The Art of Range

Dr. Nathan Sayre has written a delightful book on the origins and history of rangelands science, public ownership, agency management, and grazing philosophy in the United States. Join Tip and Nathan as they discuss his background building fence on ranches on the Southwest, his pathway to the sociology of rangelands, and then surprising findings in Sayre’s book research. Finally, they visit about recommendations for modern range management. Transcript and links at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-136-politics-scale-history-rangeland-science-nathan-sayre-re-release

Our language both reveals and shapes our internal philosophy about all of the beings and things in the world. And it guides our behaviors and interactions with those things -- humans, animals, plants, and non-living things. Yet these below-the-hood inclinations are formed very informally, usually without conscious thought. This interview with Anna Clare follows from an article in Rangelands on whether we should consider cattle 'partners' rather than 'tools' and invites the listener to ponder this not-so-esoteric question. Transcript and links are available at: https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-135-are-cows-tools-effects-language-anna-clare-monlezun

Maybe there is no silver bullet, no holy grail of grazing. But there are patterns of grazing impacts that work well for particular plant communities, and good grazing managers give attention to these effects and modify them over time to achieve landscape goals. Jim Howell is the founder of Grasslands, LLC, a ranch management company that directs grazing on over 320,000 acres of land around the world. Jim discusses lessons learned in observing and and manipulating grazing patterns in the varied ecology of places like Florida, Western Colorado, New Zealand, Montana. Transcript and links at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-134-contextual-adaptive-grazing-management-patterns-jim-howell

"Decades of scientific research on grazing and soil organic carbon (SOC) has failed to form a cohesive understanding of how grazing management affects SOC stocks -- characterized by different formation and stabilization pathways—across different climatic contexts." This quote from the introduction to the review paper "Ruminating on soil carbon: Applying current understanding to inform grazing management" frames the dilemma we're discussing in this episode. How can common management levers that define overall grazing pattern, including timing, intensity, duration, and frequency, be used to optimize mechanistic pathways of SOC sequestration? These authors offer a framework for beginning to answer this important question. The transcript for this episode and link to the paper are at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-133-ruminating-soil-carbon-paige-stanley-jim-howell-ariel-greenwood-chris-wilson.

Solar "farms" have met with resistance in Middle America because they often displace food farms, taking arable land out of production. But what if solar energy could be harvested at a utility scale on top of food or forage? This is the face of solar energy research today, and AnnaClare Monlezun is leading some of this research on White Oak Pastures, a livestock farm in Georgia owned by Will Harris. Listen to AnnaClare describe how agriculturalists are optimizing these potentially compatible land uses. Transcript and links to resources mentioned in this episode at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-132-are-agrivoltaics-viable-new-frontier-green-energy-anna-clare-monlezun

It's been said there is wisdom in a multitude of counselors. But in the same way that not all practice makes perfect, only good practice, it's important to listen to people with a proven record of range management success. This panel of experienced range professionals discusses principles that have helped them adapt well personally and professionally to change. Join my discussion with John Ruhs, Annie Overland, James Stewart, and Liz Munn recorded during the 2024 SRM plenary session. Transcript and links mentioned in this episode at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-131-society-range-mgmt-plenary-2-change-range-experienced-professionals

It's been said that the only thing that is certain is change. These young rangeland professionals engage in interview discussion around what "Change on the Range" means to them. The 2023 annual meeting plenaries addressed the synthetic nature of rangeland science and the necessity of working across disciplinary and geographic and social boundaries to be effective. Effective change may require all of that. Join Katherine Haile, Paige Stanley, Kaelie Pena, Josh Tashiro, and Melissa Lackore in our conversation about rangelands and productive change. TRANSCRIPT AND LINKS AT https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-130-society-range-management-plenary-change-range-young-professionals

Neighbors helping neighbors fight fire--this is the goal of Rangeland Fire Protection Associations (RFPAs) according to the Idaho Dept of Lands: "RFPAs empower local landowners to protect their own property and their neighbors’ where fire protection services are limited or not available. RFPAs can also respond to fires nearby that would otherwise take time for other firefighting agencies to reach." Mike Guerry, a French Basque 3rd generation rancher, has been instrumental in establishing and supporting RFPAs in Idaho. Under this cooperative arrangement, landowners and ranchers are able to coordinate with fire agencies in active firefighting. Transcript and links at: https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-129-rangeland-fire-protection-associations-basque-rancher-mike-guerry

Australia is hosting the IRC2025 in Adelaide, and this is the biggest rangelands event leading up to the 2026 UN International Year of Rangelands & Pastoralists. Australia boasts more rangeland than the United States, with wild, open spaces everywhere. Andrew and Nicole discuss uniquenesses of Australia, challenges common to other parts of the world, and the 7 themes of the congress. This event is an excellent opportunity to visit this less-peopled continent with a fascinating history. Submit to present at the conference by June 2, and check out the pre-congress tour options, which will sell out fast. Go to https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-128-international-rangelands-congress-2025-nicole-spiegel-andrew-ash for resources mentioned in this episode and a transcript of the conversation.

"Layer something on your dirt that increases revenue opportunities and reduces risk." Clay Worden and James Rogers offer capstone comments on The Art of Range ranch financial resiliency series, from the importance of leveraging land assets (the big value in a ranch property) to tracking and managing production unit costs and revenues. Transcript and links at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-127-ranch-financial-success-bigger-cow-profits-clay-worden-james-rogers

Is it possible to generate renewable energy, beef, and wildlife habitat in the same space? Long-time collaborators Puget Sound Energy, WSU Extension, Stingley Ranches, and Washington Dept of Fish & Wildlife have proven the reality of this unlikely combination for more than 15 years on sagebrush ecosystems in the Intermountain West. The Wild Horse Coordinated Resource Management group has been managing grazing and a wide diversity of wildlife species on a wind energy facility since 2007, with a stable grazing process, abundant non-game and game species, and power for 80,000 households. The wind farm has facilitated, rather than diminished, habitat conservation through funding rehabilitation, stockwater, and innovative grazing in addition to preventing housing development on extraordinarily valuable habitat. Transcript and links at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-126-renewable-energy-wildlife-grazing-jeff-tayer-ryan-stingley-jennifer-galbraith.

The North Complex Fire of 2020 was estimated to produce more carbon dioxide and pollutants in one week than all of the cars in California in one year. That fire was in the list of 5 biggest fires in state history until it got surpassed by the August Complex Fire the same year. But it remains one of the deadliest, with 15 human deaths. This fire also burned to death hundreds of cows and calves, and that toll should not be forgotten. We can have theoretical and scientific discussions about how much wild fire to allow, how much prescribed fire to initiate, and how much forest to thin, but these discussion must consider the high psychological and human costs of large, catastrophic wildfires. Dave Daley knows this in a way most of us will never experience, and he hopes no one else does. This story covers ranch history, fire history, massive plant community shifts, horrific cattle deaths, and the impact of large wildfire on Dave's family. Transcript and links at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-125-human-costs-catastrophic-wildfire-dave-daley

Jim Gerrish is in the top 10 names known to ranchers in grazing management. His career, both as a researcher and as a rancher, spans animal nutrition, plant and community physiology, East and West, irrigated and dryland, rhizomatous and caespitose. Our conversation covers all of that as well as livestock industry history, the decline in sheep production in the early 20th century, and rules of thumb for grazing and grazing economics. Listen in on a wide-ranging conversation about grazing principles across the U.S. TRANSCRIPT AND RESOURCES MENTIONED AT https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-124-jim-gerrish-50-years-grazing-science.

Listen to Jay Smith, a rancher in Idaho, and Joel Yelich, a University of Idaho researcher, describe their experience managing cattle on a 100,000 acre U.S. Forest Service grazing permit that had burned the year before. Jay was able to keep grazing the permit because virtual fence allowed him to keep cattle off the burn footprint without putting up barbed wire or hotwire. Most rangeland grazing problems are related to animal distribution, and wireless fence may prove to be a game-changing distribution technology, almost a back-to-the-future approach to managing livestock distribution on large landscapes, places where physical fence is not feasible or advisable anymore. Virtual fence can enable effective herding on land with challenging topography and vegetation. This episode is sponsored by the Idaho Rangeland Resources Commission and Life on the Range: https://idrange.org/life-on-the-range/. Transcript and links at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-123-virtual-fence-action-wild-open-spaces-idaho-jay-smith-joel-yelich. Find The Art of Range Podcast on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/people/The-Art-of-Range-Podcast/61553627982252/.

Are you optimistic about 2024? This brief non-interview provides an overview of upcoming content on The Art of Range and an invitation to become a more active listener. Thanks so much for listening. And I'm optimistic, by the way.

Should we keep the farm? Can we afford to keep farming and ranching? How do conservation easements work? How much could an easement help? What do I have to give up? Food production is important (No Farms, No Food, No Future), but it has to pay enough to support a family in order to persist. Addie Candib is American Farmland Trust's Northwest director and is an advocate for local and regional land trusts. She walks through the legal and financial mechanisms involved in putting all or part of a ranch into a conservation easement and how that can benefit family businesses that are asset-rich and cash-poor. If that describes your operation, this episode is for you. RESOURCES AND TRANSCRIPT AT https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-121-addie-candib-what-are-agricultural-land-trusts.

What if grazed wild, open spaces were actually open? Is barbed wire still useful? Can we afford it? Are there other ways to control livestock distribution today? Would other options be "better"? Fenceless control of livestock has been discussed for decades, and these technologies may mimic herding, which was practiced nearly everywhere, at least on large landscapes, up until the invention and adoption of barbed wire in the late 1800s. This interview discusses pros and cons of permanent wire fence, hoped-for benefits of virtual fence, varieties of virtual fence systems, and the many applications for the deliberate, targeted grazing made possible through virtual fence, and much more. SHOW NOTES & TRANSCRIPT AT https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-120-could-virtual-fence-transform-rangeland-grazing-launchbaugh-deavila-pearson

Rangelands and people inevitably change. Managing that change involves people influencing people. The Society for Range Management's international annual meeting is the flagship ecological event of the year, bringing together ranchers, researchers, agency land managers, students, and other professionals from all over the world to share information and encourage one another. Dave Voth and Meghan Brown have worked hard to make this interaction productive and enjoyable. Listen in on this discussion about the content and goals for this meeting in the heart of American rangeland, Sparks, Nevada, including live interview plenary sessions to be broadcast live on The Art of Range. Don't miss this conversation and this important meeting! TRANSCRIPT AND LINKS AT https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-119-change-range-2024-nevada-meghan-brown-dave-voth.

Can grazing be used to help ecosystem function or is 'do no harm' the best we can do? What is meant by the new buzzword "regenerative"? Graeme Hand has been teaching and practicing grazing decision-making for a long time and has championed the idea of experimentation at spatial scales at which failing is not fatal to the environment or a livelihood. Kevin Muno is a rancher in southern California trying these ideas out at the ranch scale. We discuss measuring success using Landscape Function Analysis, a system developed in Australia by CSIRO and similar to the NRCS rangeland health matrix. TRANSCRIPT AND LINKS AT https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-118-safe-fail-experimentation-regenerative-grazing-graeme-hand-kevin-muno.

"Beef is what's for dinner; open space is what's for dessert." Rick Knight is a wildlife professor who has spent decades bridging ranchers and environmentalists (whatever that means now). His research has shown that private ranchlands are critical for wildlife and that grazing may be quite important for conservation of habitat values. Transcript and links to resources mentioned in this episode at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-117-ranching-radical-middle-rick-knight-reloaded.

Anna Clare is a rangeland ecosystem scientist, systems thinker, synthesizer, and collaborative facilitator. This interview continues with one of the major themes of the SRM Ecosystem Services report introduced in episode 111 with Lauren Porensky and Jeff Goodwin -- human dimensions of ecosystems, including sociocultural valuations. The conversation spans ways of identifying and valuing intangible ecosystem services, the Millenium Ecosystem Assessment terminology for these concepts, using Q statistical methodology to identify commonalities in sociological data rather than differences, and the perspectives of ranchers on "Nature's Contributions to People." A rancher herself, she brings her unique skillset to natural resource and grazing management in both her for-profit company, Graze LLC, and non-profit organization, Rangeland Living Laboratory. Transcript and links to resources mentioned in this episode are at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-116-understanding-natures-contributions-people-anna-clare-monlezun.

Napier Downs is a million-acre cattle station in the Kimberley region of Northwestern Australia. They export Red Brahman yearlings live to Indonesia, 15-20,000 animals per year, raised in a tropical savanna. We discuss the humanitarian importance of this live export market, the love-hate relationship with fire in this part of the world, land tenure arrangements on pastoral leases, and the distinctives that gave Napier Downs cattle a reputation for being the best in NW Australia. James is an Australian native and Barbara is a transplant from Scotland who has found her niche and her voice. Join Tip in his discussion with James & Barbara Camp. TRANSCRIPT AND SHOW NOTES available at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-115-cattle-raising-kimberley-australia-james-barbara-camp.

This is a re-release of one of the first episodes on The Art of Range. Fred Provenza discusses ideas from decades of research and experience on how animals and environment affect each other. Dr. Provenza calls this interaction a dance, which he has written about in his book “Nourishment”. Discussion includes 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. Full transcript and links to resources mentioned in this episode are at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-114-best-aor-fred-provenza-animal-environment-interactions-re-release.

How does your agricultural business compare to similar operations in financial performance metrics? That's the question answered by benchmarking. Megan Shroyer is the president of Montana AgWest Farm Credit Services and she offers guidance on how to properly use benchmarking as one element of understanding and managing ranch financial health. Financial stress is usually what causes a ranch to call it quits. Even though society values the intangible ecosystem services provided by large landscapes, there are still few mechanisms to monetize these services. Megan describes the range of services offered by AgWest Farm Credit to help agricultural business thrive, including low-interest grants for beginning farmers and ranchers. Find the transcript and show notes at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-113-agricultural-financial-benchmarking-megan-shroyer-agwest-farm-credit.

Is environmentally sound livestock grazing more financially viable than overgrazing or just thoughtless grazing? If so, why? Dave Voth is a rancher in Nevada who helps lead the Society for Range Management's Good Grazing Makes Cent$ Program, an effort to take range science directly to those who make a living on the land. At least in rangeland settings, there are no future farmers without stewardship today, because economics are tied to ecology. Listen to Dave describe the intent of this outreach program for land managers of all types. Learn more about Good Grazing Makes Cent$ at https://goodgrazing.org/. Membership in GGMC includes SRM membership! Don't miss this two-for-the-price-of-one deal. Transcript available at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-112-good-grazing-makes-cent-dave-voth

A new report published by the Society for Range Management, Connecting Nature and People, outlines key ecosystem services provided by rangelands and their benefits to society. Agricultural Research Service scientist Lauren Porensky and Texas A&M Center for Grazinglands and Ranch Management director Jeff Goodwin discuss the report’s origins, framework, and upcoming plans for the project. A transcript of this interview and the Ecosystem Services report link are available at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-111-ecosystem-services-connecting-nature-people-lauren-porensky-jeff-goodwin.

Remotely-sensed data products are not new, but applications using these data that are available and useful to landowners are relatively new. Matt Reeves discusses the current status of forage volume and phenological development across the Western U.S. (midsummer 2023) and the sources of data in useful fuel tools such as FuelCast, Rangeland Production Monitoring Service, Rangelands Analysis Platform, and ClimateEngine. Listen today to add NDVI, ANPP, RAP, RPMS, and more to your acronym arsenal. For transcript and show notes, visit https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-110-lots-grass-little-fire-yet-2023-fuelcasting-matt-reeves

Livestock distribution is the key to good grazing, and water is the limiting factor to distribution. What if you could have water anywhere, produced from air? Genesis Systems, a company founded by Dave Stuckenberg, now offers atmospheric water generation devices that could revolutionize grazing management. This sounds like science fiction, but there's no fiction, only cool science. Check out the company website and our transcript from the show notes page at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-109-atmospheric-water-generation-and-rangeland-grazing-david-stuckenberg.

Don Stuart is the author of a new book "No Farms, No Food: Uniting Farmers and Environmentalists to Transform American Agriculture", a history of American Farmland Trust and the origins of national-scale efforts to bring to America's attention the loss of farmland and the need for conservation effort. Don is a former commercial fisherman, lawyer, and Pacific Northwest regional director for American Farmland Trust. Addie Candib is the current PNW regional director for AFT. Addie and Don have been effective advocates for farming and liaisons between farmers and environmental interests for decades. TRANSCRIPT AND RESOURCES available at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-108-no-farms-no-food-don-stuart-addie-candib-farmland-conservation.

Plants and animals and weather patterns do not respect property boundaries, state lines, or national borders. Managing landscapes requires not the obliteration of human-defined boundaries but working across them. In this plenary session from the Society for Range Management's 2023 annual meeting, Tammy VerCautere and David and Holly Ollila describe their efforts to conserve wildlife species, especially grassland birds, in the Great Plains of the U.S. through the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies. Tate Lantz, a NRCS supervisor in South Dakota, moderates the discussion. SHOW NOTES AND TRANSCRIPT AT https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-107-srm-keynote-address-working-across-borders-tammy-vercauteren-ollila-family.

Rangeland science is not a single discipline but a synthesis of numerous scientific topics and lived experiences. Successful management of rangelands requires knowledge of soils, water, climate, plants, livestock, wildlife, humans, and much more. It is impossible to master all topics in a rangeland textbook or land management handbook. It takes a unique and confident person to recognize their limitations and reach across disciplines to accomplish the art of rangeland management. A successful example of this discipline mixing is the Rangeland Partnership, a group of rangeland extension professionals and librarians who work side by side to make relevant, authoritative information available to land managers. Accomplishments of the Rangeland Partnership include the Rangeland Gateway and RangeDocs which are searchable databases to help rangeland managers find high quality information. In this plenary we will hear from Tip Hudson, a rangeland & livestock Extension specialist, and Jeanne Pfander, an agricultural librarian, who discuss the value of reaching across disciplines to accomplish collaborative management. Eric Winford, Associate Director of the Idaho Rangeland Center, moderates this discussion. This is a recording from the SRM annual meeting in February 2023. Links and transcript at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-106-srm-keynote-address-working-across-disciplines-tip-hudson-jeanne-pfander. https://rangelands.org/annual-meeting-2023/

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

"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 1 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. See books and articles mentioned in this episode as well as the full transcript of our conversation at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-95-charles-c-mann-americas-columbus-part-1.

The global nature of agricultural trade and market forces makes cattle price cycles less predictable, and this presents a different kind of risk than historical pricing pressures. But Dr. Shannon Neibergs, director of the Western Center for Risk Management and a livestock economist, believes there are real opportunities to respond to (in winter 2022-23). Listen in to learn about the current milieu. We conclude with Jack Field (CKP Insurance) on how Livestock Risk Protection can help you mitigate market volatility. RESOURCES Livestock Risk Protection for Feeder Cattle, USDA Risk Management Agency fact sheet, https://www.rma.usda.gov/Fact-Sheets/National-Fact-Sheets/Livestock-Risk-Protection-Feeder-Cattle Episode 66 on LRP, https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-66-livestock-price-risk-management-jack-field-shannon-neibergs TRANSCRIPT at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-94-current-cattle-market-risks-opportunities-shannon-neibergs-and-jack-field

"Nature’s regeneration was the primary source of the Pristine Myth." --Shawn Miller. The influence of the idea that the American continent was essentially untouched by man at the time of European arrival is great. The Pristine Myth, a term coined by William Denevan, a cultural geographer, strikes at prejudicial ideas about the primitive-ness of indigenous peoples. And the persistence of this idea reveals a desire to coerce modern man into a preservationist policy toward most public places. In this episode, Tip reads an article by William Denevan (91 yo, who declined to be interviewed about it but granted permission to release a verbatim reading. "After 1492: Nature Rebounds" is a 2016 article in Geographical Review, the oldest journal in the United States devoted to geography. The article makes the case that the apparent wilderness encountered in the 16th through 18th centuries reflected a landscape recently wiped clean of people, that there were a lot of people prior to 1492, and that our conception of wildlands mostly comes from an entire hemisphere that suddenly had few humans to influence it. For links to more articles by William Denevan and related resources, go to https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-93-after-1492-nature-rebounds-william-denevan-pristine-myth TRANSCRIPT: https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-93-after-1492-nature-rebounds-william-denevan-pristine-myth

The giant bathtubs off the western and southern coasts of North America contribute large amounts of heat and moisture to the continent, driving much of the climate (long-term) and weather (short-term) of the Western United States. And oceans have regular oscillations in temperature, which drives moisture delivery. Researchers looked at historical yearling cattle production data going back to 1939 at the Central Plains Experimental Range to see whether correlations existed between the Pacific Decadal Oscillation and the El Nino Souther Oscillation and cattle performance. Interactions between the PDO and ENSO have an effect on both rangeland production and livestock weight gain. Listen to this panel discussion with Drs. Justin Derner, David Augustine, and EJ Raynor to learn more. LINKS Best PDO info: https://ecowatch.noaa.gov/thematic/climate-indices EL NIÑO/SOUTHERN OSCILLATION (ENSO) information from NOAA: https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/enso_advisory/ensodisc.shtml PACIFIC DECADAL OSCILLATION information from NOAA: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/pdo/ ARTICLES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Colorado State University Extension publication "Early Warning for Stocking Decisions in Eastern Colorado", at https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/agriculture/early-warning-for-stocking-decisions-in-eastern-colorado-3-115/. "Large-scale and local climatic controls on large herbivore productivity: implications for adaptive rangeland management", in Ecological Applications (2020): https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/1354/23.%20Raynor%20et%20al.%202020%20Ecological%20Applications%20-%20climatic%20controls%20on%20LHP.pdf More information about the LTAR Network, https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/30123025/Publications/2022/Goodrich%20et%20al.%202022%20Hydrological%20Processes%20-Long%20term%20agroecosystem%20research%20experimental%20watershed%20network.pdf TRANSCRIPT at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-92-what-hath-ocean-currents-do-colorado-cattle-derner-augustine-and-raynor

What exactly are we hoping to sustain in applying the term sustainability to ranching? Without definition, sustainability could just be circular reasoning: "that which persists is sustainable". But this is not what is meant by any of the many proponents of rangeland-based livestock production. Dr. Sayre offers partial answers to this question and prompts to reader/listener to further thinking in this essay from 2005 read here by Tip. RESOURCES RELATED TO THIS EPISODE https://geography.berkeley.edu/professor-nathan-sayre TRANSCRIPT at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-91-nathan-sayre-essay-prospects-and-tools-sustainable-ranching-western-us

Measuring the financial health of a ranch operation is as important as measuring rangeland health. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) combine production and financial data into metrics that measure various elements of ranch financial health. Stan Bevers describes how to accurately calculate KPIs and use them to improve a cow-calf operation. OTHER RESOURCES Learn more about KPI calculations and values at https://www.ranchkpi.com/key-performance-indicators/key-performance-indicator-targets-for-cow-calf-operations/. King Ranch Institute, Go to krirm.tamuk.edu/ to see current learning opportunities. Northway Ranch Services, individualized administrative and financial help. northwayranchservices.com/ Heymer Management Accounting Services. Brenda can be reached at [email protected] or(806) 605-6101. TRANSCRIPT AVAILABLE AT https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-90-key-performance-indicators-measure-ranch-financial-health-stan-bevers

You need a ranch financial team. Keeping ranch financial records for tax purposes is not the same thing as managing the financial health of a ranch. Stan Bevers has been teaching and consulting on ranch finance for decades with Texas A&M Extension, the King Ranch Institute, and now RanchKPI. This is the first episode in a two-part series with Stan on managerial accounting and key performance indicators (KPIs). In this episode, co-hosted with James Rogers and Clay Worden, we discuss tax accounting v. managerial accounting, benchmarking, regional differences in KPI values and expectations, and the relationships among financial stability and environmental sustainability. As Clay says here: "If there's no margin, there's no mission." TRANSCRIPT available at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-89-ranch-managerial-accounting-stan-bevers RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Stan Bever website, https://www.ranchkpi.com/ King Ranch Institute, Go to https://krirm.tamuk.edu/ to see current learning opportunities. Northway Ranch Services, individualized administrative and financial help. https://northwayranchservices.com/ Heymer Management Accounting Services. Brenda can be reached at [email protected] or(806) 605-6101.

The summer of 2022 is nearly in the books, as they say, but range managers and graziers should pay attention to increasingly sophisticated tools to characterize both forage yield and fire risk in order to respond to annual and seasonal anomalies in forage quantity and type proactively. Listen to an update on 2022 conditions and a description of Fuelcast.net, a decision support platform that everyone should have in their range management toolbox. TRANSCRIPT coming soon at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-88-forage-fuel-fire-forecasts-matt-reeves RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE https://www.fuelcast.net/ Crop Condition and Soil Moisture Analytics: https://nassgeo.csiss.gmu.edu/CropCASMA/

Financial resiliency requires knowing and tracking costs of production and comparing the costs and revenues of a specific enterprise against other possible enterprises. In this second episode with Jack Southworth, James Rogers, and Clay Worden, they discuss the many ways every ranch's context is different from another's, highlighting the importance of spending some time working on the business and not just in the business. RESOURCES MENTIONED ON THE SHOW are available at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-87-intro-ranch-finance-part-2-jack-southworth-james-rogers-clay-worden TRANSCRIPT AVAILABLE SOON AT https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-87-intro-ranch-finance-part-2-jack-southworth-james-rogers-clay-worden