Grazing

Livestock grazing is most often recognized as the dominant use of rangelands for economic gain and rural community stability. Grazing is also influential in terms of how it affects other rangeland values including wildlife, recreation, and open space. Stakeholders identified needs for coordination of additional research, continued work on communication via education and outreach, and improved collaboration related to grazing management. 

Project list

Unfencing Range: Development of a low-cost, simplified approach to virtual fencing

Project Leads: Karen Launchbauch (UI-CNR), Dev Shreshtha (UI-COE), Jason Karl (UI-CNR), Jim Sprinkle (UI Extension), Katherine Lee (UI-CALS), Gordon Murdock (WSU), Tip Hudson (WSU Extension) 

Dormant season grazing to reduce cheatgrass and promote perennial bunchgrass

Project Leads: Eric Winford (UI-CNR), Jason Karl (UI-CNR), Jessica Windh (UI Extension), Johanna Castro-Karney* (UI-CNR) 

Synthesis Paper on Grazing After Fire

Project Leads: Eric Winford (UI-CNR), Hailey Wilmer (ARS), Jim Sprinkle (UI Extension), Scott Jensen (UI Extension), Chris Schactsneider, Karen Launchbaugh (UI CNR), Jason Karl (UI CNR), Eva Strand (UI CNR) 

Fine Fuels Management to Improve Wyoming Big Sagebrush Plant Communities Using Dormant Season Grazing

Project Leads: Sergio Arispe (OSU-Extension), Scott Jensen (UI-CNR), Will Price (OSU Extension), April Hulet (BYU), Jim Sprinkle (UI-CALS), Dustin Johnson (OSU) 

Targeted grazing by sheep to control invasive species and reduce wildfire risk on western rangelands

Project Leads: Kelly Hopping (BSU), April Hulet (BYU), Marie-Anne de Graaff, Renee Kehler, Sergio Arispe (OSU Extension), Kerry Byrne, Riley Kowitz, Mark Henslee, Laura Villegas Ortiz 

Valuation of AUMs in Idaho

Project Leads: Jessica Windh (UI Extension), Eric Winford (UI-CNR), Katherine Lee (UI-CALS), Thadd Strom (ISDA), John Leavell (ISDA)

A social-ecological assessment of targeted grazing as an adaptive management tool on America’s National Forests

Project Leads: Briana Swette (BSU), Kelly Hopping (BSU), April Hulet (BYU), Lynn Huntsinger (UC Berkely), Susan Charnley, Dawn Coultrap, Robert Garcia, Heidi Heyrend, Jenny Jayo, Terry Padilla (USFS) 

Comparison of range-based and Irrigated Cow Calf Systems

Project Leads: John Hall (UI-CALS), Jim Sprinkle (UI-CALS), Gwinyai Chibisa (UI-CALS), Benton Glaze (UI-CALS), Phil Bass (UI-CALS), Michael Colle (UI-CALS), Melinda Ellison (UI-CALS), Sidney Stratton*, Tyler O’Donnell* (UI-CALS) 

Finding the ideal cow for rangeland sustainability: Nature or nurture?

Project Leads: Jim Sprinkle (UI-CALS), Landon Sullivan*, Scott Jensen (UI-CNR), John Hall (UI-CALS), Benton Glaze (UI-CALS), Morgan Stegemiller* (UI-CALS), Brenda Murdoch (UI-CALS)  

Livestock grazing management and riparian ecosystem services: identifying trade-offs and potential synergies among ecological, economic, and social values

Project Leads: Melinda Ellison (UI Extension), Tracey Johnson (UI-CNR), Jocelyn Aycrigg (UI-CNR), Eric Winford (UI-CNR), JD Wulfhorst (UI-CNR), Katherine Lee (UI-CALS), John Ritten (Univ. of Wyoming), Bureau of Land Management  

Grazing behavior and forage intake on rangeland for cows differing in production efficiency  

Project Leads: Jim Sprinkle (UI-CALS), Carmen Wilmore* (UI Extension), Melinda Ellison (UI Extension), John Hall (UI Extension), R. Lewis, Doug Tolleson, D. Jaramillo 

Daily Behavior and Performance for Cows Engaged in Targeted Grazing in SE Idaho  

Project Leads: Jim Sprinkle (UI Extension), Cole Kempton* (UI-CALS), Dan Lauritzen* (CSI), Justin Hatch, Sawyer Fonnesbeck, April Hulet (BYU), Rob Mickelsen (USFS), Hans Bastian (USFS), Jared Simpson 

Publications

Visit the University of Idaho VERSO page for a full list of Rangeland Center member grazing publications.

  • Conway, C. J., Tisdale, C. A., Launchbaugh, K. L., Stevens, B. S., Overlie, G. E., Eigenbrode, S. D., Makela, P. D., & Roberts, S. B. (2025). The Grouse and Grazing Project: Effects of cattle grazing on demographic traits of greater sage-grouse (, Ill.). U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. https://doi.org/10.3996/css82003131
  • Wilmer, H., Spiess, J., Clark, P. E., Anderson, M., Burns, A., Crootof, A., Fanok, L., Hruska, T., Mincher, B. J., Miller, R. S., Munger, W., Posbergh, C. J., Wilson, C. S., Winford, E., Windh, J., Strong, N., Eve, M., & Taylor, J. B. (2025). Collaborative Adaptive Management in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem: A Rangeland Living Laboratory at the US Sheep Experiment Station. Sustainability, 17(7), . https://doi.org/10.3390/su17073086
  • de Avila, H. A., Launchbaugh, K. L., Ehlert, K. A., & Brennan, J. R. (2025). Virtual fence: New realities beyond barbed wire. Rangelands, 47(1), 3–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rala.2024.07.002
  • Helmstetter, N. A., Conway, C. J., Roberts, S., Adams, J. R., Makela, P. D., & Waits, L. P. (2024). Predator‐specific mortality of sage‐grouse nests based on predator DNA on eggshells. Ecology and Evolution, 14(10), . https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70213
  • Sprinkle, J. E., Sullivan, L., Jensen, K. S., Ellison, M. J., Hall, J. B., Willmore, C. M., Sagers, J., Yelich, J. V., Glaze, J. B., Brennan, J. R., Lewis, R. M., Taylor, J. B., Murdoch, B. M., Stegemiller, M. R., Tolleson, D. R., Clark, P., Roberts-Lew, M., & Lamb, J. (2024). 369 Unlocking the mysteries of cow and calf grazing behavior on rugged rangeland pastures using GPS and accelerometer sensor technology. https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skae234.229
  • Stevens, A. V., Myers, C. A., Hall, J. B., & Chibisa, G. E. (2024). The Effects of Harvest Maturity of Eragrostis tef ‘Moxie’ Hay and Supplemental Energy Source on Forage Utilization in Beef Heifers. Animals (Basel), 14(2), 254–. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14020254
  • Hess, A., Huber, S., Bergeron, J. H., McCuin, G., Hess, M., Shane, T., Karl, J., Cox, M., & Washington-Allen, R. (2023). 39 Developing Precision Agriculture Tools to Capture Behavior and Performance in Extensively Managed Sheep. https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skad281.368