If you visit cattle ranches in most of the U.S., you’ll see two kinds of cattle grazing methods: the first is where cattle graze freely on the land, the second is rotational grazing. But on a ranch in May, Idaho, there is a third method, called “inherding.” With the inherding method, cattle are herded on Read more about Inherding: The Concept, The Benefits, and its Feasibility—Cally Guasti[…]
Cow manure that has fermented in the soil over the winter while stored in a cow horn is mixed with water and stirred vigorously for one hour, regularly changing directions. This mixture is then applied to the soil in minuscule amounts before sowing to encourage healthy root growth. Sounds like a magic potion? This is Read more about Relationship-based Farming: Biodynamic agriculture as an innovative approach for rethinking our food system—Viola Taubmann[…]
Our research project with Vilicus Farms focuses on how farms and the supply chain can partner to mitigate risk for both parties, and how the supply chain can reorient itself to share some of the risks that traditionally farms shoulder alone. The risks that the supply chain can particularly help shoulder include farms’ financial risks Read more about The Underlying Market Forces that Enable Farms to Share Risk Across the Supply Chain—Tim Ibbotson-Sindelar[…]
As I write this, surrounded by towering Douglas firs in the Pacific Northwest, I am very far removed from the open prairies of Central Montana, but for the past few months, my mind has often been wandering through the expansive Northern Great Plains. My student partner, Lani, and I have been working with the Range Read more about Who is leading the effort to conserve privately-owned grasslands in the West?—Laura González Mantecón[…]
“We’ve all chosen to do ranching the hard way” a rancher chuckles through the small illuminated rectangle on my computer’s desktop. My project partner, Laura González Mantecón, in the adjacent rectangle on Zoom asks him what he means by that. They’ve all chosen in one form or another to adopt practices that demand a lot Read more about Ranching the Hard Way—Lani Chang[…]
No two conservation projects are the same, which is why the Conservation Measures Partnership (CMP) developed the Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation, also referred to as the Conservation Standards (previously the Open Standards). These Standards are an adaptable framework that brings together common concepts, approaches, and terminology to help make conservation efforts more Read more about Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation—Grace Hilbert[…]
In partnership with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and Pheasants Forever in Bozeman, MT, our research assistant is using geospatial analysis and remote sensing to determine conifer density and potential encroachment in the Elkhorn Mountain region. Throughout western Montana there are forest communities which have not burned in decades. Lack of fire may lead Read more about Elkhorn Mountain Conifer Density Survey[…]
Each year, UHPSI hosts a western speaker series focusing on conservation and stewardship issues in the American West. The series may be one focused event or several small events spanning several topics. The student assistants are currently working with UHPSI staff to plan presentations, career chats, or training by a series of western conservation professionals. Read more about Western Speaker Series 2020-2021[…]
The Range Monitoring Group (RMG), a Montana collaborative that includes ranchers, scientists and non-profit conservation groups, has implemented a pilot project focused on using rangeland monitoring and collective knowledge to inform and improve land management. Our research team has partnered with RMG to identify key indicators to use in range monitoring and operationalize them for Read more about Collaborative Rangeland Monitoring and Management in Montana[…]
UHPSI research assistants have partnered with Texas A&M University-Kingsville and a Wyoming ranch to study the feasibility of implementing inherding in the western U.S. Inherding is the practice of strategically herding cattle in a manner that prevents rangeland overuse, promotes livestock well-being, and facilitates natural-resource conservation. Unlike more conventional grazing strategies, inherding requires handlers to Read more about Exploring Inherding as a Grazing Practice for Conservation and Rangeland Health in West[…]
UHPSI research assistants are working with Vilicus Farms to review and compile strategies for sharing risk and rewards across non-food supply chains and propose ways to implement and adopt them in the food supply chain. Vilicus Farms is a grain, legume, and oilseed farm located in the Northern Great Plains of Montana pioneering organic, ecologically Read more about Innovative Risk & Reward Sharing Between Farmers and the Supply Chain for Biodynamic and Organic Grain, Pulse and Oil Seeds[…]
Our team is working to design and deploy a portfolio of GIS tools for the Stillwater Valley Watershed Council, focusing specifically on the Rosebud Creek. In its headwaters, the Rosebud Creek is a designated National Wild and Scenic River. Land use in the lower reaches of the Rosebud Creek’s riparian corridor has gradually transformed in Read more about Stillwater-Rosebud Water Quality Initiative[…]
In partnership with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) Colorado, our research team is working across ecological and recreational decision-making processes to help inform planning and management for Colorado’s new Fishers Peak State Park. The park is located in southern Colorado near the city of Trinidad and comprises 19,200 acres, rich with biodiversity and recreational potential. Our Read more about Recreation and Conservation Planning for Fishers Peak State Park[…]
Tucked in the crest of the Snake River Range and in the heart of northwestern Wyoming’s wilderness lies the Palisades Wilderness Study Area. There, you can find people hiking, snowshoeing, birdwatching, canoeing, flat-water kayaking, and most notably, mountain biking. The latter activity has sparked an enormous controversy in nearby Jackson, Wyoming. In 1984, the Palisades Read more about A Case Study: Recreation in the Palisades Wilderness Study Area of the GYE—Bea Portela[…]
Where did the wheat in those organic crackers sitting in your cupboard come from? More likely Turkey than the northern Great Plains of the American West. While demand for organic food has boomed in recent years, production of organic grain in the United States has not kept pace accordingly. For those interested in improving environmental Read more about More Organic Grain? Fix the Missing Middle First—Charlotte Benishek[…]