RANGELAND RESEARCH University of California specialists show passion for grazing by Lizzeth Mendoza, beef sustainability Intern, University of California Cooperative Extension ©m.squaredphotography
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aving access to the latest research can be a challenge but more so overwhelming. You search Google phrasing your questions one way but the answers you are looking for do not appear. You rephrase it another way and nothing. You turn to another search engine to look specifically for peer reviewed research but none of it makes sense or better yet, you are clueless on which article to select to find answers. What if I told you that there is an information hub filled with researchers and educators that provide a variety of research in rangeland onto one site? Very organized, friendly and accessible, UC Rangelands has created an information hub to help producers, students, regulators and agriculturists learn more about sustainable livestock grazing management practices. University of California (UC) specialists across multiple campuses and local UC Cooperative Extension livestock and natural resources advisors are researchers and educators who are passionate about grazing management and are committed to researching agriculture and environmental sustainability. UC Rangelands is the collection of decades of research conducted on working rangelands in California by UC all located in one place. “UC Rangelands is a network of researchers and educators across the University of California and Cooperative Extension focused on the economic, ecological and adaptive livestock grazing enterprises from cattle to sheep and goats, ” states Director Leslie Roche, Ph.D., a UC specialist in rangelands management. “There has been tremendous research conducted through the UC system for decades at the local level and on UC campuses. The website brings together these resources to make them accessible for those with an interest in working rangelands.” The UC Rangelands website was originally launched in 2015. Each year the site gets over 30,000 visitors. The work of UC Rangelands on topics from water quality to invasive species is of interest to land managements, ranchers and agencies who visit the site from across the globe. 58 California Cattleman September 2020
“We know that the site is highly valued by local, state and federal government agencies as a scientifically credible and solution driven collection of research on rangelands in California,” states Roche. “Co-Director Ken Tate has more than 25 years of water quality research that is shared on the site along with features of our more recent work on predators, mountain meadows and adaptive grazing strategies.” Ranching and livestock grazing is complex, the benefits of having more than 40 researchers and educators come together with diverse backgrounds and expertise is the ability to answer the multi-disciplinary questions posed by ranchers in the field or agency staff. “California ranchers have collaborated with UC to conduct practical, field based research on private working ranches and grazed public lands,” states Tracy Schohr, UC Cooperative Extension Livestock and Natural Resources Advisors in Plumas, Sierra and Butte counties. “UC Rangelands hubs currently showcase research projects on irrigated pasture to drought, and public lands grazing with fact sheets, policy briefs and peer reviewed research publications. While the publications section covers a broader scope of published research on working rangelands - over 700 total.”
Drought Research
During the 2012-2015 drought UC Rangelands originally developed a “Drought Hub” to provide tools for livestock producers and land managers. This past year, as limited rainfall hit the state and several headlines regarding the new California drought were printed, the team continued to add new resources to the site. This section includes fact sheets and research papers on management and production, feeds and nutrition and economics. The site also includes a section of resources for government programs. This is an easy place to find current rainfall ...CONTINUED ON PAGE 60
