James Rogers, Ph.D. News
Researcher studies cover crop effects on winter pasture
Noble Research Institute researchers are studying how cover crops could be part of a year-round grazing system that provides economic and environmental benefits to farmers and ranchers.
New Opportunities
Advanced breeding methods and a novel endophyte combine to offer agricultural producers a new alternative for winter grazing.
Fields of Green
Researchers from across the Noble Research Institute join forces through the Forage 365 initiative with the goal of providing year-round livestock grazing and reducing ranchers' dependence on buying hay.
Digging Deep
One of the Noble Research Institute's new research clusters aims to better understand plant growth and development.
Happy Calving Season!
It's my favorite time of year. Brand new baby calves take their first steps into the world, and it's a beautiful thing. I still remember the first one I watched, and I've been hooked on it ever...
Grazing Research Projects at the Noble Research Institute
Dr. James Rogers talks about the two grazing studies that the Noble Research Institute is conducting at its Pasture Demonstration Farm.
Studying How Cover Crops, Tillage Affect the Life in Soil
Kelly Craven, Ph.D., an associate professor of microbial symbiology, discusses his work with agronomist James Rogers, Ph.D., to better understand the impacts of cover cropping and tillage practices on the microbial communities, and ultimately the health, of Oklahoma soils.
Clearing Up Some Tall Fescue Misconceptions
One of the major forage research emphasis areas here at the Noble Research Institute is developing perennial cool-season grass grazing systems that will take the place of annual cool-season forage systems.
Fall and Winter Management of Toxic Tall Fescue
The Noble Research Institute recently undertook a study that may shed some light on management strategies for dealing with toxic tall fescue during fall and winter.
Cotton root rot inhibits alfalfa stand longevity
Alfalfa stands within the Southern Great Plains are often infested with cotton root rot, causing heavily affected fields to be taken out of production within two to three years.
Careful management aids drought survival
The majority of Oklahoma and Texas are currently in severe to extreme drought with northern Oklahoma and the Panhandle in exceptional drought. Things will get better; until then, producers will need to do an above average job of forage management.
Research shows economics of pasture conversion
Benefits of nativegrass mixtures on the Southern Great Plains have increased interest in effective methods of converting improved pastureland areas to nativegrass pastures.
Cow-calf research evaluates fall, winter forage systems
Data and comments from Year 1 of a cow-calf study as part of Forage 365.
Alliance provides seed quality control
In 2012, the Alliance for Grassland Renewal was formed, in part to make sure that producers are getting what they pay for when purchasing nontoxic-endophyte-infected tall fescue varieties.
Alliance offers 1-day tall fescue renovation schools
The Alliance for Grassland Renewal will host a novel tall fescue renovation school from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., March 28, in Welch, Oklahoma.
Common sense guides stockpiled forage management
Beef cattle can consume and obtain nutritional value from a variety of stockpiled forages to reduce the winter hay feeding period.
First hollow stem in wheat triggers grazing decision
If you use a dual-purpose wheat system of grazing and grain production, detection of the development of wheat's first hollow stem is critical to gauge when to remove cattle from grazing.
Manage Forage Before (and During) Drought
Are you flexible enough to manage for that unspeakable term ... drought?
Stocking Rate Following Drought
Many perennial forage plants were forced into summer dormancy for survival due to the severity of the drought. Dormant plants survived on energy reserves stored in plant crowns and roots when normally they would have generated energy through photosynthesis in green leaves.
Do high nitrogen prices justify feeding soybean hulls?
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the price of nitrogen fertilizer increased more than 120 percent between 2000 and 2007. More alarming are the unexpected periods when the price of nitrogen spikes well above the trend price.
Planning, management promotes year-round grazing
Be flexible, proactive and have a mindset of year-long forage flow in addition to seasonal grazing.
Bermudagrass stem maggot invades Southern states
The bermudagrass stem maggot was first discovered in southern Georgia in 2010. This small fly is native to South Asia, and it is unknown how it invaded the United States.
Forage Drought Recovery: Looking Back, Planning Ahead
So far 2012 has been a better year climate-wise than 2011. However, the full impact of the 2011 drought on warm-season forages was not fully realized until the early spring and summer of 2012.
Studies examine nontraditional bermudagrass fertilizers
Numerous nontraditional fertilizers are being marketed with little replicated research demonstrating their effectiveness compared to traditional commercial sources of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
Springtime Is Pasture and Range "Go Time"
Springtime in pasture and range management is "go time." As I start thinking about spring, here are some of the planning thoughts filling my head.
Proper management promotes fall, winter grazing
The problem we encounter with fall and winter grazing of perennial forages is forage quality availability vs. forage availability.
Noble Research Institute reports expected forage establishment costs
Like producers, the Noble Research Institute has to prepare a budget for expenses including cereal pasture establishment.
Preparation promotes successful winter pasture season
Consider weather, variety, soil, seedbed preparation, equipment and seed quality.
Using a Plate Meter to Measure Forage Productivity
The goal of many graziers is to increase forage production and utilization. A key component of increasing utilization is the ability to accurately determine forage mass. While some seasoned practitioners have a keen ability to visually estimate forage mass, the rest of us need some objective help.
Use Moisture Management Strategies to Survive Drought
When the rain falls, here are some tips and strategies that will help you capture and use as much of it as you can.
Tall Fescue: History, Application, Establishment and Management
Tall fescue [Lolium arundinaceum (Schreb.) Darbysh = Festuca arundinacea] is an introduced, cool-season, perennial grass that is native from Europe to Siberia and into North Africa. The date of the...
Switchgrass Establishment
Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.), is a native, warm-season (C4) perennial grass that can be found growing over the eastern two-thirds of the United States, Central America and southern Canada....
Drought Management
Updated February 2018*While the years and numbers mentioned in this publication may be outdated, the strategies and principles listed are still accurate.*
Drought can be defined simply as 75 percent...
Switchgrass as a Dual-Purpose Grazing and Bioenergy Crop
The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 set U.S. renewable fuel standards requiring the production of 16 billion gallons of ethanol from cellulosic biomass feedstocks by 2022. Switchgrass...
Consider Stockpiling to Fill Summer Forage Slump
In our region of the Southern Great Plains, we basically grow forage during the spring and fall, corresponding to our seasonal rainfall pattern. We are typically short on forage during the winter and...
Economics of No-Tilling Cereal Rye Pastures
The Noble Research Institute shares results from its on-farm study comparing the production and economics of clean-till and no-till methods for establishing cereal rye pasture for grazing.
The Ins and Outs of Making Stockpile Bermudagrass Work
Stockpiling defers a forage from grazing to allow it to accumulate forage mass for grazing during fall and winter.
The Search for Forage-Efficient Cows
A study suggests that current selection tools, such as genomic testing and expected progeny differences (EPDs), for feed intake should be useful in selecting low-intake replacement females for forage-based production systems.
Hay Alternative: Are You Ready to Graze Bermudagrass in Winter?
Hay can be expensive, but here is a strategy for cattle producers with bermudagrass pastures to extend the grazing season.
Cover Crop Grazing Research Leads to Ideas for Future Research
A research study investigating the use of cover crops and tilled and no-till beef cattle grazing systems leads to more questions about crop rotations, species, economics and soil health.
Understanding Soils With the Help of Sensors
Noble researchers are using sensors to gain a better understanding of the effects of tillage and cover crops on soil moisture, temperature, erosion and organic carbon.
Summertime Cover Crops for Cattle
James Rogers, Ph.D., associate professor of forage systems, is testing how cover crops can be grown as summer forage.
Offsetting Winter Supplementation With Pasture
Noble Research Institute researchers have been looking at two methods in cow-calf production to extend the grazing season on bermudagrass-based pastures and reduce winter feeding of stored feeds.