The Art of Range Podcast

This is the story of Sharon and Richard Kline, a couple in southern California who became unlikely ranchers by buying an unlikely property. They have worked with California Rangeland Trust to keep the land as rangeland and conserve both habitat and ranching. Conservation easements are controversial and must be considered on a case-by-case basis, but agricultural land trusts have made this option much more palatable for working lands.

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

California Rangeland Trust, https://rangelandtrust.org/

Article on the importance of private land to wildlife: https://onland.westernlandowners.org/2023/directors-letter/private-lands-are-a-lifeline-for-wildlife/

TRANSCRIPT available at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-105-richard-and-sharon-kline-conserving-working-lands-california

Wise management and conservation of rangelands in the future will require knowledge from the hard-earned experience of those near retirement and the fresh and uninhibited ideas of young professionals. However, reaching across these generations of ideas and experiences can be challenging. This final plenary will be a thought-provoking discussion that highlights the value of combining well-lived experiences with youthful insight. Tim Murphey, retired rangeland and fire professional, will describe the concepts he has learned that will be valuable to plot a path into the future of rangeland management. Courtney Taylor, student and rancher, will highlight the insight that young professionals can bring to power innovation and engage the next generation of rangeland managers. Tracy Kupchenko will moderate this discussion based on her pivotal experiences in working with both youth and well-worn ranchers and rangeland managers.

Courtney Taylor grew up on a cattle ranching operation near Warner, Alberta, Canada. Always ambitious and a self- starter, she was running her own profitable on-farm businesses including a small sheep flock and orphan calf operation by age 10. Through her family operation, she was introduced to the art of rangeland management, and then while attending the Southern Alberta Youth Range Days camp, she further explored the science behind beneficial management practices, potential careers, and opportunities associated with rangelands. Her first exposure to the Society for Range Management was through the High School Youth Forum, then again at the University level, participating in the student conclave and competitions like the Undergraduate Range Management Exam and Extemporaneous Speaking event. She is currently attending the University of Saskatchewan and continues to run several of her business initiatives including a small bull operation specializing in genetics that will sustain the extensive winter grazing and spring/summer calving utilized on the ranch. Needless to say, that as far back as she can remember, she has grown and continues to foster a deep respect for her animals and the land on which her family cattle ranch depends.

Tim Murphy is recognized for his long and impactful career in rangeland and fire management. Tim completed a bachelor’s degree in rangeland management from the University of Wyoming and after graduation Tim began a 39-year career in rangeland and natural resources management. Tim’s career began as a range technician with the Bridger-Teton National Forest and shortly thereafter he joined the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) at the Green River Resource Area managing public rangelands in southwest Wyoming, followed by supervising a range, wild horse, and soils team at BLM’s Caliente Resource Area, Nevada. Tim went on to management positions with BLM in New Mexico at the Carlsbad and then Las Cruces Resource Areas followed by a District Manager assignment at Miles City, Montana. Throughout his assignments Tim was active in wildland fire management as a firefighter and was called upon to inform national policy through the results of his leadership involving fatality and serious accident investigation teams. Tim went on to Boise, Idaho as the Director of Fire and Aviation at the National Interagency Fire Center followed by becoming the BLM Idaho State Director. After retiring from the BLM, he has remained active in promoting wise land management that supports local economies and healthy landscapes. Tim is currently chairman of the Idaho Fish and Game Commission.

TRANSCRIPT available at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-104-srm-keynote-address-working-across-eras-courtney-taylor-tim-murphy.

The PRF program insures against unusually low precipitation during 60-day periods critical to your forage growth, unlike drought insurance, which typically is based on annual precipitation over a water year or calendar year. Matt Griffith of WSR Insurance in California explains how PRF works in this episode in our ranch financial resiliency series.

TRANSCRIPT AND LINKS TO RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE AVAILABLE AT https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-103-pasture-range-forage-prf-insurance-matt-griffith.

Dick Coon is a rancher in Eastern Washington who has used LRP insurance for nearly a decade to reduce the significant financial risks of ranching in pretty tough country. And because the Northwest cattle markets tend to be lower than the rest of the country, LRP has added attraction. In this episode, Dick describes why and how he has used LRP and Pasture, Range, and Forage insurance products in his family-run commercial cattle operation.

Links to resources mentioned in this episode and a transcript are available at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-102-livestock-risk-protection-practice-dick-coon.

Reducing financial risk in ranching requires first identifying and defining those risks. John Nalivka, owner of Sterling Marketing and a well-known expert in beef industry economics, has been consulting with cow-calf producers, feeders, and packers for 35 years. In this episode, John discusses with Tip and Clay Worden global trade trends, cattle pricing predictions, and ranch-level advice on managing market risks, which starts with knowing your own production and performance values.

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

are linked to on the episode web page, https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-101-john-nalivka-cattle-marketing-strategies-and-risks.

Management recommendations for limiting undesirable ecosystem state shifts driven by cheatgrass in the West and Eastern red cedar on central US grasslands can now be outlined with greater certainty. Jeremy Maestas, NRCS National Sagebrush Ecosystem Specialist, and Dirac Twidwell, range and fire scientist at University of Nebraska-Lincoln, present the Defend the Core framework for invasive species management, a fresh approach that prioritizes preventing degradation where intact, functional plant communities exist and reducing risk of invasives spreading from areas already compromised. After a hundred years of trying to understand invasive plant dynamics, we now recognize that preservationist passive management will not cause degraded plant communities to return to a reference state.

If you pulled up this episode and haven't listened to part, you might want to listen to episode 99 first.

Go to https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-100-defend-core-strategy-invasive-plants-jeremy-maestas-dirac-twidwell-part-2 for links to resources mentioned in this episode.

Is it time to surrender the Western U.S. to cheatgrass and frequent fire or regroup and work smarter? Jeremy Maestas, NRCS National Sagebrush Ecosystem Specialist, and Dirac Twidwell, range and fire scientist at University of Nebraska-Lincoln, present the Defend the Core framework for invasive species management, a fresh approach that prioritizes preventing degradation where intact, functional plant communities exist and reducing risk of invasives spreading from areas already compromised. After a hundred years of trying to understand invasive plant dynamics, we now recognize that preservationist passive management will not cause degraded plant communities to return to a reference state. This episode, part 1, describes the problem and introduces this new approach to risk reduction. Come back for part 2.

TRANSCRIPT AVAILABLE SOON AT:

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

SGI blog on invasive annuals in sagebrush country: https://www.sagegrouseinitiative.com/defend-the-core-fighting-back-against-rangeland-invaders-in-sagebrush-country/

LPCI blog on Woody encroachment in grasslands: https://www.lpcinitiative.org/defend-the-core-fighting-back-against-woody-invaders-on-the-great-plains/

NRCS WLFW Frameworks for Conservation Action: https://www.wlfw.org/

WAFWA Sagebrush Conservation Design: https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2022/1081/ofr20221081.pdf

WGA Toolkit for Invasive Annual Grass Management: https://westgov.org/images/editor/FINAL_Cheatgrass_Toolkit_July_2020.pdf

Idaho Cheatgrass Challenge: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs-initiatives/eqip-environmental-quality-incentives/idaho/the-cheatgrass-challenge-idaho

Kansas Great Plains Grassland Initiative: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/conservation-basics/conservation-by-state/kansas/ks-great-plains-grassland-initiative

Guide for Reducing Woody Encroachment in Grasslands: https://www.wlfw.org/assets/greatPlainsMaterials/E-1054WoodyEncroachment.pdf

NCBA Cattlemen to Cattlemen episode on defending the core: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpsJnM-IrPY

Trying to stay up on the most recent developments in soil health? SoilCon, a free virtual conference, will address the latest research to help people put soil health principles into practice for regional systems. In this episode, Molly, an organizer of SoilCon, shares more details on the speaker lineup and the Washington Soil Health Initiative. SoilCon 2023 will be held on Feb. 14 and 15, with daily sessions running from 8 a.m. to noon.

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

https://pheedloop.com/wasoilcon23/site/home/

https://soilhealth.wsu.edu/soilcon/

https://soilhealth.wsu.edu/

What if you could insure calf price against catastrophic price drops? LRP puts a price floor under feeder calves, paying for the difference between an insured calf price and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange feeder cattle index value for a selected marketing date. This episode with Jack Field and Clay Worden continues our series in ranch financial health with a deep dive into LRP mechanics.

Find resources mentioned in this episode as well as the transcript at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-97-livestock-risk-protection-insurance-jack-field-clay-worden

"1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus" has been a New York Times best-selling book since publication in 2006. Charles C Mann's writings have reformed popular ideas about Native Americans and challenged cherished notions of nature. Join Charles and Tip in part 2 of a two-episode discussion about the origins of the book and some of the revelations about the peoples in North, Central, and South Americas over the last 2000 years. Look up 1491 wherever you buy books and get yourself a copy to read.

Find the transcript and links to books mentioned in this show at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-96-charles-c-mann-americas-columbus-part-2