Prescribed Grazing to Sustain Livestock Production, Soil Quality, and Diversity in Rangeland Ecosystems

Wyoming Ranching Operations: Natural Resources Goals, Management Practices and Information Sources

In cooperation with the Wyoming Stock Growers Association (WSGA), a predominant agricultural organization in the state, we asked their producer members about their goals, ranching operation characteristics and management practices via a mail survey. A total of 307 ranchers (50%) responded to the survey. Livestock production and forage production were the top management goals, with ecosystem characteristics that support these goals (e.g., soil health, water quality) tied for second. Survey respondents’ ranches had a median size of 4,220 hectares but ranged up to 185,000 hectares; 71% of operations included public land and 60% included private leased land. The majority of reporting operations grazed cow-calf pairs (91%), with a median of 260 pairs per ranch. Most survey respondents managed grazing by moving one to five herds of livestock (84%) among two or more pastures (92%) after three months of grazing or less (87%). Most operations (74%) included other resource use activities, with extractive recreation (e.g., hunting; 55%), conventional energy development (23%) and other agricultural production (20%) most common. Survey respondents primarily got information about grazing management from other ranchers (97%), although they preferred to receive information through print publications (69%). Wyoming ranching operations are diverse, which may represent a challenge for policy makers designing programs and incentives to increase production of food and ecosystem services. However, efforts that focus on livestock and forage production and supporting ecosystem functions are likely to find synergies with ongoing management goals and strategies. A multi-pronged outreach and education approach using several different media sources may be most effective as new policies and management practices become available. Complete results of this analysis can be found in Kachergis, E., J. Derner, L.M. Roche, K.W. Tate, M. Lubell, R. Mealor, and J. Magagna. 2013. Characterizing Wyoming Ranching Operations: Natural Resource Goals, Management Practices and Information Sources. Natural Resources. 4:45-54.

Sustaining Multifunctional Working Rangelands in California: Social, Economic and Ecological Insights into Rancher Decision-Making

Based on a mail survey of 507 California ranchers, we characterized individual and operation demographics, agricultural production and ecosystem service goals, and the in-place management practices shaping California’s rangeland ecosystems. Our first objective was to describe key structural and socio-economic features of California ranching operations. A critical need highlighted in previous work has been the importance of understanding both the human and biophysical context of farming and ranching systems. These contextual factors are particularly critical in setting multiple and diverse stakeholder goals. Our second objective was to examine ranchers’ ecosystem service goals, management practices to achieve these goals, and information sources and needs for developing management strategies. Individual operator values, commitment, and capacity have been shown to strongly influence management practice effectiveness for agricultural production and environmental goals. Lastly, we examined major themes of concern for ranch sustainability among survey respondents. To effectively address the real management challenges and provide the most relevant knowledge to guide conservation science and planning on rangelands, we must improve communication between the science, management and policy communities. Characterizing the most salient challenges perceived by ranchers will aid translation between these communities.

Median respondent age was 62 (range 25-93; n=491), and most respondents were male (83%; n=494). In terms of formal education, 63% had a bachelor’s degree or beyond, and an additional 21% reported at least some college training (n=496). The majority of respondents represented multi-generational ranching families; 71% were third or more generation ranchers (n=493), and 10% identified themselves as second generation ranchers. Notably, 19% of respondents were first generation ranchers.

Respondents (n=494) represented 4.6 Mha of rangeland, approximately one-third of California’s 13.8 Mha of grazed rangeland. In terms of land resources, 75% of the area reported was publicly leased lands (19% of respondents; n=476), 14% privately leased lands (60% of respondents; n=476) and 14% privately owned lands (87% of respondents; n=476). Irrigated pasture played a role in 50% of the operations represented (n=494), amounting to 70,927 ha. The majority of irrigated pasture lands were privately owned (60%), 36% were privately leased and 4% were publicly leased. Respondents represented a reported total of 320,979 head of livestock (beef and dairy cattle, sheep, horses, goats, etc.), including 289,901 head of beef cattle, which were divided between cow/calf (141,557 head) and stocker (145,050) animal classes. Nearly two-thirds of the operations grazed cow/calf pairs, one-third grazed both cow/calf pairs and stocker animals, and less than 5% only grazed stocker animals.

Respondents ranked the given list of goals into three priority tiers; highest priority are agricultural production goals (livestock and forage production); mid-level priority is supporting environmental goals (weed management, water quality, soil health, riparian health and wildlife), and low priority goals are recreation and carbon sequestration(Fig. 1). Respondents also indicated a quality of life goal; specifically, 63% agreed that the ranching lifestyle was more important than economic return (n=486).

Ninety-seven percent of survey respondents (n= 489) stated they try to conserve natural resources whenever possible; however, if confronted with a situation in which there were conflicts between economic viability and environmental protection, 68% agreed that it would be more important to protect economic viability (n = 484). Forty-nine  percent of respondents reported they currently participate or plan to participate in USDA NRCS programs, with the most popular programs being the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (30%) and Conservation Reserve Program [10%] most popular) (n=452).

Respondents were asked to identify key practices - those practices that linked to other practices and that they considered important in achieving multiple goals. The most popular key practices (match calving to the environment, livestock water development, consult veterinarian on heard health plan, cross fencing, supplemental feeding, match cattle genetics to environment) clearly link to the primary goal of livestock production (Fig. 2). The proportion of respondents identifying these core practices as key was also greater than the proportion requesting additional information.  Approximately 10-30% of respondents also expressed interest in additional information on management practices more directly related to supporting goals (e.g., graze to change plant species, riparian buffers, native plantings). In addition to the provided list of management practices, 82% of respondents (n=489) also reported they monitor vegetation; the majority (62%) of which reported they do so voluntarily.

Ranchers identified industry organizations and other cattlemen as their most trusted source of information; 99% rated these information resources as good or excellent (n=502). Additionally, 88% of respondents considered participation in formal organizations related to ranching was important (n=487). University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) and University information resources were second highest rates (80% rated quality as good or excellent; n=485); and U.S. Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS) was rated third highest (56% rated quality as good or excellent; n=470).

Ranchers were asked to share their biggest concerns for the future of their operation and three major socio-economic themes emerged from the open-ended questions (n=346) (Fig. 3). Nearly the entire 424 respondents to the question shared multiple concerns that were interrelated. The most common concern noted for almost half of the respondents (49%) was government interference in the form of regulations and environmental policy.  The second most common challenge noted amongst ranchers was economic viability (43%). Of those respondents, 25% specifically mentioned loss of the Williamson Act was a major concern for the future of their ranching operation. Elsewhere in the survey, we directly asked ranchers regarding their participation in the Williamson Act; 73% currently have lands enrolled in the program, with an additional 5% aware of the program and planning to participate (n=477). The third major theme with 21% of respondents mentioning was succession planning (21%). Of those respondents, 49% of them specifically mentioned estate taxes as a challenge. In the survey was also asked ranchers if they had a succession plan in place that identifies a strategy for keeping the land in ranching; 41% answered yes and an additional 24% stated it was in progress. From the questions, only one biophysical concern emerged as a challenge, with 21% stating something in the realm of precipitation and water security as a challenge. A manuscript is in preparation with these results.

Increasing Flexibility in Wyoming Rangeland Management during Drought

Extreme droughts like the recent 2011-2013 drought impacting the central and western U.S. present a challenge to sustainable ecosystem management. Wyoming ranchers manage half of this drought-prone state and are at the forefront of this challenge. We examined Wyoming ranchers’ drought management strategies and how ranch characteristics affect drought management flexibility through a mail survey.  We find that many survey respondents manage drought in similar ways, by selling livestock and buying feed, highlighting the market risks associated with drought.  Ranches that are larger, include yearling livestock, use grazing periods shorter than three months, and/or incorporate alternative on-ranch activities (e.g., hunting), use more drought management practices and thus have greater flexibility. Larger ranches experience fewer drought impacts, highlighting advantages of a larger resource base. Findings could guide development of drought policy that encourages flexibility, promotes proactive drought management and sustains ranching livelihoods and provision of ecosystem services. Complete results are soon to be published in Kachergis, E., J.D. Derner, B.B. Cutts, L.M. Roche, V.T. Eviner, M.N. Lubell, and K.W. Tate. Accepted with Minor Revision. Increasing Flexibility in Wyoming Rangeland Management during Drought. Ecosphere.

California Ranchers Perspectives on Drought Management and Adaptation

In 2011, we asked 507 California ranchers, "If another drought were to begin this year, how severely would this impact the economic viability of your operation?" Nearly three-quarters of respondents (n=477) indicated the impact to their operations would be as severe or worse than past droughts, while only 12% indicated the impact would be less severe than in previous droughts. In recent in-person interviews across California, 76% (n=60) of ranchers stated they expected to see impacts to their operations if drought conditions persisted into the coming year, and 35% of those interviewed expected devastating impacts to the viability of their operations. Several ranchers interviewed noted that a statewide severe drought would exacerbate the effects of earlier consecutive droughts in their regions. In the statewide mail survey, nearly all ranchers (99%; n=443) reported that they had employed reactive drought strategies; using at least one or a combination of management practices in response to drought. A majority of ranchers (64%; n=443) also reported that they utilized proactive drought strategies; using at least one or a combination of practices to prepare them for potential future drought. Rancher experience and knowledge (i.e., number of generations ranching, number and quality of information sources, and education level) positively influenced ranch goal setting - specifically, prioritization of forage production goals - and the management toolbox (i.e., number of active conservation programs, number of key practices used and diversity of forage resources). Goal setting and the management toolbox had direct positive effects on adaptive strategies for drought impact management, including the number of proactive and reactive drought management practices used and having an in-place drought management plan. Preliminary results have been combined with valuable drought management information on-line to be accessible for ranchers dealing with California’s current drought (http://rangelandwatersheds.ucdavis.edu/main/drought.html), as well as developed into a Policy Brief for legislators and other policy-makers (Drought Policy Brief.pdf). A manuscript is in preparation with these results.

Conservation Program Participation and Adaptive Rangeland Decision-Making. Rangeland Ecology and Management.

We analyzed rancher participation in conservation programs in the context of a social-ecological framework for adaptive rangeland decision-making. We argue that conservation programs are best understood as one of many strategies of adaptively managing rangelands in ways that sustain livelihoods and ecosystem services. The framework hypothesizes four categories of variables affecting conservation program participation: operation/operator characteristics, time horizon, social network connections and social values. Based on a mail survey of California ranchers, multinomial logit models are used to estimate the impact of these variables on different levels of rancher involvement in conservation programs. The ?ndings suggest that ranchers with larger amounts of land, an orientation towards the future and who are opinion leaders with access to conservation information are more likely to participate in conservation programs. Rangeland stakeholders should develop policy and outreach strategies that enhance the usefulness of conservation programs for adapting to social-ecological programs. To increase participation, outreach strategies should target opinion leaders who are well-connected to local social networks and capitalize on the desire of many ranchers to maintain the family and historical legacies of their operations. Those opinion leaders should be encouraged to reach out to smaller landowners and new ranchers, who can form the basis for conservation management into the future. Property rights concerns are potentially becoming less relevant, but it is crucial to develop trust-based relationships between ranchers and organizations that administer conservation programs. Full results can be found in Lubell, M., B. Cutts, L.M. Roche, J.D. Derner, M. Hamilton, E. Kachergis, and K.W. Tate. 2013. Conservation Program Participation and Adaptive Rangeland Decision-Making. Rangeland Ecology and Management. 66:609-620

Survey of On-Ranch Grazing Management: Insight for the Grazing Systems Dilemma.

Across the globe, there is active and lively debate regarding the efficacy of prescribed grazing systems (sensu Briske et al. 2011a) to conserve and improve natural and agricultural resources on rangelands. Some grazing systems (e.g., rest rotation, deferred rotation, high density short duration) have been institutionalized via the academic community (Heady 1975; Vallentine 1990; Holechek et al. 2003; Briske et al. 2008), via conservation incentive funding programs (e.g, over $3.8 million in 2009; Tanaka et al. 2011) and in federal grazing land management plans (Heady 1975). Recent scientific syntheses (Briske et al. 2008; Briske et al. 2011a) have concluded that rotation based grazing systems as researched thus far provide no unique ecological or agricultural advantages over season-long, moderate stocking rate grazing systems. This conflicts with experiential knowledge on the success of adaptively managed rotational grazing strategies (Briske et al. 2011a; Briske et al. 2011b). We used social survey methods with California and Wyoming ranchers to identify on-ranch grazing management strategies and examine how operator, operation, social and attitudinal factors affect grazing strategy adoption.

Analysis of 507 California respondents resulted in three emergent grazing strategies. The on-ranch grazing management strategies which emerged can be described as 1) extensive rotational (46% of respondents), 2) season-long continuous (34% of respondents) and 3) year-long continuous (19% of respondents).The three California grazing strategies differentiate primarily on duration of grazing and timing of rest. Analysis of 307 Wyoming respondents also resulted in three emergent grazing strategies. The on-ranch grazing management strategies which emerged can be described as 1) extensive rotational – few pastures, 2) extensive rotational – many pastures and 3) high density short duration. The Wyoming grazing strategies differentiate primarily on livestock density, duration of grazing and number of pastures.

For California, ranchers neutral or disagreeing with the attitude statement, “I like to experiment with new ways of doing things” were least likely to adopt a rotational grazing strategy (probability of adopting the extensive rotational grazing strategy = 0.32). Among the self-reported experimenters, those that did not rank livestock production as their top goal (rank >1) had the highest probability (0.63) of adopting extensive rotation. Of the remaining experimenters who listed livestock production as their top goal, those identifying more than seven “good” or “excellent” information sources were more likely (0.60) to adopt a rotational grazing strategy than those identifying seven or fewer “good” or “excellent” information sources (probability = 0.43). Ranchers neutral or disagreeing with the attitude statement, “I like to experiment with new ways of doing things” had a 0.43 probability of adopting a seasonal grazing strategy. Among the self-reported experimenters, those that did not rank livestock production as their top goal (rank >1) had the lowest probability (0.22) of adopting this strategy. Experimenters who ranked livestock production as their main goal and reported more than 3,700 head of livestock were the most likely (0.86) to adopt a seasonal grazing strategy. Ranchers who disagreed with the attitude statement, “With respect to business, I always choose the option with the lowest risk” had a 0.12 probability of adopting a year-long continuous grazing strategy. Among ranchers neutral or agreeing with this statement:  1) those whose ranch enterprise did not include publicly leased land were the most likely (0.27) to adopt year-long continuous grazing strategy, and 2) those whose ranch enterprise did include publicly leased land were the least likely (0.08) to adopt year-long continuous grazing strategy.

For Wyoming, ranchers with 820 or fewer livestock whose ranches are located in the Middle Rockies, Southern Rockies or Wyoming Basin ecoregions were the most likely (0.73) to adopt extensive rotational – few pastures strategy. Ranchers in the High Plains or Northwest Great Plains with 300 or fewer livestock were the second most likely (0.64) to adopt this strategy. High Plains or Northwest Great Plains ranchers with more than 300 livestock had a similar relatively low probability of adoption (0.36) as ranchers with over 820 livestock (0.35). Ranchers with more than 1,625 head of livestock were the most likely (0.56) to adopt the extensive rotation – many pastures grazing strategy. Ranchers with 1,625 or fewer livestock whose ranches are located in the Middle Rockies, Southern Rockies or Wyoming Basin ecoregions were the least likely (0.20) to adopt the extensive rotational – many pastures strategy. Ranchers ranking livestock production lower than fourth place were the most likely (0.43) to adopt the high density short duration grazing strategy. Ranchers ranking livestock production as their top priority were the least likely (0.07) to adopt this grazing strategy.

We identified six distinct grazing strategies describing California and Wyoming rancher’s grazing management for the largest area of private rangeland they manage. Classifications were primarily driven by duration of grazing, timing of rest from grazing, livestock density and number of pastures. Individual rancher preference for each these strategies was predicted, in part, by their attitude towards experimentation and risk, the number of information sources they use and value, relative prioritization of production and natural resources goals, number of livestock and the ecosystem in which the ranch was located. The full results of this analysis re being developed as a manuscript.

• Figure 2. Ranchers Practices and Information Interest.
• Figure 3. Word Cloud of Rancher Responses to Question about Biggest Concerns for Future of their Ranch.
• Figure 1. Rancher Goals.