cattle and sheep graze together on cedar mountain At the creation of the National Forest Service in 1905, a drastic change in grazing patterns resulted. Although these adjustments to the grazing seasons and locations helped avoid a common problem of over-grazing, a USU study shows that reverting back to multi-species grazing would be the ideal for livestock performance and rangeland conditions. Jim Bowns, USU Extension area rangelands specialist and professor of range, forestry and wildland resources at Southern Utah University, has been the range expert for the long-term study of several grazing systems, known as the Cedar Mountain Project. Bowns and John Malechek, professor of rangeland management at USU, are currently writing a summary of the rangeland component of the study, which they found benefited from dual cattle and sheep grazing. This manuscript will be published as a Utah Agricultural Experiment Station bulletin. In 1979, the USU animal science department, range science department and the Agricultural Experiment Station partnered to begin a long-term study of the effects of continuous grazing and deferred grazing with cattle alone, sheep alone and both livestock species together on a private 3,000-acre tract of land near Cedar City. Prior to the study, the land had been continuously grazed by only sheep for 80 to 90 years. Twenty miles of
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fence and 10 years of monitoring later, Bowns said the results were not surprising. “By using cattle and sheep together, more of the plants on the range are benefited,” Bowns said. “The cattle use some plants, the sheep use others and with the combination, we get more uniform use of most of the plants and the entire range.” Changing to a multi-species grazing system is not suitable for all ranges because it requires a diversity of plants. However, Bowns said that the results from the Cedar Mountain project are typical of many of the ranges in the West. The study is not alone in nature, but the 10-year length sets it apart. The study accounts for extremely wet and extremely dry years and neutralizes their opposing effects. The results reiterate the fact that vegetation changes for the benefit of key species on ranges when both cattle and sheep graze the land on a deferred rotation system. Bowns is able to use results of the Cedar Mountain project to consult with ranchers on the best stocking rates for both the range and animal performance. Bowns has seen some interest in ranchers converting to a multi-species program. However, he has seen plenty of reluctance and said the system has not been used as much as they would like.