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Show Range Management Conducts Special Studies at College Three livestock and range studies are underway at Col-I Col-I lege of Southern Utah under the direction of Professor j James Bown.s of the range management department. As- sisted by John Logan, CSU I range management major, I Prof. Bowns is conducting extensive ex-tensive experimentation on range fertilization, livestock grass palatability and prefer-once, prefer-once, and sheep grazing distribution. dis-tribution. According to Prof. Bowns, the range fertilization study jnvolves the testing of two different fertilizers, nitrogen and phosphorus. Results are being charted following the application of the two fertilizers fertil-izers at six different rates and combinations of rates on high elevation meadow-type areas. Charts are kept on productivity productiv-ity and nutrient content of plants, specifically, crude protein, pro-tein, gross energy, and phosphorus phos-phorus percentage. Prof. Bowns said the study, now in its second year, must be conducted for a three-year period before any definite conclusions con-clusions can be reached. His goal is to determine the residual res-idual effects of the fertilizers and make an economic analysis analy-sis of the results to determine if it is feasible to fertilize grazing areas. A related study in relative values of several native and introduced grass species grown at high elevations is being conducted by Prof. Bowns. The two-year study will yield data on productivity of each species, nutrient content, con-tent, and palatability or relative rel-ative degree of preference by livestock. Additional benefit will be derived from the ex- periment in determining which grasses provide the best watershed protection. The third study, involving the grazing habits of sheep in their preferences of feed and location, Is basically a summer sum-mer program. By charting movement of the sheep in specific grazing areas and the amount of time spent in each locality, Prof. Bowns hopes to gain data which would lead to the improvement of range management by more efficient fencing, salting, and water development. He explained that herding costs could be reduced through better distribution distri-bution of the animals. His information involves statistics on how far the herds move, which feeds are available, avail-able, and which forage plants are more palatable to the sheep. The breeds being used in the tests are Columbia, Targhee, and Rambouillet. The studies are being conducted north of the CSU ranch in mixed vegetation type valley bottoms and high ridges. |