Just when we thought “virtual” meetings might be behind us, the winter season and a new Covid variant had different plans. As a result we were back to seeing all our friends and associates on little computer screens during the 2022 Winter Webinar held by the Nevada section of the Society for Range Management (SRM).
This year’s winter meeting theme was the Economics of Rangelands, a topic that is sometimes overlooked in the world of ecological research, even though it is often the foundation of many critical management decisions we make. From the natural resources that livestock and wildlife rely on, to the business of conservation, rangelands are an industry unto themselves and can support whole communities. While the relative value of any goods or services are in a constant flux, dictated by society, at any time and place, the intrinsic value of “healthy” rangelands is something we can all agree on. Understanding valuation is extremely important for landowners and managers to assess trade-offs when making decisions.
We had an amazing group of presenters who kindly volunteered to speak to us about their work. Our first presenter was Dr. Tom Harris, who some have described as the rangeland economics “guru” at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR). His many years of experience have provided great insight into the unique qualities of a state like Nevada which has so much public land, and the associated opportunities and challenges. He explained that because Nevada is 81% federal land various economies such as grazing, mining, or other land-based revenues, can be strongly affected by Bureau of Land Management (BLM) policies.
Dr. Harris presented an economic study (2006) on the value of Animal Unit Months (AUMs) in Elko County. He included all the direct and indirect values of ranch production. Based on 847,058 AUMs, he estimated a total economic impact of $125 million, which equals about $148 per AUM. He also presented a study that modeled the losses from decreases in AUMs for a medium sized (700 head) cattle operation. The researchers determined that a 50% decrease in AUMs led to unsustainable losses and operation closure. Dr. Harris also presented statistics on mining in Nevada. He explained that in communities like Eureka County, mining makes up over 75% of their employment. In the Elko and Eureka Counties, his research (2006) estimated that total direct and indirect economic impacts from mining equaled $2.9 billion.
Our next presenter was Mary Jo Foley-Birrenkott, the Director of Membership and Outreach for the parent SRM. She updated us on the new program SRM has developed and premiered at this year’s annual meeting in Albuquerque, NM- the Good Grazing Makes Cent$ (GGMC) program. It will provide a venue for producers, researchers, and land managers to communicate effectively. There are three main components. First is informational resources, such as monthly e-newsletters with content driven by members, and videos created by experts in the field and other usable information formats. Future content may include podcasts, workshops, and even field tours. The second component is an interactive forum on the program’s Facebook group to foster live content discussions. The third component is the benefit of joint membership with livestock associations. Joining this program gives you SRM and GGMC membership resources as well as access to participating livestock associations. For more information, please visit goodgrazing.org.
Dr. Garth Boyd, with the Context Network, gave a presentation on rangelands and carbon credits. This topic has gained a lot of attention these days, and as Garth explained, aspects of it can seem surreal. With Nevada being one of the driest states, there are some real challenges to soil carbon sequestration. He explained that agriculture, which contributes roughly 10% of CO2 emissions, is one of the only sectors that can also contribute to CO2 emission solutions by sequestering carbon into the soil. Soil carbon sequestration in agriculture is a nature-based solution that is increasingly important due to its potential scale, cost-competitiveness, and other advantages over alternatives.
Carbon sequestration is one more reason why managing for less cheatgrass and more perennial grass is so critical. Garth presented a metanalysis of 93 studies that found, on average, soil organic carbon increased 39% when annual cropland was converted to perennial grassland. By maintaining perennial grass and shrublands, rangeland soils can be a significant reservoir of organic carbon. This carbon sequestration can become a commodity on the carbon market. A carbon credit equals one metric ton of CO2 that has been reduced, avoided, or sequestered. The current market offers around $15 per credit (ton); however, with zero CO2 emission goals made by many large companies like Microsoft, who purchased every carbon credit available on the market in 2020, the price will likely increase. Garth explained that the complexity of carbon markets, especially being new, can make potential agricultural carbon credit suppliers hesitant to get into the market. He gave examples of four registries that create standards and protocols to issue and certify credits: Verra.org, ClimateActionReserve.org, AmericanCarbonRegistry.org and the GoldStandard.org. Garth also talked about Grassroots Carbon (buildgrassroots.com), currently one of the most active programs for ranchers or producers to sell carbon credits.
Next, Doug Busselman, the Executive Vice President for the Nevada Farm Bureau, gave us an update on agriculture in Nevada, explaining opportunities and challenges for the future. Doug explained that the three big agricultural products in Nevada are meat animals (45%), dairy (20%), and feed crops (19%). The unique element for Nevada is that nearly all the beef producers operate on BLM land with cow-calf operations. There are about 540 BLM grazing authorizations and 558 producers in Nevada (2017 AG census data). Doug emphasized the importance of agricultural economic research to determine future profitability and define contributions of the producers to the rangelands. This includes water developments and good grazing practices in general. There has been a continuing trend of decreasing livestock numbers, which combined with droughts and input costs makes the profitability of grazing animals on public lands very challenging. Doug explained the importance of understanding the benefits that grazing has on rangelands if managed properly, and those benefits if highlighted can help with the challenges livestock producers face.
Kelly McGowan with the Nevada Sagebrush Ecosystem Team presented next, giving us an overview of the Nevada Conservation Credit System (CCS). This relatively new program provides a credit and debit system for many resource industries in Nevada. Conservation credits can be purchased to offset debits acquired from land disturbances. The program, which began in 2016, really increased its projects in 2019 when the Nevada legislature passed a regulation that requires mitigation (credits) for any anthropogenic disturbances (debit projects). Kelly explained that the new regulation led to more than doubling the number of projects from 2020 to 2021. According to Kelly, there are about 32,000 credits available to mitigate disturbance. He anticipates that around 22,000 of those credits will be used to mitigate debits. Kelly explained that even though that leaves 10,000 available credits, he predicts an additional 40,000 credits will be required in the near future. While this debit need may seem alarming, Kelly is confident that new credit opportunities, including the possibility of public land credits, will provide enough to mitigate the debit needs. Incentives to increase private land credits include financial and increased credits for conservation practices such as juniper removals or meadow restoration.
We then heard an in-depth presentation from Dr. Michael Taylor, an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at UNR, on research he and others conducted on the economics of upland and big game hunting in Nevada. The study looked at all the factors that go into hunting expenditures in Nevada. A research study like this has not been done since the 1980s, and Michael stressed the important role that recreational hunting plays in Nevada’s rangeland economies along with agriculture. This study is part of the Nevada Economic Assessment Project (NEAP). The authors performed an economic analysis for how hunting-related expenditures translate into economic activity (employment, output, tax revenue, etc.) for each county in Nevada. Michael presented expenditure data for hunting by species and sex, with antlered deer having the greatest total tag-related expenditures at about $37 million in Nevada. When combining all tag-related expenditures and gear purchases such as campers, OHV, and ammunition, over $80 million is spent on hunting in Nevada annually. The two counties with the greatest expenditures are Washoe, where the largest population of hunters live, and Elko, where the majority of the hunts occur. All of the data will be published in a report provided by UNR Extension; so look for that soon.
Lastly, to close out a full and thought-provoking day, Jack Alexander with Synergy Resource Solutions, Inc., gave us some insight into his decades of private-sector rangeland consulting. Jack covered the pros and cons of private versus public rangeland consulting. Jack explained that a lot of the differences come down to an individual’s personal preference regarding things like independence or risk. He pointed out that the private sector requires good business skills, stating, “You have to make money to keep the wheels on the bus.” While most people in the natural resource field have good technical skills, it is hard to find someone with both technical skills and business skills. Jack told us about some of the challenges of a small business and problem solving. The interaction with customers in a smaller business is more personal, and people skills play an important role. Jack stated that he feels that managing natural resources is sometimes more about managing people. Jack summed up the day nicely, highlighting a lot of the opportunities that rangeland services provide, but also the difficult challenges we face today and in the future with those resources.
The Nevada Section of the Society for Range Management would like to thank all the presenters and participants this year. To view the presentations please visit YouTube NVSRM.
By Dan N. Harmon, NVSRM President