News release issued May 3, 2001, effective immediately.
For media inquiries, contact Caroline Booth Lara, Communications Specialist, (580) 224-6379.
  email: cblara@noble.org

Cattle to have it 'made in the shade'

ARDMORE, Okla. -- Motorists on Sam Noble Parkway east of Ardmore might notice several new, metallic, flat-topped structures lined up in rows in pastures on the south side of the highway.

These 20 small structures, known as "shades," are located just east of the Noble Foundation's Forage Biotechnology building on State Highway 199. The shades will give cattle a place to cool off while they are grazing in the pastures. The pastures will be used by researchers to study forage production and nutritional value.

The area is divided by electric fences into 20 one-acre paddocks, or small pastures, each with a shade structure and water supply, explained Dr. Andy Hopkins, a Noble Foundation scientist working with the organization's Forage Biotechnology Group. The paddocks are connected by a central lane, which can be used to move cattle from one paddock to another.

"At some point in the future we intend to conduct trials," Hopkins said, "to measure the cattle's weight gains on different forage varieties or cultivars. That will normally involve cool-season grasses and possibly alfalfa. People will see us, from time to time, killing weeds so that we can have a 'clean' area to plant the forages we want to study."

In the meantime, Hopkins said, the paddocks will be planted in early May with a warm-season cover crop, possibly millet. This fall, several alfalfa varieties may be planted into the fields.

The Forage Biotechnology Group is focused on developing cool-season perennial forages (grasses and/or legumes, such as clover or alfalfa) adapted to Oklahoma and north Texas. Such forages, Foundation researchers believe, could help livestock producers across the region because of economic and labor-saving benefits.

"Usually we have two animals per paddock, when there is enough forage," Hopkins said. "Sometimes we might have animals grazing only two out of 12 months." Steers weighing 400- to 500-pounds are normally used for grazing studies. Researchers hope to test promising varieties in grazing trials, on average, for three years. "Weather is often very different from year to year, so we want to test many times in the same location," Hopkins said.

"The goal is to get information on different varieties to help us decide which forage varieties we release to the public, so that farmers and ranchers can then use them," Hopkins said. "New varieties will be released when they grow better, and allow cattle to grow better, than currently used varieties."

###

Photo: Cattle Shades (112k jpg)

The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, headquartered in Ardmore, Okla., is a non-profit organization conducting agricultural, forage biotechnological, and plant biology research; providing grants to numerous non-profit charitable, educational and health organizations; and assisting farmers and ranchers through educational and consultative agricultural programs.

To learn more, check out the Noble Foundation Web site at http://www.noble.org.

More news releases available at www.noble.org/Press_Release