A decade-long economic comparison of season-long and adaptive rotational grazing systems for stocker steers in the shortgrass steppe

Authors: CAMPION, RHYSE - Colorado State University; RITTEN, JOHN - Colorado State University; Derner, Justin; Hoover, David; Wilmer, Hailey; Ma, Liwang; Augustine, David; Porensky, Lauren; MURPH, RACHEL - Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS, USDA); KOEPPEL, SARA - Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS, USDA); HARTUNG, JOHN - Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS, USDA); MAGNUSON, STEPHANIE - Us Forest Service (FS); ADLER, STEVEN - Us Forest Service (FS); BARBER, CASEY - Us Forest Service (FS); POLLART, MATT - Department Of Natural Resources; TURNER, RACHEL - Department Of Natural Resources; SCHULZ, TERRI - The Nature Conservancy; TOOMBS, TED - Environmental Defense Fund; LAVALLEE, JOCELYN - Environmental Defense Fund; DWYER, ANGELA - Bird Conservancy Of The Rockies; OVERLIN, ANNIE - Colorado State University; ANDERSON, STEVE - Crow Valley Livestock Cooperative; BOWMAN, DANA - Crow Valley Livestock Cooperative; LAWRENCE, ANDY - Crow Valley Livestock Cooperative; WAHLERT, JEFF - Crow Valley Livestock Cooperative

Submitted to: Rangeland Ecology and Management
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/20/2026
Publication Date: 7/24/2026
Citation: Campion, R.K., Ritten, J.P., Derner, J.D., Hoover, D.L., Wilmer, H.N., Ma, L., Augustine, D.J., Porensky, L.M., Murph, R., Koeppel, S., Hartung, J., Magnuson, S., Adler, S., Barber, C., Pollart, M., Turner, R., Schulz, T., Toombs, T., Lavallee, J., Dwyer, A., Overlin, A., Anderson, S., Bowman, D., Lawrence, A., Wahlert, J. 2026. A decade-long economic comparison of season-long and adaptive rotational grazing systems for stocker steers in the shortgrass steppe. Rangeland Ecology and Management. 108:177-183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rama.2026.06.009.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rama.2026.06.009

Interpretive Summary: Rangelands provide numerous ecosystem services for society. Here, we assess the economic tradeoffs of grazing strategies at the ranch-scale over a decade long period emphasizing livestock production or conservation in the shortgrass steppe of the western Great Plains. The grazing strategy emphasizing livestock production was 9% more profitable over the 10 years and total forecasted returns to land and management was 82.5% higher due to greater animal performance and lower infrastructure costs. These findings confirm that intensive rotational systems the prioritize conservation outcomes rather than livestock production may carry financial trade-offs under typical market and climate conditions in semiarid rangelands. For ranchers considering grazing strategy changes, these findings quantify costs of achieving conservation outcomes through adaptive rotational grazing.

Technical Abstract: Rangelands are a critical forage base for the livestock industry and provide ecosystem services such as open space preservation, wildlife habitat, and biodiversity. However, few long-term grazing studies have quantified the economic trade-offs associated with implementing conservation-oriented grazing systems at operational ranch scales. This study evaluated the profitability of traditional range management (TRM; continuous season-long grazing) compared to collaborative adaptive rangeland management (CARM; a stakeholder-driven adaptive rotational system) using yearling steers over a 10-year period (2014–2023) at the Central Plains Experimental Range (CPER) in semiarid, shortgrass steppe of northeastern Colorado. We used steer weight gain data, historical Colorado cattle prices, and system-specific labor and infrastructure costs to determine economic outcomes for TRM and CARM. A Monte Carlo simulation (100,000 iterations) over historical livestock price distributions was used to calculate annual 10-year total net revenue and returns to labor and management for both grazing strategies. TRM was more profitable with an 8.8% higher mean net revenue over the 10 years ($874,573) compared to CARM ($804,020). Further, total forecasted returns to labor and management over the 10 years was 82.5% higher ($232,779) for TRM compared to CARM ($127,596) due to decreased animal performance and higher infrastructure costs with CARM. While CARM improved some ecosystem service outcomes, such as increased vegetation heterogeneity, shrub cover, and maintenance of viable habitats for several native grassland bird species of conservation concern, the grazing strategy reduced livestock production and relative profitability. These findings confirm that intensive rotational systems may carry financial trade-offs under typical market and climate conditions in the semiarid shortgrass steppe. This research is relevant to ranchers because it quantifies the cost of achieving ecologically beneficial outcomes through adaptive rotational grazing. It provides insight for ranchers considering system changes and policymakers aiming to design incentives that reflect both the benefits and costs of conservation-oriented grazing management on working rangelands.