ARS | Publication request: Adaptive grazing management experiment: The new frontier of grazing management

Submitted to: Society for Range Management Meeting Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: November 5, 2012
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: The Adaptive Grazing Management experiment at the USDA-ARS Central Plains Experimental Range addresses important gaps in our current understanding of grazing management including: 1) lack of management-science partnerships to more fully understand the effect of management decisions, 2) need for management practices that optimize both livestock production and conservation benefits, and 3) need to conduct ranch-scale experiments. The novel experiment utilizes a collaborative approach with a Stakeholder Group, consisting of 11 members representing a diverse cross-section of interests. The Stakeholder Group will create an Adaptive Grazing Management Plan for ten 320-acre pastures (total of 3,200 acres). Each pasture is paired with a similar 320 acre pasture (in terms of size, soils, topography, prior management history) that will be managed in a traditional manner: grazed season-long from mid-May to early October at a moderate stocking rate. The Stakeholder group will 1) choose outcomes for livestock production and conservation, 2) determine objectives for each outcome, 3) identify management strategies to implement, 4) select appropriate background information and monitoring data (indicators) needed to inform adaptive management, and 5) select triggers for movement of livestock among pastures. This experiment, beginning in May 2013, incorporates different ecological sites, highly variable environmental conditions, and management decisions as the new frontier in grazing research to examine grazing management decisions in managing semiarid rangelands.