The Art of Range Podcast

Jack Southworth, a rancher in Eastern Oregon, discusses with Tip how he manages for ecological and economic resiliency through flexible stocking rates, changing class of cattle based on the season's feed resources, and maximizing photosynthesis rate through the high desert's short growing period.

SURVEY

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TRANSCRIPT

The full transcript of this episode is available at: https://www.dropbox.com/home/Art%20of%20Range%20transcripts

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

WSU Extension rancher-to-rancher case study documentary about Southworth Brothers Ranch. http://csanr.wsu.edu/case-studies/

Capital Press article about national range management award. http://bit.ly/2QBNs58

WSU Low-Stress Cattle Handling: Understanding and Working with Cattle Instinct (video). https://vimeo.com/83256777

WSU Publication “Understanding Low-Stress Cattle Handling Techniques to Improve Animal Performance and Human Safety”. https://pubs.extension.wsu.edu/understanding-lowstress-cattle-handling-techniques-to-improve-animal-performance-and-human-safety

Country Natural Beef: https://www.countrynaturalbeef.com/

WSU publication: 2008 Estimated Costs and Returns for a 150-Head Cow-calf to Grass-finished Beef Production System in the Channelled Scablands Range Area of East-central Washington. https://pubs.extension.wsu.edu/2008-estimated-costs-and-returns-for-a-150head-cowcalf-to-grassfinished-beef-production-system-in-the-channelled-scablands-range-area-of-eastcentral-washington

Dr. Kirk Davies, lead range scientist at the Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center (EOARC) in Burns discusses with Tip invasive annual grass (IAG) on western rangelands and current research into promising new approaches to biological control of cheatgrass and ventenata. The conversation weaves in the role of fire in semi-arid shrub-steppe ecosystems, challenges in rehabilitating annual grass-infested rangeland, grazing as a biological control for cheatgrass, the pros and cons of sagebrush plants as refugia, and Dr. Davies' thoughts on how to promote perennial grasses simultaneous with grazing IAG.

SURVEY

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TRANSCRIPT

The full transcript of this episode is available at: https://www.dropbox.com/home/Art%20of%20Range%20transcripts

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

The scientists at the EOARC are prolific publishers. This OSU/USDA research station makes their journal articles and research papers available to the public on their website. https://oregonstate.edu/dept/EOARC/publication and https://oregonstate.edu/dept/EOARC/resources-0

Journal article: An Alternative Management Paradigm for Plant Communities Affected by Invasive Annual Grass in the Intermountain West. May 2018 in Rangelands by Berry Perryman, Brad Schultz, Kent McAdoo, Sherman Swanson. Full text available at https://bit.ly/2LblZBl.

Implications of Longer Term Rest from Grazing in the Sagebrush Steppe, journal article by Kirk Davies, Martin Vavra, Brad Schultz, and Neil Rimbey. They conclude from a wide literature review that "Not grazing can cause an accumulation of fine fuels that increase fire risk and severity and, subsequently, the probability of sagebrush steppe rangelands converting to exotic annual grasslands. One common theme they found was that shifts in plant communities (i.e., exotic annual grass invasion and western juniper encroachment), caused in part from historical improper grazing, cannot be reversed by long-term rest. This synthesis suggests that land managers should carefully consider if long-term rest will actually achieve their management goals and if a change in grazing management would achieve similar results." https://oregonstate.edu/dept/EOARC/sites/default/files/publication/798.pdf

Adaptive Management for Invasive Annual Grasses: A Step-By-Step User's Guide for Implementing EBIPM, by Roger Sheley, Brenda Smith, Kimberly Reever-Morghan, and Tony Svejcar. 40pp. https://s3.amazonaws.com/sfc-dynamic-content/uploadfiles/152/Adaptive%20Management%20sm.pdf

Grazing Invasive Annual Grasses: The Green & Brown Guide, by Brenda Smith, Roger Sheley, and Tony Svejcar. https://naldc.nal.usda.gov/download/55316/PDF

Post-fire Grazing Management in the Great Basin, fact sheet for Sage Grouse Initiative. https://www.sagegrouseinitiative.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/7_Post-fire_Grazing.pdf

Guest Fred Provenza and Tip talk about how animals and environment affect each other in what Dr. Provenza calls a dance—a dance he’s written about in his brand-new book “Nourishment”. Tip and Fred discuss the 40 years of research that led to the writing of this capstone book. Along the way, they discuss how domestic animals can be selected or trained to match their environment and how this intersects with ecological, economic, and social resilience of rangeland-based livestock operations.

Art of Range podcast show notes (www.artofrange.com)

Episode 4: Dr. Fred Provenza, matching animal to environment

Guest Fred Provenza, professor emeritus, Utah State University, and host Tip Hudson discuss Dr. Provenza’s lifetime of research on the complex relationships among animals and their environments, particularly with regard to diet and animal health.

SURVEY

Please take 60 seconds to complete this quick 5-question survey and to access continuing education credits (CPRM only): https://wsu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4GHpHVHlsouSorr

TRANSCRIPT

A full transcript is available at: https://www.dropbox.com/home/Art%20of%20Range%20transcripts?preview=AoR_004_Fred_Provenza.clean.txt

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

BEHAVE project. www.behave.net. (Behavioral Education for Human, Animal, Vegetation, and Ecosystem Management)

WSU Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources: Northwest rangelands and climate resiliency. http://csanr.wsu.edu/northwest-rangelands/

2013 Provenza paper "Complex Creative Systems". https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/rangelands/article/download/19605/19238

Dr. Provenza's new book, "Nourishment: What Animals Can Teach Us about Rediscovering Our Nutritional Wisdom". https://www.amazon.com/Nourishment-Animals-Rediscovering-Nutritional-Wisdom-ebook/dp/B07KJH3FQD/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1543443718&sr=8-1&keywords=books+by+fred+provenza

Dr. Provenza's book, The Art & Science of Shepherding". https://www.amazon.com/Art-Science-Shepherding-Michel-Meuret/dp/1601730691/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1543443776&sr=8-2&keywords=books+by+fred+provenza

Recipe for rose hip tea: https://www.earthfoodandfire.com/wild-rose-hip-tea/

WSU publications on fetal programming in beef cattle

Feeding Beef Cattle I: The Realities of Low-Quality Forages. https://pubs.wsu.edu/ItemDetail.aspx?ProductID=15519&SeriesCode=&CategoryID=&Keyword=Beef

Feeding Beef Cattle II: Fetal Programming--Rethinking Cow/Calf Feeding Programs. https://pubs.wsu.edu/ItemDetail.aspx?ProductID=15547&SeriesCode=&CategoryID=&Keyword=Beef

Articles on cow body size

Article by John Scasta, Univ. of Wyoming range specialist. https://www.westernfarmerstockman.com/beef/finding-sweet-spot-cow-size

Article by Kris Ringwall, NDSU beef specialist. https://www.drovers.com/article/beeftalk-finding-right-cow-size-not-simple

Article by Dillon Feuz and Jesse Russell, Colorado State University. http://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/agriculture/the-optimal-cow-size-for-intermountain-cow-calf-operations-3-767/

University of Florida article, Relationship of Cow Size to Nutrient Requirements and Production Management Issues. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/an226

Floyd Reed, retired US Forest Service range conservationist, discusses with Tip a book he co-authored several years ago with Dave Bradford and Robbie LeValley examining landscape photographs taken in Western Colorado between 1885 and 1915. They found those sites and repeated the photographs. The book is titled, “When the Grass Stood Stirrup-High: Facts, Photographs, and Myths of West-Central Colorado”. Tip & Floyd discuss photographic monitoring methods that can be used by ranchers and range professionals.

TRANSCRIPT

The full transcript of this episode is available at: https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-3-floyd-reed-landscape-change-over-time

Books or resources mentioned in the podcast:

When the Grass Stood Stirrup-High, by Dave Bradford, Floyd Reed, and Robbie LeValley is available through Colorado State University Cooperative Extension, Tri-River Area, 525 Dodge St, Delta CO, 81416. Ph: 970-874-2195.

Rangeland Through Time, by Kendall Johnson, is available online at http://rangelands.org/wy_photos/RangeThroughTime/RangeThroughTime.html. It can be purchased through Amazon or other online book sellers. https://www.amazon.com/Rangeland-through-time-photographic-Miscellaneous/dp/0941570053.

Re-discovering the Big Horns: a pictorial study of 75 years of ecological change, by John George Jack, 1976. Available from used book sellers.

Exploring with Custer: The 1874 Black Hills Expedition, by Ernest Grafe and Paul Horsted, published in 2002. https://www.amazon.com/Exploring-Custer-Black-Hills-Expedition/dp/0971805318/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1542157323&sr=8-2&keywords=Exploring+With+Custer

"Beginnings of Range Management: Albert F. Potter, First Chief of Grazing, U.S. Forest Service, and a Photographic Comparison of his 1902 Forest Reserve Survey in Utah with Conditions 100 Years Later”. July 2005. David A. Prevedel & Curtis M. Johnson. https://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs_journals/2005/rmrs_2005_prevedel_d001.pdf

University of Idaho publication on photomonitoring, rancher field guide with photoboard: https://www.cals.uidaho.edu/edcomm/pdf/PNW/PNW672.pdf

University of Idaho publication on photo monitoring procedures: https://www.cals.uidaho.edu/edcomm/pdf/PNW/PNW671.pdf

Photomonitoring guide by Fred Hall, USFS. This is the gold standard for fixed point, repeat photography: https://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/gtr526/

The Glass Cage, by Nicholas Carr. https://tinyurl.com/y8kal673

The Age of Interruption, by Thomas Friedman. https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/05/opinion/05friedman.html

A Crack in Creation, https://www.amazon.com/Crack-Creation-Editing-Unthinkable-Evolution/dp/0544716949

Guest Dr. Karen Launchbaugh and host Tip Hudson discuss grazing management philosophies, changes in scientific understanding of plant community dynamics over the last 50 years, and grazing terminology.

SURVEY

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TRANSCRIPT

The full transcript of this episode is available at: https://bit.ly/2DLNd1q

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

State and transition modeling: an ecological process approach. https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcs144p2_050801.pdf

Land EKG Grazing Response Index: http://www.landekg.com/newsletter-200909/

Original Grazing Response Index: https://www.blm.gov/or/programs/nrst/files/Grazing%20_Response_Index.pdf

Targeted Grazing Handbook, by Univ. of Idaho: http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/rx-grazing/Handbook.htm

Politics of Scale, by Nathan Sayre. https://amzn.to/2Qif7DA

Guest Karen Launchbaugh and host Tip Hudson discuss grazing management principles that apply everywhere, coordinating grazing management across multiple ownerships, stocking rate planning for long-term rangeland health, and the pros and cons of common grazing rules of thumb.

SURVEY

Please take 60 seconds to complete this quick 5-question survey: https://wsu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4GHpHVHlsouSorr

TRANSCRIPT

A full transcript is available at: https://bit.ly/2NfeCIq

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Land EKG Grazing Response Index: http://www.landekg.com/newsletter-200909/

Original Grazing Response Index: https://www.blm.gov/or/programs/nrst/files/Grazing%20_Response_Index.pdf

Journal article "Practical Grazing Management to Meet Riparian Objectives", by Sherman Swanson: https://journals.lib.uidaho.edu/index.php/jra/article/view/16

Burkhardt & Sanders paper, "Management of Growing Season Grazing in the Sagebrush Steppe": https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/rangelands/article/view/19540/19175

Targeted Grazing Handbook website and publications: http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/rx-grazing/handbook.htm