The entire area was closed to grazing by livestock for two growing 

 seasons after planting. During the 1953 grazing season, 114 head of mixed 

 cattle, plus an undetermined number of calves, were allowed to graze at 

 will within the fenced area for 3 weeks from July 1 to July 22 before they 

 were trailed to summer range. Thus, readily available to the cattle on a 

 free-choice basis were the 13 seeded species on the 79 plots , a mixture of 

 seeded grasses on the main seeded area, and native grasses on rotobeaten 

 and undisturbed sites, 



A measure of species preference was obtained by comparing the percent 

 of plants of the various species grazed by th9 cattle. While availability 

 and abundance are known to affect choice cf various grasses by stock f it- 

 was felt that, since each species had been replicated six or seven times, 

 and a considerable volume was available, such a comparison would give a 

 measure of the relative preference for the various species. Ratings were 

 made approximately l£ weeks after grazing started and again after the cattle 

 were removed following 3 weeks of grazing- 



Soon after grazing started it became apparent that the cattle pre- 

 ferred almost all the seeded species over the two most common native grasses, 

 Idaho fescue and thickspike wheatgrass. After l£ weeks, half or more of 

 the plants of all of the seeded grasses except hard fescue had been grazed , 

 while only 15 percent of the Idaho fescue and 26 percent of thickspike wheat- 

 grass plants had been used. After 3 weeks all seeded species were more 

 heavily grazed than either of the two native grasses (table l). 



The various grasses may be classed into three fairly distinct groups 

 based on preference by the cattle, As shown in table 1, seven species-- 

 intermediate wheatgrass s Russian wildrye £ orchard „ meadow brome, smooth 

 brome, pubescent wheat, and tall oat- -were most preferred. More than 75 

 percent of the plants of each of those species had been grazed after l\ 

 weeks of use.- Least preferred and classed in Group III were big blue- 

 grass s western wheatgrass s hard fescue, and the two natives, Idaho fescue 

 and thickspike wheatgrass } each with less than 55 percent of the plants 

 grazed, After 3 weeks of use by the cattle , the three preference groups 

 still remained though several species had moved into another class. Green 

 needlegrass and crested and slender wheatgrasses advanced to Group I while 

 big bluegrass and western wheatgrass moved up to Group II,. Hard fescue 

 still remained the least preferred of the seeded species, with a little 

 less than half the plants grazed. However, the two native grasses were 

 still less preferred than hard fescue, with only 39 percent of the thick- 

 spike wheatgrass and 18 percent of the Idaho fescue plants grazed c It is 

 noteworthy that relative positions of the grasses changed very little be- 

 tween ratings.. Only pubescent wheatgrass and hard fescue changed their 

 relative standings, the former advancing from sixth place 1\ weeks after 

 grazing started to fourth place after 3 weeks of use 5 and the latter ad- 

 vancing from second to third least preferred „ 



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