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Year <br />Ref. Area <br />Grazing <br />Rec. Area <br />Haying <br />(lbs /acre) <br />Ref. Area <br />AUM /acre <br />Rec. Area <br />AUM /acre <br />2007 <br />5 head <br />3,712.6 <br />2.21 <br />3.71 <br />2008 <br />5 head <br />2,155.5 <br />2.21 <br />2.22 <br />Item #4 <br />At the request of DRMS, WFC is providing a comparison of the management <br />practices on the reclaimed and reference area irrigated pasture using Animal Unit <br />Months (AUMs), an accepted comparison device. The table below shows the <br />grazing on the reference area versus the haying on the reclaimed. The reference <br />area values are based on the grazing pressure of five cattle and the reclaimed area <br />production is from the vegetation study for that year as that reflects first cutting. <br />Note: AUM values determined using the same method as Dr. David Buckner in his evaluation of <br />reference area grazing. Reference area is 6.8 acres and the reclaimed area is 126.1 acres. <br />As shown in the table, hay cuttings on reclaimed irrigated pasture were either <br />similar to, or greater than the grazing pressure on the reference area. The net effect <br />is for the reclaimed area to be, at best, on even footing with the reference area, and <br />at worst, at a disadvantage. <br />a) Forage production on the reference and reclaimed areas is shown in the <br />vegetation reports attached to SL -12. <br />b) Quality of livestock forage is addressed in the existing SL -12 document and <br />vegetations studies. <br />{00058185.1 ) <br />