Bluestem Research Range

Bluestem Research Range (OSU site)

The Bluestem Research Range is located seven miles west and two miles south of Stillwater. This range includes 800 acres with 250 acres of introduced perennial grass and 550 acres of native tallgrass pasture. Intensive pasture management practices (fertilizer, herbicide and fire) are applied to the introduced pastures. The native rangeland is managed with either rotational or season-long continuous stocking, and some deferred for winter grazing. The major facility is a stall barn with the capability to supplement up to 36 cows or stocker cattle. In addition, this facility includes an extensive corral and covered cattle handling facility. Extensive water developments in both native and introduced pastures allow accessibility to the entire forage base year-round. Research capabilities include supplementation studies with individual feeding to measure stocker performance, forage intake and utilization, diet quality, fiber degradation, precision supplementation, and grazing systems research.

Typically, stocker cattle arrive in April and graze until late September. The introduced pastures are usually stocked at about 2 acres per stocker, and native pastures at about 4-5 acres per stocker for the season. Average daily gains are usually about 1.6 lb for the grazing season (approx. 150 d). There are 12 introduced forage pastures for replicated research, and 6 native pastures. Typical research procedures involve weighing cattle individually two or three times during the summer, feeding different supplements, and monitoring forage production. We have capacity and experience to do additional intensive research procedures including, rumen cannulation, blood collection, etc, and we have experience in FDA GLP procedures. Day-to-day husbandry activities include receiving and shipping cattle, daily observations of cattle and pastures, maintenance, etc.

Personnel at the unit include a full-time herdsman and one or two undergraduate students, along with support from graduate students.

Unique research capacity includes a GreenFeed unit for measuring methane emissions of grazing cattle, and SmartFeed Pro units to implement precision supplementation treatments.