Extension specialist helps ranchers succeed in increasingly challenging times

As Arizona moves further into the 21st century, ranching in our diverse environments is evolving.

Ranching is still a pillar of our economy and a pipeline of food for the world, and the cultural and personal ties that link our families to the land have not changed. But how and where ranchers raise cattle has changed. There’s more science and less guesswork, more technology and less muscle, more feed lots and less rangeland.

Helping ranchers thrive in this changing world is Jake Hennig’s job. As an assistant professor in the University of Arizona School of Natural Resources and the Environment and Cooperative Extension specialist, he connects them to the latest science – his own and others’ – that helps them stay profitable while protecting the land they rely on to survive.

Image

Henning came to U of A last year. Since earning a doctorate in rangeland ecology and watershed management from University of Wyoming, he has done research in Arizona, Colorado and Oklahoma. Much of his work has focused on the impact of feral horses and burros on rangeland. He recently answered a few questions about the intersection of science and ranching and Cooperative Extension’s role in linking science to the everyday lives of ranchers.

How has science changed ranching, and how does Cooperative Extension factor into those changes?

Everything has become much more complicated nowadays than it once was. Increased scientific understanding and technological advancements have led to greater efficiency, but also just an overwhelming amount of information. My job as an Extension specialist is to help translate the scientific information we have in a digestible way to ranchers, agency personnel and others interested in livestock production and other multiple uses on our public lands. Another part of my job is to conduct research aimed at improving management and production on our public rangelands. A lot of my past work focused on wild horses and burros on public lands. These animals are federally protected, and my work can help federal horse and burro managers find a balance between all the multiple uses that we have on public lands, not just horse and burro habitat, but maintaining livestock production, wildlife habitat and rangeland quality in general.

What kinds of science impact ranching most, and what are you studying?

Anything related to rangeland science is going to impact ranching. A lot of what I've been doing recently is using on-animal sensors, like GPS collars, to try to inform breeding programs. I've looked at how different cattle breeds respond to topographical constraints, how far they go from water and the steepness of slopes they'll use, to inform which breeds are best for a certain ranch. I have a couple students looking at how juniper cover influences herbaceous understory communities, and how increasing juniper affects a forage base for our cattle and another student looking at the impact of removal of unauthorized horse and cattle grazing. I'm not sure there's a specific science that is most impactful for producers. It's really just anything that touches on the animals and lands. It's all important for them, even economics. I'm not really an economic guy, but that's huge for our cow producers, especially when they're having to de-stock as much as a lot of them have had to do this past year with the crazy drought. Arizona has a long history of conflict between ranchers and the conservation community.

Can wildlife and habitat conservation help ranchers and farmers? Can we find a balance between agriculture and environmentalism?

For my money, I think livestock production is the most sustainable land use on Western rangelands. Grazing cattle and sheep on large tracts of public lands with relatively little input actually maintains wildlife habitat in the West, where we have large tracts of livestock production. Moreover, the water systems that ranchers establish for their herds are greatly beneficial to wildlife, especially in arid and semi-arid regions like Arizona. To me, the biggest issues are fencing and improper grazing, especially in critical habitat for sensitive species. But virtual fencing, where we put essentially shock collars on cows, has the ability to reduce the time cattle spend in critical areas or even exclude them. In some areas, we can use it to reduce the amount of fencing in the landscape to help promote movement of deer, elk, pronghorn or other large ungulates. Another way that cow grazing can help wildlife is that if you do it correctly, it actually enhances the nutritional quality of the vegetation, which obviously benefits both the cows and the wildlife. I think most producers and land management agencies understand that cattle and wildlife coexist. It's more just trying to get the general public to understand that. I think communication and storytelling is probably the biggest way to get the public to understand that the level of conflict between livestock and wildlife isn't as high as they might think.

What roles does Extension play in bringing rangeland stakeholders together?

We don't really have a bias. We are the ones that ranchers or land management agencies can come to as a mediator to try to get everyone to sit down at the table. Before I came here, there were some issues between Yavapai County livestock producers and the Prescott National Forest. Extension got involved and figured out a memorandum of understanding, and now Extension goes out and does rangeland monitoring with the producers and the Forest Service, and, as far as I can tell, the relationships on all sides are much improved. We also need to educate people on how to properly run a livestock operation and maintain sustainable rangeland use, not just for themselves, but for all the other uses we have on our land. So holding workshops, just being a part of the communities that we're in, is an essential part of Extension.

What kinds of problems are ranchers likely to face in the coming years, and how can extension help them?

One of the biggest challenges here in Arizona is drought. Drought is probably the new normal. This past year, many ranchers were forced to sell off a large proportion of their herd due to lack of water and forage. Rebuilding a herd when cattle prices are so high is going to be an extreme challenge. Extension can help producers devise management plans to deal with higher temperatures and less precipitation, so they can stay in business.

Another big thing that came up in the past couple months is New World screwworm, which has recently been found just south of the border. If that makes its way to the U.S., it could be devastating. I'm not involved with that too much, but I know a lot of our livestock extension folks are on the forefront of figuring out plans for producers. Helping producers be vigilant and knowing how to proceed if it does appear is critical.

The polarized political climate presents another challenge. We're seeing frequent federal policy changes and increasing complexity, which can be very overwhelming. I mean, it's overwhelming for me, so I can't imagine how overwhelming this is for producers. Having producers communicate with us and then also with land management agencies is essential to making sure that they are in compliance with the ever-changing rules.

Labor shortage is another issue, that kind of goes along with increased urbanization. You know, we don't have a lot of folks that are going into an agricultural economy. Ag jobs are less and less desirable each year, so that may necessitate more investment in technology, and Extension can test the efficacy of emerging technologies, like virtual fencing or other on-animal sensors, and relay to producers the ins and outs of it and how it works.

Is livestock production ultimately sustainable in the desert?

I really think it is. I mean, I think it's more sustainable than the amount of input needed on feedlots. You're getting reduced monetary costs grazing cattle on public lands. I just think we need to figure out, as it goes along with climate change, how to make sure livestock production isn't harming the land and harming other uses. I do think that's possible, and I guess that's why I'm here.