

 scarce, but pine roots are succulent and the ground is soft for rooting. 



One adult hog can root up and kill seedlings at the rate of 5 or 6 

 a minute. He can destroy a whole acre of planted seedlings in a day or 

 two (fig. 16). Hogs sometimes return to an area year after year, until 

 all young pines have been rooted out. Longleaf seedlings are especially 

 vulnerable because they often remain in the grass stage of growth for 4 

 years or more. 



Hogs also root up and peel fleshy lateral roots of longleaf and 

 slash pine saplings. This may not kill the trees, but it leaves them 

 susceptible to wind-throw and disease. 



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