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Toledo D, Hendrickson J, Liebig M, Kobilansky C, Carrlson A, Kronberg S, Christensen R, Archer D, Branson D, Rand T, Campbell J, Igathinathane C. The LTAR Grazing Land Common Experiment at Northern Plains. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY 2024; 53:921-929. [PMID: 39087265 DOI: 10.1002/jeq2.20604] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/29/2024] [Accepted: 07/02/2024] [Indexed: 08/02/2024]
Abstract
The USDA Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) network aims to enhance sustainable agricultural management practices through a coordinated, cross-site common experiment involving 18 locations across the United States. The objective of this paper is to provide an overview of the LTAR Grazing Land Common Experiment at the Northern Plains (NP) site, where an experiment was initiated in 2019 to answer producers' and researchers' questions about whether the tactical application of fire or grazing can reduce the dominance of invasive Kentucky bluegrass in northern Great Plains ecosystems. As part of the LTAR common experiment, we contrast a prevailing practice (season-long grazing at moderate stocking rate) with four alternative practices at a half-hectare plot scale: (1) mob grazing by cattle, (2) multi-species grazing (mob grazing by cattle, with goats foraging at key times of the year), (3) prescribed fire, and (4) prescribed fire followed by cattle grazing. A stakeholder group is engaged in the co-production process to determine alternative practices and how to apply them. Every 5 years, the treatment with the best overall outcomes is applied at a field scale (15 ha), resulting in a core treatment contrast of prevailing versus alternative grazing management systems. This experiment aims to develop alternative agroecological practices that optimize current and future economic and ecosystem benefits.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Toledo
- USDA-ARS Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory, Mandan, North Dakota, USA
| | - John Hendrickson
- USDA-ARS Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory, Mandan, North Dakota, USA
| | - Mark Liebig
- USDA-ARS Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory, Mandan, North Dakota, USA
| | - Chantel Kobilansky
- USDA-ARS Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory, Mandan, North Dakota, USA
| | - Andrew Carrlson
- USDA-ARS Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory, Mandan, North Dakota, USA
| | - Scott Kronberg
- USDA-ARS Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory, Mandan, North Dakota, USA
| | - Rachael Christensen
- USDA-ARS Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory, Mandan, North Dakota, USA
| | - David Archer
- USDA-ARS Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory, Mandan, North Dakota, USA
| | - David Branson
- USDA-ARS Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory, Pest Management Research Unit, Sidney, Montana, USA
| | - Tatyana Rand
- USDA-ARS Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory, Pest Management Research Unit, Sidney, Montana, USA
| | - Joshua Campbell
- USDA-ARS Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory, Pest Management Research Unit, Sidney, Montana, USA
| | - Cannayen Igathinathane
- Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota, USA
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