Range Management

Burning up: Practical tools for wildfire season

Thu, 14 May 2026 00:00:00 -0400

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.”

Forage monitoring primer: Pasture or range, the principles are the same

dcallister@uidaho.edu — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 00:00:00 -0400

Cowboys and farmers tend to emphasize the differences between pasture and range, but when we bring it back to the plant level, there are more similarities than differences.

No more grousing about grazing

Fri, 11 Jul 2025 00:00:00 -0400

The greater sage grouse has become a poster child for a keystone species in decline across the West: a symbol of the sagebrush steppe being converted, degraded and fragmented. “When I was a kid, I remember seeing a lot more of them,” says rancher Richard Ward of Malta.

Cow and calf grazing behavior on rangeland

sprinkle@uidaho.edu — Wed, 29 Jan 2025 00:00:00 -0500

Stories abound concerning cow behavior on Western rangelands in both historical and contemporary accounts by the men and women who spend their days with livestock.

Southwest Idaho’s worst fire season in over two decades

cassidy@agproud.com — Tue, 10 Dec 2024 00:00:00 -0500

Devastating damage for livestock owners across southwest Idaho is prompting land and fire managers from multiple agencies to declare this year’s fire season the worst in over two decades.

Virtual fences with real results

Thu, 31 Oct 2024 00:00:00 -0400

“It’s not a complete silver bullet, but nothing is,” says Jay Smith of the J Lazy S Angus Ranch of Carmen. He and his wife Chyenne are using virtual fencing to manage cattle grazing on their Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Forest Service (USFS) permits after the 130,000-acre Moose Fire scorched their USFS grazing allotment in 2022. “I think the proof’s in the pudding when I say we want to keep using it,” he says. “The cost and the work were worth it.”

Concerns and considerations around BLM’s Public Lands Rule

rossabronson@gmail.com — Mon, 12 Aug 2024 00:00:00 -0400

The Public Lands Rule recently enacted by the BLM has the potential to be a positive step in the direction of flexible grazing management on public lands, or a significant challenge to the ranching industry in their ability to access affordable grazing options. It will be in livestock producers’ reaction, and subsequent forward action to this rule, that the outcome is written.

The fascinating world of selenium and its toxicity

woody@woodylane.com — Tue, 21 May 2024 00:00:00 -0400

We’ll focus on the selenium accumulator plants that thrive in arid regions – the toxic plants that distressed Marco Polo, the toxic plants notorious in cowboy movies for causing “blind staggers” and “alkali disease.”

Strategic supplementation to improve grazing distribution

dave.bohnert@oregonstate.edu — Wed, 15 May 2024 00:00:00 -0400

Historically, the objective of supplementation programs for grazing cattle has been to address nutrient deficiencies based on the difference between animal nutrient requirements and the nutrients provided by the forage, with emphasis on improving forage utilization and animal performance.

Dormant-season grazing is key to controlling invasive annual grasses

scottj@uidaho.edu — Thu, 04 Jan 2024 00:00:00 -0500

In most instances, the dormant season (late fall and winter) provides the best opportunity to remove litter and germinating annual grass seedlings without negatively affecting perennial plants.

Winter grazing of medusahead offsets hay needs, reduces wildfire fuel

joconnell@uidaho.edu — Fri, 20 Oct 2023 00:00:00 -0400

A multiyear study involving University of Idaho researchers has found that allowing late-fall and winter grazing on rangeland heavily infested with invasive medusahead grass could provide extra forage for cattlemen while reducing wildfire fuel.

Carbon Ranching: A Win For Your Pasture and Your Pockets

Fri, 01 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Undoubtedly, ranching demands immense effort and sacrifices. The increasing pressure to adopt environmentally friendly practices can sometimes feel at odds with producer interests. However, carbon ranching presents an opportunity to acknowledge and appreciate farmer and ranchers’ contributions in more ways than one.

Overgrazing and strategies to prevent it

Wed, 30 Aug 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Overgrazing pastures and rangeland has detrimental consequences on cattle, forage, soil and producers’ bottom lines.

Using virtual fencing as a tool to keep cattle off of burned rangeland

morgan.lawrence@usda.gov — Fri, 11 Aug 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Rangeland scientists at the Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center (EOARC) tested whether virtual fencing could prevent cattle from grazing recently burned areas within sagebrush steppe pastures.

Virtual fencing as a climate adaptation strategy

morgan.lawrence@usda.gov — Wed, 09 Aug 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Because virtual fencing can help rangeland managers become more adaptive to variable conditions, it could help managers to adapt to the variable impacts of climate change.

How to keep your grass growing in the hot, dry months

ellison@uidaho.edu — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Encouraging animals to disperse and utilize the full range can be a pain this time of year, but necessary for the health of the range plants.

10-year study reveals how intensive grazing affects foraging behavior and cattle weight gain on rangeland

carrie.veselka@agproud.com — Mon, 15 May 2023 14:43:05 -0400

A team of researchers at the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is completing a 10-year study on how grazing management practices used in rotational grazing systems and continuous grazing systems affect cattle foraging behavior, diet quality and yearly weight gain in semiarid, extensive rangeland.

How much pasture do I need?

ryan.benjamin@unl.edu — Thu, 19 Jan 2023 10:12:59 -0500

Determining how much pasture is needed for summer grazing can be difficult. There are many factors that affect pasture productivity including last growing season’s conditions.

Implications of more efficient cattle on rangeland

cwillmore@uidaho.edu — Wed, 31 Aug 2022 12:56:25 -0400

Over the past decade, the importance of better understanding our cattle’s grazing behavior and impact on rangelands has become increasingly important. With the increasing size of finished cattle, the size of breeding cattle must also grow to create those larger-framed cattle.

Temporary stewards: Ranching to preserve the land

tyrell@agproud.com — Thu, 25 Aug 2022 13:50:55 -0400

“A family of teachers.”
That’s how Jill Flynn refers to her brood, who together own and operate Hidden Hollow Hideaway Cattle & Guest Ranch in the hills just outside Townsend, Montana, overlooking the Missouri River. Perhaps no one is more representative of that designation than Jill’s late husband, Kelly.

4 questions producers should be asking about carbon markets

jeff.goodwin@ag.tamu.edu — Wed, 25 May 2022 18:50:30 -0400

Lots of folks in the ranching industry are hearing and talking about carbon and greenhouse gas emissions – and it’s not about it being produced by livestock. It is about potential opportunities to use land management to remove carbon from the air and tuck it safely away into the soils.

Grazing management of rangelands in drought

ellison@uidaho.edu — Tue, 24 May 2022 14:00:01 -0400

Multiyear drought in much of the western U.S. has made it evident that we will have to make some tough grazing management decisions this year, and likely in the coming years as well.

3 grazing strategies to maximize production

scottj@uidaho.edu — Wed, 23 Mar 2022 14:00:01 -0400

Grazing management affects animal performance and both short-term and long-term pasture productivity. Grazing management includes decisions such as timing (when pastures are grazed), intensity (forage removed) and duration (how long they are grazed).

Putting weight on cattle from up above

Wed, 23 Mar 2022 14:00:01 -0400

Researchers from the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) are working on a new way to use satellite imagery for rangeland management – using the grazing patterns to predict cattle weight gain over a period of time.

Pray for rain, plan for drought

jenny.txglc@gmail.com — Tue, 24 Aug 2021 17:18:16 -0400

When’s the very best time to plan for a drought? That answer is simple: When it is raining.

Rotational grazing: ‘That won’t work here!’

jenny.txglc@gmail.com — Mon, 24 May 2021 14:00:01 -0400

We sat across the desk from the gentleman who had leased the ranch for the last five years. The owner and I were meeting with him, trying to suggest that we needed to change grazing methods to improve the range health.

Always drought ready

morgan.treadwell@ag.tamu.edu — Mon, 24 May 2021 14:00:01 -0400

This spring, Texas A&M AgriLife extension specialists came together from animal science, rangeland, wildlife and fisheries management, along with agricultural economics to discuss a timely topic – drought.

Is plant ID necessary for grassland management?

jack.arterburn@unl.edu — Mon, 24 May 2021 14:00:01 -0400

Grasslands are a key component of the livestock industry, with feed constituting the greatest annual cost to livestock producers. Understanding the forage resource is essential for effective and profitable grassland livestock management.

Grazing to target invasive annual grasses

ellison@uidaho.edu — Wed, 24 Mar 2021 14:00:01 -0400

Invasive annual grasses have become problematic across the Western region because they readily outcompete more desirable perennial grasses, especially in areas that have been recently burned or where the soil and vegetation have been disturbed.

Fire – Fear not! A tool to enhance our rangelands

Mon, 01 Mar 2021 22:08:54 -0500

Huge orange flames and billowing black smoke – it's a fire on the land! Hearing those words, most of us probably feel fear for our families and our homes, and for our livestock and our land. We've all seen the scary images of wildfires burning out of control. No one wants to experience that. But, do these events mean all fire is bad for the land?