It is the responsibility of the individual rancher to be aware of how much forage is available and to anticipate
current and future animal (livestock and wildlife) demand. Monitoring the extent of use on key vegetation
species is a useful indicator of grazing pressure. By careful monitoring and control of grazing, the rancher can
quickly identify and respond to the beginning of a forage deficit. User-friendly computer decision aids, such as
The Grazing Manager (Kothmann and Hinnant 1992) or the Grazing Lands Application (GLA)/Resource
System Planning Model (RSPM) Stuth et al. 1990) have been developed to help ranchers estimate seasonal
adjustments of livestock stocking rates and test "what if' scenarios regarding rainfall. These tools provide the
rancher with timely information to maintain a proper balance between forage production and animal demand,
thus preventing damage to the range resource, limiting death losses of livestock due to consumption of
poisonous plants (Taylor and Ralphs 1992) and avoiding the full vulnerability associated with market crashes
that frequently accompany droughts. Adoption of a grazing strategy that provides a cushion of "reserve forage"
provides ranchers some flexibility in the speed and extent to which they must respond to drought. Another
reason that lower stocking rates are usually more desirable than seeking to maximize harvest efficiency is to
allow for the periodic use of fire necessary to control brush encroachment (Taylor and Kothmann 1993).
The wait-and-see management style that characterizes the majority of rangeland use decisions in the face of
drought has a high long-term cost, especially in terms of the irreversible costs of erosion. The downward spiral
is self-perpetuating: as erosion occurs there is less soil moisture storage capability and more production
vulnerability to inherently erratic precipitation patterns. Rather than blaming management problems on climate,
the challenge to rangeland scientists and policy-makers is to intensify the research focus on crafting and
implementing management and policy tools designed to better integrate the economic and ecological aspects
of drought-induced de-stocking decisions.
It is the responsibility of the individual rancher to be aware of how much forage is available and to anticipate
current and future animal (livestock and wildlife) demand. Monitoring the extent of use on key vegetation
species is a useful indicator of grazing pressure. By careful monitoring and control of grazing, the rancher can
quickly identify and respond to the beginning of a forage deficit. User-friendly computer decision aids, such as
The Grazing Manager (Kothmann and Hinnant 1992) or the Grazing Lands Application (GLA)/Resource
System Planning Model (RSPM) Stuth et al. 1990) have been developed to help ranchers estimate seasonal
adjustments of livestock stocking rates and test "what if' scenarios regarding rainfall. These tools provide the
rancher with timely information to maintain a proper balance between forage production and animal demand,
thus preventing damage to the range resource, limiting death losses of livestock due to consumption of
poisonous plants (Taylor and Ralphs 1992) and avoiding the full vulnerability associated with market crashes
that frequently accompany droughts. Adoption of a grazing strategy that provides a cushion of "reserve forage"
provides ranchers some flexibility in the speed and extent to which they must respond to drought. Another
reason that lower stocking rates are usually more desirable than seeking to maximize harvest efficiency is to
allow for the periodic use of fire necessary to control brush encroachment (Taylor and Kothmann 1993).
The wait-and-see management style that characterizes the majority of rangeland use decisions in the face of
drought has a high long-term cost, especially in terms of the irreversible costs of erosion. The downward spiral
is self-perpetuating: as erosion occurs there is less soil moisture storage capability and more production
vulnerability to inherently erratic precipitation patterns. Rather than blaming management problems on climate,
the challenge to rangeland scientists and policy-makers is to intensify the research focus on crafting and
implementing management and policy tools designed to better integrate the economic and ecological aspects
of drought-induced de-stocking decisions.
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