Cattle growth goals and livestock use of large, topographically challenging landscapes have been at odds for some decades. Weaning weights went up, cow weights went up, and herd distribution on rangelands went down. Dr. Jim Sprinkle, an Extension beef specialist at the University of Idaho, has been doing research over those same decades that is providing guidance on developing cows that do both, leading to herds that are more efficient on feed and graze hillsides -- the Perfect Range Cow. This has significant implications for reducing land use conflicts, particularly with riparian grazing concerns on public lands, but also profitability and sustainability of range livestock operations.
The Art of Range Podcast is supported by the Idaho Rangeland Resources Commission; Vence, a subsidiary of Merck Animal Health; and the Western Extension Risk Management Education Center.
Visit the episode page at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-170-dr-jim-sprinkle-perfect-range-cow for a full transcript of the interview and links to resources mentioned in the episode.
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Cattle growth goals and livestock use of large, topographically challenging landscapes have been at odds for some decades. Weaning weights went up, cow weights went up, and herd distribution on rangelands went down. Dr. Jim Sprinkle, an Extension beef specialist at the University of Idaho, has been doing research over those same decades that is providing guidance on developing cows that do both, leading to herds that are more efficient on feed and graze hillsides -- the Perfect Range Cow. This has significant implications for reducing land use conflicts, particularly with riparian grazing concerns on public lands, but also profitability and sustainability of range livestock operations.
The Art of Range Podcast is supported by the Idaho Rangeland Resources Commission; Vence, a subsidiary of Merck Animal Health; and the Western Extension Risk Management Education Center.
Visit the episode page at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-170-dr-jim-sprinkle-perfect-range-cow for a full transcript of the interview and links to resources mentioned in the episode.
AoR 160: Dan Dagget on People's Contributions to Nature and Ecosystem Successes in the Southwest
The Art of Range
1 hour 25 seconds
4 months ago
AoR 160: Dan Dagget on People's Contributions to Nature and Ecosystem Successes in the Southwest
Dan Dagget was one of the original members of EarthFirst!, one of the more radical environmental activist organizations of the last 50 years. In his efforts to achieve health for the Earth’s ecosystems, however, he found himself conflicted over environmentalism’s means and the ends those means actually achieved. With that in mind, he began investigating and writing about success stories where active participation by humans in the ecosystems they depended on for livelihoods made the environment healthier than if they were not there. Two of his books, "Beyond the Rangeland Conflict" and "Gardeners of Eden - Rediscovering Our Importance to Nature" have thus been influential for many of us concerned about the serious environmental problems confronting the contemporary American West.
The Art of Range Podcast is supported by the Idaho Rangeland Resources Commission; Vence, a subsidiary of Merck Animal Health; and the Western Extension Risk Management Education Center.
Visit the episode page at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-160-dan-dagget-peoples-contributions-nature-and-ecosystem-successes-southwest-us for links to more of Dan's work, including photos on his website which he mentions in the interview, and these books.
The Art of Range
Cattle growth goals and livestock use of large, topographically challenging landscapes have been at odds for some decades. Weaning weights went up, cow weights went up, and herd distribution on rangelands went down. Dr. Jim Sprinkle, an Extension beef specialist at the University of Idaho, has been doing research over those same decades that is providing guidance on developing cows that do both, leading to herds that are more efficient on feed and graze hillsides -- the Perfect Range Cow. This has significant implications for reducing land use conflicts, particularly with riparian grazing concerns on public lands, but also profitability and sustainability of range livestock operations.
The Art of Range Podcast is supported by the Idaho Rangeland Resources Commission; Vence, a subsidiary of Merck Animal Health; and the Western Extension Risk Management Education Center.
Visit the episode page at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-170-dr-jim-sprinkle-perfect-range-cow for a full transcript of the interview and links to resources mentioned in the episode.