A study from a Penn State University beef cattle expert shows that farmers could save money on livestock feed and also protect themselves from drought.

Though it's too little too late for 2002, John Comerford, associate professor of dairy and animal science at Penn State, said his three-year study of forage systems in Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic regions are especially timely because many farmers are out of grass for beef cattle because of this year's drought, he said.

"They are using feed stored for winter now," he said, "and they are facing the prospect of buying feed to get through the winter."

Comerford's research, which concentrates on rotational grazing and pasture management, strays from the traditions held by many Pennsylvania farmers, who would historically fence their pastures in and allow their cows to graze. It shows that the traditional way is not necessarily the best way for farmers to use pasture.

Using two separate 45-acre locations between 1996 and 1998, Comerford evaluated three separate grazing systems for beef cows. He fed the cows several different types of grasses, such as fescue, sudangrass and orchard grass, along with corn stalks, small grains and alfalfa -- in combination servings and separately.

Unlike dairy cattle, beef cattle can perform equally well to a wide range of grasses and aren't picky about the forage they graze.

"There just has to be enough of it on a daily basis," Comerford said.

He said his research yielded two surprises: Certain forage varieties are too costly, and certain grains are extremely sensitive and need dry weather.

He said perhaps the biggest weakness with the old way of managing -- or not managing -- pastures and forage is farmers are very dependent on weather. And in years like this one, where severe drought has gripped the state, the grass is mostly gone by mid-summer. However, the study showed that farmers can take advantage of growth periods and capture rainfall in ungrazed, uncut pastures.

He said farmers who rely on one type of grass rely heavily on the weather because grass is sensitive to rainfall amounts. If farmers take advantage of the different varieties of forage, grazing will become less sensitive to rainfall.

Comerford explained that a cost-effective grazing system has a combination of several types of forage -- including perennials, corn stalks, alfalfa-plus-grass pastures and stockpiled grass -- and can be designed to allow grazing everyday of the year, depending on land size. Normal grazing periods for continuous grazing systems in this region are 170 to 180 days.

Comerford could calculate any one of the individual forage varieties and come up with what they could potentially offer farmers. He said the cost per acre of providing forage for grazing was less for alfalfa plus grass at $11.63, orchard grass at $14.99 and corn stalks at $15. The greatest net return per acre was from the treatment of cool season perennial grasses at only $66.58, with most of the value coming from the sale of hay.

You can e-mail Herald Staff Writer Larissa Theodore at ltheodore@sharon-herald.com