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Rangeland Resources Program

The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation’s Rangeland Resources Program (RRP) promotes and advocates for healthy, sustainable rangelands that supports people, wildlife, recreation, clean water, and the natural scenic beauty of Montana.

NEWS

Should I Sell Carbon Credits?
A Decision Guide for Ranchers

Land-based carbon accumulation has long been considered an essential element of climate mitigation strategies and is increasingly viewed as a potential source of purchasable credits for those seeking to offset emissions. Ranch owners and managers need a framework to make the most effective decisions about if, and how, entering into a carbon credit contract fits their business operations.

The following resources discuss the foundational concepts of carbon trading, key considerations for managing the development of credits, risks associated with entering a carbon credit contract, and economic and market considerations. Our goal is to inform ranchers so the best decisions can be made in an emerging and uncertain enterprise

King Ranch Institute Webinar and White paper on carbon credits, click here. 

Grass Cast- a tool for grazing

Grass-Cast indicates for ranchers and other grassland managers whether productivity (pounds per acre) is likely to be above-normal, near-normal, or below-normal in the upcoming growing season relative to the 30+ year history of their local area (individual 6-mile x 6-mile grid cells). Grass-Cast is first published in the spring (typically beginning in late April) and then updated every two weeks with newly observed weather data. It therefore becomes more accurate as the growing season unfolds and should be consulted throughout the growing season. 

Ranchers and rangeland managers will need to combine the information from Grass-Cast with their knowledge of local soils, plant communities, topography, grazing history, and other conditions as part of their decision-making process. Similarly, public land managers should not use Grass-Cast as a sole source of information for setting stocking rates, turnout dates, or other aspects of lease agreements, allotments, or permits.

Grass-Cast cannot tell the difference between desirable forage species and undesirable forage species. So, it is important for grassland managers to know what proportion of a pasture is occupied by weeds, and how well those weeds respond to rain (or lack of rain) compared to the desirable species. Monitor these different vegetation types to see if one is responding to the weather better than the other and adjust Grass-Cast’s productivity estimates accordingly.

For more information visit Grassland Production Forecast (unl.edu)

Hobo spiders in Montana

During late summer and early fall it is normal for spiders to enter buildings and homes. This includes hobo spiders which have long been prevalent in Montana. Common misconceptions about the hobo spider often cause unnecessary concern. For more information, please visit Hobo Spiders - MSU Extension IPM Program | Montana State University

Bair Ranch Foundation Seminar: The Last Stand of North America's Grassland Biome

Dirac Twidwell, associate professor of rangeland ecology at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln, will present "The Last Stand of North America's Grassland Biome" as the fourth installment of the Bair Ranch Foundation Seminar Series. 

Tax implications of forced cattle sales amid drought

Beef Magazine

Grazing: Judge denies appeal of BLM bison grazing decision

Gianforte, Knudsen denied appeal of BLM decision on American Prairie’s bison [r20.rs6.net], Daily Montanan - A federal administrative law judge has denied appeals by both Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte and a separate one filed by Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen that disagreed with a decision by the Bureau of Land Management to extend and add leasing acreage for American Prairie’s bison herd. The state, in several separate appeals, challenged the BLM’s decision to continue leases it currently holds with American Prairie, and one new leased parcel. Knudsen and Gianforte argued that fencing requirements were inappropriate, that bison could spread disease to cattle, and that allowing American Prairie would economically cripple the area, including Phillips County. However, Judge Veronica I. Larvie denied the appeal, saying that neither Gianforte nor Knudsen had presented specific evidence to support their claims. The appeal is another chapter in a long simmering battle with Gianforte and Knudsen opposing American Prairie’s vision of restoring prairie land by private land acquisition and leasing, as well as creating more public access to land and hunting, and adding bison herds. Gianforte and Knudsen have routinely opposed the organization’s plans, saying that it harms Montana’s agricultural community by taking land from commercial agriculture production and shifting it toward conservation.

Tips for minimizing storage losses of round bale hay

Connor Biehler & Steve Niemeyer, University of Nebraska-Lincoln | Oct 13, 2022

Storing big round hay bales by lining them up along the fence row may be easy, but it is not economical. Baled forage probably constitutes the highest percentage of winter feed cost we have wrapped up in a cow. The production of hay uses immense resources, and the ration quality is affected by hay quality. Storing dry hay on the ground without cover causes greater amount of spoilage when compared to other methods of storage. Results found from ranch research done in the Sandhills of Nebraska by the University of Nebraska Extension in 2005-2008 reported no significant nutrient changes in total dry matter pounds, pounds of crude protein or pounds of total digestible nutrients on native hay and alfalfa plots. However, visual damage losses after one year between covered and uncovered with twine or net wrap are reported. More information here. 

R4R- Ranching for Rivers

We are happy to announce a new call for the Ranching for Rivers Cost-Share program. This is a voluntary cost-share program to assist landowners in protecting riparian health through improved ranching stewardship practices.

Through the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, and partnering with DNRC, Ranching for Rivers offers 50% cost-share for fencing material, off-site water infrastructure, and developing grazing management plans. 

Funding is also available for Conservation Districts and Watershed Groups to provide technical assistance on ranch management projects to local landowners in their area.

Landowners, Conservation Districts, and Watershed Groups who are working within areas with a DEQ-approved Watershed Restoration Plan are encouraged to apply for program funding.

First Call Deadline is January 30th, 2023  For more information and application materials visit MACD website Ranching for Rivers | Montana Association of Conservation Districts (macdnet.org). 

CONSERVATION & PARTNERSHIPS

MONITORING...
Erika Fitzpatrick gives us a behind the scenes look at her family's photo monitoring program. They use photo monitoring to track changes over time in relationship to their grazing program, climate conditions and impact of invasive annual grasses. Photo monitoring can be a simple, easy to use method to start monitoring on any ranching operation.

"There's a lot of ways you can monitor and that to us was overwhelming. So just picking something simple to start with and then evolving it as we go I think was key for us. It's easy to get bogged down in all the different methods, some require a bit more training than others so we really just wanted to start with something that made sense to us and was doable."
- Erika Fitzpatrick, Oregon Rancher & GGMC Production Team

Why Monitor? Click to read more from Good Grazing Makes Cents! 
With lots of demands on time and resources within a ranching operation, adding another task to an already full plate may seem crazy. This is perhaps why many operations currently don’t have a range monitoring program in place. However, by considering what a monitoring practice can do for a given operation and customizing the plan to fit those specific needs, perhaps monitoring will move up in the ranks of the “to-do” list. Range monitoring also doesn't - and shouldn’t be- overly complicated. We collect weights when we’re already running animals through the scale or record Body Condition Scores when we’re already looking at the herd… with the monitoring systems we’re talking about in this edition we’re proposing a system just like that…working it into existing functions/responsibilities you already have on the ranch.

Estate Planning Road Show Coming to Hi-Line

At Ranchers Stewardship Alliance, we believe in a future where ranching and rural communities in the Northern Great Plains are so successful that ranch families never need to consider selling or transitioning their land out of production agriculture. It can take work.

According to USDA NASS, family-owned farms account for 96% of farms in the U.S. Yet ag census data tells us that only 30% of these farms survive into the second generation. Only 12% are still operating by the third.

Sixty-nine percent of the family farms surveyed expected ownership to continue into the next generation, but only 23% had a plan. Where are you in those statistics?

Next week, Montana State University’s Dr. Marsha Goetting will be hitting the Hi-Line for an estate planning road show with stops in Havre, Malta, and Glasgow. If you don't have a plan or yours needs a bit of work, mark these on your calendar!

AGENCY UPDATES

Partnership Announced to Promote Hunter Behavior

It’s up to us. Respect access. Protect the hunt.

In Montana, good relationships between hunters and landowners are integral to our opportunities, lead to proper wildlife management and ensure that our hunting traditions continue.

Landowners play an important role in sustaining healthy wildlife populations, contributing to our economy and communities by creating jobs, and providing valuable habitat and treasured open spaces. But the relationship between hunters and landowners can start to fray when just a few hunters abuse the privilege of hunting on private land.

To promote the importance of hunter ethics and improved hunter behavior, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is partnering with other conservation and agriculture organizations to “protect the hunt.”

The campaign is focused on hunter responsibility and respect for private land and the access landowners provide. The slogan is: It’s up to us. Respect access. Protect the hunt.

The Fall 2022 Bair Ranch Foundation Seminar Series brings nationally recognized scientists and agricultural professionals to Montana State University for the benefit of students, faculty and the public.  The series aims to foster greater public engagement and outreach on innovative research, and highlight agricultural and natural resource issues.

Please feel free to join in person or via WEBEX!  Information and schedule can be found here:

http://animalrange.montana.edu/bairranchfoundation.html [animalrange.montana.edu]

PODCAST CORNER

AoR 78: One Study to Rule Them All -- 3M Soil Health Research with Jeff Goodwin & Derek Scasta The Art of Range  Play Episode  Listen Later Feb 17, 2022 55:44 How do we build soil health? What is soil health? Is careful grazing helpful or hurtful? Can anything be done to meaningfully influence soil health? And how would we know? What can be measured that indicates progress? These are the questions Derek Scasta and Jeff Goodwin and their team intend to begin to answer through a recently funded national-scale project called Metrics, Management, and Monitoring: An Investigation of Pasture and Rangeland Soil Health and Its Drivers. This ambitious research and outreach effort, funded through a variety of public and private monies, will combine state-of-the-art experimental research with case studies documenting existing soil health effects on farms and ranches where consistent practices have been in place for years (and unlike investing, prior performance does predict future results). These results will inform policy and trade in carbon markets, enhance agricultural resilience to climate uncertainty, and advise land managers on how to increase profitability, land health, and animal health. This interview introduces the project's history, objectives, and timeline. Stay tuned for those future results.

RESEARCH CENTER

Montana State University:

Animal & Range Science 

MSU Extension:

Updated MontGuides

University of Montana:

Rangeland Analysis Platform

Reversing Tree Encroachment Increases Usable Space for Sage-Grouse during the Breeding Season

USDA-Agricultural Research Service

Scientific Discoveries 2022

Rangeland Resources & Systems Research, Fort Collins, CO:

• Physiological trait networks have potential to predict maize growth in contrasting environments
• Disease and weather induce rapid shifts in a rangeland ecosystem mediated by a keystone species (Cynomys ludovicianus)

Livestock and Range Research Laboratory, Miles City, MT:

• Mineral nitrogen and microbial responses to soil heating in burned grassland
• Fuel properties of effective greenstrips in simulated cheatgrass fires

Pest Management Research, Sidney, MT:

• How soil carbon fractions relate to soil properties and crop yields in dryland cropping systems?
• Herbivory changes biomass allocation but does not induce resistance among ramets of an invasive plant

USDA- Wildlife Services:

• Genetic Biocontrol for Invasive Species 

US Forest Service Research & Development: 

Research topic: Fire

Research topic: Water, Air, & Soil

USEFUL LINKS & APPS

Range Improvement Loan Program Montana Hay & Pasture Hotline USDA Water and Climate Outlook-Montana USDA Montana Ag Stats Grazing Your Way to Healthy Pastures Montana Wildflower App Montana Grass ID App Montana Noxious Weed Information Grassfed Exchange Grazing Management Planning Guide - Range Management (colostate.edu)

SAVE THE DATE

November

Nov 1st, Montana State Technical Advisory Committee Meeting

Nov 1st, What's New at the National Wetlands Inventory Program

Nov 2-3rd, Water in the West Symposium

Nov 8-9th, MSU Nutrition Conference

Nov 14th, Forest Service Wildfire Crisis Strategy Roundtables

Nov 14-16th Montana Farm Bureau Federation Annual Conference

Nov 15-16th Strong Her Women in Agriculture

Nov 15-17th, Montana Association of Conservation Districts Convention

Nov 17th, North Central U.S. Climate and Drought Summary and Outlook

Nov 17-18th, Montana Forest Collaborative Network Annual Workshop

December

December 7-9th Montana Stockgrowers Association Annual Convention

CONTACTS

Stacey Barta, State Coordinator for Rangelands

(406) 594-8481

SBarta@mt.gov

Rangeland Resources Committee:

Diane Ahlgren, Chair

John Hollenback, Vice Chair

Sigurd Jensen

Jim Anderson

Leah Lewis

Ron Devlin