The Art of Range

Forage on semi-arid rangelands is finite but variable across space and over time. And grazing decisions start with balancing animal forage demand with forage supply, a significant challenge in vast and varied landscapes. In this episode, Matt Reeves, Sonia Hall, and Tip discuss StockSmart, the new free, online decision support tool just launched that accesses remotely sensed forage production data and allows the user to easily define what forage is accessible to their livestock based on fences, watering locations, the type of terrain their livestock will traverse and other parameters. Check out the future of grazing decision-making today at https...

The Bruneau Owyhee Sage Grouse Habitat (BOSH) project is a collaborative partnership of state and federal agencies, wildlife advocacy groups, and private landowners to restore native upland landscapes in Southwest Idaho to a more natural condition benefitting sage grouse, songbirds, antelope, spotted frogs and other wildlife. Conifer encroachment is now recognized as the second most significant threat to sage grouse populations in the Western U.S., second only to invasive grasses like cheatgrass. The partnership has mobilized money and people to control juniper on more acres than have ever been treated in contiguous pieces. In this first episode based on...

Thank you for your patience as we shift funding sources and work into a slightly different approach to content. This brief piece describes these changes and previews upcoming episodes.

Dr. Nathan Sayre has written a delightful book on the origins and history of rangelands science, public ownership, agency management, and grazing philosophy in the United States. Join Tip and Nathan as they discuss his background building fence on ranches on the Southwest, his pathway to the sociology of rangelands, and then surprising findings in Sayre’s book research. Finally, they visit about recommendations for modern range management. Transcript and links at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-136-politics-scale-history-rangeland-science-nathan-sayre-re-release

Our language both reveals and shapes our internal philosophy about all of the beings and things in the world. And it guides our behaviors and interactions with those things -- humans, animals, plants, and non-living things. Yet these below-the-hood inclinations are formed very informally, usually without conscious thought. This interview with Anna Clare follows from an article in Rangelands on whether we should consider cattle 'partners' rather than 'tools' and invites the listener to ponder this not-so-esoteric question. Transcript and links are available at: https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-135-are-cows-tools-effects-language-anna-clare-monlezun

Maybe there is no silver bullet, no holy grail of grazing. But there are patterns of grazing impacts that work well for particular plant communities, and good grazing managers give attention to these effects and modify them over time to achieve landscape goals. Jim Howell is the founder of Grasslands, LLC, a ranch management company that directs grazing on over 320,000 acres of land around the world. Jim discusses lessons learned in observing and and manipulating grazing patterns in the varied ecology of places like Florida, Western Colorado, New Zealand, Montana. Transcript and links at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-134-contextual-adaptive-grazing-management-patterns-jim-howell

"Decades of scientific research on grazing and soil organic carbon (SOC) has failed to form a cohesive understanding of how grazing management affects SOC stocks -- characterized by different formation and stabilization pathways—across different climatic contexts." This quote from the introduction to the review paper "Ruminating on soil carbon: Applying current understanding to inform grazing management" frames the dilemma we're discussing in this episode. How can common management levers that define overall grazing pattern, including timing, intensity, duration, and frequency, be used to optimize mechanistic pathways of SOC sequestration? These authors offer a framework for beginning to answer this im...

Solar "farms" have met with resistance in Middle America because they often displace food farms, taking arable land out of production. But what if solar energy could be harvested at a utility scale on top of food or forage? This is the face of solar energy research today, and AnnaClare Monlezun is leading some of this research on White Oak Pastures, a livestock farm in Georgia owned by Will Harris. Listen to AnnaClare describe how agriculturalists are optimizing these potentially compatible land uses. Transcript and links to resources mentioned in this episode at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-132-are-agrivoltaics-viable-new-frontier-green-energy-anna-clare-monlezun

It's been said there is wisdom in a multitude of counselors. But in the same way that not all practice makes perfect, only good practice, it's important to listen to people with a proven record of range management success. This panel of experienced range professionals discusses principles that have helped them adapt well personally and professionally to change. Join my discussion with John Ruhs, Annie Overland, James Stewart, and Liz Munn recorded during the 2024 SRM plenary session. Transcript and links mentioned in this episode at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-131-society-range-mgmt-plenary-2-change-range-experienced-professionals

It's been said that the only thing that is certain is change. These young rangeland professionals engage in interview discussion around what "Change on the Range" means to them. The 2023 annual meeting plenaries addressed the synthetic nature of rangeland science and the necessity of working across disciplinary and geographic and social boundaries to be effective. Effective change may require all of that. Join Katherine Haile, Paige Stanley, Kaelie Pena, Josh Tashiro, and Melissa Lackore in our conversation about rangelands and productive change. TRANSCRIPT AND LINKS AT https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-130-society-range-management-plenary-change-range-young-professionals