Researchers Investigating Impact of Adaptive Grazing on CRP Land

Researchers at the Texas A&M AgriLife Center for Grazinglands and Ranch Management are investigating the impact of grazing practices on the long-term sustainability and biodiversity of landscapes enrolled in USDA’s Conservation Reserve Program. The project will focus on adaptive grazing practices such as managed timing, intensity, frequency, duration, and resting period. Jeff Goodwin, Ph.D., director of the Center for Grazinglands and Ranch Management, Bryan-College Station, said an increasing amount of scientific research suggests that by focusing on ecological principles, grazing animals become yet another tool in the toolbox to help conserve and manage wildlife habitat and other ecosystem processes. This investigation will enable researchers to collect valuable data on soil organic carbon and microbial activity, vegetation composition and structure, plus the presence or absence of high-priority avian species.