Theme 5-2: Drought Management and Climate Change--Poster Sessions
Description
Cow-calf beef operations are the primary users of the 8.75 million hectares of rangelands in the U.S. Pacific Northwest and will have to adapt to ongoing and future climate change. Management directed toward current rangeland stressors which may be amplified under a changing climate—including fire risk, invasive plants, and droughts—is likely to improve future resilience. And although climate change discussions have become highly politicized, our experience suggests that Pacific Northwest ranchers support "no-regrets” strategies that provide ecological and economic benefits under a variety of future conditions. Our goal is to foster adoption of these strategies by sharing individual success stories. A similar case study approach focused on crop producers has been used effectively in the Pacific Northwest, with over 20,000 views of 13 videos from 2016-2019, and more than 1600 views of case study documents. Our multi-media case studies profile successful ranchers who are using practices that increase resilience to climate change alongside economic, production, environmental, and other risks. By detailing their experience and insights the case studies encourage other ranchers to consider similar changes. Each case study consists of a brief video and a peer-reviewed written factsheet with descriptions of the rancher’s personal context and motivations; process of innovation; benefits, challenges and solutions to adopting practices. This narrative is paired with easy-to-read sidebars providing key science findings relevant to the practices being discussed. By connecting these insights with key science findings we give ranchers tools to adjust these practices to their particular operational context.
Citation
Hudson, T. D.; Hall, S. A.; Yorgey, G. G.; Neibergs, S.; Reeves, M. R.; and Jensen, S., "Promoting Rangeland Restoration and Climate Resilience through Grazing Case Studies" (2022). IGC Proceedings (1993-2023). 12.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/24/5-2/12
Included in
Promoting Rangeland Restoration and Climate Resilience through Grazing Case Studies
Cow-calf beef operations are the primary users of the 8.75 million hectares of rangelands in the U.S. Pacific Northwest and will have to adapt to ongoing and future climate change. Management directed toward current rangeland stressors which may be amplified under a changing climate—including fire risk, invasive plants, and droughts—is likely to improve future resilience. And although climate change discussions have become highly politicized, our experience suggests that Pacific Northwest ranchers support "no-regrets” strategies that provide ecological and economic benefits under a variety of future conditions. Our goal is to foster adoption of these strategies by sharing individual success stories. A similar case study approach focused on crop producers has been used effectively in the Pacific Northwest, with over 20,000 views of 13 videos from 2016-2019, and more than 1600 views of case study documents. Our multi-media case studies profile successful ranchers who are using practices that increase resilience to climate change alongside economic, production, environmental, and other risks. By detailing their experience and insights the case studies encourage other ranchers to consider similar changes. Each case study consists of a brief video and a peer-reviewed written factsheet with descriptions of the rancher’s personal context and motivations; process of innovation; benefits, challenges and solutions to adopting practices. This narrative is paired with easy-to-read sidebars providing key science findings relevant to the practices being discussed. By connecting these insights with key science findings we give ranchers tools to adjust these practices to their particular operational context.
