Texas is the top beef-producing state in the nation, and raising cattle is the largest part of Texas agriculture. The ways ranchers raise cattle in the Lone Star State are as diverse as Texas itself. Grass-fed, grain-fed, cow-calf, stocker, purebred operations—all play a unique role in providing a safe, nutritious product for niche and mainstream consumer markets.

A priority shared by all Texas cattlemen and women, however, is providing proper care to raise livestock. Responsible antibiotic use on the farm and ranch is a safe, and needed, practice. Ranchers also have training programs, like the Beef Quality Assurance program, that help them better understand animal care and handling practices. Raising cattle with those principles leads to quality beef.

Enjoy a lip-smacking-good meal of steak or roast? How about a juicy hamburger? You can’t have the real thing without cattle.  And what about cheese, butter, a cold glass of milk? Or ice cream on a hot summer day? You need ol’ Bessie around for that. Cattle also bring in more than $12 billion annually to the Texas economy. Now that’s a lot of moola!

Cattle provide insulin and other valuable medicines. Their fats and fatty acids are used to make deodorant, lotions, cement, chalk and candles. Plastics, lamination, wallpaper, adhesives and more are made from hooves and horns. Cattle hair is used for air filters, brushes, insulation and felt. Bones are used for charcoal, fertilizer and glass. Their internal organs are even used to make instrument strings, tennis racket strings, vitamins and more! Byproducts of the hide include medicines, leather, gelatin, flavorings and adhesives.

Cattle only count for about 3% of greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, the staggering majority of greenhouse gases are due to transportation and electricity production.  Cattle are also the ultimate recyclers. They eat the byproducts of ethanol in your car, the cotton t-shirt you wear and even the beer in your glass. Without cattle, hundreds of thousands of pounds of byproducts would end up as waste in landfills. They even upcycle land that is unsuitable for human food consumption. Cattle convert plants that are inedible for humans into high-quality protein.

In the U.S., there are about 800 million acres of land that are not suitable for growing crops due to factors like soil conditions, environment and lack of rain. But that land has native grasses that cattle are able to upcycle into tasty protein for humans. Beef contains many essential nutrients, including iron, zinc, vitamin B12 and more. Cattle can also help manage the forage that fuels wildfires. By grazing down forage, cattle eliminate some of the fuel.

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Reducing Mortality of Grassland Wildlife During Haying and Wheat-Harvesting Operations

Oklahoma farmers and ranchers typically harvest in excess of five million acres of winter wheat for grain and in excess of two million acres of hayland annually. In the state, both wheat and hay harvests typically occur simultaneously with nesting and/or brooding activities. This occurs with ground-nesting grassland birds in April through June, and with the fawning of white-tailed and mule deer in May through June. Thus, conflicts between wildlife and farm machinery can result in abandoned nests or wounds resulting in death to incubating hens and/or broods, and injury or death to fawns. In effect, wheat fields and hay meadows can become “sink” habitats during harvesting activities. A sink habitat appears to offer suitable cover, food, and water to the animal, but production of young in a local population, such as that found on a small farm, is less than the mortality rate.

In Oklahoma, there are a number of birds that are ground nesters of the tall, mid, or shortgrass prairies. Some of these species are currently in decline, while others are typically uncommon. At least one grasslands species, the lesser prairie chicken, has become extremely rare in Oklahoma. Two species, the northern bobwhite and the ringnecked pheasant, have considerable economic value to landowners throughout the state. All of these species can be found nesting in hay meadows.

The utilization of flushing bars mounted on tractors or self-propelled haybines can be beneficial to the survival of nesting birds and their broods. This practice has been intensely researched and applied in the 1950’s and 1960’s and is being re-evaluated in duck nesting regions of Canada and California today. Altering harvesting routes for hay and wheat harvesting machinery will aid in the escape of incubating hens, hens with broods, or hiding fawns.

Wildlife-Friendly Harvesting Strategies– Mowing can destroy nests, eggs, adult birds, and fawns. Ground-nesting females that are incubating eggs are extremely reluctant to leave their nests. Nests escaping damage by haying machinery are often conspicuous and are quickly located by predators. It was reported that nearly seventy-five percent of the incubating pheasants in Ohio meadows were killed or crippled in the first nesting attempt of the season during daytime hay mowing operations. Likewise, wheat harvesting can expose hens and broods that are “bugging” in insect-rich fields to predators and to mortality caused by machinery. The impact of mowing or combining upon grassland wildlife can be reduced if the following steps are taken:

(1) Harvest the field from the inside outward rather than from the outside inward. Avoid beginning at the perimeter and mowing in a circle towards the center. This practice forces the birds into a continually smaller space as they attempt to avoid the harvester, while still maintaining cover from predators. Combine or swath “back and forth” across a field.

(2) Sitting hen birds and fawns often do not have time to react to and avoid high-speed harvesters. Consider driving at reduced speeds in areas where hens have been observed or are suspected of nesting activity. This strategy may be particularly important in areas within 1.5 miles of rare lesser or greater prairie chicken “leks” or display areas.

(3) When possible, harvest your hay no earlier than late June to protect hens that did not nest until mid to late May. A similar schedule will conserve fawns. Under ideal weather conditions, it is difficult to delay haying operations. Still, recognize that early haying will almost always lead to a higher mortality rate for grasslands wildlife. Harvest no later than early July to allow for regrowth of plants for next year’s nesting cover.

(4) If there are several fields to harvest, save the fields closest to wetlands and CRP acreage for last. These fields will likely have a high nesting density. Hay or wheat fields near standing water or wetlands generally offer excellent nesting cover and “bugging” opportunities.

(5) Using a sorghum guard on your hay harvester, raising the cutter bar by three inches, or angling the cutter bar upwards, may reduce mortal wounds to hens.