Jun 04, 2008 - 05:11:09 CDT
The startling fax came during the Little Missouri Grazing Association's annual meeting last week at Amidon: Ranchers have to reduce cattle grazing 30 percent by June 20.That's a lot of adjustment in a short time, after many ranchers had already turned out their animals. In the ranchers' opinion the dictate from the Forest Service comes not out of the blue, but out of the gray, at least in terms of rain in the far southwestern region of North Dakota.
The Forest Service manages grazing on about 1 million public acres on the National Grasslands, roughly split between the Medora District to the south and the McKenzie District to the north.
Forest Service range managers took a much different approach on the north McKenzie District of the National Grasslands, where it's been decidedly drier. There, they've implemented an "eat half, leave half (grass)" policy and let the ranchers decide how to reach that goal.
Doug Pope, president of the Little Missouri Grazing Association, said the directive from the Medora District caught ranchers off guard because 4 to 7 inches of rain this spring has been adequate to plentiful across that part of the grasslands.
"Last fall, the grass across the association looked excellent and overall this spring it still does," Pope said.
Pope said ranchers will have to take steps to move cow calf pairs to private pastures, or take some to the auction barn.
"A lot of people thought the letter wasn't warranted with the rain we've had," Pope said. "We feel the permittee is the best manager that there is."
He said the Forest Service's timing was inadequate, not the rain. He's hoping the association can do some on-the-ground negotiating with the Forest Service when they team up on a range tour, possibly next week.
Pope estimates there are about 7,000 animal units, normally cow-calf pairs permitted among 109 operators on the Little Missouri Grazing Association acres.
The approach by Forest Service range managers in the McKenzie District seems to have left ranchers feeling better about grazing reductions, because they can make their own.
Range manager Gary Petik, said they reasoned the ranchers could make better decisions about how to achieve the "eat half, leave half" goal than the agency making an across-the-board cut.
He said the agency met with the McKenzie County Grazing Association several times in recent months and concluded that permittees should decide whether to graze fewer animals, graze them for shorter time, or rotate pastures when it became clear a dry cool spring had "grass behind the growth curve."
Petik said he's hoping the summer doesn't turn into one like 1988 when it was so dry, grazing had to be curtailed in August rather than later in the fall to save any grass for the next year.
"The next meeting (with the grazing association) might have to be a prayer meeting," he said.
Ron Whited, vice president of the McKenzie Grazing Association, said rain Monday helped matters some, but all ranchers are cutting back numbers - in amount of time grazing, or in cattle - to get through the season, hoping to keep pairs out long enough to wean the calves.
"Everybody's on the same page," Whited said. "It's a better feeling because the Forest Service didn't say, 'This many cuts.' They listened to the ranchers and we had a good time of it."
Petik said the McKenzie District has about 120 operators and about 17,000 cow-calf pairs out on the district's acres.
(Reach reporter Lauren Donovan at 888-303-5511 or lauren@;westriv.com.)
freemarketradical wrote on Jun 4, 2008 3:08 PM:
JustMe wrote on Jun 4, 2008 7:39 AM:
I don't see why the ranchers should be able to nuke the land in a drought year, as it will only cause more stress long term on the land, possibly setting the grasses back years of production. Sometimes steps need to be taken for the better of the pand, not for the rancher. "
Comments are reviewed for taste, tone and language before posting.
Some comments may be used in the Tribune's print edition.
We value and respect your privacy, but The Bismarck Tribune might
disclose certain information to governmental entities if served with subpoena.