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An observation that has been made when turning cattle out on lush wheat pastures is that a transition occurs in which cattle may only maintain or even lose weight for a period of time.

Fertilizer and lime, pest, and grazing management recommendations to promote productive winter pastures.

Lime and fertilizer make up a substantial portion of the costs of producing winter pasture. Lime may or may not be needed - only a soil test can tell you for sure. If lime is recommended, its application can pay good dividends.

Adequate nitrogen is necessary for optimizing winter pasture production. One consideration for providing adequate nitrogen is to maximize nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). One way to improve NUE is to apply nitrogen during the late winter as a topdress application.

N-rich strips can help wheat producers determine whether or not their fields need additional nitrogen fertilizer, which helps them conserve resources.

In the mid-1990s, a program was started at the Noble Research Institute to develop a cool-season perennial grass. Now, more than a decade later, the Noble Research Institute is close to achieving this long-sought goal. Perhaps ironically, the candidate grass was found on one of the Noble Research Institute's own farms.

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.

The Noble Research Institute's small grains breeding program is the longest running breeding program in the Foundation's history. This ongoing work has produced four new small grains cultivars over the past few years.

Since it looks like wheat may be $8 per bushel at harvest in 2009, many producers are considering planting it strictly for grain. This can be profitable in some situations with good management, cost control and high yields. Unfortunately, costs have increased at a very fast pace and have diminished profit margins.

Three main types of nutritional supplementation are often discussed in regard to stocker cattle grazing wheat pasture.