Back in November, the USDA and the Department of the Interior announced a partnership promising something many Western cattle producers haven’t heard in years: more opportunity for grazing on public lands, not less.

Most of us grew up learning about the dangers of wildfire from a cartoon bear in a ranger hat, saying, “Only YOU can prevent wildfires.”

What the heck is a carbon credit? Nicki Nimlos, a doctoral student at the University of Wyoming, says that’s a question she’s heard often over the last couple of years. Around 2023, when Nimlos was beginning her Ph.D., carbon market programs were becoming more widely available to ranchers.

A productive cow can only have one calf per year. For generations, that biological limit has defined how fast beef producers can make genetic progress in their herds. No matter how elite a female is, her influence on a herd is constrained by time.