Abstract The Chihuahuan Desert averages 247 mm of precipitation annually, 53% of which occurs between July and September. Our objective was to examine movement, activity, pasture use, and watering patterns of Angus x Hereford (AH) and Raramuri Criollo (RC) cows on days with precipitation events (PE, ≥ 1.3 mm rain recorded) vs. days with no precipitation (NP) at the Jornada Experimental Range in southern New Mexico during the summers of 2015, 2016, and 2017. Breeds grazed two adjacent pastures (12A = 1190 ha; 12C = 1165 ha) separately in a crossover design for 4 weeks each year. Seven to nine randomly selected cows per breed were collared with Lotek 3300-LR GPS set to log position every 10 min. An average of 7.6 PE occurred during the 4-week trials each year. On PE days, cows traveled farther (PE = 6.95 vs. NP = 6.43 km, P < 0.01), spent more time grazing (PE = 9.07 vs. NP = 8.76 h/day, P = 0.07) and less time resting (PE = 13.90 vs. NP = 14.38 h/day, P = 0.01), and traveled similar distances from watering points (PE = 0.84 vs. NP = 0.80 km, P = 0.41) compared to NP days. On PE days, cows spent less time within 200 m (PE = 1.32 vs. NP = 2.95 h, P < 0.01) and 100 m (PE = 0.79 vs. NP = 1.90 h, P < 0.01) of drinkers regardless of breed. We detected no rainfall x breed interaction (P > 0.05). Overall, RC cows traveled farther, at higher velocities, spent more time grazing, less time resting, and explored areas with greater radius than AH counterparts (P < 0.05). Precipitation appeared to relax environmental constraints on activity of both breeds, likely due to availability of ephemeral watering sources and a transient drop in temperature.
The uncoupling of animal and crop production has resulted in long-term accumulation of manure nutrients in many areas, contributing to nutrient pollution. Prudent recycling of manure's nutrient resources requires reconnecting operations that produce manure with agricultural lands in need of nutrients. Thus the need to frame manure management via "manuresheds": the land (i.e. cropland, rangeland) surrounding livestock production operations where nutrients can be recycled on agricultural lands while balancing goals for production, environmental quality, and quality of life. We explore manureshed management as an evolution of national, regional, and local trends in nutrient sources and sinks. Results of our temporal assessments highlight not only system inertia, but the dynamic nature of nutrient flows and the potential for manureshed management to reverse nutrient imbalances at various scales. As a tool for a circular economy, manureshed management requires coordination beyond the farmgate, engaging specialists, industries, and other stakeholders.
Author(s): Spiegal, Sheri; Larios, Loralee; Bartolome, James W.; Suding, Katharine N. | Abstract: Introduced species from the Mediterranean dominate plant cover of the Californian grassland, but more than one thousand native species persist at low abundance or may be locally absent. Efforts to successfully increase native abundance are complicated by the spatial and temporal complexity of the system. Highly variable rainfall, topography, and soils result in large differences in species composition across space and time. Managers must deal with this variability to carry out effective restoration. We present a conceptual management toolkit containing five steps to better organize variability, predict suitable restoration sites, and select and time treatments. The toolkit relies on the key concepts of ecological site classification, state-and-transition models, and opportunistic adaptive management to help managers achieve their restoration goals.
Our objective was to describe key phenotypic characteristics of a population of Rarámuri Criollo (RC) cattle introduced from the Copper Canyon of Chihuahua, México into the Southwestern United States almost two decades ago. We recorded 26 phenotypic traits of 37 RC individuals including mature cows, first-calf heifers, and mature bulls raised at the USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range in southern New Mexico. This herd of RC cattle exhibited intermediate body sizes compared to the smaller Corriente and larger Texas Longhorn and Florida Cracker cattle. Coat colors were similar to those described for other Criollo biotypes but horn shape and size of RC appear to be different than that of other US-based Criollo breeds. Though smaller than commercial beef breeds, RC cattle appear to be well-matched to the Southwestern US environments as evidenced by previous studies that evaluated their grazing behavior, weight gains, and carcass quality. Rarámuri Criollo cattle are a genetic resource whose conservation could be critically important for climate change adaptation of ranches in the desert Southwest.
Rates of ecosystem change are accelerating in rangelands, but development of technologies to detect and react to change is accelerating at the same time. New management frameworks, including novel ecosystems and Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) provide new ways of thinking about management strategies. We describe how we are integrating several digital tools and new management frameworks on the Jornada Experimental Range as an example to help land managers imagine how these tools might be applied in their contexts.
Quantifying spatial and temporal fluxes of phosphorus (P) within and among agricultural production systems is critical for sustaining agricultural production while minimizing environmental impacts. To better understand P fluxes in agricultural landscapes, P-FLUX, a detailed and harmonized dataset of P inputs, outputs, and budgets, as well as estimated uncertainties for each P flux and budget, was developed. Data were collected from 24 research sites and 61 production systems through the Long-term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) network and partner organizations spanning 22 U.S. states and 2 Canadian provinces. The objectives of this paper are to (a) present and provide a description of the P-FLUX dataset, (b) provide summary analyses of the agricultural production systems included in the dataset and the variability in P inputs and outputs across systems, and (c) provide details for accessing the dataset, dataset limitations, and an example of future use. P-FLUX includes information on select site characteristics (area, soil series), crop rotation, P inputs (P application rate, source, timing, placement, P in irrigation water, atmospheric deposition), P outputs (crop removal, hydrologic losses), P budgets (agronomic budget, overall budget), uncertainties associated with each flux and budget, and data sources. Phosphorus fluxes and budgets vary across agricultural production systems and are useful resources to improve P use efficiency and develop management strategies to mitigate environmental impacts of agricultural systems. P-FLUX is available for download through the USDA Ag Data Commons (https://doi.org/10.15482/USDA.ADC/1523365).
Introduced species from the Mediterranean dominate plant cover of the Californian grassland, but more than one thousand native species persist at low abundance or may be locally absent. Efforts to successfully increase native abundance are complicated by the spatial and temporal complexity of the system. Highly variable rainfall, topography, and soils result in large differences in species composition across space and time. Managers must deal with this variability to carry out effective restoration. We present a conceptual management toolkit containing five steps to better organize variability, predict suitable restoration sites, and select and time treatments. The toolkit relies on the key concepts of ecological site classification, state-and-transition models, and opportunistic adaptive management to help managers achieve their restoration goals.
Nutrient recycling is fundamental to sustainable agricultural systems, but few mechanisms exist to ensure that surplus manure nutrients from animal feeding operations are transported for use on nutrient-deficient croplands. As a result, manure nutrients concentrate in locations where they can threaten environmental health and devalue manure as a fertilizer resource. This study advances the concept of the "manureshed" – the lands surrounding animal feeding operations onto which manure nutrients can be redistributed to meet environmental, production, and economic goals. Manuresheds can be managed at multiple scales, for example, on farms with both animals and crops, among animal farms and crop farms within a county, or even among animal farms and crop farms in distant counties. With a focus on redistribution among counties, we classified the 3109 counties of the contiguous United States by their capacity to either supply manure phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) from confined livestock production ("sources") or to assimilate and remove excess P and N via crops ("sinks"). Manure nutrient source counties were identified in 40 of the 48 states, with a substantial concentration in the southern US. Source counties for manure P greatly outnumbered source counties for manure N (390 vs. 100), and 99 of the 100 manure N source counties were also source counties for manure P. Conversely, sink counties for manure N outnumbered sink counties for manure P (2766 vs. 2317). We used the P balances of the source and sink counties to delineate four manuresheds dominated by various combinations of confined hog, poultry, dairy, and beef industries. The four manuresheds differed in the transport distances needed to assimilate excess manure P from their respective source areas (from 147 ± 51 km for a beef dominated manureshed to 368 ± 140 km for a poultry dominated manureshed), highlighting the need for systems-level strategies to promote manure nutrient recycling that operate across local, county, regional, and national scales.
Animal welfare monitoring relies on sensor accuracy for detecting changes in animal well-being. We compared the distance calculations based on global positioning system (GPS) data alone or combined with motion data from triaxial accelerometers. The assessment involved static trackers placed outdoors or indoors vs. trackers mounted on cows grazing on pasture. Trackers communicated motion data at 1 min intervals and GPS positions at 15 min intervals for seven days. Daily distance walked was determined using the following: (1) raw GPS data (RawDist), (2) data with erroneous GPS locations removed (CorrectedDist), or (3) data with erroneous GPS locations removed, combined with the exclusion of GPS data associated with no motion reading (CorrectedDist_Act). Distances were analyzed via one-way ANOVA to compare the effects of tracker placement (Indoor, Outdoor, or Animal). No difference was detected between the tracker placement for RawDist. The computation of CorrectedDist differed between the tracker placements. However, due to the random error of GPS measurements, CorrectedDist for Indoor static trackers differed from zero. The walking distance calculated by CorrectedDist_Act differed between the tracker placements, with distances for static trackers not differing from zero. The fusion of GPS and accelerometer data better detected animal welfare implications related to immobility in grazing cattle.
