Economic comparison of stocker cattle performance on winter wheat vs. summer-dormant tall fescue with nitrogen or interseeded alfalfa in the southern great plains.

Abstract

Winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is a significant forage source for livestock grazing in the Southern Great Plains (SGP). However, increasing input costs and changing climate conditions compel producers and researchers to search for alternative forage systems, such as cool-season perennials. Specifically, cool-season perennials with summer dormancy traits can survive droughts in the SGP. This paper aimed to determine the net returns of three different types of cool-season perennial summer-dormant tall fescue [Schedonorus arundinaceus (Schreb.) Dumort., nom. cons.] systems either with N fertilizer or interseeded with alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) and the traditional graze-out annual winter wheat forage system. The data were from a 5-yr experiment conducted in south-central Oklahoma. Animal performance results indicated that the traditional graze-out winter annual wheat forage system provided more total gains at 434 kg ha^-1 than the three tall fescue variety systems at 326 kg ha^-1 (P = 0.006) due to more grazing days. Thus, the gross revenue estimated at a cost of gain of $1.60 kg^-1 gain for wheat at $694 ha^-1 was greater than the average gross revenue of $521 ha^-1 for the tall fescue systems. However, the average total cost for the perennial tall fescue systems ($374 ha^-1) was less than the total cost ($594 ha^-1) of the wheat system. Overall, the average net returns were similar for all grazing systems at about $145 ha^-1.