Jose O. Roacho Estrada1, Ed Fredrickson2, Gerardo A. Bezanilla Enriquez1, H. Raul Peinetti3, Alfredo L. Gonzalez3, and Jose Rios4. (1) Recursos Naturales, Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua, Km 1.0 Periferico Francisco R. Almada, Chihuahua, 31031, Mexico, (2) USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range, Las Cruces, NM 88003, (3) Box 30003, MSC 3JER, USDA-ARS, Jornada Experimental Range, 2995 Knox Street, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003, (4) Ciencia Animal, Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua, Km 1.0 Periferico Francisco R. Almada, Chihuahua, 31031
This study was designed to test how grazing behaviors differ between desert adapted Mexican criollo cattle and temperate British beef breeds, to learn how each breed interacts with environments common to the southwestern US and northwestern Mexico. Additionally, criollo cattle may be a better breed for regional beef production systems less reliant on fossil fuels for feed supplements and other production inputs. Two sites were used: the Jornada Experimental Range (JER) in south-central New Mexico and Rancho Experimental Teseachi (RET) in central Chihuahua. The JER pasture is 2,425 ha of undulating desert grasslands receiving an average of 245 mm precipitation. Elevation of the 2,552 ha RET pasture varies from 1,900 to 2,800 m with an average annual precipitation of 580 mm. Vegetation ranges from Pinyon-Juniper-Bouteloua on the lower slopes to Pine-Oak-Muhlenbergia. Four replicates were conducted during the spring and fall at each location. In each replicate, six different mature cows per breed were were fitted with Lotek GPS collars, equipped with activity sensors, and allowed to graze each pasture with position acquired at 5-minute intervals. British cattle grazed longer per day than criollo cattle: 9.0 versus 7.3 hours at JER (P = 0.003) and 10.0 versus 9.0 hours at RET (P = 0.006) for British versus criollo cows, respectively. British cattle also traveled less each day: 8.6 versus 10.4 km /d at JER (P = 0.03) and 4.9 versus 5.6 km/d at RET (P = 0.08) for British versus criollo breeds, respectively. In addition, British breeds remained closer to water and had significantly smaller home ranges. Larger British breeds grazed more hours and used a smaller proportion of the environment than Mexican criollo cattle. Forage conditions were better than average for each location; when poorer, we hypothesize differences between breeds will be greater.
