Influence of three times weekly alfalfa supplementation on the behavior of beef cows grazing dormant Montana rangeland

Supplementation is a popular management strategy among livestock producers in western North America. Conventionally, supplementation has been used to bridge the gap between livestock nutrient requirements and the nutrient content of low-quality forage. More recently, there has been interest in using supplementation as a tool to improve livestock distribution on heterogeneous landscapes (Bohnert and Stephenson, 2016; Bailey et al., 2019). Protein supplements are often the best choice for use with low-quality forages because they improve digestion and increase basal forage intake (Moore et al., 1999; DelCurto et al., 2000). Though commonly fed daily, hand-fed protein supplements can be delivered as infrequently as once weekly to decrease labor costs while maintaining the same level of performance (Kunkle et al., 2000; Klein et al., 2014). While there is information describing the influence of supplementation on cow behavior (Bailey, 2004; Bohnert and Stephenson, 2016), there is little information describing the behavior of cattle supplemented infrequently (Brandyberry et al., 1992; Schauer et al., 2005), or comparing behavior between days cattle were supplemented and those they were not (Dunn et al., 1988; Sprinkle et al., 2019). Reducing the frequency of protein supplementation has no effect on performance, however, it may alter grazing behavior. Many livestock producers strive to maximize use of the basal forage resource in large rangeland pastures. So, it is important to understand how infrequent supplementation influences grazing behavior. Therefore, the objective of this research is to evaluate differences in grazing behavior of cows supplemented three times weekly on supplemented vs. non-supplemented days. We hypothesize that cattle grazing behavior is influenced by timing/day of supplementation.

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