Guidelines for Setting “Proper” Stocking Rate

1. Guidelines for Setting “Proper” Stocking Rate

2. Natural & Human Resources Grazing Management Decisions Community Response • LivestockSpecies • cattle, sheep, goats or horses • Stocking Rate • how many animals • Grazing System • season of grazing • season of rest • duration of grazing Climate Topography Veg. Community Wildlife Mgmt. Philosophy & Goals Vegetation Community Livestock Production Wildlife Community Important point: Once grazing management decisions are made, there are continual interactions between livestock, wildlife, & vegetation

3. Four Grazing Mgmt Factors: • Number of Animals (How Many?) • Type of Animal (What?) • Time of Grazing (When?) • Duration or Length of Grazing (How Long?)

4. Carrying Capacity • The number of animals that a piece of land can support on a long-term basis without causing damage to the ecosystem. • Land and vegetation determine grazing capacity • Expressed as animals/area/year (usually acres per AUM per year) • Land is usually bought and sold on this basis

5. Stocking Rate • The number of animals a land manager places on a piece of land for a specified period of time. • Must include 3 elements: • Number of animals or Animal Unit • Specific area (acres or hectares) • Specific period of time (days or months) • Most important grazing decision because it affects:

6. Animal Unit (AU) 1,000 pounds of grazing animal … ruminant AUE#/AU Cow = 1 1 Horse = 1.8 .56 Yearling Steer = .75 1.3 Sheep = .2 5 Jackrabbit = .02 50 Animal Unit Equivalent (AUE) = A conversion factor reflecting the # of AU in an average animal

7. Forage Demand of Animal Ruminants Hind-Gut Fermentors • Eat 2.5% of body weight/day in dry matter of forage. • Cattle, sheep, goats • Deer, elk, bighorn sheep, moose, etc. • Eat 3.5% of body weight/day in dry matter of forage. • Horses • Rabbits and rodents

8. Animal Unit Month (AUM) • Amount of forage an AU will eat in a month How many pounds is this? • AU = 1,000 pound of ruminant grazing animal • Ruminants eat 2.5% of body weight each day • 30 days in a month 1,000 lb ×2.5% ×30 days = 750 lbs of forage

9. Proper Stocking Rate? Range Health standpoint

10. Basis for Stocking Rates • Proper stocking based on maintaining sufficient plant residue for: • Maintain soil condition • Reduce erosion • Add organic matter • Photosynthetic material to provide carbohydrates for recover • Forage for other animals in ecosystem

11. Utilization Guidelines: Based on ecological research % Use of Major Plants 30-40 40-50 30-40 30-40 Range Type Sagebrush grasslands Shortgrass prairie Coniferous Forest Oak woodlands Research shows that an amount of biomass can be removed each year and the plant can still regrow and sustain itself from year to year. These “sustainable” levels of utilization are called “Proper Use Factors”

12. Basis for “Allowable Use” or “Recommended Use” Level Total Forage × Recommended Use = Usable Forage Supply http://forestandrange.org/modules/livestockwildlife/edu/Presentation6.ppt

13. Heavy use ≠ Overgrazing • Overgrazing = repeated heavy grazing such that damage to the plant community occurs. • Overstocking = heavy grazing during a specific season such that high levels of utilization are observable. Overstocking does not always lead to Overgrazing

14. For Rangeland Health:Set Stocking Rates Below Carrying Capacity • Healthy soil. • Slows weedy plant invasion. • Improves drought resistance. • Improves condition of degraded land.

15. Proper Stocking Rate? Animal Production standpoint

16. Stocking rate affects cattle gains: Production per animal

17. Stocking rate affects cattle gains: Production per animal • Competition for existing forage • High quality forage reduced and animals need to each lower quality plants • Animals need to work harder and travel farther for forage • Increased stress and interaction with other animals can increase disease

18. Stocking rate affects total production: Production per acre

19. Proper stocking rate? maximum per animal maximum per acre

20. Proper stocking rate? maximum per animal maximum per acre Optimal Stocking Rate – between max/animal and max/acre

21. For Livestock Production:Set Stocking Rates At or Below Carrying Capacity • Desirable production per animal • Optimal production of animals per acre • What is “Desirable” or “Optimal” depends on the managers goals and objectives.

22. How do you set stocking rate? Balance supply with demand • Simple Four–Step Method

23. 4-step or Forage Demand Method • Calculate usable forage • Adjust for terrain, water, or other constraints • Calculate forage demand of animals • Calculate stocking rate

24. 4-step or Forage Demand Method The forage demand method is used: • When you have no stocking information from previous years • To estimate carrying capacity in biological surveys or land appraisal • When considering changes in kind or class of animals

25. Establish stocking rate based on: • Past experience • Current situation • Long-range weather forecast • Financial goals • Etc.

26. Set a Stocking Rate and Then Monitor! With this method stocking rate is determined by trial and error over years and then monitored by: • Range Trend = changes in plant composition or rangeland health over time

27. Grazing Principles • Which animal -Animal Species & Class • How may animals –Stocking Rate • When to grazing or not graze -Grazing System Match number and type of animal to the rangeland vegetation, topography and climate