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Symposium • poster session • trade show • ranch tour

rangelands.org/strategicgrazing

Colorado Section Society for Range Management Strategic Grazing Management for Complex Adaptive Systems

November 29-30, 2012, Fort Collins, Colorado

1 November 2012 2

Agenda

Wednesday evening, November 28

6:00 – 9:00 Colorado Section SRM Board of Directors Meeting

Beau Jo’s Pizza

Thursday, November 29

8:00 – 8:15 Registration

Lory Student Center

Session: Science, Management, and Historical Background North Ballroom

8:15 – 8:30 Welcome and introduction Matt Barnes, President-Elect, Colorado Section SRM

8:30 - 9:15 Complex Adaptive Systems, Ecological Processes, and Grazing Management Fred Provenza, Professor Emeritus, Utah State University – Wildland Resources

9:15 – 10:00 Rangeland Conservation Effects Assessment Program (CEAP): Overview with Emphasis on the Literature Review of Rangeland Practices Pat Shaver, Rangeland Management Specialist, USDA-NRCS West National Tech Support Center

10:00 – 10:20 Break in trade show and poster area Cherokee Park Room

Session: Optimum Stocking Rate North Ballroom

10:20 – 11:05 Optimum Stocking Rate: the Significance of Scale and the Link to Profitability Marshall Frasier, Professor, Colorado State University – Western Center for IRM

11:05 – 11:50 Case study: Optimum Stocking Rate, Monitoring, and Flexibility: Key Components of a Successful Grazing Management Program “Poncho” Ortega-Santos, Professor, Caesar Kleburg Wildlife Research Institute, TAMUK

12:00 – 1:15 Lunch – barbeque buffet Colorado Section SRM Business Meeting Kimberly Diller, President, Colorado Section SRM

Theatre

1:30 – 2:30 Load-up and travel via CSU bus Travel – CSU to SDR

2:30 – 4:30

4:45 – 5:15

Ranch tour

Ranch presentation David Jessup, ranch owner, Sylvan Dale Ranch

Sylvan Dale Ranch

The Heritage Room

5:15 – 6:00 Social with Live music by Chuck Pyle with Dick Anderson; cash bar

6:00 – 6:45

6:45 – 7:15

7:15 – 8:30

Dinner – featuring Sylvan Dale Ranch’s grass-finished Heart-J Beef

Colorado Section SRM Awards Kimberly Diller, President; Julie Elliott, Awards Committee Chairperson, Colorado Section SRM

Live music by Chuck Pyle with Dick Anderson

8:30 – 9:30 Load-up and travel via CSU bus Travel – SDR to CSU

Colorado Section Society for Range Management Strategic Grazing Management for Complex Adaptive Systems

November 29-30, 2012, Fort Collins, Colorado

1 November 2012 3

Agenda, continued

Friday, November 30 Lory Student Center

Session: Temporal Distribution North Ballroom

8:00 – 8:45 Timing and Duration of Grazing and Recovery: It’s Not Enough to Move Livestock From Pasture to Pasture Tim Steffens, Multi-County Rangeland Management Specialist, USDA-NRCS Colorado

8:45 – 9:30 Case Study: Adaptive Management at Rancho Largo Cattle Company Grady Grissom, Rancher, Rancho Largo Cattle Company

9:30 – 10:00 Break in trade show and poster area

Cherokee Park Room

Session: Spatial Distribution North Ballroom

10:00 – 10:45 Grazing management can improve livestock distribution Ben Norton, Associate Professor Emeritus, Utah State University – Wildland Resources

10:45 – 11:30 Case Study: Multiple-Paddock Grazing Distributes Utilization Across Heterogeneous Mountain Landscapes Matt Barnes, Consultant, Shining Horizons Land Management ; Manager, The Howell Ranch

Rick Danvir, Wildlife Manager, Deseret Ranches

11:45 – 12:30 Lunch – barbeque buffet Colorado Section SRM business meeting, continued (if needed)

Theatre

12:30 – 1:15 Contributed Poster Session

Cherokee Park Room

Session: Diet Selection North Ballroom

1:15 – 2:00 Diet Selection and Stocking Density: It Ain’t As Simple As You’ve Heard Tim Steffens, Multi-County Rangeland Management Specialist, USDA-NRCS Colorado

2:00 – 2:45 Case study: Stocking Density Affects Diet Selection Doug Peterson, Rancher; State Soil Health Conservationist, USDA-NRCS Missouri

2:45 – 3:00 Summary, conclusion, and benediction Matt Barnes, President-Elect, Colorado Section SRM

Contributed poster session – call for abstracts

We are accepting poster presentations related to the theme of Strategic Grazing Management (broadly

defined), including both research and management (e.g., case studies), on a competitive basis. Accepted

abstracts will be printed in the symposium program and posted online.

Please email your abstract to StrategicGrazing@ShiningHorizons.com by November 9. Be sure to include

all authors and their titles, institutions, addresses, and email addresses. Abstract text should be no more

than 250 words. Posters must fit on a 4-ft x 4-ft bulletin board.

Colorado Section Society for Range Management Strategic Grazing Management for Complex Adaptive Systems

November 29-30, 2012, Fort Collins, Colorado

1 November 2012 4

Thursday afternoon-evening: ranch tour, social, dinner, awards, and music

Special event registration is limited capacity – register early! Includes bus transportation.

Sylvan Dale Ranch

2939 N County Road 31D, Loveland, Colorado 80538

David Jessup, Ranch Owner, Sylvan Dale Ranch

Dinner: Heart-J Grassfed Beef

Buffet-style, featuring pot roast of grass-finished beef, with vegetarian sides and options available.

Gluten-free dishes available by advance request (email StrategicGrazing@ShiningHorizons.com).

“Natural beef has been a tradition at Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch since the mid-60’s when Maurice

and Mayme Jessup bought their first herd of Charolais. They soon developed a breeding program

with registered Saler and Gelbvieh bulls, resulting in a unique herd well-suited to the grasslands

of our Rocky Mountain foothills. Recently we have introduced Red Angus breeding stock which

is known for its tenderness. Our goal for the Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch cattle program, is to

produce the best, most tender grass fed and grass finished beef possible. We keep our cattle on

grass or grass hay year round.”

Our Working Ranch Department contributes to our

sustainability mission—to apply practices in our daily work

routine that support a sustainable operation in harmony

with the natural environment through the principles of

Reduce-Reuse-Recycle—by: using rotational grazing of the

cattle and horses; using cattle and horse manures for

fertilizing the pastures; locally selling natural and grass fed

beef (Heart-J Beef); using a trail and land preservation

program; using solar pumps for stock watering; converting

to more efficient hay irrigation system; experimenting with

windrow grazing instead of hay harvesting; and using all

organic fertilizers and soil supplements. The ranch was the

Upper South Platte Watershed Conservationist of the Year

2008.

David Jessup is also the author of a brand new, critically

acclaimed, local historical novel, Mariano’s Crossing.

Colorado Section Society for Range Management Strategic Grazing Management for Complex Adaptive Systems

November 29-30, 2012, Fort Collins, Colorado

1 November 2012 5

Chuck Pyle with Dick Anderson

Chuck Pyle has won high praise throughout an inspired performance

career of over 40 years. When reviewers first gave him the "Zen

Cowboy" moniker, he decided to, as he says, "Always ride the horse

in the direction it's going," and took the nickname to heart, shaving

his head and blending his upbeat perspective with old-fashioned horse sense. He mixes infectiously

hummable melodies with straight-from-the-saddle poetry, quoting bumper stickers, proverbs, world

leaders and old cowboys. The first time he made an audience laugh, he was "hooked".

An accomplished songwriter, Chuck's songs have been

recorded by Chris LeDoux ("The Other Side of the Hill

[Cadillac Cowboy]"), Jerry Jeff Walker ("Jaded Lover"), John

Denver (“High, Wide and Handsome”), Bill and Bonnie

Hearne (“Endless Sky”), The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and Suzy

Bogguss.

A nimble guitarist, critics say his sense of rhythm is more like a

fine classical, or jazz, soloist, his songwriting musically

sophisticated yet full of uncluttered space. The Chuck Pyle

Finger-Style approach to guitar has distinguished him as a true original. Since writing “Colorado,” the

theme-song for a PBS series called Spirit of Colorado, he's attained local fame, and even sings for the

opening session of the Colorado State Legislature.

Chuck Pyle rides a trail of inspiration, gathering his spiritual search into a thought-

provoking performance that is at once hopeful and skeptical. You'll be won over

by his vulnerability as he explores Western living, closely comparing the oriental

metaphor to high-plains, saddle philosophy. His pursuit of an 'inner' life' has led

him down many different paths. In the more secular circles of performing

songwriters, he is a famed Western singer/songwriter, who talks straight about his

journey. For one of life's quintessential feel-good moments, come spend an evening with this man's

unique perspective, and see the familiar parts of your own life, through the eyes of a gifted artist.

Colorado Section Society for Range Management Strategic Grazing Management for Complex Adaptive Systems

November 29-30, 2012, Fort Collins, Colorado

1 November 2012 6

Colorado Section SRM Awards

Kimberly Diller, President, and Julie Elliott, Awards Committee Chairperson, Colorado Section SRM

Excellence in Range Management Award Grady Grissom, managing partner of Rancho Largo Cattle Company, has improved the rangeland

resources under his care during his tenure and has shared what he has learned with those around him in

any way he can. Not only has he used grazing management on his own to increase plant species diversity,

improve watershed function and increase the diversity and quality of habitat for multiple wildlife species,

but he has also worked with diverse partners including Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory and USDA-

NRCS to investigate and demonstrate innovative rangeland conservation measures including changing the

management of a playa lake to promote habitat for wetland species, patch burning for juniper control and

promoting structural diversity for wildlife.

When Grady took over the operation in 1995, plant communities on the uplands contained almost

exclusively short grasses. Because of poor distribution and extended grazing periods with no recovery,

many areas were severely degraded, and it was difficult to maintain cow reproductive performance.

Grady improved the existing water system, and split the original 9 pastures into the current 38.

Initially, his recovery periods were too short and he did not see significant improvement. He, therefore,

determined that he needed longer (9-month average) recovery periods between grazing events and to keep

stocking rates flexible to allow for high nutrient intake and adequate residual plant material following

graze periods. He knew that with this type of recovery and the animals’ natural species preferences with

changing seasons, his pasture numbers would effectively allow 2 growing seasons of recovery between

defoliations on target species, since cattle would not use them if given the choice except when green in

the early part of the year and again in the late fall.

As a result of Grady’s management, it is virtually impossible to get out of sight of cool season grasses

or winterfat. Warm season mid- and tall-grasses are also becoming more common in the draws, creek

bottoms and sandstone-breaks ecological sites. Trails are virtually nonexistent now and former headcuts

in the draws are reaching an angle of repose and revegetating. In addition, rarer species are being seen in

the more mesic locations.

He has also shared his knowledge and experience in the Quivira Coalition Journal, and presentations

at symposia sponsored by the SRM and the Colorado Chapter of The Wildlife Society. He is featured in

the Hope on the Range video developed by the SRM and the Bureau of Land Management.

Colorado Section Society for Range Management Strategic Grazing Management for Complex Adaptive Systems

November 29-30, 2012, Fort Collins, Colorado

1 November 2012 7

Trail Boss Award

The Trail Boss Award will be announced at the awards dinner at Sylvan

Dale Ranch, Thursday, November 29, 2012.

This award is the highest given to a Colorado Section member for

outstanding accomplishments to the rangeland management profession and

for exceptional service to the section. The nominee must have been a

member of the Colorado Section Society for Range Management for the past

five years. Past recipients are not eligible.

The Trail Boss symbolizes the one who cares for the land, livestock and

people, who determines when and where the herd travels. Like all proper

symbols he represents the founding of the society. Distinctly North

American, but recognizable by gauchos of South America or herdsmen of

central Asia. Originally a pen-and-ink drawing by Charles M. Russell, later

watercolored over. It was made the emblem of the SRM by founder Frederic

Renner, namesake of the Renner Award – appropriately, the parent-society-

level equivalent to the section-level Trail Boss Award.

Now is a great time to prepare your nomination for 2013, and make sure that

someone who deserves this trophy buckle receives it!

Past Recipients

2011 none

2010 none

2009 Tim Steffens

2008 Rob Alexander

2007 Lana Pearson

2006 none

2005 Wayne Leininger

2004 Don Hijar

2003 none

2002 Jeff Burwell

2001 Dave Bradford

2000 Floyd Reed

1999 Rene Crane

1998 Robbie Baird-LeValley

1997 Craig Whittekend

1996 Theresea M. Foppe

1995 Larry Rittenhouse

1994 Gene Mullings

1993 Ben Berlinger

1992 none

1991 Joe Trlica

1990 James C. Free

1989 John Mitchell

1988 David Kathmann

1987 William McGinnies

1986 Harvey Sprock

1985 Elbert H. Reid

1984 Bob Bernent

1983 Bill Laycock

1982 Tom Bartlett

1981 Jack Smith

1980 Thane Johnson

1979 George L. Burnett

1978 Donald G. Smith

1977 Ed Dennis

1976 Tad Paxton

1975 John C. Clark

1974 Thomas K. Eaman

1973 Bill Hoffman

1972 C. Wayne Cook

1971 Jerry Martinez

1970 Cotton Meredith

1969 Lyman Linger

1968 Clint Wasser

Colorado Section Society for Range Management Strategic Grazing Management for Complex Adaptive Systems

November 29-30, 2012, Fort Collins, Colorado

1 November 2012 8

Session: Science, Management, and Historical Background

Keynote address

Complex Adaptive Systems, Ecological Processes, and Grazing Management

Fred Provenza , Professor Emeritus, Utah State University – Department of Wildland Resources / Behavioral Education for Human, Animal, Vegetation, and Ecosystem Management (BEHAVE)

Matt Barnes, Owner & Rangeland Consultant, Shining Horizons Land Management LLC

Richard Teague, Professor & Associate Resident Director, Texas A&M University / Texas AgriLife

Hugh Pringle, Landscape Ecologist, Ecosystem Management Understanding (EMU), NT Australia

Bruce Maynard, pastoralist, consultant, and Partner, Stress Free Stockmanship, NSW Australia

Chip Hines, rancher and author, The Cow Trail

Complex adaptive systems are interrelationships among organisms adapting to ever-changing

environments that evolve unexpectedly and mostly unpredictably due to environmental stochasticity, so

the “same interactions” yield different results at different times. In complex adaptive grazing systems,

landscape-level effects arise from interactions among climate, soil, plants, herbivores, and people as they

influence four factors related to grazing: 1) overall intensity—measured by stocking rate relative to

grazing capacity; 2) time—the seasonality, timing, duration, and frequency of grazing and recovery; 3)

space— the dispersal and density of animals, and the varying intensity of their grazing relative to the

distribution of landscape features, vegetation and water resources; and 4) animal behavior—the

interactions of individuals with social and biophysical environments as they select foods and habitats.

Any changes in management affect processes of adaptation in soils, vegetation, herbivores, and people.

Research can illuminate principles and processes of adaptation, but they are not to be confused with their

manifold manifestations -- uniquely inflecting in space and time as climate, soil, plants, herbivores, and

people continually adapt within particular ecological, social, and economic contexts. When researchers

conduct grazing trials, they become managers of land. Through the questions they ask and the ways they

design, implement, and interpret their studies, they influence the outcomes. Thus, there is no “unbiased

observer” in science or practice. Every study, replicated or not, is a case study. In practice, a manager

must continually adapt to his/her unique ecological, economic, and social conditions. They do so best by

linking understanding of the processes of adaptation with the flexibility to respond to ever-changing

environments.

Fred Provenza is originally from Colorado, where he managed a ranch near Salida

and earned a BS in Wildlife Biology from Colorado State University. He earned his

MS and PhD at Utah State University, where he was a professor in the Department of

Wildland Resources from 1982 to 2009. His group’s ground-breaking research laid

the foundations for what is now known as behavior-based management of

landscapes, and led to the formation of an international

network of scientists and land managers known as

BEHAVE (www.behave.net), integrating behavioral

principles and processes with local knowledge to enhance

ecological, economic, and social values of rural and urban

communities. Their goal is to create Locally Adapted

Networks that help people use behavioral principles and

processes to foster healthy relationships among soil,

plants, herbivores, and people. He has received numerous awards, including the W.R.

Chapline Research Award, the most prestigious award given by the Society for Range

Management for achievements in research. He and his wife Sue are living once again in

the mountains of Colorado.

Colorado Section Society for Range Management Strategic Grazing Management for Complex Adaptive Systems

November 29-30, 2012, Fort Collins, Colorado

1 November 2012 9

Agency-focused presentation and discussion

Sponsored by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

Rangeland Conservation Effects Assessment Program

(CEAP): Overview with Emphasis on the Literature Review of

Rangeland Practices

Pat Shaver, Rangeland Management Specialist,

USDA–NRCS West National Technology Support Center

The Conservation Effects Assessment Program (CEAP) is a multi-agency effort to quantify the

environmental effects of conservation practices and programs and develop the science base for managing

the agricultural landscape for environmental quality. Project findings will be used to guide USDA

conservation policy and program development and help conservationists, farmers and ranchers make

more informed conservation decisions. Assessments in CEAP are carried out at national, regional and

watershed scales on cropland, grazing lands, wetlands and for wildlife. The three principal components

of CEAP—the national assessments, the watershed assessment studies, and the bibliographies and

literature reviews— contribute to building the science base for conservation. That process includes

research, modeling, assessment, monitoring and data collection, outreach, and extension education. Focus

is being given to translating CEAP science into practice. Rangeland national assessment is a combination

of ground and remotely sensed measurements and modeling; regional and watershed studies include

quantification of cumulative effects of conservation practice application; dynamic bibliographies and

literature synthesis of the peer-reviewed literature. The literature synthesis covered more than 3.5 years

of 40 rangeland scientists reviewing the peer-reviewed literature to evaluate the effectiveness of seven

major NRCS conservation practices on the purported environmental benefits of those practices. Those

conservation practices included; Prescribed Grazing, Prescribed Burning, Brush Management, Range

Planting, Riparian Herbaceous Cover, Upland Wildlife Habitat Management and Herbaceous Weed

Control. Two crosscutting issues were also looked at – Landscape Effects Analysis and Socioeconomics

and Ecosystem Services.

Pat Shaver, CPRM, is a Rangeland Management Specialist in the USDA

Natural Resources Conservation Service’s West National Technology

Support Center in Portland, Oregon, serving primarily the western region

of the United States. He served as NRCS advisor to the CEAP Rangeland

Literature Review teams for Prescribed Grazing, Prescribed Burning, and

Brush Management. During his 39+ year career with the NRCS, he has

worked in all of the western states as well as Russia, China, Kenya, and

Mongolia. He earned his BS in range science at New Mexico State

University, and his PhD from Oregon State University (2010). He has been

active in the New Mexico, Texas, Utah, and Pacific Northwest sections of

SRM as well as serving on several SRM committees and on the Board of

Directors from 1998 – 2000. When not playing with grandchildren or

making apple cider, most of Pat’s leisure time revolves around taking his bow for hikes in the woods.

Colorado Section Society for Range Management Strategic Grazing Management for Complex Adaptive Systems

November 29-30, 2012, Fort Collins, Colorado

1 November 2012 10

Session: Optimum Stocking Rate

The applied science

Optimum stocking rate: the significance of scale and the link to profitability

Marshall Frasier, Professor, Colorado State University – Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics / Western Center for Integrated Resource Management

Stocking rate (SR) is the number of animals per unit area for a unit of time, whether for a management

unit for the grazing season or full year or for for a paddock while it is being grazed. In economic terms,

optimum SR occurs when profit, not production, is maximized, and applies to a specific set of

environmental and management conditions and given type of livestock. Optimum as well as actual SR

vary across the landscape and may be mismatched as a result of differences in productivity and quality of

vegetation, microclimate, topography, and proximity to water. Disparities between SR and carrying

capacity across the landscape can result in long-term degradation of preferred areas and short-term

decreased carrying capacity because of under-utilized plant communities. When maximum sustained

livestock net return is the management goal, the goal of grazing management is for every available forage

plant that can be mixed to achieve performance targets to contribute to animal intake under ecologically

safe circumstances. Therefore, adjustments to infrastructure and grazing management can increase the

optimum economic SR. At the same SR for a management unit, rotational grazing creates an opportunity

to meet the principle management challenge of more precisely matching carrying capacity at smaller

spatial scales and providing heavily defoliated, preferred plants enough time between defoliations to

increase their vigor and abundance. Addressing that challenge in this way can have profound

implications regarding the financial rewards of forage based livestock operations.

Marshall Frasier is a professor in Agricultural and Resource Economics, and

the Western Center for Integrated Resource Management, at Colorado State

University. His teaching and research interests focus on the management of

agricultural enterprises in the western US and the interplay between those

activities and the natural resource base which sustains them. Dr. Frasier grew

up on a diversified cropping and livestock operation in southwest Nebraska.

He earned his BS (1983) and MS (1990) degrees from the University of

Nebraska, focusing on these enterprises. He served as technical coordinator

for Nebraska’s IRM demonstration program from 1984-1989. Prior to coming

to CSU, Dr. Frasier spent three years at Washington State University where

he earned his PhD, focusing his research on the allocation and management of

water in irrigated enterprises. He now also serves as coordinator of

undergraduate programs in his department. Following several extended trips

to New Zealand, Dr. Frasier and his wife have developed a strong interest in

backpacking and enjoy a host of summer and winter activities the Colorado

mountains have to offer.

Colorado Section Society for Range Management Strategic Grazing Management for Complex Adaptive Systems

November 29-30, 2012, Fort Collins, Colorado

1 November 2012 11

The art of management

Case study: Optimum Stocking Rate, Monitoring, and Flexibility:

Key Components of a Successful Grazing Management Program

J. Alfonso “Poncho” Ortega-Santos, Professor & Research Scientist, Texas A&M University-Kingsville –

Department of Animal, Rangeland, and Wildlife Sciences / Caesar Kleburg Wildlife Research Institute

Steven Lukefahr, Regents Professor, Texas A&M University-Kingsville – Department of Animal, Rangeland, and

Wildlife Sciences

Fred Bryant, Professor & Director of Wildlife Research, Texas A&M University-Kingsville – Department of Animal,

Rangeland, and Wildlife Sciences / Caesar Kleburg Wildlife Research Institute

A case study of the complexity of the optimum stocking

rate determination, as well as the importance of

monitoring the variation in the optimum stocking rate,

and using that monitoring to make timely management

decisions with maximum flexibility to accomplish

specific objectives. 10 years of data from the ranch in

south Texas support principles of grazing management,

including stocking rate adjustments, monitoring

protocols, and grazing management decisions during a

drought, and in wet years (e.g., keeping weanlings and

buying stockers). How we use flexible stocking rate to

accomplish rangeland conservation, animal production,

and profitability goals in a drought-prone environment.

J. Alfonso “Poncho” Ortega-Santos is a professor at Texas A&M

University-Kingsville, Department of Animal, Rangeland, and Wildlife

Sciences, and research scientist at the Caesar Kleburg Wildlife Research

Institute. He was previously Researcher and National Leader of the Range

and Forage Program at Mexico’s National Research Institute of Forestry,

Crops and Livestock. He obtained his PhD at the University of Florida.

Most of his research experience has been on grazing management and

cattle – wildlife interactions. Among other honors he received

Outstanding Achievement Awards from the SRM and the Texas Section

SRM. He is coauthor of the book White-tailed Deer Habitat: Ecology and

Management on Rangelands, published in English and Spanish, which

won the Special Publication Award by the Texas Section SRM and the

Outstanding Publication Award by the Texas Chapter of the Wildlife Society.

Poncho is also a rancher in south Texas and Mexico, where he raises cattle and

Quarter Horses, as well as a professional horse trainer and farrier.

Colorado Section Society for Range Management Strategic Grazing Management for Complex Adaptive Systems

November 29-30, 2012, Fort Collins, Colorado

1 November 2012 12

Session: Temporal Distribution

The applied science

Timing and Duration of Grazing and Recovery:

It’s Not Enough to Move Livestock from Pasture to Pasture

Tim Steffens, Multi-County Rangeland Management Specialist, USDA-NRCS Colorado

Roy Roath, Extension Specialist Emeritus, Colorado State University - Dept. of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship

Pat Reece, Owner & Senior Consultant, Prairie & Montane Enterprises; Professor Emeritus, University of Nebraska

Plant recovery from grazing depends on ecological processes. It is species-specific and determined by

growing conditions, optimum climatic conditions for that species, severity of defoliation of that plant,

particularly in relation to neighboring plants, number of days with adequate climatic conditions to allow

sufficient regrowth of existing plants to maintain or improve vigor, as well as the number of days of good

growing conditions needed vs. available for new plants to establish and the effects of defoliation during

establishment on those plants. Excluding grazing without adequate growth is not recovery. Changes in

palatability of different species can provide more recovery than the non-grazing period.

Tim Steffens, CPRM, is a Multi-county Rangeland

Management Specialist with the USDA Natural Resources

Conservation Service in Springfield, Colorado. He specializes

in prescribed grazing and prescribed burning on the plains of

southeastern Colorado. He was previously an Extension

Rangeland Specialist with Colorado State University, where he

earned his PhD. A Past President of the Colorado Section

Society for Range Management, Tim organized the Strategy

Vs. System: Grazing for Desired Outcomes symposium in

2008, for which he received the Colorado Section’s Trail Boss

Award and the SRM’s Outstanding Achievement Award. Tim

is also a rancher. His Texas drawl engages audiences

throughout Colorado and the West.

Colorado Section Society for Range Management Strategic Grazing Management for Complex Adaptive Systems

November 29-30, 2012, Fort Collins, Colorado

1 November 2012 13

The art of management

Case Study: Recovery Periods Tied to Ecological Processes

at Rancho Largo Cattle Company

Grady Grissom, Rancher, Rancho Largo Cattle Company

Rancho Largo Cattle Co. implemented a rotational grazing system in 1996 utilizing 40 to 60 day non-

grazing periods (2-3 grazing periods per growing season). That grazing system did not produce positive

economic or ecological results. In 2000 management began a series of adaptations that eventually tied

grazing protocols to ecological processes. A key adaptation was to define the length of non-grazing

periods by plant physiology, creating true recovery periods. Species targeted for recruitment were

allowed to complete their life cycle (produce seed) on a significant portion of the ranch each year.

Seasonal grazing considerations also allowed seedlings extended periods without exposure to defoliation

during establishment. A second key adaptation made seasonal animal selectivity of plant species integral

to grazing decisions. These adaptations were largely in place by 2004. Return on investment (ROI) for

the years 2004 - 2011 was 19% higher compared to 1996 - 1999. Aerial coverage dominated by cool

season grasses (targeted species) also doubled when comparing the same time increments. Stocking rates

were slightly higher from 2004 to 2011 than from 1996 to 1999, while average rainfall was lower in the

later time period.

Grady Grissom is partner and manager of Rancho

Largo Cattle Company, LLC, near Fowler, Colorado.

Under Grady’s management since 1995, Rancho Largo

has converted from a cow-calf operation utilizing

continuous grazing to a multi faceted cattle business

encompassing stocker, yearling, cow-calf, and custom

grazing enterprises within a planned grazing regime.

Grady received a BA in Geology from Princeton

University in 1984. He worked on ranches in eastern

Colorado until 1987 when he returned to graduate

school. He finished a PhD at Stanford University in

1991, studying geology in northwestern Argentina.

Colorado Section Society for Range Management Strategic Grazing Management for Complex Adaptive Systems

November 29-30, 2012, Fort Collins, Colorado

1 November 2012 14

Session: Spatial Distribution

The applied science

Grazing Management Can Improve Livestock Distribution

Brien E. “Ben” Norton, Associate Professor Emeritus, Utah State University / Western Australia Dept. of Agriculture

Matt Barnes, Owner & Rangeland Consultant, Shining Horizons Land Management LLC

Richard Teague, Professor & Associate Resident Director, Texas A&M University / Texas AgriLife Research

Unmanaged livestock repeatedly graze preferred plants in preferred areas, resulting in overgrazed patches

that expand over time, even at low stocking rates. Grazing management has the power to alter this pattern

and improve distribution over the landscape. This is most apparent, and most important, at larger scales

and with more variation in topography and vegetation. Most historic grazing studies were done at very

small scales and so effectively minimized the primary problem associated with extensive grazing, and

thus found little or no advantage to more intensive management. Landscape subdivision reduces pasture

size; rotation increases stocking density, reduces grazing period, and increases recovery period—all of

which promotes improved distribution across the landscape. Improved distribution promotes rangeland

health as well as increases effective grazing capacity and harvest efficiency.

Brien E. “Ben” Norton is Emeritus Associate Professor of

Range Science in the Department of Wildland Resources at

Utah State University. A native of Australia, Ben has worked

with pastoralists on rangelands in Australia, the United States,

the Middle East, Africa, and central Asia. After “retiring” from

Utah State, he worked at the International Center for

Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) in Syria,

then directed the Centre for the Management of Arid

Environments in Western Australia, and initiated a major

rangeland restoration project in Libya, evacuating by ship

during the Arab Spring revolution. Ben lives with his wife

Tracie in Logan, Utah.

Colorado Section Society for Range Management Strategic Grazing Management for Complex Adaptive Systems

November 29-30, 2012, Fort Collins, Colorado

1 November 2012 15

The art of management

Case study: Multiple-Paddock Grazing Distributes Utilization Across Heterogeneous

Mountain Landscapes

Matt Barnes, Owner & Rangeland Consultant, Shining Horizons Land Management LLC;

Ranch Manager, The Howell Ranch

Jim Howell, Owner & Rangeland Consultant, Del Cerro LLC / The Howell Ranch

Rick Danvir, Wildlife Manager, Deseret Ranches

Planned grazing has improved the spatial distribution of utilization on the Howell Ranch with shorter

grazing periods, higher stocking density, and smaller paddocks than the extensive management practiced

previously on the ranch and currently on many ranches. Cattle regularly graze steep mountainsides and

plants often considered unpalatable, without damaging riparian areas, at moderate overall utilization,

while maintaining good animal performance. These areas comprise most of the land and much of the

forage base of the ranch; if they were not utilized the ranch would sustain a much lower grazing capacity,

and if they were only utilized when preferred areas and plant species were

overgrazed, rangeland health and livestock performance would suffer.

Monitoring data from 1997-2011 show increases in plant basal and litter

cover, and a decrease in bare ground, while the stocking rate averaged about

50% higher under planned grazing than under previous season-long grazing

management, and about 400% higher than adjacent public land allotments.

Similar management at Deseret Land & Livestock has yielded similar results.

These landscape scale demonstrations support recent experimental evidence

that well-planned and adaptively managed multiple-paddock grazing can

improve the distribution of livestock grazing across a heterogeneous

landscape and across plant species, providing a resolution to the debate over

grazing management.

Matt Barnes, CPRM, is owner and rangeland consultant at Shining Horizons

Land Management, LLC, providing grazing planning, implementation, and

monitoring for whole-systems resilience. He manages the Howell Ranch near

Cimarron, Colorado, from May to October. He is President-elect (2012) of the

Colorado Section Society for Range Management, and serves on the SRM

Applied Science Task Force and the Rangelands Editorial Board. He was Ben

Norton’s last graduate student at Utah State University. A scientist,

conservationist, and rancher, as well as a writer, photographer, and artist, he

explores the mountains, deserts, and rivers of the west, and rangelands of the

world, by foot, horse, boat, and pickup truck.

Rick Danvir is Wildlife Manager for Deseret Ranches, based in Casper, Wyoming. He was previously

Wildlife and Sheep Manager at Deseret Land & Livestock in Woodruff, Utah.

Colorado Section Society for Range Management Strategic Grazing Management for Complex Adaptive Systems

November 29-30, 2012, Fort Collins, Colorado

1 November 2012 16

Session: Diet Selection

The applied science

Diet Selection and Stocking Density: It Ain’t As Simple As You’ve Heard

Tim Steffens, Multi-County Rangeland Management Specialist, USDA-NRCS Colorado

Larry Rittenhouse, Professor Emeritus, Colorado State University – Dept. of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship /

Western Center for Integrated Resource Management

Matt Barnes, Owner & Rangeland Consultant, Shining Horizons Land Management LLC

Fred Provenza, Professor Emeritus, Utah State University – Department of Wildland Resources / Behavioral

Education for Human, Animal, Vegetation, and Ecosystem Management (BEHAVE)

Short grazing periods at high stocking density can influence diet

selection and animal learning. Increasing the breadth of plants

selected by animals may not mean that either selectivity or diet

quality has been compromised. Increased stocking density

increases instantaneous grazing pressure, but does not necessarily

reduce diet quality and nutrient intake. Grazing animals select

higher quality plants first; longer grazing periods increase

differential diet quality from the beginning to the end of the period,

limiting the total amount of lower quality forage that can be mixed

to provide a diet that meets requirements. Subdividing with a given

recovery period, grazing period decreases faster than stocking

density increases; thus the proportion of available forage that

animals can mix to meet requirements increases relative to a longer grazing period at lower density.

Increasing paddocks and stocking density can change distribution of utilization while maintaining diet

quality by keeping the grazing period stocking rate light enough to allow animals to meet their

requirements. This requires adaptive management.

Tim Steffens, CPRM, is a Multi-county Rangeland Management Specialist with the

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service in Springfield, Colorado. He

specializes in prescribed grazing and prescribed burning on the plains of southeastern

Colorado. He was previously an Extension Rangeland Specialist with Colorado State

University, where he earned his PhD. A Past President of the Colorado Section

Society for Range Management, Tim organized the Strategy Vs. System: Grazing for

Desired Outcomes symposium in 2008, for which he received the Colorado Section’s

Trail Boss Award and the SRM’s Outstanding Achievement Award. Tim is also a rancher. His Texas

drawl engages audiences throughout Colorado and the West.

Colorado Section Society for Range Management Strategic Grazing Management for Complex Adaptive Systems

November 29-30, 2012, Fort Collins, Colorado

1 November 2012 17

The art of management

Case Study: Stocking Density Affects Diet Selection

Doug Peterson, Rancher, Medicine Creek Ranch; State Soil Health Conservationist, NRCS Missouri

Mark Brownlee, Rancher, Brownlee Ranch, Lowry City, Missouri

Tim Kelley, Rancher, Kelley Ranch, Elmo, Missouri

Stocking density is a powerful tool to manage grazing land resources, as demonstrated on prairie and

pasture in Missouri. Utilizing different stock densities, we can achieve different goals, including affecting

diet selection, weed and brush control, improving utilization and manure distribution, and even improving

seed-to-soil contact. We allow sufficient recovery periods between grazing events to increase plant

diversity and develop as much above- and below-ground biomass as possible. During grazing periods we

use high stocking density at the proper stocking rate to manipulate the proportion of the plant community

that animals can select to maintain a desired level of performance, and the amount of forage trampling

that occurs. Trampling can have a very positive impact on water and mineral cycles, building soil and

increasing fertility in our perennial grasslands.

Doug Peterson operates Medicine Creek Ranch, Newtown, Missouri. He is

also State Soil Health Conservationist, and formerly State Grassland

Conservationist, with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service in

Missouri. Peterson spends much of his time helping livestock producers

improve their land and their grazing management. As a rancher, he puts into

practice those same grazing and conservation concepts. Peterson markets a

portion of his cattle as grass-fed, and others are earning premiums when sold as

feeder cattle into the niche “all-natural” market.

Colorado Section Society for Range Management Strategic Grazing Management for Complex Adaptive Systems

November 29-30, 2012, Fort Collins, Colorado

1 November 2012 18

Wednesday evening, November 28, 6:00 – 9:00 PM

Colorado Section Society for Range Management

Board of Directors Meeting

All Colorado Section SRM members are invited to attend.

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