Grazing lands

6 Pages·1995·1.5 MB·English

Historic, Archive Document
Do not assume content reflects current
scientific knowledge, policies, or practices.

Reserve
aSF85
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Grazing Lands
1995
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Where are the U.S grazing included both cropland and graz-
Did you know... lands? i ing land. Cattle, sheep, and goats
Grazing lands exist in so state, — often-grazed land that could not or
..that nearly half of the lower 48 but the amounts and kinds of land should not have been cultivated or
states is grazing land: range, and the uses, products, and values otherwise used intensively. New
pasture, hay, and grazed forest? from grazing lands vary from state technology and new marketing op-
to state. Examples of grazing land portunities in the 1970’s, however,
..that range, pasture, hay, and
include— encouraged farmers to plow lands
grazed forest land are located
¢ annual grasslands of California; that had not been previously culti-
where they are primarily
because of climate or ¢ hot deserts in the southwestern vated. The result, in many places,
topography and by landowners’ states and cold deserts in the was increased erosion on lands
decisions about land use? Great Basin; that formerly had been protected
e shrub-grasslands throughout the by grasses, legumes, and shrubs.
... that properly managed grazing
western states;
_ is one of the most energy-
¢ prairie grasslands of the Great Although some runoff and erosion
efficient ways of producing food
Plains and Corn Belt; are natural, accelerated erosion on
and fiber?
¢ humid grasslands of the eastern degraded land reduces the land’s
... that grazing lands help United States and Hawaii; production potential and causes
improve water supplies for e tundra rangelands of Alaska; offsite damage from sedimenta-
residential, commercial, ¢ improved pasture and hay lands tion in streams, rivers, lakes, and
agricultural, and recreational throughout the Intermountain reservoirs. Accelerated erosion is
uses?
West, Northern Great Plains, a concern not only where grazing
Great Lakes, Northeast, and South; lands have been plowed, but also
..that many wildlife species rely
on grazing lands for habitat and e wetlands and riparian areas in on lands that are grazed improp-
food? every state; and erly. Improper grazing can lead to
e grazed forests in all states other detrimental environmental
.. that carbon sequestration adjacent to and east of the impacts. Twenty-five percent of
(absorption of atmospheric
Mississippi River and in the the Nation’s grazing lands need
carbon by soil and plants) occurs
mountain states of the West. some form of conservation treat-
when farmers and ranchers
ment to reduce erosion.
practice good grazing land
Although some pasture and hay
management? And that carbon
sequestration is a key to lands are managed as a monocul- Why are grazing lands
mitigating climate change? ture, others—particularly range- important?
lands—are complex mixes of spe- Energy savings—Grazing ani-
..that grazing lands could be cies that offer increased plant, mals eat plants that cannot be
developed by farmers and
animal, and landscape diversity. digested by humans and many
ranchers as a source of biomass
Many eastern forests used for tim- other animals, and have the advan-
energy and raw materials, which
ber production are also grazed, tage of producing food and fiber
could reduce U.S. reliance on
imported products? particularly if the forest land type with little expenditure of fossil
is suitable for livestock grazing fuel energy. On properly managed
and other forage, such as pasture grazing land—including pasture-
or hay, is available. land and hayland—only 1 calorie
of fossil-fuel energy is needed to
produce up to 2 calories of food
How grazing lands have
and fiber energy. Many crops re-
changed
quire from 5 to 10 calories of
During the first half of this cen-
fossil-fuel energy for every calorie
tury, most agricultural operations
NRCS/RCA Issue Brief Grazing Lands November 1995
of food or fiber produced. Improv- the water infiltrates into the soil Wildlife—Hunting and fishing are
ing the efficiency of grazing land and is used for plant growth, is important recreational activities,
production can increase landown- stored in underground aquifers, or and when many people think of
ers’ income, improve environmen- flows through the soil, providing wildlife they think of game spe-
tal quality, and help reduce the water for streamflow, riparian ar- cies—deer, elk, grouse, or trout.
Nation’s dependence on imported eas, wetlands, and lakes, and sub- But all wildlife have intrinsic value
fossil fuel. sequent use by people and wildlife. and are part of the ecological func-
tioning of grazing lands. Everyone
Food, medicine, and other Water quality—Modern grazing enjoys the unexpected view of a
products—Grazing by domestic land management is one of the white-tailed deer on a pasture or
livestock has been the primary use most important ways that farmers grazed forest in the eastern United
of grazing lands since European and ranchers can reduce erosion States, of an antelope in the North-
settlement and remains one of the and water pollution and diversify ern Great Plains or the Great
most important uses today. Meat, income. For example, natural Basin, of a pheasant in a grassed
milk, leather, wool, and mohair are drainage areas on farms and the waterway in the Corn Belt, of a
well-known products from grazing riparian areas adjacent to streams hawk in the desert Southwest, and
animals. Less well known are can be planted to grazing land of a mule deer on rangelands in
pharmaceuticals produced from plants. These forage plants cap- any of the western states. People
nonfood parts of the animals; ture runoff and sediment from the enjoy watching and listening to
natural fertilizers from animal fields and protect water quality. songbirds, and hearing—maybe
bones, blood, and manure; and Where sufficient plant material is seeing—a fish jump in a stream or
new and unique uses of familiar left in grassed waterways or pond. These experiences are made
products—such as using wool, stream buffer zones for soil and more enjoyable by the spectacular
which readily absorbs oil, to re- water conservation purposes, a scenery that is often associated
move spilled oil from soils, significant amount of the plant with grazing lands—the mountains
streams, lakes, and oceans. material can be grazed or mechani- of the West, the stark desert land-
cally harvested. There may also be scape of the Southwest, the prairie
Water storage and release— outdoor recreation income op- vistas of the Great Plains, and the
Vast quantities of rain and snow tions available—hiking, camping, green grass of pastures contrasted
fall on the Nation’s grazing lands. horseback riding, hunting, and with the fall color of trees in the
On healthy grazing lands, much of fishing. East.
Grazing lands make up 45 percent of U.S. non-Federal rural land.
Grazed forest land,
63 million acres
Hayland,
54 million acres
Cropland
26%
Pastureland,
126 million acres
Grazed
lands 45% Rangeland,
399 million acres
Other rural
land 6%
Non-grazed
forest 23%
NRCS/RCA Issue Brief Grazing Lands November 1995
a IE ET OE AE LS IS TO IS a EE
Waste utilization—As concen- Carbon sequestration—Grazing for industrial materials. There is a
trated animal production land soils in the Great Plains con- growing interest in using plant ma-
facilities—poultry and swine tain over 40 tons of carbon per terials for energy because of the
farms, beef feedlots, and confine- acre, while cultivated soils con- United States’ dependence on for-
ment dairies—have become more tain only about 26, on average. eign oil and concern about climate
common in a few geographical ar- Carbon dioxide and other green- change associated with the release
eas, and cities have begun to run house gases may be increasing in of fossil carbon into the atmo-
out of landfill space, grazing lands the earth’s atmosphere and chang- sphere. Using homegrown plant
have become attractive and appro- ing the earth’s climate. The material for energy would reduce
priate locations on which to grasses, legumes, and shrubs on to some extent the amount of oil
spread organic products and re- grazing lands remove carbon diox- that is imported. Burning plants
cycle the nutrients they contain. ide from the air through photo- for energy releases carbon dioxide
Spreading poultry litter on pasture synthesis and store it in the soil into the air, but this carbon is off-
land in the southern and eastern when roots die and decompose. set by the carbon removed from
United States has allowed land- This process promotes the long- the atmosphere through photosyn-
owners to improve forage term sequestration of carbon as thesis. Biomass carbon is, there-
production and develop a more soil organic matter. Cultivated fore, a renewable and sustainable
successful beef industry. lands planted to grassland plants resource.
as part of the Conservation Re-
When properly applied, manure serve Program were found to have Grazing land health
and other organic by-products can added an average of 1,000 pounds Good grazing land management of-
enhance the productivity and soil of carbon per acre per year during ten leads to a more productive mix
quality of grazing lands by increas- the first 5 years after planting. of plants. Also, soils are less com-
ing soil organic-matter content, This means that the CRP alone is pacted and more protected from
improving soil moisture-holding removing 18 million tons of car- the erosive forces of wind or wa-
capacity, and supplying valuable bon from the atmosphere each ter, and the self-regenerative
nutrients. If such by-products are year. This gain in sequestration of capacity of the land is improved.
applied to degraded land, or if they atmospheric carbon will continue Collectively, this improvement is
are applied in excess of the land’s until the soil reaches its equilib- considered a gain in grazing land
capacity to absorb them, the or- rium level of carbon. health. Loss of grazing land health
ganic matter and nutrients from means that some options for cur-
them can wash into streams, lakes, Biomass—Grazing land plants rent and future uses of the land
and estuaries, causing serious wa- can be harvested as sources for have been temporarily or perhaps
ter quality degradation. biomass energy or as feed stocks permanently lost.
What causes loss of grazing land
Riparian areas can be enhanced by grazing management and permanent
health? The most common reason
vegetation cover.
is overgrazing by domestic and
wild animals. Fortunately, grazing
lands can be maintained in a
healthy state with grazing, and
properly managed grazing can
enhance ecosystem health. Sheep
grazing, for instance, can reduce
the dominance of leafy spurge and
other noxious weeds on range-
lands and thereby promote greater
biodiversity. In many parts of the
country, livestock—cattle, sheep,
and goats—graze in shrub- and
forest-dominated ecosystems to
remove and prevent the buildup of
highly flammable material and re-
duce the likelihood of wildfire.
NRCS/RCA Issue Brief Grazing Lands November 1995
TMT
Multiple benefits of
Healthy grazing land.
grazing lands
Healthy grazing lands provide ben-
efits other than feed for domestic
animals. They are important habi-
tats for a variety of large and small
mammals, birds, and insects. Wa-
ter runoff on healthy grazing land
is slow, So more water infiltrates
into the soil, providing cleaner,
more abundant water for fish,
wildlife, and human use. The plant
cover on more than 600 million
acres of grazing land sequesters
millions of tons of carbon, thus re-
ducing atmospheric carbon
dioxide. Many grazing lands are
among the Nation’s most pictur-
esque landscapes.
The United States Department of Agriculture, through the Natural Resources Con-
Although grazing lands are our servation Service (formerly Soil Conservation Service), is preparing an
; ; environmental scan of the status, conditions, and trends of natural resources on
biggest agricultural reserve, most America’s non-Federal land, as required by the Soil and Water Resources Con-
of them are not suitable for crops. servation Act of 1977 (RCA), Public Law 95-192. The appraisal will help guide the
Nevertheless, some 180 million updating of the National Conservation Program, which directs USDA's natural re-
acres of non-Federal grazing source conservation policies and programs. Ten other USDA agencies and 10
non-USDA agencies are full partners in this effort.
lands—more than one-fourth of all
privately owned grazing lands— This issue brief is one in a series being prepared by the Natural Resources Con-
: : iat servation Service. It was prepared by Fee Busby, special assistant to the chief,
are in soil capability classes I Natural Resources Conservation Service, Washington, DC. For more information
through III and therefore could be or if you have comments or suggestions, please contact James Maetzold, USDA,
used to produce crops in the fu- Natural Resources Conservation Service, Natural Resources Inventory Division,
: P.O. Box 2890, Washington, DC 20013; Phone [phone]; Fax [phone].
ture if needed.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in its programs on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age,
disability, political beliefs and marital or familial status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative
means for communication of program information (braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact the USDA Office of Communications at
[phone].
To file a complaint, write the Secretary of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC 20250, or call [phone] or (202)
720-1127 (TDD). USDA is an equal employment opportunity employer.
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Natural Resources Conservation Service Bulk Rate
Natural Resources Inventory Division Postage and Fees Paid
P.O. Box 2890 USDA-NRCS
Washington, DC 20013 Permit No. G-267