Silage That is Much Better Than My Car's Mileage

Guest post by Clemson student Lauren Lusk

Going into this unit, I had no idea what to expect outside of our class sessions surrounding this area. However, it is so much more than this linear idea I held. Instead, it is a dynamic story that intertwines societal expectations, wildlife conservation, farming, nutrition, and the health of thousands of animals. Throughout this unit, we observed this intricate tale through food lots, cow-calf operations, and exclusion plots, where we identified many species. The answer to our central question is, what are we trying to sustain? For this unit, it is sustainable agriculture while maintaining an ecological balance between the biodiversity of our ecosystems and ranchers. Sustainability in Montana and presumably the rest of the West means producing food to support the communities of wildlife, plants, and humans for the future to enjoy and utilize.

Where to begin with Yellowstone Cattle Feeders? Well, let me go over the basics: the facility can hold 25,000 cows at a time; while we were touring with the very insightful finance administrator, she told us that they shipped a lot out, and they were around 17,000. The summer is often slow for them because the ranchers allow the cattle to graze. In the past, this was a family-owned business that went on a much smaller scale, even if they over-fertilized the fields they rented out to farmers. However, it is a grand operation that is relatively small and has many cows, and they are looking to expand. This comes with economic concerns and the question of how the demands will keep up. They have ample water, but the costs of the machines and other factors may face many challenges. Throughout the small facility, numerous cows seemed to suffer from bloat. It filled me with a sense of dread that was quickly covered with a smile and questions regarding how much food they go through daily. Since the company specializes in finishing the cattle, they consume 60,000 tons of food daily, translated into three meals. I understand this can marble the cattle by increasing their fat levels, measured by the facility's MRI machine.

Judith Basin was filled with so many interesting components, from the employees with excellent eye contact to the equivalent of the little Rockies made entirely out of silage. They seemed to care about their cattle very much. This is partially because their operator is a nutritionist. He was passionate about the wildlife side of it as well. On the economic side, they seem to be taking a toll through the amount of feed they buy. They are still managing food from 2023 and 2024, which Dr. Matias was able to expand on the significant cost that realistically is. This company also had multiple state-of-the-art tractors, which helped not to damage the land in addition to the tractors. The most interesting part was how they had many ponds with different types of duck species, such as Cinnamon Teal, to be specific. Due to the nature of our visit and the rain, we saw many plots, but our time inside discussing the company was very insightful. The worker explained how they have multiple different wildlife, such as speed goats and pronghorns, that travel through and how they keep the sage bush for sage grouse habitat. He even mentioned how some farms in the area have letdown fences that allow animals such as elk to pass through without damaging the fence.

The exclosure parts may be my favorite part of this whole unit. I love data collection and identification methods, especially in settings such as this beautiful piece of the United States. Each species we identify is so different if you look closely, and it shows a whole other world through the serrated margins or even the vibrant colors of the petals. These exclosures also combined my favorite part of Forest Ecology: Fire Ecology. The way our Earth can come back from devastation is excellent. The field cameras tied into this experiment well; by providing the exclusion with the trail cameras, we could see the animal activity with the plant growth. This method is important for sustainability because it looks at the impacts of grazing (potentially overgrazing) on ecosystem health. More importantly, it can look at which combination, thinned and burned, unthinned and burned, thinned and unburned, or unthinned and unburned, shows the most diverse and resilient ecosystems. The camera traps also can see how the different species react to the different types of plots.

The lessons shared a similar message, from the industrial feedlots to exclusion plots, even though they had different techniques for sharing them; many decisions were made on the land and livelihoods of livestock, ranchers, and wildlife. They all may not share the same desires of sustainability but they do acknowledge the impact on the environment which is an important aspect of this tale. The story has a fantastic backdrop of rugged terrain and wonderfully kind characters.