Arizona Ranching Budgets 2016

The dependency of Arizona ranchers on federal lands has been well documented. Mayes and Archer (1982) estimated that public and state grazing lands outside of the Indian reservations account for 85% of the total grazing land in Arizona. The partnership between private ranchers, state lands, and the federal government comes with many complex factors that influence the cost of doing business both in terms of variable and fixed costs. Not only are the regulations, fees, and enforcement of regulations a challenge for managing mixed land ownership, but additional costs from vandalism, theft, and daily disruptions of operations add to the normal operating expenses (Ruyle et al., 2000). Ownership and maintenance of range improvements, such as wells, spring development, and dirt tanks, etc., is also complicated by the rangeland ownership mix. This study is designed to examine the cost of ranching for different geographic areas in Arizona and show how different production costs exist throughout the state.