Leaner cows outperform heavier counterparts on late-season rangeland grazing.
Cows with low residual feed intake (LRFI) were compared to cows with high residual feed intake (HRFI) while grazing late season Idaho rangeland. The researchers tracked the cows' body weight, body condition score, grazing activity, and movement using GPS collars. They found that LRFI cows started leaner but lost less weight compared to HRFI cows during the grazing period. Both groups of cows traveled similar distances and had similar bite rates, but cows increased their bite rate as the season progressed. Overall, LRFI cows performed well in the late season rangeland environment despite being leaner at the beginning of the study.