StockSmart grazing decision support tool with temporally and spatially explicit above-ground herbaceous biomass data and animal terrain use modeling supports dynamic stocking rates and grazing planning to support ecosystem services and profitable land use
Extension Education
Tipton Hudson
Washington State University
Ellensburg
Abstract
Grassland, shrubland, and savanna ecosystems worldwide are grazed by large ungulates, including domestic livestock. These rangelands are critical for human flourishing and are vulnerable to overuse and degradation when socio-economic conditions or cultural pressures incentivize overuse. On large grazing areas, whether used as private property or as common pool resources, the ability of plant communities to retain rangeland health attributes of soil stability, hydrologic function, and biotic integrity depend on both stocking rate and deliberate control of grazing timing, duration, frequency, and residual dry matter. Sustainable stocking rates depend on judicious allocation of available forage. Balancing forage supply with animal demand is a critical planning precursor to animal distribution effort. Historical stocking rate tools have assumed that land managers have accurate information on forage quantity and that a static sustainable stocking rate can be developed in dynamic, complex ecosystems. But in arid and semi-arid ecosystems already defined by resource scarcity and prone to threshold events driven by abiotic variables, the inherent interannual variability of precipitation and unpredictable net primary annual herbaceous production is especially fraught with peril for ranchers and pastoralists. Washington State University Extension, in partnership with the University of Arizona, the Rangeland Productivity Monitoring Service, and Fuelcast, developed a grazing decision support tool (StockSmart) that incorporates historical forage production and variability with user-defined animal behavior prediction and spatial distribution to predict livestock terrain use. StockSmart allows spatially-explicit stocking calculations and grazing planning based on available and accessible forage rather than total net primary production. It allows testing infrastructure investments against increases in forage availability. These considerations are critical to plan grazing patterns that support ecosystem services, including human food, wildlife habitat, soil carbon, clean water, and biodiversity.
Poster has NOT been presented at any previous NACAA AM/PIC
This poster is being submitted for judging. It will be displayed at the AM/PIC if not selected as a State winner. The abstract will be published in the proceedings.
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Authors: Tipton Hudson
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Hudson, T. Extension rangeland & livestock management specialist, Washington State University, Washington, 98926