Improving Mountain Meadow Production in the West

Excerpts from the report: Ranching practices on mountain meadows in the Western United States have been under research since 1950. Comparisons have been made between ranches operated by traditional procedures and those on which modern research findings were applied. This publication gives some facts and figures, and reports the important conclusions drawn from these comparisons. A survey showed that information acquired through research was being applied mostly by ranchers who lived near experimental sites or who attended field-day demonstrations. Some of these ranchers were able to increase their production as much as 600 percent. They learned how to conserve water by applying less to the meadow and using the surplus on new lands. They learned how to grow about 5 tons of hay where 1 grew before, and how to produce about 6 times as much beef on the acreage they owned. These ranchers centered their efforts on the improvement of water efficiency, area efficiency, soil efficiency, crop adaptation, forage management, and livestock management. They regarded the cost of many of the improvements as capital investment.