Cow-Calf Certification Practice Exam

True or False: During the growing season, cattle will select a higher quality diet than what can be clipped by humans.

1. True

2. False

3. N/A

4. Depends on the pasture

The correct answer is: True

The statement that during the growing season, cattle will select a higher quality diet than what can be clipped by humans is true. Cattle are natural grazers and have a keen ability to forage effectively, often selecting the most nutritious and palatable forage available to them. They can graze selectively, picking out the best parts of the plants, which often includes the young, tender leaves and the most nutrient-rich parts of the pasture. Human clipping, while it can be done to simulate grazing or to manage pastures, typically does not replicate the selective grazing behavior of cattle. Humans might overlook or not efficiently harvest the most nutritious parts of the vegetation, as they do not have the same instinctual foraging skills. This selective grazing by cattle can lead to a diet that is higher in quality compared to what humans might collect or clip from the pasture. The other choices present varying degrees of conditions under which cattle might select their diet, but they do not accurately capture the inherent foraging capabilities of cattle compared to human clipping practices.