About this episode

This episode discusses the complexities of stocking rate in grazing management and its impact on rangeland health and ranch economics.

Stocking rate sounds simple, but this episode shows why it is one of the most misunderstood and important decisions in grazing management. John Weir, Laura Goodman, Ph.D., and Mark Turner, Ph.D. explain that stocking rate is not just the number of cattle on a pasture. It is the number of animals on a set number of acres for a specific length of time. Leaving out the time component can lead to bad assumptions, overuse of forage and long-term damage to native rangeland. Laura explains why moderate stocking is often the sweet spot for both pasture health and ranch economics. Heavy stocking may seem profitable in good rainfall years, but it can reduce dominant tallgrass species, increase shortgrass or less desirable plants, lower cow breed-up, reduce calf weaning weights and make drought years much harder to survive financially. The group also discusses why continuous grazing is not automatically bad when stocking rate is right, and why rotational grazing cannot make up for simply running too many animals. Listeners will also hear practical ways to estimate forage production and adjust stocking decisions, including grazing exclosures, clipping samples, Web Soil Survey, the Rangeland…

People in this episode

Guests: John Weir, Laura Goodman, Ph.D., Mark Turner, Ph.D.

Topics covered

• grazing management
• stocking rate
• rangeland health
• forage production
• livestock economics
• sustainable ranching

Keywords

• stocking rate
• grazing management
• forage production
• rangeland
• livestock
• sustainability
• drought planning

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