Many ranchers protect environmentally sensitive land by taking it out of production. But new SARE-funded research indicates that carefully managed cattle grazing may be a more productive strategy for improving the quality of degraded grasslands.
In a two-year study, Washington State University Extension Educator Steve Van Vleet and a team of collaborators evaluated the effects of mob grazing and reseeding on grass quality and native species diversity. Three ranchers who worked with Van Vleet to re-vegetate and graze 295 acres of degraded land each earned an additional $1,500 to $2,000 by adding eight to 10 animals to their herds.
This research, funded by a 2010 SARE grant, is timely: Over the next three years, 524,200 acres in Washington will expire from the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), and ranchers will need sustainable strategies for managing this land. Ranchers who properly manage and graze cattle on marginal land can restore native plant species while improving access to healthy forage and increasing their earning potential.
For his efforts, Van Vleet was one of four winners of the 2013 Search for Excellence in Sustainable Agriculture Award. The award, sponsored by SARE and the National Association of County Agricultural Agents, recognizes excellence in the development and implementation of educational programs on sustainable management practices.
Jim Sizemore, who manages grazing on the state-owned Dalles Mountain Ranch and participated in the project, said, "Vegetation was changing for the worse. They were losing diversity and getting undesirable invasives." He continued, "The land needed an impact of some kind and we wanted the hoof-action of the livestock."
Just a week into the project, it was obvious the landscape was improving. Researchers observed that populations of beneficial species like perennial grasses increased or stayed the same. Forage cover and forbs regenerated while populations of annual grasses decreased or stayed the same. Grazed forage on the ranch was more productive and had a higher protein content than non-foraged land, meaning the land could hold more cattle.
Groups that originally did not see cattle as a method for conservation quickly saw the benefits and helped move the project forward. "We all had certain objectives, but we came together to do what's best for the ecosystem," Van Vleet said.
The team also trained over 230 ranchers, educators and agriculture professionals on rangeland revitalization and management strategies. Currently, five other ranchers are working with Van Vleet to convert their expired CRP land to rangeland so that this project will have guided 7,695 acres into managed grazing.
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