Grazing Livestock Systems Program

Grazing Livestock Systems Program

cattle in field at dusk

Program Outline

  • For students whose career interests involve the production of livestock utilizing harvested forages, pasture, and range as the principal feed resources.
  • Careers include managers of livestock farms or ranches and public or private sector positions that assist in the management, education and support of grazing livestock decision making.
  • Students study principles of forage and range sciences, animal sciences, and management economics.
  • Students also learn through seminars, capstone experiences and a planned internship.
  • Integration of disciplines is emphasized in developing production systems that will optimize economic returns consistent with management objectives, resource availability, and environmental health.
  • Flexibility allows specialization in ruminant livestock, forage and range management, or economics, while preserving the systems orientation.

More Information

Four Year Plan

Course Catalog

Learning Outcomes

Majors in grazing livestock systems will be able to:

  1. Conduct a survey of the range and pasture resources of a livestock operation, including plant identification, range and pasture condition determination, site classification, and degree of plant and pasture utilization.
  2. Analyze and interpret the forage, animal, and economic aspects of a ranch unit, including mapping of pastures and physical facilities.
  3. Integrate range and pasture improvements such as grazing systems, range seeding, weed control, and hay and supplemental forage management with livestock management such as breeding systems, nutrition, insect, and disease control.
  4. Develop a comprehensive management plan including marketing strategies and economic analysis for the ranch unit. Use computer-based decision support tools to develop and evaluate management strategies/systems for livestock enterprises.
  5. Critically analyze management systems, integrate a wide range of interrelated inputs and disciplines into a single process or system, and make decisions based on properly-collected information and sound reasoning and communicate them effectively to peers and stakeholders.