Evaluating the effects of grazing native rangeland on enteric emissions.

Understanding beef cattle enteric emissions on extensive western U.S. rangeland systems is critical for implementing sustainable grazing practices that reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These practices must also improve livestock and plant productivity and climate resiliency while maintaining or reducing production costs. However, enteric emissions of grazing cattle under different stocking rates and grazing management strategies are largely unknown for western U.S. rangelands. Thus, our objective was to evaluate the differences in enteric emissions of stocker steers grazing native rangeland. Yearling Angus steers (n = 127) were stratified by initial body weight (BW) to six groups, then randomly assigned to one of six pastures grazed from June to September 2023 at the South Dakota State University Cottonwood Field Station (Cottonwood, SD) as part of a long-term stocking rate trial (80+ yr). Each pasture was equipped with a GreenFeed (C-Lock Inc, Rapid City, SD) pasture system to measure individual animal CH4 and CO2 emissions for continuous grazing (CG) and rotational grazing (RG) strategies in three stocking rates (Light, Moderate, and Heavy, 0.32, 0.40, and 0.72 animal unit months, respectively) in a 2 x 3 factorial design. Differences in enteric emissions among stocking rate and grazing strategy were analyzed using a linear mixed effects model in R, using the lme4 package, with animal as a random effect, and a post-hoc contrast among treatments was assessed using the lsmeans package. Steer initial and final BW were similar (P > 0.05) among treatments. For CH4 emissions, there was a significant interaction between stocking rate and grazing strategy (P < 0.05). Specifically, CH4 emissions for moderate-RG (195 ± 4.3 g/d) were less than those from heavy-CG (221 ± 4.5 g/d) and light-RG (221 ± 4.7 g/d) over the study period (P < 0.05). For CO2 emissions, light-CG steers respired greater CO2 emissions (6892 ± 101 g/d) than heavy-RG (6398 ± 107 g/d; P < 0.05). All other treatment lsmeans were similar (P > 0.05) and intermediate to these treatment effects. The assessment of GHG emission values for cattle grazing native rangeland is essential for informing climate mitigation strategies, improving animal efficiency, and understanding changes in GHG emissions over production phases and across animal classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]