Challenges for rotational grazing practice: Views from non-adopters across the Great Plains, USA

Many ranchers who practice rotational grazing have experienced economic and ecological benefits. However, the adoption rate of rotational grazing has stagnated. To identify major challenges faced by non-adopters of rotational grazing as well as factors that affect the perceptions about different challenges, we conducted a mail survey of 4250 eligible ranchers in North Dakota, South Dakota and Texas, USA. Key categories of information obtained included basic ranch information, rotational grazing adoption status, and related information. Among 875 respondents, 40.4% identified themselves as non-adopters and perceived labor and water source constraints as the two major challenges, followed by high initial investment costs. This indicates the need for technical support and educational programs to address producers' concerns in addition to the monetary support from government subsidy programs. Findings from logistic regression analyses further indicate that landowners with higher quality soil, relatively more grassland (in both acres and percentage) and more owned land, generally perceive lower barriers to choosing rotational grazing practices and, therefore, may be a suitable target group for more effective outreach efforts and public fund investments to enhance the adoption of beneficial rotational grazing practices.

Rotational grazing and exclosure improves grassland condition of the halophytic steppe in Flooding Pampa (Argentina) compared with continuous grazing

The most common grazing management applied on rangelands is continuous grazing. However, it can cause negative changes in vegetation structure and ecosystem functioning, leading to rangeland degradation. In Flooding Pampa rangelands, scientific evidence in favour of rotational over continuous grazing was developed on the humid mesophytic meadow and the humid prairie communities, but not on the halophytic steppe community. We evaluated the changes in species composition, richness and diversity, vegetation and litter cover, functional group composition and forage quality during 8 years in halophytic steppe subjected to both continuous or rotational grazing, and exclusion from grazing. Grazing exclusion and a rotational grazing system caused significant changes in the vegetation structure compared with continuous grazing. These treatments increased vegetation and litter cover, the contribution of summer and annual and perennial winter grasses, all them of high forage value, and encouraged the appearance of several grasses adapted to fertile, well drained and non-saline soils. Because of these structural changes, species richness, diversity and pastoral value increased in the halophytic steppe of the Flooding Pampa, in a manner previously demonstrated in other grassland communities of this region.

Multi-paddock grazing on rangelands: why the perceptual dichotomy between research results and rancher experience?

Maintaining or enhancing the productive capacity and resilience of rangeland ecosystems is critical for the continued support of people who depend on them for their livelihoods, especially in the face of climatic change. This is also necessary for the continued delivery of ecosystem services derived from rangelands for the broader benefit of societies around the world. Multi-paddock grazing management has been recommended since the mid-20th century as an important tool to adaptively manage rangelands ecosystems to sustain productivity and improve animal management. Moreover, there is much anecdotal evidence from producers that, if applied appropriately, multi-paddock grazing can improve forage and livestock production. By contrast, recent reviews of published rangeland-based grazing systems studies have concluded that, in general, field trials show no superiority of vegetation or animal production in multi-paddock grazing relative to continuous yearlong stocking of single-paddock livestock production systems. Our goal is to provide a framework for rangeland management decisions that support the productivity and resiliency of rangelands and then to identify why different perceptions exist among rangeland managers who have effectively used multi-paddock grazing systems and research scientists who have studied them. First, we discuss the ecology of grazed ecosystems under free-ranging herbivores and under single-paddock fenced conditions. Second, we identify five principles underpinning the adaptive management actions used by successful grazing managers and the ecological, physiological, and behavioral framework they use to achieve desired conservation, production, and financial goals. Third, we examine adaptive management principles needed to successfully manage rangelands subjected to varying environmental conditions. Fourth, we describe the differences between the interpretation of results of grazing systems research reported in the scientific literature and the results reported by successful grazing managers; we highlight the shortcomings of most of the previously conducted grazing systems research for providing information relevant for rangeland managers who aim to achieve desired environmental and economic goals. Finally, we outline knowledge gaps and present testable hypotheses to broaden our understanding of how planned multi-paddock grazing management can be used at the ranching enterprise scale to facilitate the adaptive management of rangelands under dynamic environmental conditions.