We're taking a break this week from the normal release schedule. Come back on April 14 for the first episode in a two-part series on ranch sustainability indicators. You can prepare for that episode by downloading the article at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rama.2021.08.011. If that link gives you trouble, email me at [email protected].

Ranching for Profit is an organization started by Stan Parsons and recently run by Dave Pratt that has been helping ranchers work on the business instead of in the business for decades. Dallas Mount, former Univ. of Wyoming Extension economist and now co-owner of Ranch Management Consultants, talks with Tip about ranch finance competencies, common weaknesses in ranch financial planning, and fundamental steps livestock producers can take to understand costs and put assets to work for them. This episode introduces a new grant through Western Extension for Risk Management Education that will provide outreach on ranch finance and use of livestock insurance products. Tune in for a teaser on fixed assets and working capital . . .

Learn more about Ranching for Profit schools and Executive Link at https://ranchmanagement.com/.

TRANSCRIPT

Available at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-80-should-ranching-be-profitable-dallas-mount.

Forestry and range sciences are tied to each other in a long and complex social history, and many areas of the Western U.S. and semi-arid parts of the world host rangeland and forest plant communities in the same space and within the same management boundaries. So there is good reason to encourage range folk to given some attention to forestry, not necessarily 'board-feet' production forestry but the ecology of forests and their interactions with rangeland plant communities. This interview with Sean Alexander introduces a high-quality forest ecology-focused podcast with similar background philosophy to The Art of Range -- long interviews on a diversity of topics. Consider subscribing to The Forest Overstory Podcast if you live and work on rangeland with tall range weeds, I mean trees (the late Dr. Kendall Johnson's joke).

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

The Forest Overstory Podcast, start here: https://forestry.wsu.edu/forestoverstory/

Paul Hessburg's TEDx talk, Living in an Era of Megafires: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edDZNkm8Mas

WSU's forestry Extension website: https://forestry.wsu.edu/

Ann Stinson, The Ground At My Feet -- Sustaining a Family and a Forest: https://www.amazon.com/Ground-My-Feet-Sustaining-Family/dp/0870711466/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Transcript available at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-79-forest-overstory-podcast-sean-alexander

How do we build soil health? What is soil health? Is careful grazing helpful or hurtful? Can anything be done to meaningfully influence soil health? And how would we know? What can be measured that indicates progress? These are the questions Derek Scasta and Jeff Goodwin and their team intend to begin to answer through a recently funded national-scale project called Metrics, Management, and Monitoring: An Investigation of Pasture and Rangeland Soil Health and Its Drivers. This ambitious research and outreach effort, funded through a variety of public and private monies, will combine state-of-the-art experimental research with case studies documenting existing soil health effects on farms and ranches where consistent practices have been in place for years (and unlike investing, prior performance does predict future results). These results will inform policy and trade in carbon markets, enhance agricultural resilience to climate uncertainty, and advise land managers on how to increase profitability, land health, and animal health. This interview introduces the project's history, objectives, and timeline. Stay tuned for those future results.

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Ecological Outcomes Verification, https://bit.ly/3sNy9GT

Journal article, "Usable Science: Soil Health", Rangelands, 2016.

Journal article, "Valuing and Rewarding Ecosystem Services From Rangelands", Rangelands, 2014.

Journal article, "Rangelands and Ecosystem Services: Economic Wealth From Land Health?", Rangelands, 2011

Article links at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-78-one-study-rule-them-all-3m-soil-health-research-jeff-goodwin-derek-scasta

TRANSCRIPT

Coming soon at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-78-one-study-rule-them-all-3m-soil-health-research-jeff-goodwin-derek-scasta

Seeding in extreme environments such as arid and semi-arid rangelands requires extra care in site preparation, species selection, seed selection, seed placement, planting timing, and care for emerging seedlings. Mel Asher and Jerry Benson have been successfully doing large-scale restoration on challenging rangeland settings for many years. Jerry owns BFI Native Seeds, specializing in locally-sourced native species for the Intermountain West; Mel is the new owner of Derby Canyon Natives, a company that provides live plant stock, mostly containerized. She and Jerry have been doing post-fire rehabilitation for long enough to speak with some authority and they literally wrote the book on it. This episode covers nearly multiple aspects of rangeland seedings, with a focus on plant materials.

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

http://www.bfinativeseeds.com/

https://derbycanyonnatives.com/

Shrub-steppe and grassland restoration manual for the Columbia River Basin, https://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/01330

Transcript at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-77-local-seed-genetics-range-seeding-methods-mel-asher-jerry-benson.

Deciding whether to seed, what to seed, and how to apply seed after wildfire are weighty questions. Seeding costs money, seedings often fail, and most rangelands won't pay you back for rehabilitation failure. Richard Fleenor, NRCS state rangelands conservationist in Washington, has a background in plant materials and revegetation and discusses with Tip analyzing burn severity, pre-fire plant community composition, and options in seed selection and application.

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Shrub-Steppe and Grassland Restoration Manual for the Columbia River Basin: https://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/01330

OR & WA Guide for Conservation Seedings & Plantings (NRCS publication):

https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcs142p2_042417.pdf

NRCS Eastern Oregon/Washington Rangeland and Grazed Forest Seeding Guide, Tech note 1: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_PLANTMATERIALS/publications/wapmstn11194.pdf

TRANSCRIPT: https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-76-seed-or-not-seed-post-fire-rehabilitation-richard-fleenor

Soil organic matter is considered an indicator of soil health, there are numerous methods promoted for building it, SOM is credited with the potential to alleviate greenhouse gas increase, but Andy & Doug say the way we've understood SOM is perhaps an artifact of the old ways of measuring it. The complexity of what we call 'organic matter' is significant, challenging, and prompts a re-thinking of both soil health measurement and soil-building practices. This episode is not quite "Why Everything You Thought You Knew About Soil Organic Matter is Wrong", but advances in soil biology and chemistry will certainly challenge your long-held notions about this topic. If you haven't heard part 1 of this interview with Doug Collins and Andy McGuire, go to episode 74.

Related resources:

WSU Extension publication by Doug & Andy, "Understanding and Measuring Organic Matter in Soil" can be downloaded at https://pubs.extension.wsu.edu/understanding-and-measuring-organic-matter-in-soil.

Recent article at the website BioCycle, referencing Collins' and McGuire's work: "Saying Goodbye to a Soil Organic Matter Fundamental", www.biocycle.net/connections-sayi…ter-fundamental/

Soil organic matter is considered an indicator of soil health, there are numerous methods promoted for building it, SOM is credited with the potential to alleviate greenhouse gas increase, but Andy & Doug say the way we've understood SOM is perhaps an artifact of the old ways of measuring it. The complexity of what we call 'organic matter' is significant, challenging, and prompts a re-thinking of both soil health measurement and soil-building practices. This episode is not quite "Why Everything You Thought You Knew About Soil Organic Matter is Wrong", but advances in soil biology and chemistry will certainly challenge your long-held notions about this topic. Be sure to come back for Part 2 of this interview with Doug Collins and Andy McGuire, both of them agronomists and professional soils enthusiasts.

Related resources:

WSU Extension publication by Doug & Andy, "Understanding and Measuring Organic Matter in Soil" can be downloaded at https://pubs.extension.wsu.edu/understanding-and-measuring-organic-matter-in-soil.

Recent article at the website BioCycle, referencing Collins' and McGuire's work: "Saying Goodbye to a Soil Organic Matter Fundamental", www.biocycle.net/connections-sayi…ter-fundamental/

Ranch sustainability requires land care that works for the long haul and management that makes a profit more years than not. Jim Rickert, owner of the Prather Ranch in northern California, makes the case that a ranch must take care of people and animals, too, in order to last, and these goals are synergistic, not mutually exclusive. This two-part interview with Jim chronicles his circuitous path from a masters degree doing linear programming models of farm financial alternatives under Earl Butz, economist at Purdue, later US Secretary of Agriculture under Presidents Nixon and Ford, to running a fully integrated beef operation, with a closed cow herd, a ranch feedlot, and a gold-standard abattoir. Perhaps most unique, Prather Ranch has "an international reputation as a supplier of high quality bovine hides, bones, tissues, organs and other bovine xenograft materials for the medical device, pharmaceutical and biological industries." If you missed part one of this interview, see episode 72.

Learn more about the Prather Ranch at https://www.pratherranch.com/.

Learn more about their meat marketing at https://www.prathermeats.com/.

Information about the bovine parts used for medical purposes is at https://www.closedherd.com/.

Ranch sustainability requires land care that works for the long haul and management that makes a profit more years than not. Jim Rickert, owner of the Prather Ranch in northern California, makes the case that a ranch must take care of people and animals, too, in order to last, and these goals are synergistic, not mutually exclusive. This two-part interview with Jim chronicles his circuitous path from a masters degree doing linear programming models of farm financial alternatives under Earl Butz, economist at Purdue, later US Secretary of Agriculture under Presidents Nixon and Ford, to running a fully integrated beef operation, with a closed cow herd, a ranch feedlot, and a gold-standard abattoir. Perhaps most unique, Prather Ranch has "an international reputation as a supplier of high quality bovine hides, bones, tissues, organs and other bovine xenograft materials for the medical device, pharmaceutical and biological industries." Be sure to check back for part two of this fascinating interview.

And please take a short listener survey here: https://wsu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eG2NDoDEVAnGh3U.

Learn more about the Prather Ranch at https://www.pratherranch.com/.

Learn more about their meat marketing at https://www.prathermeats.com/.

Information about the bovine parts used for medical purposes is at https://www.closedherd.com/.