Table 2.

Least-squares means of forage and carrying capacity of mixed-grass prairie range units at a range of stocking rates (hectares per steer) from 1990 to 1996 at the Marvin Klemme Range Research Station near Bessie, OK

	Stocking rate, hectare/steer									Polynomial contrasts
	1.83	1.91	2.29	2.76	3.04	3.61	4.13	SE	P-value	Linear	Quadratic	Cubic
Forage mass, kg dry matter/ha
April	1,685	1,638	1,598	1,799	1,929	1,795	1,873	211	0.64	-	-	-
July	1,661	1,900	1,677	2,073	2,153	2,213	2,014	148	<0.01	<0.01	0.11	0.07
September	1,579	1,880	1,598	1,982	2,424	2,189	2,004	194	<0.01	<0.01	0.05	0.02
Forage allowance, kg forage dry matter/kg BW
April	14.6	14.8	17.2	23.3	26.7	30.5	36.1	9.00	<0.01	<0.01	0.15	0.49
July	10.3	12.1	12.8	19.0	21.2	25.7	27.2	1.91	<0.01	<0.01	0.42	0.11
September	8.7	10.6	10.9	16.1	20.6	22.2	23.4	1.45	<0.01	<0.01	0.88	<0.01
Grazing days, AUD/haa	61.1	58.6	48.9	40.8	36.9	32.5	27.7	2.17	<0.01	<0.01	<0.01	<0.01

^aAnimal unit equivalent days per hectare.