02/17/05 Grazing lecture part II

Grazing Lecture II Yesterday I talked about listening to a grazing discussion by Dr. Fred Provenza. I'm Jeff Keane and today I'll relate some his interesting thoughts. Dr. Provenza started his talk with a short discussion of palatability. Most of us would say palatability is what tastes good to an animal, but what plants an animal uses is not just because of flavor. Animals eat to feed cells in their bodies. This is where science has revealed cells send a message to the palate that says this satisfies our needs. So flavor, along with cell and organ feedback according to the nutrient level of a forage work together to define palatability of plants to a grazing animal. One grazing management rule to think about is getting animals to mix the best forages in a pasture or range area with the rest of the plants; not letting the animals eat the best and leave the rest. Now this can be a little hard to accomplish sometimes, just ask my mother about getting me to eat some of everything on my plate. Dr. Provenza says animals need to be trained to eat a variety of plants available to them. The interesting fact he observed while making older animals eat certain forages was that young animals learned quickly from their mothers, and even if these young animals were away from a plant or feed for several years they remembered and ate it when it was available again. If animals mix the best with the rest; more plants are utilized and this creates the healthier range that is the goal of all good forage managers. I'm Jeff Keane.