The 2008 Joint Meeting of the Society for Range Management and the America Forage and Grassland Council. |
Tuesday, January 29, 2008 - 10:20 AM
Redefining the Bottom Line: Ranching for Diversity in the Kansas Flint Hills
Jane B. Koger and Marva L. Weigelt. Homestead Ranch, Rt. 1, Box 35, Matfield Green, KS 66862
Ranching and grassland conservation go hand in hand at our ranch in the Kansas Flint Hills. The Homestead Ranch has been a working ranch since 1979. Prior management history of the ranch includes annual burning and a variety of stocking rates and systems including: cow-calf, double stock and full season. In 2003, concern about the long-term impact of broad-scale annual burning and Intensive-Early Stocking (IES) on plant species diversity and ground-nesting bird habitat prompted us to consider new ways to manage the ranch. The resulting Homestead Range Renewal Initiative (HRRI) is a collaborative effort between Homestead Ranch, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service, The Nature Conservancy, another local rancher and a youth partner. HRRI’s purpose is to implement new management techniques—a patch-burn grazing system, fence removal to reduce fragmentation, reseeding of native plants on previously cultivated land, management of invasive woody species and non-native plants, and monitoring—in an effort to create a sustainable grazing management program that restores biological diversity while continuing to provide economic return. Monitoring includes fixed photo point/vegetation surveys, breeding bird inventory, butterfly survey and cattle performance analysis. We will discuss the project history and results from a producer’s perspective, with emphasis on practical considerations for long-term implementation by other private landowners.