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Soapberry
Sapindus saponaria
Soapberry is generally a small tree, but can attain heights up to 20 feet tall. It occurs at elevations between 2,500 and 5,000 feet in central and southern Arizona, down into South America. The leaves are pinnate with numerous lanceolate leaves. The flowers occur in broad, many flowered panicles with small whitish flowers. Fruits are amber colored with translucent pulp. The roots contain buds that can develop into new trees. Soapberries are most often found in small clusters containing numerous trees that share the same root system.
The fruits often hang on the trees long after ripening. These have been used in the southwestern United States and in Mexico for washing clothes. They are poisonous, containing a high percentage of saponin, and cause dermatitis in some people.
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Measuring the density of mesquite (number of trees/acre)before and after herbicide or mechanical treatment is useful in evaluating the success of rangeland management practices.
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Monitoring Minute: Measuring Density
Density describes the number of individual plants in a given area. The term refers to the closeness of individuals. In situations where identification of individuals is unclear, density measurements may be based on some other counting unit, such as culms or shoots for sod-forming grasses or the basal stems for shrubs.
Density may provide useful inventory information for large perennial species, particularly trees and shrubs. However, density is rarely measured in monitoring situations because it can be very time consuming, and there are errors associated with the identification of individual plants. Application of counting individuals is limited by the types of plants (grasses, forbs, shrubs, trees) and their spacing.
Density is an attribute that is tedious to measure but easy to interpret. It is most often applied to larger plants, such as trees, shrubs, and more prominent perennial forbs. Density is often used as a baseline inventory of the structure of rangeland or forest vegetation, by quantifying different species or various ages within a single species. Density data is also gathered to monitor the effect of various land use treatments, such as plant survival following burning or herbicide application, particularly for woody species.
The following should be considered when using density.
- Units to express density should be selected so that actual plant numbers are easy to visualize. For example, it is more meaningful to express an infrequently occurring shrub as 50 shrubs/ha rather than 0.005 shrubs/m2, whereas 15 seedlings/m2 is easier to imagine than 150,000 seedlings/ha for the density of an abundant annual grass. Density measurements are sometimes unsuitable for the herbaceous layer, especially when there are numerous plants to count, or identification of individuals is difficult. Nonetheless, density is regularly used to evaluate seedling emergence and survival in a rangeland reseeding program. Density is also commonly described in autecological (ecology dealing with individual organisms) studies, that trace the demography of herbaceous or woody populations.
- Species composition can be determined from density data, by calculating the contribution of each species to the total plant count of the sample. However, the relative density of species of differing sizes provides little information about their actual biomass, ecological dominance, or community function.
- Density can provide useful indicators in an inventory and monitoring program to determine range condition and range trend because it remains relatively stable from year to year, regardless of changes in biomass that result from rainfall fluctuations or short-term grazing patterns.
- Some critical issues to be considered when designing sampling protocols to determine density include boundary decisions, identification of individuals, influence of spatial patterns, rooted or canopy dimensions, and species groups.
From: Guidelines for Monitoring Arizona Rangelands; George B. Ruyle, Kim H. McReynolds, Larry D. Howery and Mitchel P. McClaran.
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What can the Arizona Beef Quality Assurance class do for Arizona Producers?
Nate Brawley, Assistant in Extension: Livestock Production - Graham & Greenlee Counties
Consumers care more now more than ever about where their food comes from. Therefore, producers need to take measures in their operation to give consumers a great experience when purchasing and eating beef. BQA helps producers accomplish both. BQA principles help Arizona ranchers raise the quality of beef they produce while instilling consumer confidence in the beef they buy to feed their families.
Beef Quality Assurance is a certification class offered through the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Office. The local county agents put on multiple classes throughout the year to allow producers to become certified. Becoming certified helps producers in multiple ways to better their operations and become more successful.
BQA is a 3-hour course taught by certified Extension personnel that is good for 3 years. Following the 3 years certification, producers are required to attend 4 hours of continuing education credits to continue to be certified. These credits can be obtained by attending other livestock events put on by UA Cooperative Extension.
Beef Quality Assurance uses science, research, and education to identify practices producers can implement into their operation to become better livestock producers. Using BQA Audits, the industry learns where producers can improve to cut costs and be more profitable. For example, in the 2000 audit, producers were losing $11.47/head (Fig. 1) because of poor animal management.
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BQA focuses on best industry practices including good animal husbandry, vaccination protocols and procedures, record keeping, establishing a biosecurity program, and more. These industry practices help instill trust in consumers while combating misinformation learned from social media and other poor sources outside the industry.
Beef Quality Assurance can also be a value-added marketing strategy when you sell your calves. Tyson and Cargill are just two of the big processing facilities that choose not to buy cattle from operations that are not BQA certified. They recognize the value of catering to the consumer and giving them a product that is produced by ranchers that certify their operation is operating in a way that is best for the animal.
Adding BQA certification is something that every Arizona producer ought to consider. Utilizing the BQA principles in your operation is one of the few things that you can do that adds value to your operation while not costing you anything. Things like low stress handling, record keeping, and proper vaccination procedures help you maximize efforts put into your operation. Contact your local Extension Office about the next BQA class dates.
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Nitrate Toxicity
Ashley Wright, Livestock Area Agent, University of Arizona Cooperative Extension
There are several plant species in Arizona known to accumulate high levels of nitrate under stressed conditions (i.e. drought). These species include Johnsongrass, Pigweed, Kochia, Russian Thistle, Lambsquarters, and some crop species such as sudangrass. Alfalfa can even accumulate nitrate under the right conditions. Plants naturally uptake nitrogen from the soil and utilize it during photosynthesis. Anything that disrupts that normal cycle puts plants at risk for accumulating high levels of nitrate. Young, growing plants are most likely to accumulate nitrates, especially if subjected to a stress event such as a late frost. Plants that survive a drought scenario are likely to accumulate and retain high levels of nitrates, especially several days following the first rain events after drought.
When consumed by cattle, nitrates (NO3) are converted to toxic nitrites (NO2) in the rumen. These nitrites are absorbed into the bloodstream where they bind hemoglobin (the compound in the blood that binds and carries oxygen), turning it into methemoglobin. As a result, cattle are unable to get adequate oxygen to their tissues or organs and suffocate. Common signs of nitrate toxicity include blue or chocolate tinged membranes, excessive salivation, urination, and difficulty breathing as well as the characteristic chocolate colored blood. As the poisoning progresses, cattle become weak. Moving cattle around may exacerbate symptoms or cause death: movement of muscle requires oxygen. Pregnant cattle may abort even at low, non-lethal doses of nitrate. Poisoning from nitrate can happen very quickly, often cattle are simply found dead. Horses, as hind gut fermenters rather than ruminants, are less susceptible than cattle to nitrate toxicity. If cattle are found early, they may be treated with methylene blue. Post-mortem diagnosis can be made through testing the ocular fluid in the eye of a deceased animal. Plants or forage suspected of being high in nitrate can be tested, as can water sources. Labs may report nitrate levels in different ways, as nitrate (NO3), nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N), or potassium nitrate (KNO3). Be sure to look at the correct recommendation of safe levels for your lab’s reporting method.
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The best way to prevent toxicity is to monitor pasture conditions closely. Test purchased hay or forage products that are suspected to be high in nitrates and dilute with low nitrate forages if necessary. If possible, move cattle or provide supplemental feeding if the only plants greening in up a pasture are nitrate accumulators, especially following a season of drought or when a late spring frost is expected. Don’t overgraze pastures: cattle are more likely to overconsume nitrate accumulating forages when overstocked.
Further Reading:
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Virtual Fence Project Overview
George Ruyle Professor and Extension Specialist, Rangeland Ecology and Management
Ranching serves as a nexus of economics, culture, and conservation in the Southwest. A new research initiative, funded by the Marley Foundation for Sustainable Rangeland Stewardship and the Arizona Experiment Station provides a major step in integrating traditional livestock production practices with emerging technologies and novel research to meet the challenges of a changing world. This public-private partnership between the University of Arizona School of Natural Resources and the Environment (SNRE), the University of Arizona Santa Rita Experimental Range (SRER) and the Santa Rita Ranch LLC will engage emerging virtual fence technology developed by the Vence Corporation (http://vence.io/) for livestock management and ecological research. This research effort has broad ecological and economic implications for rangeland management and livestock producers.
Virtual fence technology operates as a network of GPS-enabled cattle collars (Vence CattleRider™) that transmit data via a long-range radio network (LoRaWAN) to a radio gateway, which then relays that data to a web-based application (Vence HerdManager™). Virtual fence collars use the GPS location of each animal paired with low-stress auditory and electrical stimuli to alert animals if they try to cross a virtual fence boundary. Animals learn the location of these virtual boundaries, and are effectively contained within an area (or prevented from entering an area) without the need for physical fencing (e.g., barbed wire). Virtual fences are created within the HerdManager™ application and the boundaries of each virtual fence are transmitted to the collars via the internet and the long-range radio network, allowing the collars to be used in areas without cellular coverage.
Virtual fences can be used for multiple rangeland applications, including establishing pasture boundaries, implementing rotational grazing strategies, or prohibiting access to features such as roadways or ecologically sensitive areas with increased flexibility and decreased cost compared to physical fences (e.g., barbed wire). Virtual fences can be established (or removed) rapidly and with little effort by creating (or deleting) boundaries in the web application, and those changes are rapidly downloaded by the collars. Virtual fence technology can also assist with livestock management, as GPS data relayed from the collars can also be used to locate lost, sick, or escaped animals in real-time. Baseline biometric data is also relayed for each animal, including movement status and inactivity notifications, potentially indicating sick or deceased animals.
University of Arizona researchers[1] will examine multiple factors related to overall virtual fence function and efficacy, as well as the economic metrics of implementing virtual fence technology. Virtual fence functionality and utility will be assessed through a variety of real-world herd management trials with the results disseminated to producers and land managers via lectures, meetings, reports, and digital media through University of Arizona Cooperative Extension. Economic metrics related to cost/benefits analysis of implementing virtual fencing compared to physical fencing will be conducted in conjunction with the University of Arizona Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. These assessments will be used to better quantify return on investment for producers at the commercial scale.
University of Arizona researchers will also examine multiple dimensions related to grazing ecology and interactions of livestock on rangelands. GPS and biometric data will be related to landscape and environmental variables to quantify resource selection preference of livestock over both space and time. This information can be used to better determine the environmental cues cattle use when making decisions on what, where and when to graze. When coupled with the virtual fence technology’s ability to move cattle remotely, this novel approach aims to one day allow producers to develop a dynamic grazing system that maximizes quality forage intake while more evenly distributing grazing across the landscape, a win for livestock, producers and rangelands. University of Arizona researchers will also examine the efficacy of using virtual fencing to utilize livestock grazing as a management tool for fuel load reduction for fire prevention and invasive species control. The data associated with this research effort will be made publicly available for further analysis via online data management portal.
Development of adaptive management strategies play a key role in addressing the ongoing challenges posed by a dynamic climate and the growing need for natural resources. The integration of novel technologies combined with established agricultural knowledge and methodologies has the potential to develop mutually beneficial outcomes for both the ranching community and the environment.
[1] Research and Extension team members include George Ruyle, Brett Blum, Sarah Noelle, Andrew Antaya, Brandon Mayer, Larry Howery, Mitch McClaran, Joslyn Beard, and Dari Duval, all from the University of Arizona, and Andrew McGibbon and family, Santa Rita Ranch.
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For questions or more information contact
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