N RANCHING


atural Resources Soil Temperature T


HERE ARE MANY CON- tributing factors


for deciding when to plant desirable crops and forage. One of them to consider at this time of year is soil temperature. Each plant has a minimum temperature for seed germination and growth, as well as an optimum and a realistic temperature. The realistic tempera- ture is the target, warm enough for growth but not so warm that emerging plants will immediately be thrust into the baking heat of summer. Soil temperatures should also be


monitored as part of a weed man- agement program. Sandburs and grassburs start to emerge when soil temperatures reach 72° F, and many other weeds germinate when soil temperatures reach 80° F. Early con- trol of unwanted grasses or weeds in rangeland and pastures will give you the best return on your herbi- cide dollars.


Range and Pasture S


OME PLANTS ARE NOT PARTICULARLY good forage for cattle, but can


still be useful to ranchers. For in- stance, the dense thickets of shin oak can help stabilize sand dunes and provide good habitat and food for many wildlife species includ- ing bobwhite quail, scaled quail, lesser prairie chicken, turkey, deer, antelope and many other game and non-game species. Complete or ex- cessive control of undesirable plants can have unintended results such as wind erosion and “blow outs” in sand dune areas.


58 The Cattleman April 2016 thecattlemanmagazine.com


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