We collaborated with hundreds of livestock grazing management experts to develop a set of evidence-based, adaptable principles tailored for successful management in the semiarid and arid rangelands of the western United States. (below is an excerpt from the publication)
Rapid User Guide: Postfire Grazing on California's Intermountain Rangelands
This rapid user guide is for land managers and livestock producers in CA's intermountain rangelands. It focuses on outlining essential factors to consider when making decisions in the aftermath of wildfire.
The free guide can be downloaded from the UC A&NR catalog here.
Despite the conceptual panacea of ecosystem service markets as a solution for key challenges to sustainable rangeland food production, why have such markets failed to emerge?
The Balancing Act of Producing Food and other Ecosystem Services on Rangelands
UC Cooperative Extension has put together extensive resources for training and education for ranch water quality planning for extension educators and technical trainers, which can be found here. This is also a great resource for those looking for information on the current science on rangeland water quality. In this mini-blog series, we’ll highlight some of the most recent research on rangeland water quality planning and management.
Grazing management practices such as herding, strategic placement of livestock nutritional supplements and drinking water stations, and strategic fencing have the potential to reduce negative impacts of livestock to riparian areas.
Contemporary research demonstrates that E. coli is superior to fecal coliforms as a proxy for fecal pollution from warm-blooded mammals. This is due to the “fecal” coliform test’s chronic detection of non-fecal, environmental coliform bacteria.
As grocery outlets and their suppliers and distributors struggle to keep food on the shelves, farmers and processors upstream are confronted with the challenge of pivoting away from conventional foodservice and restaurant product offerings
The 2019 Beef Symposium focused on rangeland enhancement through genetic selection and adaptive management. Researchers and livestock managers shared emerging information on bridging genetics and rangeland management, as well as other contemporary management issues.
UCCE Plumas-Sierra and UC Rangelands hosted the 2nd Rustici Rangeland Tour on the Beckwourth Ranger District for more than 60 attendees on the Plumas National Forest. The event created a venue for local forest staff, agency leadership, grazing permittees, and other regional stakeholders to discuss contemporary research, management, and monitoring for sustainable public lands grazing. The Rustici Rangeland Tour was established as part of the Rustici Rangeland Science Symposium series to bring hands-on extension education opportunities to local resource managers and stakeholders in a field-based setting
UC Cooperative Extension, Chico State, and Foster Ranch co-host Irrigated Pasture and Rangeland Management Workshop
In California, there are more than 34 million acres of grazed rangeland. Through active stewardship and conservation, grazing land managers can provide for agricultural production as well as a diversity of other ecosystem benefits across these working landscapes.
The ever-expanding suite of value-added management and marketing programs available to cattle ranchers today creates substantial ranch-level complexity. Cattlemen are faced with the challenge of determining which programs will differentiate their cattle on sale day while maximizing the profitability of their operations. Although all of these programs are likely to add costs, the additional income generated from each of these programs is uncertain.
Grazing lands occupy nearly half the Earth’s land area, provide livelihoods for millions, and mitigate climate change via massive stores of carbon. Maintaining and restoring soil health is essential to ensuring these benefits in our ever changing environment.
Thus, there is substantial global interest in managing livestock grazing to improve soil health. Grazing is promoted by some as a panacea for sequestering carbon and mitigating climate change. In other cases, grazing is depicted as an ultimate driver of soil degradation.
Knocking Out Noxious Weeds on Rangelands Workshop: February 20, Santa Maria, CA
Join the fight to reduce noxious weeds on rangelands and get the latest management tools at the final Knocking Out Noxious Weeds Workshop set for February 20th at the Radisson Hotel in Santa Maria! The workshops is designed for ranchers and land managers, featuring a dynamic list of speakers covering a range of land management topics associated with invasive species.
This blog post was adapted from the UCCE Plumas, Sierra, and Butte Counties Newsletter – December 2017
In California, livestock depredation is a growing concern across rural counties with mountain lions, bears, coyotes, and now wolves in the landscape. When you encounter a suspected livestock kill at your home ranch, leased pasture, or public allotment, it is important to take critical steps to preserve the site so a formal investigation can take place.
