Targeted grazing by sheep to control invasive species and reduce wildfire risk on western rangelands

Progress report for SW22-938

SW22-938 (project overview)
Project Type: Research and Education
Funds awarded in 2022: $349,815.00
Projected End Date: 06/30/2025
Host Institution Award ID: G405-22-W9209
Grant Recipients: Boise State University; Brigham Young University
Region: Western
State: Idaho
Principal Investigator:
Dr. Kelly Hopping
Email
Boise State University
Co-Investigators:
Sergio Arispe, PhD
Email
Oregon State University
Marie-Anne de Graaff
Email
Boise State University
April Hulet
Email
Brigham Young University
Renee Kehler
Email
U. S. Forest Service
Expand All

Project Information

Summary:

Cheatgrass invasion increases the risk of wildfire and negatively impacts agricultural production in the western United States. Grazing has been suggested as a tool to combat cheatgrass and increase resilience to wildfire. However, most research on targeted grazing of cheatgrass has been done with cattle. Studies on targeted grazing of sheep on cheatgrass remain sparse, despite interest from stakeholders. This project will answer questions about the use of sheep to reduce cheatgrass and wildfire risk, while also examining the economic costs and benefits of this practice.

We will establish a sheep targeted grazing experiment at a management-relevant scale in central Idaho to examine vegetation responses and belowground processes affected by grazing. Grazing treatments will compare dormant-season grazing in spring and fall, when cheatgrass is growing but most perennial species are not, to “traditional” summer grazing. In addition to assessing treatment effects on the composition of aboveground vegetation and fuel loads, we will examine impacts on soil processes to enhance understanding of the ecological mechanisms underpinning our results. Fire behavior models and economic models will estimate the financial and societal costs and benefits of adopting sheep targeted grazing practices. 

Outreach to producers, land managers, researchers, and the general public—locally and regionally—will occur through diverse venues ranging from field days to podcasts. Rangeland monitoring workshops will build knowledge and shared understanding among land managers, sheep producers, and herders, with trainings offered in Spanish to serve the primarily Spanish-speaking sheepherder community. To contribute to youth education about rangeland issues, we will develop lesson plans about the invasive annual grass-fire cycle and targeted grazing with sheep, which will be shared with teachers in Idaho and beyond. These efforts will increase knowledge of the potential for using sheep as a management tool, while broadening public acceptance for active rangeland management.

This work will be of significance throughout the Intermountain West, much of which is invaded by cheatgrass. With over 2 million sheep still being raised in the western states, harnessing their ability to reduce cheatgrass and associated wildfire risk poses an opportunity to improve environmental conditions and enhance sheep producers’ role as stewards of the lands they manage.

Project information will be disseminated in English and Spanish among agricultural stakeholders via podcasts, field days, industry newsletters, video, and fact sheets, with assistance from the Idaho Rangeland Resources Commission and the Idaho Wool Growers Association. An online economic decision tool about sheep grazing as a cheatgrass management practice will be shared through these venues and professional networks. 

Expected outcomes: 

  1. Ecological and economic understanding of sheep as a management tool for cheatgrass and wildfire risk reduction.

  2. Improved skills to implement sheep grazing to reduce cheatgrass and fuel loads.

  3. Increased collaboration among scientists, land managers, and livestock producers.

  4. Wider public acceptance of active rangeland management.

Project Objectives:

Research objectives:

  1. Evaluate the effects of sheep grazing treatments on vegetation communities by quantifying changes in cheatgrass and perennial species cover and density. 
  2. Examine mechanisms driving vegetation responses by quantifying the impact of sheep grazing treatments on litter accumulation, soil organic matter content, and nitrogen cycling.  
  3. Predict outcomes for wildfire risk by quantifying grazing treatment effects on fuel loads and modeling associated wildfire behavior.
  4. Compare economic costs for achieving a change in ecological condition based on targeted grazing with sheep to other cheatgrass management strategies. 

Education objectives:

  1. Increase knowledge of the ecological and economic impacts of invasive annual grass.
  2. Increase knowledge of the potential for adopting sheep grazing as a management tool to minimize invasive annual grass and reduce wildfire risk.
  3. Achieve wider public acceptance of active land management in rangelands.
Timeline:

July 1, 2022 - June 30, 2025

Su 22

Fa 22

Sp 23

Su 23

Fa 23

Sp 24

Su 24

Fa 24

Sp 25

Su 25

Team meetings

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Conduct research (Research Objectives 1-4 denoted in chart)

Establish plots

1-3

                  

Fall grazing treatment

  

1-3

    

1-3

          

Spring grazing treatment

    

1-3

    

1-3

        

Summer (control) grazing trt

      

1-3

    

1-3

      

Veg, soil sampling

1-3

    

1-3

    

1-3

      

Veg, soil sample analysis

  

1-3

1-3

  

1-3

1-3

  

1-3

1-3

  

Experiment data analysis

  

1-3

1-3

  

1-3

1-3

  

1-3

1-3

  

Fire behavior modeling

    

3

    

3

    

3

  

Economic data collection

  

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

  

Economic modeling

            

4

4

4

  

Outreach and Products (Education Objectives 1-3 denoted in chart)

July 1, 2022 - June 30, 2025

Su 22

Fa 22

Sp 23

Su 23

Fa 23

Sp 24

Su 24

Fa 24

Sp 25

Su 25

Field days

  

1-3

            

1-3

  

Monitoring workshops

      

2

    

2

      

Curriculum (grade 6-12)

      

3

        

3

  

ID Wool Growers presentations

        

2

    

2

    

Conference presentations

          

1

1

      

Podcasts

              

1-3

1-3

  

Manuscripts

              

1

1

1

Economic decision tool

                

1

  

Life on the Range video

                

2,3

  

Rangeland Partnership presentation

                

3

  

Fact sheets

                

1-2

1-2

Newsletters

                  

2

Science article for kids

                  

3

Science Pub

                  

3

Cooperators

Click linked name(s) to expand/collapse or show everyone's info

Research

Materials and methods:

Research hypotheses:

  • Targeted grazing by sheep will reduce cheatgrass cover, with the strongest effects when grazing occurs in both spring and fall.
  • Sheep will alter soil inputs and nitrogen cycling, potentially promoting cheatgrass growth via increased nitrogen availability.
  • Reductions in cheatgrass will decrease wildfire risk and severity.
  • Economic costs of targeted grazing will vary across operations but will be outweighed by benefits and lower than alternative treatment methods.

This project will assess the ecological and economic feasibility of using dormant season sheep grazing to control cheatgrass and reduce wildfire risk. Specific research objectives include:

1: Evaluate the effects of sheep grazing treatments on vegetation communities by quantifying changes in cheatgrass and perennial species cover and density. 

2: Examine mechanisms driving vegetation responses by quantifying the impact of grazing treatments on litter accumulation, soil organic matter content, and nitrogen cycling.  

3: Predict outcomes for wildfire risk by quantifying grazing treatment effects on fuel loads and modeling associated wildfire behavior.

4: Compare economic costs for achieving a change in ecological condition based on targeted grazing with sheep to other cheatgrass management strategies. 

Project site:

Our study is located on the Sawtooth National Forest in Blaine County, Idaho. It is in the transition zone between areas heavily invaded by cheatgrass and more intact big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata vaseyana) systems at high risk of invasion under climate change (Boyte et al. 2016). Domestic sheep are herded through these ecosystems annually.

Experimental design:

In the summer of 2022, we established a randomized block experiment with four treatments designed to capture the impacts of sheep grazing on cheatgrass at different phenological stages: (1) spring targeted grazing, (2) fall targeted grazing, (3) spring + fall targeted grazing, and (4) “traditional” summer grazing, which is serving as the “control” for this region (Fig. 1). Since relatively light summer grazing (maximum 25-35% utilization) is common in the study region, we take it to be the standard condition. With this experiment we are therefore testing different grazing regimes, rather than including a grazing removal (no grazing) treatment (Vermeire et al. 2023). However, during the first year of grazing treatments, several of the fall and spring targeted grazing plots were not visited by sheep for reasons beyond our control (e.g., lack of water access due to an exceptionally dry fall), which enabled us to compare the control plots that were grazed lightly in summer to the un-grazed plots.  This comparison confirmed that cheatgrass cover in the control/summer-grazed plots did not differ significantly from the un-grazed plots after the first year of treatment implementation, thus lending support to our choice to treat summer grazing as the control condition.

Treatments are replicated 4 times across two grazing allotments (N=32). Three 50 m transects are positioned in each 50 x 50 m plot for vegetation and soil measurements (Herrick et al. 2017). Soil temperature is measured continuously in plots with Kestrel environmental dataloggers, and soil moisture is measured during field sampling with a Campbell HydroSense sensor. Field data collection in the summer of year 1 (July 2022) preceded the targeted grazing treatments and serves as baseline data. All measurements are aggregated to the plot level as the unit of analysis. 

To test for treatment effects on ecosystem properties, we are using generalized linear mixed effects models in a fully factorial (spring x fall grazing), before-after control-impact design with plot as a random effect.  We are running the models with the lme4 package in R (R Core Team 2023, Bates et al. 2015).

Targeted grazing implementation:

Each allotment has ~1000 ewes participating in the experiment, representing a realistic amount for commercial producers in this region. The researchers and sheep producers work with herders to maintain sheep in the treatment areas until objectives are achieved, or use of other resources triggers the need to move. Spring and fall targeted grazing occur when perennial vegetation is mostly dormant but cheatgrass is green, for approximately 2 weeks in May-June and October. Interannual variability in environmental conditions requires us to remain flexible. Fall grazing treatments have occurred in October 2022 and 2023, and the first spring grazing treatments occurred from May-June 2023.  The second spring grazing treatments are scheduled for May-June 2024.

Experimental design
Fig. 1. Experimental design of study treatments within an allotment. Measurements are made along 3 transects located in each plot in the spring and fall targeted grazing treatment areas and in an area exposed to “traditional” summer grazing. Treatments are replicated across two allotments. The stylized grazing route shows the general path of travel, but sheep will cover a broader area around this path, grazing across all measurement areas in each treatment. (Not shown to scale.)

Animal nutrition and health:

Sheep nutrition and health are linked to the ecological outcomes of the proposed research study and the economic viability of the participating grazing operations. Nutritional requirements on rangelands are an interplay between physiologic status (dry, pregnant, lactating) and changes in plant phenology. Fall grazing, after most forage species have matured or senesced, can lead to dietary protein and nutrient deficiencies that affect sheep performance (Otsyina et al. 1982). We have been monitoring conditions throughout the experiment to help ensure that sheep will not incur a physiologic cost during grazing treatments. The sheep industry recognizes checking body condition scores to determine whether ewes are meeting their nutrient requirements (Kenyon et al. 2014, Thompson and Meyer 2011). We provided training materials to sheep producers (in English) and herders (in Spanish) on body condition scoring protocols that can be employed efficiently throughout the study period. Producers and herders performed body condition scoring, combined with continuous visual assessments, before and during the grazing treatments and did not observe declines in body condition.

Each summer, we clipped biomass (described under Objective 1, below) and sent samples of annual grass (i.e., cheatgrass), perennial grasses, and forbs to Dairy One Forage Laboratory for analysis of their nutrient and energy contents.  We selected samples from half of the plots (n=16), distributed throughout each treatment and allotment.  Results indicated that that forage was sufficient to meet ewes’ daily crude protein requirements.  The producers and research team therefore opted not to provide protein supplements during the targeted grazing treatments.

Data collection and analysis:

Objective 1:  

Aboveground vegetation sampling will enable us to assess grazing treatment effects on cheatgrass and perennial vegetation, while also supporting the aims of Objectives 2 and 3. In July 2022 and 2023, we took line-point intercept measurements of plant species and ground cover every 1 m along sampling transects. Destructive sampling within 15, 0.25 m2 quadrats/plot was conducted along transects to measure aboveground biomass of functional groups and litter. Samples were dried (48 hours, 60°C) to estimate aboveground biomass dry weight. Processing of species cover data and biomass weighing is complete for both years.

Objective 2: 

To improve mechanistic understanding of the ecological sustainability of the grazing treatments, we will quantify how grazing alters litter input, soil organic matter (SOM) content, soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) stocks and soil N cycling, since these feed back directly to plant production and community composition. To assess N cycling, in-situ nitrogen release of plant-available N is being measured with ion-exchange resins (Plant Root Simulator probes) that we buried near the start of the growing seasons in 2022 and 2023 (Adair et al. 2008, Concilio and Loink 2008, Martinsen et al. 2012). We removed the first set of probes after approximately one year of burial in 2023 and immediately replaced them with a second set that will be removed near the start of the growing season in 2024. In addition to measuring nitrate- and ammonium-associated N, the probes also adsorb other cations and anions available in the soil (e.g., phosphate, potassium, calcium, magnesium, etc.), which can be correlated with plant mineral concentrations obtained from the forage analyses.

The field measurements of available N from the Plant Root Simulator probes will be complemented with lab analyses of nitrate- and ammonium-associated N concentrations in soil samples. In July 2022 and 2023, we collected litter and soil samples (5 cm depth, 4.5 cm diameter) every 10 m along each transect for measurements of pH, soil organic matter (SOM), soil C and N, and nitrate- and ammonium-associated N. Upon sampling, soil was air dried and stored in a dark place at 20oC until further analyses. Soil sample analysis in the lab is complete for pH, SOM, and C and N analyses. Bulk soil organic C and N concentrations were analyzed using a Thermo Electron Flash EA 1112 CN analyzer. SOM content was analyzed using loss-on-ignition (Hoogsteen et al. 2015).  Nitrate- and ammonium-associated N were measured colorimetrically after KCl extractions (Doane and Horwath 2003). 

Objective 3:

To predict grazing treatment effects on wildfire risk, aboveground biomass measured for Objective 1 will be used to estimate herbaceous fine fuel loads. Prior to sampling, average herbaceous leaf height (fuel bed depth) was measured in July 2022 and 2023 (Andrews 2009, Rothermel 1972). Down woody fuel loading was estimated using the planar transect method (Brown et al. 1982) for 1-, 10-, and 100-hour time-lag classes, with down woody fuel data collected in plots in July 2022 and 2023.  To determine the extent and distribution of fuels, foliar canopy gaps (including annuals and perennials) greater than 20 cm were measured along each of the three transects in each plot in July 2022 and 2023 (Herrick et al. 2009). Shrub fuel loads will be estimated using allometric relationships between fuel load and shrub volume (Harrison et al. submitted to Rangeland Ecology and Management 2024, Huff et al. 2017, Hulet et al. unpublished data).

Objective 4:

To ensure that this research is relevant and applicable to stakeholders, we are creating a budget model to identify economic tradeoffs associated with adopting targeted grazing as a cheatgrass management strategy. First, we designed an analytic framework to organize potential costs and benefits by multiple criteria. The framework distinguishes private from public costs and benefits, as well as costs and benefits during dry and wet years.  We refined this framework through discussions with sheep operators, U.S. Forest Service staff, academic researchers, and other natural resource sector experts to better understand the potential outcomes of sheep targeted grazing regimes.  We then collected data on economic costs and benefits from a variety of sources and stakeholders to characterize the realities described by the project partners (Hallam et al. 1998).  Costs of alternative management strategies (e.g., wildfire risk mitigation) are being obtained from U.S. Forest Service collaborators.  Finally, we complemented these findings with a review of the economics literature related to targeted grazing in the western U.S.  Results from the economic model will be integrated with wildfire modeling results to build a more holistic understanding of targeted grazing's potential economic costs and benefits to different sectors, including land managers, producers, and the general public.

Research results and discussion:

In May-June 2022, we established 32 treatment plots for the targeted grazing experiment.  Half of the plots are located in the Deer Creek allotment and half in the Limekiln allotment in the Ketchum District of the Sawtooth National Forest.  In July 2022 and 2023, we collected vegetation, soil, and fuels data in each of the plots. The grazing treatments were implemented in October 2022 and 2023 (fall and fall+ spring targeted grazing), May-June 2023 (spring and fall + spring targeted grazing), and June-July 2023 (summer grazing).  Monitoring of each plot by Forest Service personnel and Boise State researchers found that sheep impacts were low in October 2022, due to low precipitation that season and less available green cheatgrass and other forage for sheep. However, estimates of cheatgrass utilization were higher in subsequent targeted grazing seasons. We are assessing treatment effects using a before-after control-impact model, with data collected from the plots in 2022 representing the "before" condition and data collected in 2023 as the "after."  Thus far, we can evaluate results from one year of grazing treatments, and the second year of treatment effects will be assessed after July 2024 data collection.

Objective 1:

Our field measurements using the line-point intercept method at 150 points along three 50-m transects in each plot revealed that the mean cover of cheatgrass across all plots in 2022 was 63%, with 18% cover of other non-native species and 58% cover of native species.  (The total percent cover can sum to over 100%, due to plants overlapping each other in the canopy.)  Cheatgrass cover was more variable in the Limekiln allotment than in Deer Creek (Fig. 2). Cumulatively, we identified over 120 plant species across all plots.  Of those identified, 81% are native species and 19% non-native. We found 86 forb species, 21 grasses, 15 shrubs, 3 trees, and 2 sedges.  On average, plots had a mean of 23 species intercepted along the transects.  The minimum intercepted per plot was 8 species, and the maximum was 34 species. 

Cheatgrass percent cover in experiment plots in July 2022
Fig. 2. Baseline data collection from July 2022 showed mean percent cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) cover of 68% in the Deer Creek allotment plots and 57% in the Limekiln allotment plots. Colored lines represent mean cheatgrass cover for each plot.

In 2023, cheatgrass cover was lower across all plots than in 2022 (31% decrease, on average), likely due to interannual variation in weather conditions.  After accounting for this year effect, we found that spring targeted grazing treatments significantly reduced cheatgrass cover, by 14% on average (Fig. 3). Plots that were lightly grazed in summer, which we designated as the "control" treatment for the experiment, did not differ significantly from 5 plots that were inadvertantly not grazed in any season (Fig. 3).  These findings lend support to our assumption that light summer grazing has relatively low impacts and can therefore serve as a useful reference point for the targeted grazing treatments. 

Targeted grazing treatments did not significantly reduce the biomass of non-target plant functional groups (perennial grasses, forbs, shrubs) after the first year of treatments.  Analysis of community-level shifts in plant species composition will be conducted after July 2024 data collection.

Grazing treatment marginal effects on cheatgrass cover relative to ungrazed change 2022-2023
Fig. 3. Marginal effects of grazing treatments on cheatgrass cover between 2022-2023, displayed relative to plots that were not grazed in any season. Points show model estimates with 95% confidence intervals for each treatment. Targeted grazing in spring (Spring and Spring + Fall) significantly reduced cheatgrass cover compared to the other grazing treatments (Fall and Summer), which did not differ significantly from ungrazed plots.

Objective 2:

Soil samples that we collected in July 2022 and 2023 did not differ significantly between years, nor among treatments, for several key properties that we would expect to change slowly: soil pH (µ = 6.5), soil organic matter (µ = 8.6-9.0%), and total soil C (µ = 4.5-4.6%) and N (µ = 0.34-0.35%).  In contrast, mineralized forms of N that are available for uptake by plants (nitrate and ammonium) did change across years and grazing treatments, with significantly higher concentrations of both nitrate and ammonium in 2023, and with an additional increase in nitrate in spring-grazed plots and a decrease in ammonium in fall-grazed plots.  Overall, soil nitrate concentrations were higher than ammonium concentrations across the experiment.

In contrast to the controlled lab analyses of nitrate and ammonium that measure nitrogen that is potentially available to plants at the time of sample collection, Plant Root Simulator Probes measured nitrate and ammonium that is actually available to plants in each plot for approximately one year, starting near the beginning of the 2022 growing season.  Nitrate availability (µ = 253 µg 10 cm-2 year-1, σ = 90.1 µg 10 cm-2 year-1) was much higher than ammonium availability (µ = 3.56 µg 10 cm-2 year-1, σ = 2.06 µg 10 cm-2 year-1) across all plots, matching the trend found in the lab analyses.  A second set of probes is currently buried (4 probe pairs per plot) and will be retrieved near the start of the 2024 growing season to assess interannual variation and potential treatment effects on in-situ, plant-available nitrogen supply rates in the soil.

Objective 3:

Measurements for fuel bed depth, down woody fuels, and foliar canopy gaps were collected in all plots in July 2022 and 2023. Data entry for these measurements is complete. We found that foliar canopy gaps increased significantly with spring targeted grazing, suggesting reduced wildfire fuel continuity as a result of reductions in cheatgrass cover. These data will be used as inputs to the Fuel and Fire Tool fire behavior modeling program to test how grazing may impact potential fire behavior, and thereby to better predict how resilient the ecosystem is to fire pre- and post-grazing by sheep.

Objective 4:

Preliminary results suggest that the private and public costs of targeted grazing—as we are practicing it in our study—are nearly negligible and have little influence on managerial decisions.  The largest determinant of cost thus far is access to trained labor (i.e., herders).  Sheep producers and U.S. Forest Service staff identified important economic benefits that could arise from the adoption of targeted grazing. For producers, these included savings in feed and transportation costs due to the different timing of grazing, as well as avoided costs associated with preventative actions that serve as private insurance against wildfire risk. Forest Service staff identified potential savings in cheatgrass control and wildfire prevention activities, as well as an expectation of reduced costs due to improved relationships between the Forest Service, sheep producers, and the general public.

Preliminary results thus suggest that if targeted grazing treatments successfully reduce cheatgrass cover, the social and economic benefits are likely to outweigh short-term private costs. Moreover, if land management agencies can work with producers to structure grazing permits more tailored to targeted grazing, the longer-term benefits to producers could also outweigh their short-term costs.  However, the magnitude of these costs and benefits is expected to be influenced by exogenous factors, such as climate, which also influence cheatgrass and wildfire cycles.  Results from the ongoing wildfire modeling study will thus help refine the economic model to give projected costs and benefits under a realistic array of conditions.

 
Participation Summary
3 Producers participating in research

Research Outcomes

4 Grants received that built upon this project
6 New working collaborations

Education and Outreach

5 Curricula, factsheets or educational tools
3 Published press articles, newsletters
8 Webinars / talks / presentations
1 Workshop field days
2 Other educational activities: 1.) Training in rangeland ecology methods for students and practitioners in 2022 and 2023.
2.) "Sheepscape Ecology" independent study course offered at Boise State University in Spring 2024 (HES 596, 1 credit).

Participation Summary:

122 Farmers participated
161 Ag professionals participated
Education and outreach methods and analyses:

Education and Outreach Objective 1: Increase knowledge of the ecological and economic impacts of invasive annual grass.

Field days and alternative activities:

Although we scheduled our first field day in November 2022, following the first round of targeted grazing treatments, we decided to postpone it due to poor weather conditions.  Its goal had been to highlight the research study and its collaborative efforts, with a target audience of livestock producers, herders, land management agencies, NGOs, scientists, and the general public.

Instead, in 2022-2023 we participated in interviews that led to articles written for Western SARE News and the Idaho Mountain Express newspaper, which serves the Wood River Valley communities near our study area. We also wrote an article on the principles behind targeted grazing with livestock and about our project for the Trailing of the Sheep Festival's newsletter.  The Trailing of the Sheep is a nonprofit organization based in our study area that "celebrates the history of sheep ranching in Idaho and the West."  These articles were in turn shared by the Idaho Wool Growers Association and "Life on the Range," an educational project sponsored by the Idaho Rangeland Resources Commission, which further extended their reach.  Together, these outlets serve a broad cross-section of our intended field day audience and contributed to our project's education objectives.

In the fall of 2024, we will host a field day near our research site in Hailey, Idaho.  This event will provide a platform to discuss the latest research findings, address challenges and opportunities associated with targeted sheep grazing, and raise awareness and acceptance of these sustainable land management practices.  By leveraging strategic partnerships and targeted outreach efforts, we aim to create meaningful opportunities for knowledge exchange and community engagement. 

Conference presentations:

To reach our target audience of livestock producers, land managers, and scientists with information about our project and initial results, we presented our work at several conferences:

  • A Master's student presented a poster about our project at the Society for Range Management conference held in Boise, Idaho in February 2023 and at the West Central States Wool Grower's Convention held in Boise, ID in November 2023.
  • Students presented a poster with results of their soil sample analysis from the targeted grazing experiment at Boise State University's Undergraduate Research Showcase in April 2023.
  • We gave two presentations (one lightning talk and one research talk) at the Society for Range Management conference held in Sparks, Nevada in January 2024.

Education and Outreach Objective 2: Increase knowledge of the potential for adopting sheep grazing as a management tool to minimize invasive annual grass and reduce wildfire risk.

Field days and monitoring workshops:

Despite previous challenges with low attendance and weather disruptions during our attempts to organize field days and monitoring workshops, we are committed to effectively serving the community.  To enhance outreach and engagement, we are partnering with the University of Idaho Extension to integrate sheep utilization monitoring into a series of workshops across Idaho in the summer of 2024.  These workshops will be advertised in collaboration with key stakeholders such as the Idaho Wool Growers Association, Idaho Rangeland Resources Commission, Rangeland Center, neighboring states’ Wool Growers Associations, and federal and state land management agencies to maximize participation. 

Thus far, our summer field work and subsequent sample processing and analysis in the lab  from 2022-2024 has trained 13 undergraduate students, 7 Master's students, 2 local private land managers, 1 professional botanist, and 1 K-12 teacher in rangeland ecology methods.  We were also joined in the field by 1 agricultural producer and 6 federal agency personnel.

We created videos and a worksheet in English and Spanish to explain the relevance of ewe body condition scoring and a technique for conducting it to help educate sheep producers and herders about this method.  Dr. Sergio Arispe also gave a presentation on body condition scoring as part of our breakout session on sheep management and targeted grazing strategies on rangelands at the West Central States Wool Growers Convention in November 2023.

Presentations to Wool Growers Associations:

To engage a key swath of our target audience, we organized a half-day breakout session on "Sheep Management and Targeted Grazing on Rangelands" during the 2023 West Central States Wool Growers Convention held in Boise, ID.  The convention was attended primarily by sheep producers from Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming—over 120 of whom participated in our session.  This platform provided an opportunity to bring together a range of experts to discuss and present their work related to sheep grazing.  Presenters included a sheep producer; professors, postdoctoral researchers, and students (Boise State University Brigham Young University, Cal Poly Humboldt); extension specialists (Oregon State University, Utah State University, University of Idaho), and federal agency staff (U.S. Forest Service, Agricultural Research Service).  After the session, we disseminated an evaluation to gauge the extent of knowledge acquired and participants' inclination towards implementing targeted grazing.  Regrettably, the response rate to the evaluation was lower than anticipated, which impeded a comprehensive assessment of the session's impact.  Despite this limitation, the exchange of ideas and experiences from diverse perspectives appeared to be well received, based on high levels of audience engagement and positive feedback we received from participants afterward.

Additional activities:

In addition to our proposed outreach and education activities, we have had the opportunity to contribute to several other initiatives that are also increasing knowledge of the potential for adopting sheep grazing as a management tool among students, land managers, and producers.

  • We offered a graduate-level course on "Sheepscape Ecology" at Boise State University, which was structured around discussions of The Art and Science of Shepherding, edited by Michel Meuret and Fred Provenza (2014).  This course was largely responsible for inspiring two students to pursue new research avenues related to sheep grazing and management.
  • We were invited to present our research findings at the "Range All Hands Meeting" for Region 6 (Pacific Northwest Region) of the U.S. Forest Service in Pendleton, OR, where we were able to share our growing knowledge of targeted grazing with sheep as a cheatgrass and wildfire fuels reduction tool with range specialists from over a dozen National Forests and Grasslands.
  • We were invited to contribute to a guidebook on targeted grazing being published by the American Sheep Industry Association.  This is meant to serve as a supplement to the American Sheep Industry Association's 2006 Targeted Grazing Handbook.  Members of our project team (1 professor, 1 sheep producer, 1 Forest Service staff member) participated in an interview about our project with the book's author.  A chapter about our study and our collaborative approach to establishing a targeted grazing project with sheep has been written, and the book's publication is expected within the next year.

Education and Outreach Objective 3: Achieve wider public acceptance of active land management in rangelands.

Curriculum:

Our ongoing initiative to create educational materials focuses on developing a curriculum aimed at fostering broader public support for active land management practices in rangelands, with a particular emphasis on sheep.  We have a team of four undergraduate students developing curricular materials about a range of topics, including:

  1. Unlocking the power of targeted sheep grazing (completed).
  2. Exploring the intricacies of wool production, focusing on micron counts and the biogeography of sheep (in progress).
  3. Tracing the global significance of sheep, from their historical roles to contemporary innovations in grazing techniques (in progress).

Through this multifaceted approach, we aim to empower individuals with a deeper understanding of the ecological and economic benefits of sustainable land management practices in rangelands. 

To disseminate the curriculum to middle school aged students throughout the Western US over this next year, we will:

  1. Collaborate with Wool Growers Associations in Idaho, Nevada, Utah, and other surrounding states, and Educational Institutions/Organizations such as the Idaho Rangeland Resources Commission (IRRC) to integrate the curriculum into their existing environmental science or agriculture programs. We will reach out to science teachers and curriculum coordinators to introduce the curriculum and discuss implementation strategies.   
  2. We will provide resources, lesson plans, and teaching materials to support educators in facilitating the interactive learning experience.
  3. We will include curriculum in online platforms at Boise State University and Brigham Young University, as well as the IRRC. We will also post curriculum on websites where teachers can access the materials and educational games for free, such as on the Utah STEM Action Center site (https://stem.utah.gov) and similar state sites throughout the western US.  We would also like to explore options such as “Teachers pay Teachers,” where teachers share lesson plans and innovative ideas with each other; however, our curriculum will be free, so more research is needed to assure this option is available. 

Over the final year of this grant, we will work on developing digital evaluations and feedback mechanisms where we can implement pre- and post- assessments to measure student learning outcomes and evaluate the effectiveness of the curriculum. To improve long-term sustainability, we will also work on establishing partnerships with educational publishers, online learning platforms, and/or government agencies to facilitate widespread adoption.  

Additional activities:

An undergraduate research assistant who has been working on the project since its inception was awarded a fellowship in Fall 2023 that supported him to conduct an independent study project on sheep forage nutrition, using samples from our experiment, while also writing an original five movement flute composition about his experience conducting field work for the targeted grazing study.  His composition has received a great deal of attention locally, with five performances completed or scheduled to date.  These have encompassed a range of venues and audiences, including Boise's Treefort Music Fest and Boise State University's SPARC mixer (Showcasing Projects And Research Creativity), where his performance was accompanied by a mixed digital media film using video and images from our experiment.  At each of these venues, he has had a chance to introduce the music by first explaining the threat of cheatgrass invasion to western rangelands and how we are investigating the use of targeted grazing with sheep to mitigate it, thereby greatly expanding the reach of this information among members of the general public.

Education and outreach results:

Education and Outreach Objective 2: Increase knowledge of the potential for adopting sheep grazing as a management tool to minimize invasive annual grass and reduce wildfire risk.

We found that the half-day session we organized at the West Central States Wool Growers Convention was an effective way to reach a highly concentrated audience with interest in sheep grazing as a potential management tool.  The 26 participants who completed the evaluation for the Sheep Body Condition Scoring presentation reported that they increased their understanding of body condition scoring from "Basic" to "Great."  However, our breakout session's overall participant response rate was low, suggesting that paper evaluations may not be the best way to solicit feedback, relative to higher rates of engagement in digital Slido polls used by other presenters, which the audience presumably found more engaging.

2 Farmers changed or adopted a practice

Education and Outreach Outcomes

Recommendations for education and outreach:

Recommendations will be developed after we have conducted additional outreach and education activities.

27 Producers reported gaining knowledge, attitude, skills and/or awareness as a result of the project
Non-producer stakeholders reported changes in knowledge, attitudes, skills and/or awareness as a result of project outreach
21 Students
8 Ag Service Providers
Key areas taught:
  • Sheep Body Condition Scoring
  • The importance of collaboration in effective rangeland management
  • Sheep herding as a livestock and land management practice
  • Rangeland ecology methods
Key changes:

  • Sheep Body Condition Scoring

  • The importance of collaboration in effective rangeland management

Information Products

Return to Project Overview
Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or SARE.