Reconnecting Cattle and Quail

 

The “Fescue Belt” is land dominated by non-native cool season grasses, primarily tall fescue. Cool season grasses, such as fescue and orchardgrass, thrive in April to early June and October to November. However, they have obvious drawbacks; and operations that rely exclusively on cool-season forages may find it increasingly difficult to stay above the bottom line.

 

When the summer is at its peak, cool season grasses can be very unproductive. In contrast, native warm season grasses peak during summer months (85 – 95 F). Warm season grasses are well adapted to Ohio’s soils and climate, with deep root systems which sometimes exceed 10 feet, and a more efficient chemical pathway for photosynthesis. During the summer months, the heat- and drought-tolerant warm season grasses exceed cool season grasses in both quality and quantity of forage. By replacing a percentage of non-native pastures with native ones, producers are benefiting from diversified forage that is more resilient to drought and resistant to fungal endophytes found in fescue that impact herd health.

 

 

 

Establishing warm season grasses, and actively managing them as summer forage, can also boost habitat for northern bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus) as well as numerous other grassland birds. The bunch-forming warm season grasses including switchgrass, big bluestem, eastern gamagrass, and indiangrass provide bobwhites with quality habitat for feeding on insects, nesting, and rearing their broods.

 

To reconnect cattle and quail, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and its partners are recommending producers go “old school” by grazing native forages once again. The Northern Bobwhite Quail in Grasslands and Working Lands for Wildlife (WLFW) a USDA-NRCS Farm Bill Program is a special initiative in 30 of Ohio’s southernmost counties shown in the map linked here. This program is aimed to assist producers with conservation practices like forage and biomass planting, fencing, brush management, and prescribed grazing as described in this USDA Science to Solutions publication.

 

 

 

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.