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The
Waggoner Experimental Ranch - Kite Camp
The
Waggoner Ranch lies just south of the Red River midway between Dallas and
Amarillo. It covers some 500,000 acres spanning six counties. The land is
gently rolling plains, well covered with grass, has a liberal presence of
mesquite and a fair share of nodding oil jacks. With an average annual
rainfall of 26 inches and a good mixture of warm and cool season
midgrasses, it is one of the best cow-calf range areas in the nation. The
ranch is currently stocked at 28-30 acres per cow. Range condition is fair
to good and grass is abundant even in times of drought. Most of the land
is rangeland but a significant area is planted to wheat in fall and
grazed by stockers prior to shipping them off to feedlots for finishing.
In
September of 1994, Texas A&M, in co-operation with the Waggoner Ranch
began conducting a five year research project applying controlled burning
by using rotational grazing. The objectives are to develop a profitable
management strategy to reduce mesquite using fire, decrease chemical and
mechanical inputs, improve grass composition and productivity, cope with
drought, and enhance wildlife habitat.
The
study includes four experimental treatments with two replications covering
an area of about 34,000 acres. Replicate sizes range from 3,000 to 5,000
acres so results will apply to ranches of this size as well as larger
ranches. A similar mixture of soils is present between treatments. All
treatments were stocked with Hereford cows having the same age composition
in September of 1995 at levels consistent with NRCS moderate stocking
rates. These were calculated according to the acreage of each of the four
major range sites in each pasture and the range condition in each.
Three
different rotational grazing systems are being compared with continuous
grazing. These three different systems represent different levels of
management intensity and are being compared to provide the points for and
against each, since different ranchers are likely to be comfortable with
different intensities of management. The treatments include:
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Two - Continuously
grazed pastures at a moderate stocking rate (control with no burn).
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Two - 4-pasture, 3
herd (Merrill) systems where each pasture is rested four months at a
time and the pasture being rested during January through April will be
burned in February.
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Two - 4-pasture, 1
herd systems where all pastures will receive about 45 days rest during
the rapid growth and 90 days at other times. One fourth of the system
or one pasture will be rested to provide sufficient fuel for burning
in February and March.
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Two -
8-pasture, 1 herd systems where all pastures will receive about 45
days rest during the rapid growth and 90 days at other times. One
fourth of the system or two pastures will be rested to provide
sufficient fuel for burning in February and March.
Waggoner Experimental
Ranch
- Presentations in Power Point
Kite
Camp phase 1 (1995-2001)
Kite
Camp phase 2 (2001-2004)
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