Recent anrcs_rangelands items

Profiles of California Brush: Targeted Grazing to Reduce Fire Fuel Loads in California Chaparral Series Part 1

Mon, 4 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Profiles of California Brush: Targeted Grazing to Reduce Fire Fuel Loads in California Chaparral Series Part 1

Managing Small Ruminant Nutrition in Chaparral: Targeted grazing to reduce fire fuel loads in California Chapparal Series, Part 2

Mon, 4 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Managing Small Ruminant Nutrition in Chaparral: Targeted grazing to reduce fire fuel loads in California Chapparal Series, Part 2

Rapid User Guide: Postfire Grazing on California’s Intermountain Rangelands

Tue, 7 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This rapid user guide for public and private land managers and livestock producers, will walk you through key considerations and timelines that should go into your decision-making process following wildfires on California's intermountain perennial rangelands.

Rest from grazing is a viable option in some cases, but it is not always necessary. Specific grazing management decisions, including whether or not to rest from grazing, should be based on field assessments made in the spring following fire.

Beef Cattle on California Annual Grasslands: Production Cycle and Economics

Mon, 18 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Much of California is annual rangeland, grazed seasonally when forage quality is best. For optimum results, the seasonality of these rangelands must be coordinated with the phases of beef cattle production. This publication walks cattle producers through annual stock flows and calendar of operations and gives tables for estimating costs, return over cash, and gross income under various scenarios. Also included is a discussion of various risk factors.

Ecology and Management of Annual Rangelands Series: Mediterranean Climate

Mon, 4 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The Ecology and Management of Annual Rangelands Series is a 9-part online publication that provides owners and leasees of California rangelands with a comprehensive source of information pertinent to the management and enjoyment of these lands. This information will help you formulate and implement strategies for achieving your personal goals as a landowner.

Part 1 is an overview of the characteristics that define a Mediterranean Climate.

Ecology and Management of Annual Rangelands Series: Range Plant Growth and Development

Mon, 4 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The plants that dominate California’s annual grasslands and the understory of the oak woodlands have different life cycles from most of the world’s rangelands. This publication delves morphological and physiological changes associated with annual and perennial life cycles, photosynthesis and carbohydrate storage, and the effect of grazing on individual plants of California’s annual-dominated rangelands in the Coast Range and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Ecology and Management of Annual Rangelands Series:History of Livestock Production

Mon, 4 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Range livestock production developed as an enterprise with the colonization of California by the Spanish and their formation of ranches or ranchos, and it expanded rapidly during early statehood. The development of improved animal management and range management practices ensured that the industry would continue its dominance in California agriculture throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first century.

Ecology and Management of Annual Rangelands Series: Ecological History

Mon, 4 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

California has some of the most productive croplands in the world. Recently, increasing conflicts among urban development, intensive agriculture, and protectionism have led to increasingly rigid distinctions among resource management objectives. Having a long-term perspective on the causes and interpretation of changes in the landscape can aid in resolving conflicting goals and objectives among stakeholders.

Ecology and Management of Annual Rangelands Series: Vegetation Change and Ecosystem Services

Mon, 4 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Vegetation types in the annual rangelands include annual-dominated non-native grasslands, native-dominated grasslands, oak woodlands, chaparral, and coastal scrub. The ecosystem services, or benefits, that humans obtain from each vegetation type change as the vegetation type changes and need to be assessed accordingly. This publication describes the dominant and common species in each vegetation type, the vegetation changes and change agents that are commonly recognized, and an approach to evaluating ecosystem services.

Ecology and Management of Annual Rangelands Series: Soils

Mon, 4 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Part 3 – Soils is an overview of how soils are classified. Researchers and managers like to organize the world they live in so that they can explain their environment. This publication will help you understand the soil taxonomy developed by soil scientists to help them classify soils and understand soil similarities and differences. Includes links to glossaries of terms so you can understand the terms used to define soil characteristics.

Ecology and Management of Annual Rangelands Series: Vegetation Management

Mon, 4 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

This publication provides an overview of the research and practices for brush and weed control, seeding, and fertilization. Also covered are practices that reduce seasonal gaps in forage availability and quality and the economics of vegetation management.

While increasing carrying capacity by producing more forage remains an important objective, ranchers and public agencies also manage for fire hazard reduction, improved water quality, air quality, and biodiversity. In addition, suppressing introduced species and restoring native species has become a major theme among conservation organizations and some government agencies.

Ecology and Management of Annual Rangelands Series: Grazing Management

Mon, 4 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The response of vegetation, livestock, and ecosystems to grazing is complex, and grazing managers are confronted with a variety of grazing strategies or systems that are sometimes hard to compare or evaluate.

This publication covers what are commonly known as the four components of grazing—intensity, season, frequency, and duration—and their effects on annual rangelands. We will discuss why grazing management research results sometimes conflict with experience. And you will get an overview of the adaptive management process of planning, implementation, and learning that grazing managers can use to help them cope with complexity and knowledge.

Ecology and Management of Annual Rangelands Series:Livestock Production

Mon, 4 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Livestock production on California’s annual rangelands has adapted to the seasonality of rangeland forage dominated by annual grasses and forbs growing in a Mediterranean-type climate. Rangeland managers have learned to balance seasonal forage availability and quality with the changing physiological needs of their animals by feeding them hay and other supplements and by transporting them to other forage sources, including other vegetation types in cooler climates.

This publication gives an overview of seasonal forage sources, nutrient requirements of grazing animals, seasonal forage quality, seasonal animal performance, supplemental feeding, water needs, livestock production systems, and animal health issues.

UCCE Ranch Water Quality Planning: Instructor's Guide and Lesson Plan

Fri, 18 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The Ranch Water Quality Planning Instructor's Guide and Lesson Plan (RWQP Guide) is a multi-part curriculum for extension professionals, watershed organization staff and volunteers, and the ranching community. The goal is to provide an objective, adaptive blueprint for organizing short course-type educational programs to enable ranchers to complete their RWQPs.

This updated guide and lesson plan provides a scientific overview of water quality, specifically for livestock operations, with a wealth of new information discovered since the curriculum was first written in 1995. Designed for "turn-key" operation with a guide, lesson plans, participant worksheets, and video modules.

Through the 6 modules and 19 lessons short course participants will learn about key issues presented in advanced management practices that protect water quality and support grazing livestock operation viability.

Preparing for Disaster: Establishing an Ag Pass Program in Your Community

Mon, 30 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Possession of an Ag Pass during a wildfire or similar disaster allows farmers and ranchers access to areas that may otherwise be restricted to the public so that they can protect or care for agricultural assets (such as by irrigating crops or feeding, watering, and transporting livestock) or provide auxiliary support to emergency personnel (such as identification of access roads and water points).

It is crucial that those who may seek access to an evacuation zone establish communication—before a crisis—with all relevant local agencies so that authorities understand and support the process.

This publication describes how communities across California might approach such a program, recognizing that the structure and organization of any such program will ultimately depend upon the specific resources, politics, and relationships within any one community.

Livestock Protection Tools for California Ranchers

Fri, 17 May 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Conflicts between livestock and predators are perhaps inevitable, especially on extensively managed rangelands This publication helps producers evaluate livestock lethal and non-lethal protection tools that may fit their site-specific needs.

Restoration Manual for Annual Grassland Systems in California

Fri, 17 May 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Widespread development and massive degradation are quickly eroding the persistence and health of annual grassland systems. This guide was developed to give practitioners of any experience level an overview of considerations for grassland restoration design and application that will be right for their situation. Here you’ll find ways to effectively improve grassland conditions in monetarily and logistically feasible ways. This publication focuses on restoration species choice, because species identity can be the dominant driver of achieving a restoration goal—included is an extensive appendix matching geographic area and soil type to appropriate species for consideration. The techniques presented are the result of years of experience from research scientists and non-academic practitioners and synthesizes published and unpublished data in one handy source. Sections include: Identifying Restoration Goals and Desired Outcomes: Biodiversity Pollinator Habitat Wildlife Habitat Erosion...

Biology and Management of Johnsongrass (Sorghum halepense)