successful wildlife management programs in the na- tion. One of the primary reasons for their success was that the faculty insisted all wildlife students get a good solid education in range management, plant ecology and grazing management.


Most wildlife and conservation agencies are not anti-livestock. They simply don’t know much about livestock or grazing management.


It was not until after graduation that I began to


realize how fortunate I was to have gotten this kind of practical, broad based education. After graduation, I still lacked fi rsthand knowl-


edge about ranching. However, I have found that in any place I have worked, there are ranchers who are more than willing to take a young, inexperienced bi- ologist or conservationist under their wing and teach them the practical aspects of ranching and livestock management. It may mean helping them gather a pasture, work


cattle, scattering a few sacks of cubes or checking water. In most cases, it simply involves riding around with the rancher, opening gates and listening. In all cases, the ranchers were helpful teachers and forgiv- ing of ignorance, mistakes and inexperience.


The remarkable cow I have learned that the range


beef cow is a remarkable animal. For a cow to produce a calf each


year that weighs half as much as the mother by 7 months of age is a remarkable feat of productivity and effi ciency. Equally noteworthy is the fact that she does this on native grass, while requiring little in the way of supplements. In most cases, the rancher is


using land that is unsuitable for cultivation — too dry, too wet, too shallow, too steep, too sandy, too salty or just too poor. And they are using it to produce excellent quality


76 The Cattleman July 2015 thecattlemanmagazine.com


food with relatively low inputs. The cattleman does this while maintaining plant


diversity, wildlife habitat, healthy watersheds and other ecological functions. Cattle ranching is simply one of the most effi cient and environmentally sustainable systems of food production on the planet. Besides the obvious — tender, juicy, high quality


steaks, roasts, or ground beef — there are many other reasons I have come to like cattle. Cattle are incredible ecological tools, good for the


land when properly managed. Range management has always taught that grazing


is compatible with good land conservation, but now there is increasing emphasis that livestock grazing is also benefi cial to wildlife habitat, soil health, and protecting water resources. There is growing belief that grazing can be done in


a way to hasten the recovery of depleted grasslands. Ranchers who follow the principles of holistic grazing are convinced that the combined effects of high density, rotational grazing; hoof action; and dung and urine deposition followed by long recovery periods; can help restore or improve the grass cover and soil conditions. Some researchers agree. From a purely pragmatic viewpoint, cattle are neither


good nor bad for the land — they can be benefi cial or detrimental depending on how they are managed. But from an economic standpoint, cattle as well as other kinds of livestock can be a tool that makes money in- stead of costing money. That gives livestock grazing a huge advantage over other methods of land management which cost money rather than make money.


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