Strategic grazing management
The creative planning and adaptive management of livestock grazing in the context of complexity -- time, space, land health and diversity – and a resolution to a long-standing debate in rangeland management science.
For me, this began with my MS thesis in range science at Utah State University (based on the ideas of my advisor, Brien E. “Ben” Norton); and evolved through my work as a rangeland conservationist in the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and as a member of the Society for Range Management and other organizations, including fruitful collaborations with scientists like Richard Teague, Fred Provenza, and Tim Steffens. For the Colorado Section SRM, I organized a symposium on Strategic Grazing Management using complex adaptive systems as a lens combining the applied science and the art of management to understand how multiple “sides” of the debate over multiple-paddock grazing are true, but partial; and which was published as a sponsored issue of the Rangelands journal.
Publications
Grazing management that regenerates ecosystem function and grazingland livelihoods
African Journal of Range and Forage Science
July 2017 | 34(2): 1-10 | R. Teague and M. Barnes
Outstanding Publication Award, Colorado Section Society for Range Management
Journal of Environmental Management
October 15, 2013 | 128: 699-717 | R. Teague, F. Provenza, U. Kreuter, T. Steffens, and M. Barnes
Outstanding Publication Award, Texas Section Society for Range Management
Strategic Grazing Management for Complex Creative Systems
Rangelands
October 2013 | Sponsored issue, 35(5): 1-66 | M. Barnes and A. Hild (eds.)
Foreword: Strategic grazing management for complex creative systems
Rangelands
October 2013 | 35(5): 3-5 | M. Barnes and A. Hild
Complex creative systems: Principles, processes, and practices of transformation
Rangelands
October 2013 | 35(5): 6-13 | F. Provenza, H. Pringle, D. Revell, N. Bray, C. Hines, R. Teague, T. Steffens, and M. Barnes
Adaptive grazing management for recovery: Know why you’re moving from paddock to paddock
Rangelands
October 2013 | 35(5): 28-34 | T. Steffens, G. Grissom, M. Barnes, F. Provenza, and R. Roath
Rangelands
October 2013 | 35(5): 45-51 | B.E. Norton, M. Barnes, and R. Teague
Multiple-paddock grazing distributes utilization across heterogeneous mountain landscapes
Rangelands
October 2013 | 35(5): 52-61 | M. Barnes and J. Howell
Strategic Grazing Management for Complex Adaptive Systems
Symposium proceedings | Society for Range Management
Annual meeting | Colorado Section Society for Range Management
November 29-30, 2012 | Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado | M. Barnes (organizer and editor)
Grazing period stocking rate drives livestock performance in rotational stocking
Diverse Rangelands for a Sustainable Society: Proceedings of the IX International Rangeland Congress
April 2-8, 2011 | Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina | M.K. Barnes, T.J. Steffens, and L.R. Rittenhouse
Minimal repeat defoliation, and feeding choice shift, during short grazing periods
Diverse Rangelands for a Sustainable Society: Proceedings of the IX International Rangeland Congress
April 2-8, 2011 | Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina | M. Maeno, B.E. Norton, and M.K. Barnes
Do paddock size and stocking density affect species selectivity of grazing?
Diverse Rangelands for a Sustainable Society: Proceedings of the IX International Rangeland Congress
April 2-8, 2011 | Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina | M. Maeno, B.E. Norton, and M.K. Barnes
Improving forage distribution utilization & livestock production—Planned grazing
In Practice
January 2010 | 129: 8 | M. Barnes
Graze period stocking rate, not stock density, determines livestock nutrient intake
Proceedings of the 4th National Conference on Grazing Lands
December 12-16, 2009 | p. 643-648 | Sparks, Nevada | T.J. Steffens, M.K. Barnes, and L.R. Rittenhouse
Paddock size and stocking density affect spatial heterogeneity of grazing
Rangeland Ecology & Management
July 2008 | 61(4): 380-388 | M.K. Barnes, B.E. Norton, M. Maeno, and J.C. Malechek
Grasslands: Ecology, Management and Restoration
April 2008 | P. 41-80 | Nova Science Publishers | R. Teague, F. Provenza, B. Norton, T. Steffens, M. Barnes, M. Kothmann, and R. Roath. In: H.G. Schroder (ed.)
Presentations
Strategic grazing management, complexity, distribution, and anti-predator behavior
Adaptive Grazing Strategies symposium, Society for Range Management
February 2, 2016 | Corpus Christi, Texas | M. Barnes
Multiple-paddock grazing improves distribution of utilization across a heterogeneous mountain landscape
2011 – 2012 | M.K. Barnes and J.G. Howell
April 3, 2013 | Holistic Thought and Management course | Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana.
November 30, 2012 | Strategic Grazing Management for Complex Adaptive Systems [symposium], Society for Range Management | Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado
October 24, 2011 | Biennial Conference of Research on the Colorado Plateau | Flagstaff, Arizona
February 8, 2011 | Transcending Borders: Landscapes and Legends, Society for Range Management | Billings, Montana
Grazing period stocking rate drives livestock performance in rotational stocking [poster]
Diverse Rangelands for a Sustainable Society: 9th International Rangeland Congress
April 2, 2011 | Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina | M.K. Barnes, T.J. Steffens, and L.R. Rittenhouse
Do paddock size and stocking density affect species selectivity of grazing? [poster] | Minimal repeat defoliation, and feeding choice shift, during short grazing periods [poster]
Diverse Rangelands for a Sustainable Society: 9th International Rangeland Congress
April 2, 2011 | Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina | M. Maeno, M., B.E. Norton, and M.K. Barnes
Spatial distribution of grazing on a gradient of paddock size and stocking density
2002 | M.K. Barnes, B.E. Norton, M, Maeno, and J.C. Malechek
July 26, 2002 | Department of Rangeland Resources, Utah State University | Logan, Utah
February 12, 2002 | Society for Range Management | Kansas City, Missouri
Strategic Grazing Management for Complex Creative Systems
Sponsored issue of Rangelands 35 (5). M. Barnes and A. Hild, guest editors.
Front Cover: A herd of grass-fed cattle from Blue Range Ranch, herded by George Whitten in a strategic grazing plan on the Baca National Wildlife Refuge, below the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the San Luis Valley, CO, USA. Photo by Matt Barnes.