Volume VII Number 6 November/December 1999

Rangeland Monitoring Provides Insight into Pasture Health and Profit





After five months, the growing forage
has increased dramatically. Regular land
monitoring will disclose if the management plan is on target.
"Cattlemen today profiting from sunshine," says Charley Orchard of Bozeman, Montana. "They take sunshine and water and grow forage, which in turn grows cattle," he says.

But to continue growing cattle at a constant or increasing rate, the health of the land must be maintained or improved. Over time, the quality of forage may dwindle, and the ranch manager may not notice the decrease in forage produced.

That is where rangeland monitoring comes in. Orchard developed Land EKG(R) as a way to
Soil surface crusting similar to this
gave broadcast seeding alone poor chances
for success. The crust needed to be broken for seed
to be successfully incorporated into the soil.
monitor and assess land health. The system, developed in the mid 90s, is already being recognized as the easiest and most informative method of land monitoring.

Monitoring involves conducting a series of 20 soil and vegetation indicator tests. The data is tabulated, analyzed and interpreted graphically. This information is used to produce an "eco-graph," which is very similar to an electrocardiogram (EKG) of the heart. The "eco-graph" reveals the relative health of soil and plants, how well the site is functioning, and reveals any problems that exist.

"By monitoring land, ranchers can optimize their profit potential through land health, and also by matching their livestock to the land," Orchard explains. "We can also pinpoint problem areas, and provide best management practices. These include increasing stocking rates, shorten grazing periods and improved grazing distribution." says Orchard.

"The ranching enterprise, livestock systems and land health all interrelate," says Orchard. "By correlating the livestock sequence with the available forage base, feed costs can be potentially reduced."

For example, Orchard says some northern cattlemen would be better served to shift their calving season from January to May or June. This would reduce feed costs because less hay is needed for a pregnant cow compared to a lactating cow and calf.

"By shifting the calving season, the calves would not be as old, and likewise, as big, but the input costs would be much less," he explains.
A mixture of native and introduced drought tolerant
grass and forb species were broadcast over
about 10 acres with this ATV mounted seeder
prior to herd arrival.


Monitoring is also very helpful for people that lease public lands. In the event of a fire, monitoring can help schedule livestock reintroduction, Orchard says.

"After a large fire on some of my private land and public leased land in 1996, the government enforced their standard post-burn policy on the public land, which included removing all livestock grazing for two full years. After reviewing the monitoring data I had collected before and after the fire, we met with the Bureau of Land Management."

"They agreed to an alternate plan that consisted of grazing some of the land and deferring grazing from the rest of the land for one year. We saved a lot of money in extra feed costs and headed off a management disaster for our ranch operation with land monitoring," he says.

Orchard continues to develop additional levels of Land EKG, and can teach ranchers to assess their land on a regular basis after an initial training with Orchard. The information can then be sent to Orchard for interpretation.

For more information on Land EKG, contact Charley Orchard at 888-450-LEKG (5354) or corchard@montana.net
This was a dry section of a 150 acre pasture
in Idaho. The ranch manager wanted to improve
ecosystem function at this site. Faced with
more than 60 percent bare ground, poor water and mineral
cycling, and limited plant diversity, Land EKG
developed an economical reseeding treatment using
a broadcast seeder followed by animal impact to get
the seed "tilled" into the soil.

 








  

   
   

   


   

   		
  
   



  

    



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