Progress report for SW23-948
Project Information
Soil organic carbon (SOC) is a primary indicator of soil health. As such, the reduction or loss of SOC lowers soil quality and leads to land degradation. In the western U.S., where 85% of public lands are rangelands, livestock grazing has led to a significant loss of SOC across the country’s vital agroecosystem under public ownership. A management strategy with the potential to balance grazing with rangeland soil health and SOC maintenance is the implementation grazing practices that minimize livestock’s physical impacts on rangelands and rangeland processes. A number of barriers, however, prevent Utah producers and land managers from implementing such practices. First, stakeholders do not always understand the links between grazing practices and the maintenance or accrual of SOC. Second, the costs of both implementing new grazing practices and measuring SOC are financially burdensome. These barriers can stymie producers and land managers from adopting management approaches despite their value for land stewardship.
To address these barriers and stimulate the adoption of management approaches and technologies in conjunction with agricultural production, the goal of our research is threefold: 1) Examine whether grazing practices that alters traditional durations/timings can improve rangeland soil health and increase SOC storage; 2) Test how a new SOC analysis technology, midinfrared reflectance (MIR) spectroscopy, can lower SOC measurement costs; and 3) Assess whether SOC sequestration can yield the economic returns needed to shift grazing practices and support producer livelihoods. Coupling grazing practices with technological advances in soil health monitoring will allow us to examine the potential for western U.S. rangeland soils to sequester SOC when a new grazing system is implemented. It will also enable producers to enter voluntary C-marketplaces and generate novel revenue that can sustain the new grazing system.
We will accomplish these goals by synergizing with a collaborative, multi-stakeholder grazing project taking place in Rich County, UT, and completing the first landscape-scale SOC sequestration assessment on UT rangelands. We expect the legacy of different historical grazing durations/timings will affect SOC stocks, and managing this element of grazing on rangelands will improve soil health. For example, we expect that pastures historically grazed for short durations/variable timings will result in the largest stocks of SOC. We also expect that switching the Rich County rangeland to a short-duration/variable timing rotational grazing system will yield measurable and meaningful increases in SOC. The dissemination of these project results – via field tours, local, regional, and national meetings, white papers, non-peer-reviewed and peer-reviewed publications – will benefit the field of rangeland science, the livelihoods of producers, the actionable goals of land managers, and the environment and economy of the western U.S.
Research objectives:
- Examine how the historical legacy of different grazing durations/timings affected soil organic carbon (SOC) storage across a semi-arid rangeland.
- Examine how a short-duration/variable-timing watershed-scale grazing system alters SOC storage.
- Compare the accuracy of conventional soil analysis methodologies with a new technology - midinfrared reflectance spectroscopy.
- Quantify the potential financial benefits of the new grazing system to increase SOC based on historical grazing durations/timings, and SOC analysis methodologies.
Education objective:
- Develop a suite of outreach materials that communicates the importance of innovative grazing management to improve soil health, promotes the adoption of new grazing practices and technology, and recognizes the role of semi-arid rangelands in sequestering soil organic carbon.
Cooperators
- - Producer
- (Researcher)
- - Producer
- (Researcher)
- - Producer
- (Researcher)
Research
Study Site.
Our study took place across 56,900 has of publicly- and privately-owned rangelands in Rich County, UT (41° 24' N; 111° 13' W; Fig. 1). The area is semi-arid sagebrush-steppe with an elevation of ~1915 m. Annual precipitation is ~30 cm , and average temperatures range from -9 °C (winter) to 17 ° (summer). The rangeland is shrub dominated and includes native and non-native grasses and forbs. Multiple riparian areas dissect the rangeland, and are perennial tributaries to the Bear River.
The publicly-owned rangeland was comprised of BLM and USFS permitted allotments for the grazing of beef cow-calf pairs via two common systems: season-long and deferred-rotation. Grazing duration equaled 4 mos (May - September) in pastures grazed season-long, and 2 mos either early- (May - July) or late-season (July - September) in pastures grazed via deferred-rotation (Fig. 2). The privately-owned rangeland employs a short-duration / variable-timing grazing system in which beef cow-calf pairs graze pastures for 0.5 mos with some pastures rested each year (Fig. 3).
A similar grazing system was implemented in 2022 on the publicly-owned rangeland, resulting in many more pastures being grazed for 0.5 mos. We are able to use a before-after experimental design to compare the legacy effects of different grazing durations / timings on SOC, as well how the implementation of the new grazing system alters SOC. The pastures historically grazed for 0.5 mos on the privately-owned rangeland is used as a reference for the potential capacity of the publicly-owned rangeland to sequester SOC.
Research Objective #1: Examine how the historical legacy of different grazing durations / timings affected SOC storage across a semi-arid rangeland.
A challenge in measuring SOC across western U.S. semi-arid rangelands is that the abiotic and biotic factors influencing SOC dynamics are variable across large landscapes leading to different sequestration potentials within single grazing operations. It is critical to stratify landscapes adequately to accurately measure and scale-up SOC stocks. We stratified the rangeland uplands in this study by historical grazing durations / timings, vegetation type, soil type / texture, and topographic position. The durations / timings included season-long (4 mos), deferred-rotation (2 mos, early-season and 2 mos, late-season), and short-duration / variable-timing (0.5 mos; Fig. 2; Fig. 3).
We included three dominant vegetation types linked to three soil types / textures and different topographic positions, and are characterized by NRCS Ecological Site Descriptions (ESDs; Fig. 4). These included: 1) Upland Loam, Wyoming Big Sagebrush on Falula and Kearl loam; 2) Upland Shallow Loam, Black Sagebrush on Solak gravelly loam; and 3) Semi-Desert Loam, Wyoming Big Sagebrush / Bluebunch Wheatgrass on Pancheri silt loam. These ESDs were widespread across each historical grazing duration / timing stratum. We also included two additional, though, minor ESDs within the historical grazing duration / timing strata of the publicly-owned rangeland for the purposes of estimating a rangeland-scale stock of SOC. These included: 1) Semi-Desert Gravelly Loam, Shadscale on Pancheri silt loam; and 2) High Mountain Loam, Aspen (Fig. 4).
We estimated SOC in 5 - 46 different sampling locations within each stratum to reach - in most cases - a statistical rigor in which the variability in SOC was <10% of the mean (Fig. 5). We sampled the publicly-owned rangeland more intensively than the privately-owned rangeland considering that the producers that graze cattle on the publicly-owned rangeland were most interested in generating a baseline estimate of SOC for potential entry in a C-marketplace.
Soil Sampling
Increases in SOC with changes in grazing management require time to manifest. Thus, C marketplace protocols call for SOC measurements in five or ten year intervals. We, therefore, measured SOC stocks in YR1 to assess the historical legacy effects of different grazing durations / timings on SOC, and serve as a baseline for potential sequestration rates.
In each sampling location, we extracted soil from three separate cores using an auger with a 10 cm diameter cylinder. We then hand-homogenized the soil from the three cores by four depth increments (0 - 15, 15 - 30, 30 - 45, 45 - 100 cm) that included the A (topsoil) and B (subsoil) horizons. To characterize differences in SOC spatially, we also extracted undisturbed soil using a slide-hammer and 15 cm long soil probe with a 5 cm diameter for bulk density.
In addition to sampling for the estimation of SOC, we chose ten sampling locations within each stratum and measured above- and belowground vegetative biomass, rates of water infiltration into the ground, and surface soil pools of labile SOC, microbial biomass C (MBC) - all of which are metrics of rangeland and soil health that indirectly or directly affect SOC (See Research Objective #2 for more information). These data were collected at the end of the grazing season in September.
Soil Analyses
We analyzed soil samples for SOC using the conventional approach of dry combustion on a Costech Elemental Analyzer. We first air-dried, sieved, and ground the soil samples. Next, we acidified subsamples of the soil to remove inorganic C. Once inorganic C was removed, we packed ~20 mg of soil into tins for combustion on the Elemental Analyzer. We calculated SOC content within each depth increment according to the following equation:
SOCi = Ci × hi ρb,i
Where SOCi is the estimated SOC content (mass of C / unit area) of horizon i at the sampling location; Ci is the SOC concentration (mass of C / mass of soil) of horizon i; hi is the length of horizon i; and ρb,i is the bulk density (mass of soil / volume of soil) measured for horizon i.
To determine the SOC content per stratum, we summed the SOC content from each horizon within each sampling location, and averaged the contents across the sampling locations. To determine the total SOC content of the rangeland, we multiplied the SOC contents per stratum by the areal coverage across the rangeland and summed them.
We also processed fresh surface soil samples immediately after collection for labile SOC and MBC . Labile SOC was analyzed colorimetrically using potassium sulfate extracts, and MBC was analyzed colorimetrically using chloroform-fumigated potassium sulfate extracts.
Above- and Belowground Vegetative Biomass
We sampled above- and belowground vegetative biomass using 0.9 m x 0.6 m quadrats and root ingrowth cores both within and outside of grazing exclusion cages. Grazing exclusion cages were used to assess vegetation biomass both with and without the pressure of grazing.
Water Infiltration
We measured rates of infiltration using the standard NRCS single-ring technique.
Statistical Analyses
We used linear mixed-effects models to determine the overall legacy effects of different historical grazing durations / timings on SOC stocks, labile SOC, MBC, infiltration, and above- and belowground vegetative biomass. The fixed effect was grazing duration / timing, and the random effects were stratum and pasture. We also used separate linear mixed-effects models to determine the legacy effects of different historical grazing durations / timing on SOC stocks, labile SOC, MBC, infiltration and above- and belowground vegetative biomass within each ESD. In this case, the fixed effect was grazing duration / timing, and the random effect was pasture.
Research Objective #2: Examine how a short-duration / variable-timing watershed-scale grazing system alters SOC storage.
Given that increases in SOC with changes in grazing management require time to manifest and we won't measure SOC stocks again until YR4 (now that we received a no-cost extension), we measured - and will continue to measure - four metrics of soil health annually that contribute to SOC, and may respond to changes in grazing management relatively quickly, thus, serving as short-term indicators of long-term change. As mentioned above, these included infiltration, labile SOC, soil MBC, and above- and belowground vegetative biomass. Labile, or readily available and dissolved, SOC is comprised of relatively large and transient compounds, and is the primary food source of microbial communities. Well-managed grazing can stimulate the growth of grasses and herbaceous vegetation, leading to large and immediate inputs of labile SOC. While most labile SOC will be metabolized and respired back to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide by the microbial community, a portion will be incorporated into MB. Over time, this labile SOC pool will become stabilized, and contribute to the long-term increases in SOC stocks with changes in grazing management. Thus, labile SOC, MBC, and above- and belowground vegetative biomass are serving as short-term indicators of potential changes in SOC stocks.
We measured these four metrics of soil health according to the sampling and analyses methodologies described above.
Research Objective #3: Compare the accuracy of conventional soil analysis methodologies with a new technology, MIR spectroscopy.
Initial and limited academic tests of the MIR technology found it to be within the accuracy needed to satisfy C-marketplace protocols but it has yet to be tested on diverse soil types. Nonetheless, MIR spectroscopy is currently used by the NRCS Kellogg Soil Survey Laboratory (KSSL) and a small number of NRCS Field Offices for internal research purposes. It is not, however, available to the general public as a method for SOC analysis either through NRCS facilities or commercial laboratories that employ the conventional dry combustion methodology. This is because the technology is relatively new and requires region-specific calibration and validation to yield accurate predictions. Though the NRCS KSSL does not make their instruments publicly accessible, they do make their vast MIR and reference data libraries public, thus, enabling an entity with an MIR spectrometer to feasibly calibrate it to their project site.
In YR1, our partnership with the NRCS Price, UT Field Office on a Dynamic Soil Property project enabled us to access a Alpha II MIR spectrometer - low-throughput spectrometer - located at the Missoula, MT Area Office. Our partnership provided us with the opportunity to gain proficiency with the instrument and the foundational knowledge needed to operate it. We analyzed a subset of our samples for SOC on this MIR spectrometer in YR1.
In YR2, we acquired our own high-throughput MIR spectrometer - an Invenio R with an HTS-X attachment - from Bruker Optics and analyzed the rest of our samples for SOC. We now have a complete set of optical spectra for the soil samples collected in YR1 as we continue to contribute to the small body of work examining the efficacy of this technology thus ensuring its ability to serve as a cheaper and easier alternative to conventional dry combustion.
Soil Analyses
We air-dried, sieved, and ground our soil samples for analysis on an Alpha II MIR spectrometer and an Invenio R MIR spectrometer. We then loaded ~20 mg of soil into the spectrometer and acquired 30 - 50 scales of MIR spectra. Work is ongoing to calibrate and validate the MIR spectra of our soil samples with with regional spectra and reference data from the KSSL.
Research Objective #4: Quantify the potential financial benefits of the new grazing system to increase SOC based on historical grazing durations / timings, and SOC analysis methodologies.
Though we are waiting until YR4 (given our approved no-cost extension) to complete a full resampling and analysis of SOC, we were able to draft a cost / benefit analysis of the potential for the new grazing system to increase SOC. This is because we were able to compare the SOC stocks from the historical grazing systems on the publicly-owned rangeland to the historical grazing system on the privately-owned rangeland, which was used a model for the new grazing system on the former. We conducted this analysis by gathering data on the field labor, field travel, field per diem, and field supply expenses needed to complete the YR1 sampling, as well as the laboratory labor and supplies needed to complete the YR1 SOC estimates using the high and dry combustion methodology of an elemental analyzer and the MIR methodology. We also calculated the dollar amount associated with the potential SOC sequestration rate of the new grazing system while factoring in the fees and costs that a producer would typically pay by engaging with a voluntary carbon marketplace project developer.
Research Objective #1: Examine how the historical legacy of different grazing durations / timings affected SOC storage across a semi-arid rangeland.
Summary
Our research in just YR1 of this study suggest that the combination of shorter grazing durations and variable grazing timings can be used as a tool to improve soil health and sequester SOC. This implies that the publicly-owned rangeland has the capacity to experience restorative health and increased SOC stocks with time following the implementation of the new short-duration / variable-timing grazing system.
Bulk Density
Overall, we found that bulk density, or the level of soil compaction, varied by historical grazing system (P < 0.001) but depended on ESD (i.e., grazing system x ESD interaction; P < 0.001; Fig. 6). For example, within the Wyoming Big Sagebrush ESD, bulk density was lowest in the pastures historically grazed as a short-duration / variable-timing system, and highest in the pastures historically grazed as a season-long system. Within the Black Sagebrush ESD, bulk density was lowest in the pastures historically grazed as a short-duration / variable-timing system and a deferred-rotation, late-season system, and highest in the pastures historically grazed as a deferred-rotation, early-season system and a season-long system. Bulk density did not vary by historical grazing system within the Wyoming Big Sagebrush / Bluebunch Wheatgrass ESD. The soils within the pastures historically grazed as a short-duration / variable-timing system often had the lowest bulk density likely due to the fact these soils don't experience as much consistent cattle disturbance from year to year as the pastures historically grazed as a season-long system do, which often had the highest bulk density
Infiltration
Overall, we found that the infiltration rate of water into soil varied by historical grazing system (P < 0.001) and differences were fairly consistent across the ESDs (i.e., no grazing system x ESD interaction; P = 0.792; Fig. 7). For example, infiltration was always fastest in the pastures historically grazed as a short-duration / variable-timing system, and almost always slowest in the pastures historically grazed as a deferred-rotation, early-season system or a season-long system. This is likely due to the fact that the short-duration / variable timing pastures have a legacy of experiencing relatively and consistently less cattle disturbance than the season-long pastures - as further evidenced by their lower by bulk densities. Also, the deferred-rotation, early-season pastures have a legacy of experiencing consistent cattle disturbance early in the grazing season when the soils tend to be relatively more moist than later in the season. Moist soils may act like a sponge when stepped upon by cattle, compressing and reducing its porosity that would allow for the vertical movement of water.
Labile SOC
Overall, we found that the labile SOC pool - otherwise known as dissolved OC (DOC) - varied by historical grazing system (P < 0.001) and differences were fairly consistent across the ESDs (i.e., no grazing system x ESD interaction; P = 0.08; Fig. 8). For example, the labile SOC pool was always largest in the pastures historically grazed as a short-duration / variable-timing system, and always smallest in the pastures historically grazed as a season-long system. This - again - is likely due to the fact the short-duration / variable timing pastures have a legacy of experiencing relatively and consistently less cattle disturbance than the season-long pastures. Less - but some - cattle disturbance may allow for greater vegetation production and belowground inputs of C.
MBC
Overall, we found that the MBC pool varied by historical grazing system (P < 0.001) and differences were fairly consistent across the ESDs (i.e., no grazing system x ESD interaction; P = 0.09; Fig. 9). For example, the MBC pool was always largest in the pastures historically grazed as a short-duration / variable-timing system, and always smallest in the pastures historically grazed as a season-long system. The is reflective of the labile SOC as MBC is closely related to it.
Aboveground Vegetative Biomass
Overall, we did not find any differences in aboveground vegetative biomass across the historical grazing systems (P = 0.365; Fig. 10). This is likely due to the large variation measured. Note, we did not measure aboveground vegetative biomass in the pastures historically grazed as a short-duration / variable-timing system but work is ongoing to correlate our direct measurements of aboveground vegetative biomass with remotely-sensed products to estimate biomass within this grazing system.
SOC Content
Overall, we found that SOC content varied by historical grazing system (P < 0.001) and depth (P < 0.001) but depended on ESD (i.e., grazing system x depth x ESD interaction; P < 0.001; Fig. 11). Though the response of SOC content to historical grazing system varied by depth and ESD, SOC content was always highest in the pastures historically grazed as a short-duration / variable-timing system, and almost always lowest in the pastures historically grazed as a deferred-rotation, early-season system and a season-long system. These patterns likely reflect what we found in the various metrics of soil health. For example, pasture soils within the historically grazed short-duration / variable-timing system had the lowest bulk densities, fastest infiltration rates, and largest labile SOC pools, whereas pasture soils within the historically grazed season-long system often had the highest bulk densities, slowest infiltration rates, and smallest labile SOC pools. Such conditions may facilitate relatively large and small SOC content, respectively.
SOC Stock
Overall, we found that the SOC stock - an integrative and spatial estimate of SOC - within the top 30 cm of soil varied by historical grazing system (P < 0.001) but depended on ESD (i.e., grazing system x ESD interaction; P < 0.001; Fig. 12). For example, within the Wyoming Big Sagebrush ESD, SOC stocks were largest in the pastures historically grazed as a short-duration / variable-timing system, and smallest in the pastures historically grazed as a deferred-rotation, early-season system and a season-long system. Within the Wyoming Big Sagebrush / Bluebunch Wheatgrass ESD, SOC stocks were largest in the pastures historically grazed as a short-duration / variable-timing system and a deferred-rotation, late-season system, and smallest in the pastures historically grazed as a deferred-rotation, early-season system and a season-long system. Finally, within the Black Sagebrush ESD, SOC stocks were largest in the pastures historically grazed as a short-duration / variable-timing grazing system, and smallest in the pastures historically grazed as a season-long system. This - again - largely reflects the patterns in the various metrics of soil health and SOC content.
Research Objective #2: Examine how a short-duration / variable-timing watershed-scale grazing system alters SOC storage.
Summary
In just YR2 of this study, and with more annual analyses of soil health metrics ongoing, it is too early to definitively state how the implementation of the new short-duration / variable-timing grazing system is affecting SOC storage. An additional season of data, as well as the complete resampling and analysis of SOC, is critical to make any potential conclusions at this point.
Aboveground Vegetative Biomass
Aboveground vegetative biomass decreased from 2023 - 2025 (P < 0.05), likely due to the progressive drought that the rangelands in study were experience, but more importantly - ecologically - the differences in aboveground vegetative biomass among the historical grazing systems that existed in 2023 were no longer evident in 2025 (i.e., grazing system x year interaction; P < 0.01; Fig. 13). This was regardless of the ESD (i.e., no grazing system x year x ESD interaction; P = 0.14). More specifically, it appears that the pattern in aboveground vegetative biomass is attenuating. This is a result we would expect to find over time with the implementation of the short-duration / variable-timing grazing system. More sophisticated results, however, are needed to examine this further. Note, we did not measure aboveground vegetative biomass in the pastures historically grazed as a short-duration / variable-timing system but work is ongoing to correlate our direct measurements of aboveground vegetative biomass with remotely-sensed products to estimate biomass within this grazing system.
Labile SOC
Despite the overall decrease in aboveground vegetative biomass from 2023 - 2025, labile SOC increased throughout the same timeframe (P < 0.001; Fig. 14). Also, the differences in labile SOC among the historical grazing systems within individual ESDs that existed in 2023 were no longer evident in 2025 (i.e., grazing system x year interaction; P < 0.01). This is likely the result of decreased grazing pressure on vegetation and the opportunity for vegetation communities to invest more resources belowground, despite the progressive drought that the rangelands were experiencing.
MBC
Similarly to labile SOC, MBC increased from 2023 - 2025 despite the overall decrease in aboveground vegetative biomass (P < 0.001; Fig. 15). Also similarly to labile SOC, the differences in MBC among the historical grazing systems within individual ESDs that existed in 2023 were no longer evident in 2025 (i.e., grazing system x year interaction; P < 0.01). This is reflective of the patterns in the microbial community's main food source - labile SOC.
Research Objective #3: Compare the accuracy of conventional soil analysis methodologies with a new technology, MIR spectroscopy.
There are no results related to Research Objective #3 to report at this time. The work is ongoing.
Research Objective #4: Quantify the potential financial benefits of the new grazing system to increase SOC based on historical grazing durations / timings, and SOC analysis methodologies.
Summary
While we we need to continue collecting and analyzing data in Yr3, as well as complete a full resampling and analysis of SOC in YR4 (give our no-cost extension), to fully accomplish this objective, we can - at this point - calculate a potential rate of SOC sequestration on the publicly-owned rangeland by comparing its baseline estimates of SOC stock within three dominant ESDs to those on privately-owned rangeland, and calculate it's respective dollar amount. This is because the short-duration / variable-timing grazing system on the privately-owned rangeland has been in place for 39 yrs, and this is the system that publicly-owned rangeland just switched to. It, therefore, serves as a reference site, or a positive control, for the publicly-owned rangeland. In addition, we can calculate how much it cost to collect the soil samples (including labor, travel, per diem, and supplies) and process the soil samples in the laboratory according to the high and dry combustion, and MIR methodologies (including labor and supplies).
Financial Costs vs Financial Benefits.
To complete the baseline soil sampling, it required $28,080 in labor (10 weeks of work; 40 hours / week; staff researcher at $32 / hour with 30% fringe; field technician at $22 / hour with 30% fringe); $1,050 in travel (10 sampling trips; 150 miles / per trip; $0.70 / mile), $400 in per diem (10 sampling trips; $40 / trip); and $1,846.40 in supplies (augers, probes, and baggies). To complete the processing and laboratory analysis of the soil samples, it required $14,745.60 for sieving and grinding (360 sampling sites; 4 samples / site; $10.24 / sample); $14,947.20 for bulk density (360 sampling sites; 4 samples / site; $10.38 / sample); and $28,526.40 for SOC analysis according to the high and dry combustion methodology (360 sampling sites; 4 samples / site; $19.81 / sample) and $5,817.60 for SOC analysis according to the MIR methodology (360 sampling sites; 4 samples / site; $4.04 / sample).
Accounting for the variation in SOC stocks by ESD and accounting for the size of stratum, the publicly-owned rangeland has the potential to sequester 18,940 MT / yr. Following 5 years of the implementation of the new grazing system (which coincides with YR4 of this study given our no-cost extension), this amounts to 94,700 MT. Converting SOC stocks to carbon dioxide equivalents, and accounting for all of the fees - on average - associated with engaging with a voluntary carbon marketplace project developer (i.e., a company that will handle registering and verifying a project, and selling the SOC offsets to a buyer), as well as the current cost of a MT of a carbon dioxide equivalent (i.e., $35), this yields a total amount of $4,855,077.
Therefore, the potential profit margin for the producers would be $4,675,885.98 according to the high and dry combustion methodology and $4,721,303.58 according to the MIR methodology.
Research Outcomes
While we can't in YR3 of this study definitively answer the question encapsulated in the title of project, "Can soil carbon help fund rangeland management?", we can address some research outcomes at this time.
How can the study results be applied to the sustainable agricultural production in the western U.S.?
The rangelands in this study can serve as model system for other rangelands throughout the western U.S. given the unique and strong experimental design within, and the robust and rigorous sampling of soil health and SOC that took place. For example, many studies addressing how cattle grazing affects soil health and SOC often only compare grazing systems in general terms and rarely tease apart the nuances of a rest-rotation grazing system, such as the duration and timing of grazing. Also, many studies addressing how cattle grazing affects soil health and SOC often lack the sampling intensity to detect any differences in SOC across grazing systems given that western U.S. rangelands have very low SOC contents. Generally speaking, the lower the SOC content, the more samples are needed to detect differences across grazing systems or other experimental units. Such challenges have led to inconclusive research outcomes on the topics of cattle grazing, and soil health and SOC.
The experimental design and sampling approach in this study, however, led to the following key research suggestion: The combination of shorter grazing durations and variable grazing timings can be used as a tool to improve soil health and sequester SOC. This implies that degraded rangelands of the western U.S. have the capacity to experience restorative health and increased SOC with time following the implementation of a short-duration / variable-timing grazing system.
How has this study affected, or how will this study affect, agricultural sustainability?
The results from YR1, YR2, and YR3 of this study can inform, and is informing, the sustainability of the new short-duration / variable-timing grazing system on the publicly-owned rangeland. This grazing system is modeled after the system on the privately-owned rangeland nearby to the publicly-owned rangeland. Therefore, including the privately-owned rangeland in this study as a reference site allowed us and the other producers involved to understand the potential improvements to soil health and increases in SOC that the publicly-owned rangeland can experience with time since implementation of the new short-duration / variable-timing grazing system. It assured the producers and managers of the publicly-owned rangeland that the continued investment in, and maintenance of, the new short-duration / variable-timing grazing system will be beneficial to rangeland health. In addition, any initial investment in changing a grazing system to a more sustainable and regenerative one can be paid back in the form of voluntary carbon market offset. A big unknown, however, is long it will actually take to detect any measurable and meaningful amounts of sequestered SOC.
What recommendations can be made from this study for future studies?
In YR3 of this study, the only, or perhaps most important, recommendation that can be made for future studies relates to the fate of sequestered SOC. This study, as well as many other studies of cattle grazing and SOC, do not tease apart the nuance of the SOC pool. The SOC pool is not comprised of a singular type of C compound that will reside in the soil for consistent periods of time. Rather, the SOC pool is diverse, comprised of simple to complex compounds that have residence times of years to decades to centuries. It, therefore, becomes important to understand what SOC compounds are being sequestered, and for how long, with the implementation of new grazing systems to fully understand the impact of the land management practice and its true sustainability.
Education and Outreach
1) A podcast episode about the Three Creeks Grazing Project on Two Scientists Walk Into a Watershed (October 2025);
2) Social media posts on Facebook, Instragram, X (formerly Twitter), and Blue Sky about the Three Creeks Grazing Project and related educational activities (April 2023 - March 2025);
3) Developing a set of pamphlets promoting the Three Creeks Grazing Project to be distributed at various forums (September 2023 - March 2025).
4) Hiring, training, and mentoring four undergraduate, or recently graduated, students to work as a crew for the 2023 and 2024 field season (May - September 2024);
5) Blogs written about the Three Creeks Grazing Project and related educational activities posted to the WLC website (April 2023 - March 2024);
Participation Summary:
Currently, there is a lot of interest in C-marketplaces by producers and land managers but there are few sources of digestible information to learn about the links between grazing management practices and SOC sequestration, as well as the requirements of C-marketplace protocols. To share information and coproduce knowledge with local producers, land managers, and stakeholders across the western U.S., we have and will continue to address the following objective:
Education Objective #1: Develop a suite of outreach materials that communicates the importance of innovative grazing management to improve soil health, promotes the adoption of new grazing practices and technology, and recognizes the role of semi-arid rangelands in sequestering soil organic carbon.
Locally
We worked, and will continue to work, closely with two Rich County, UT multi-stakeholder groups: 1) the Rich County Coordinated Resource Management (CRM) group; and 2) the Three Creeks Grazing, LLC. The first is comprised of local producers, land managers, and researchers, and the second is comprised of the local producers that run cattle on the publicly-owned rangeland. Our close partnership with these groups developed over seven years of building trust by engaging with them in peer-to-peer learning - a tried and true strategy in our rural community. We are continuing to engage with these groups in all years of this study by participating in information conversations and giving formal presentations at their biannual meetings. Our discussions and short invited presentations focus on soil and SOC, the links between traditional and innovative grazing systems and SOC sequestration, and the state of voluntary C-marketplaces. A desire for more information on these topics by local producers was the impetus for us as a collaborative group to develop the landscape-scale SOC monitoring project that this study contributes to.
At the Agency Level
We worked closely with multiple state and federal land management agencies including the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food's (UDAF) Grazing Improvement Program (GIP), BLM, and NRCS. These agencies helped us develop the objectives and experimental design of the landscape-scale SOC monitoring project that this study contributes to. We met with these agencies multiple times throughout YR1 and YR2 of this study to discuss the potential for semi-arid rangelands to sequester SOC with the conservation approach of innovative cattle grazing. There is particular interest by UDAF in the potential for SOC sequestration in rangelands to generate revenue from voluntary C-marketplaces that can incentivize and sustain innovative cattle grazing. For example, in 2021, we participated in a field tour with the UT Commissioner of Agriculture and Food, the GIP Director, and other State of Utah officials to discuss this landscape-scale SOC monitoring project with hands-on demonstrations of how we collect data. We, therefore, met with the staff, Director, and Board of UGIP multiple times in YR1 and YR2 to continue these conversations.
There is also interest in our SOC monitoring project by the BLM considering that the project is primarily taking place on publicly-owned rangelands they manage. We met with staff from the BLM UT State Office in Salt Lake City multiple times throughout YR1 and YRs of this study to discuss the scope of the project and study results. There was particular interest by the Assistant Manager of the BLM Salt Lake Office in participating in a field tour to gain better understanding of the complexities of conducting a SOC monitoring project across a large landscape. We, therefore, coordinated multiple field tours in conjunction with BLM District Offices.
The NRCS is another federal agency we have worked closely with, and will continue to work with closely. The NRCS Price, UT Field Office is an integral partner in our SOC monitoring project. Staff from the Price, UT Field Office contributed to the preliminary work we conducted in 2021, and are provided access to the MIR spectrometer housed at the Missoula, MT Area Office. There is ongoing interest by the NRCS in using SOC as one of many dynamic soil properties to understand how innovative grazing can be used as a conservation approach for improved soil health. We, therefore, have continued to discuss and share study results in one-on-one meetings in YR1 and YR2.
Across the western U.S.
We conducted a number of outreach activities to reach producers, land managers, and other stakeholders beyond those in our region of northeastern UT. For example, we continued to develop our partnership with Western Landowner's Alliance (WLA) - a non-profit advancing policies and practices that sustain working lands, connected landscapes, and native species - to reach stakeholders outside of UT. We hosted a field tour for their Board of Directors and co-organized conferences and workshops at the Annual Society for Range Management (SRM) meetings in Boise in 2023, Reno in 2024, and Spokane in 2025. These workshop focused on carbon sequestration in rangelands, and provided examples, as well as perspectives and experiences by ranchers involved in carbon sequestration activities. These activities had the goals of bringing together producers, land managers, researchers, and business leaders to discuss the current state of rangeland SOC research, identify gaps in our collective understanding, and explore natural resource management and marketplace opportunities that value landscape functionality for both agriculture commodity production and a suite of ecosystem services.
In addition to WLA, we continued to develop our emerging partnership with the Quivera Coalition - a non-profit building soil, biodiversity, and resiliency on western working landscapes. We participated in quarterly virtual meetings about soil health on working lands in the western U.S, and participated in a four-part webinar focused on the carbon markets.
To disseminate our study results recognizing the role of semi-arid rangeland in sequestering SOC, as well as the challenges of quantifying SOC and meeting C-marketplace standards, we engaged with a number of stakeholder groups that comprise producers, state and Federal land managers, non-profits, academics, and for-profit companies throughout the western U.S. These included: the Woodwell Climate Research Center, Colorado State University's Soil Carbon Center, B Carbon, Kateri, Perennial, NM's Carrizozo Soil and Water Conservation District, the Nature Conservancy, and the Meridian Foundation.
Finally, to communicate the importance of innovative grazing management to improve soil health, promote the adoption of new grazing practices and technology, and recognize the role of semi-arid rangelands in sequestering SOC in a more formal setting, we attended and presented at several regional and national academic meetings, and sponsored producers on the project team to attend and present, as well. These included: the UT SRM meetings in 2023 and 2024; the Annual SRM meetings in 2023, 2024, and 2025, and the UT Soil Health Conference in the West meeting in 2024.
Education Objective #1: Develop a suite of outreach materials that communicates the importance of innovative grazing management to improve soil health, promotes the adoption of new grazing practices and technology, and recognizes the role of semi-arid rangelands in sequestering soil organic carbon.
Locally
We engaged with the local community of producers in Rich County, UT in a number of ways, and shared materials with them that communicated the importance of innovative grazing management to improve soil health through a number of forums. These included:
- Four Three Creeks Grazing Project reports and presentations at the Three Creeks Grazing, LLC meetings. April 2023 - December 2025.
- Rancher BBQ with members of the Three Creeks Grazing, LLC. August 2024.
- Three field tours with the Rich County CRM. June 2023 - June 2025.
- Three Three Creeks Grazing Project reports and presentations at the Rich County CRM meeting. April 2023 - April 2025.
These reports, presentations, and discussions led the local community of producers to invite us to participate in the following:
- Two hands-on demonstrations of how to characterize soils in the field as part of Utah State University's Agricultural Teacher Range Camp. June 2023 - June 2024.
- Three hands-on demonstration of how to monitor rangeland health with high school students from Rich High School. May 2023 - May 2025.
- A Three Creeks Grazing Project presentation about soil health and SOC at the West Box Elder County CRM meeting. April 2023.
- Three Discussions / Consultations about job opportunities in the fields of rangeland science and management at the Rich High School Job Fair. February 2023 - February 2025.
Other examples of local community engagement that occurred in YRS1-3 of this study included:
- A Three Creeks Grazing Project presentation at Utah State University's Rangeland Management Senior Capstone course. March 2025.
- Filmed the Three Creeks Grazing Project documentary. September 2024 - 2025.
- Five Young Rancher Workshops to help young ranchers manage their operational sustainability for their of life and the next generation. July 2023 - October 2025.
At the Agency Level
We continued to build upon our partnerships with GIP, BLM, and NRCS by engaging with them, and sharing materials that communicates the importance of innovative grazing management to improve soil health, and promotes the adoption of new grazing practices and technologies in a number of ways. These activities included:
- Multiple meetings / consultations with the staff, Director, and Board of UDAF's GIP. April 2023 - December 2025.
- Ten Three Creeks Grazing Project field tours with staff of the UT BLM Salt Lake City Office. June 2023 - September 2025.
- Multiple meetings / consultations with staff from the BLM UT State Office and District Office. April 2023 - December 2025.
- Multiple meetings / consultations with staff from the NRCS Price, UT Field Office. April 2023 - March 2024.
- A Three Creeks Grazing Project presentation about soil health and SOC at the NRCS Soil Health Cadre Meeting. November 2023.
These meetings / consultations, field tours, and presentations garnered even more interest by the BLM UT State Office in examining how exactly increases in SOC with the new grazing system can generate revenue through C-marketplaces to sustain the grazing system. So much interest that they ceded their "rights" to the SOC on their federally-managed land to the local producers for enrollment in a C-marketplace. This further elevated the Three Creeks Grazing Project as a model system of agricultural sustainability on rangelands across the western U.S.
Additionally, these meetings / consultations with the BLM UT State Office led to the following:
- Multiple meetings / consultations with the UDAF's Soil Health Advisory Committee Quarterly Meeting. April 2023 - December 2025.
- A Three Creeks Grazing Project presentation to the staff of USFS Region 4. January 2025.
- A Three Creeks Grazing Project presentation at the USFS Soil Moisture Workshop. July 2024.
- Multiple meetings / consultations with staff from the UT Geologic Survey to synergize on the research taking place on the Three Creeks Grazing Project. April - December 2025.
Across the Western U.S.
We engaged in a number of activities with stakeholders of all kinds throughout the western U.S. to not only communicate the importance of innovative grazing management to improve soil health, and promote the adoption of new grazing practices and technology, but also to recognize the role of semi-arid rangelands in sequestering SOC. Some of these planned activities led to unplanned but beneficial activities that fed back into the local community of producers, and included:
- Multiple meetings / consultations about the Three Creeks Grazing Project with B Carbon, Kateri, and Grassroots Carbon - three C-marketplace project developers. April 2023 - December 2025.
- Monthly meetings / consultations with the UT Department of Agriculture and Food's Soil Health Advisory Council. April 2024 - December 2025.
- Quarterly meetings / consultations with Quivera Coalition's Intermountain Soil Health Convenings. April 2023 - December 2025.
- A Three Creeks Grazing Project presentation as the 2025 REGENERATE conference in Santa Fe, NM. November 2025.
- A Three Creek Grazing Project field tour with a ranching philanthropic organization - Conscience Bay. October 2025.
- A Three Creeks Grazing Project presentation at a flexible grazing workshop in Dillon, MT. March 2025.
- A Three Creeks Grazing Project presentation about cattle grazing effects on soil health and SOC sequestration at the 2025 SRM Annual Meeting in Spokane, WA. February 2025.
- A two-session workshop on SOC at the 2025 SRM Annual Meeting in Spokane, WA. February 2025.
- A Three Creeks Grazing Project panel discussion with three producers at the 2024 National Grazing Lands Conservation Meeting. December 2024.
- A Three Creeks Grazing Project presentation to ranchers and other stakeholders of the Taos and Chama communities in northern New Mexico. November 2025.
- A Three Creeks Grazing Project presentation at the ID Rangeland Fall Forum. October 2024.
- UT SRM field tour in Moab, UT. May 2024.
- Multiple educational tools about innovative cattle grazing, soil health, and SOC sequestration posted to the WLC website. April - December 2025.
- Three meetings /consultations about the Three Creeks Grazing Project with Perennial, a startup creating tools to better assess soil carbon for reduced costs. April 2023 - March 2024.
- Three meetings / consultations with the Nature Conservancy about further investment in Three Creeks Grazing Project. April 2023 - March 2024.
- Three meetings / consultations with WLA about the production of a documentary featuring the Three Creeks Grazing Project. April 2023 - March 2024.
- A Meeting / Consultation about the Three Creeks Grazing Project with UT State BLM staff about carbon markets on public lands. March 2024.
- Two Three Creeks Grazing Project presentations about soil health and SOC at the biannual Soil Health in the West meeting. February 2024.
- Discussion / Consultation about soil health and SOC on the Three Creeks Grazing Project at the NM Section Meeting of the Society for Range Management. January 2024.
- Discussion / Consultation about soil health and SOC on the Three Creeks Grazing Project with producers from Three Springs Land & Livestock. January 2024.
- A co-organized workshop with WLA entitled, "Co-laboring in the West: Stewardship Economies and Rangeland Conservation," that featured one of the Project Team's producers at the Society for Range Management Annual Meeting. January 2024.
- A booth at the Society for Range Management Annual Meeting to discuss / consult about the Three Creeks Grazing Project. N0vember 2023.
- An invited presentation at the NM SRM meeting to share stories of Three Creeks and NM projects that are sequestering soil carbon in the West. January 2024.
- Provided editorial oversight on a factsheet produced by Decode6 providing information on the role of rangelands in voluntary C-marketplaces. December 2023.
- A Three Creeks Grazing Project presentation about soil health and SOC at the UT Section Meeting of the Society for Range Management. November 2023.
- A booth at the UT Section Meeting of the Society for Range Management to discuss / consult about the Three Creeks Grazing Project. N0vember 2023.
- A presentation in NM with multiple stakeholders to share stories of Three Creeks and NM projects that are sequestering soil carbon in the West. November 2023.
- A discussion / consultation of the Three Creeks Grazing Project at a Rangeland Ecosystem Service and Policy workshop in southern CO. September 2023.
- A Three Creeks Grazing Project presentation at Colorado State University's Soil Carbon Solutions Center workshop entitled, "Systems-Level Transformations to Enable Soil-Based Climate Solutions at Scale. September 2023.
- A Three Creeks Grazing Project report and field tour with the Board Members of WLA. September 2023.
- Featured in a podcast hosted by Decode6 to discuss how innovative grazing management can improve soil health sequester SOC. July 2023.
- A Three Creeks Grazing Project presentation about soil health and SOC at the 2023 Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting. August 2023.
- A Three Creeks Grazing Project field tour with a staff member of WLC's host organization, Multiplier. August 2023.
Education and Outreach Outcomes
Effectively disseminating the results from YRS1-3 of this study has proven critical for multiple reasons: 1) It increases the public's collective understanding of how innovative cattle grazing can be used as a tool to improve soil health and sequester SOC in rangelands of the western U.S.; 2) It overturns the prevailing paradigm that SOC is too challenging to monitor across such large and arid landscapes; 3) It advocates for the important role that rangelands of the western U.S. can serve in sequestering SOC; and 4) It uses the Three Creeks Grazing Project as a model system to promote the adoption innovative cattle grazing in other western U.S. rangelands. We achieved, and are continuing to achieve, these educational results by developing a broad suite of outreach materials that ensured all stakeholders of western U.S. rangelands would be engaged, and all stakeholders would find resonating. These materials included everything from meetings, discussions, and consultations to reports, webinars, podcasts, and presentations; from field tours and field days to workshops. What we found to be most, effective, however, in terms of affected stakeholders' understanding of innovative cattle grazing and soil health and SOC is when the outreach materials brought the stakeholders in discussion and collective learning together in the same place and at the same time. Such activities enable stakeholders - from producers to conservationists to state and Federal agencies - to hear from each other about the challenges facing cattle grazing and soil health on western U.S. rangelands, and invite the opportunity to address the challenges together. Such an approach has proven invaluable in this study.
- The role of innovative livestock grazing on soil health.
- The role of innovative livestock grazing on SOC sequestration.
- The role of semi-arid rangelands in SOC sequestration with innovative livestock grazing.
The role of innovative livestock grazing on soil health
The role of innovative livestock grazing on SOC sequestration
The role of semi-arid rangelands in SOC sequestration with innovative livestock grazing