Highlights of the Society of Range Management 2024 Annual Meeting

“Change on the Range” was the theme for the 2024 Society of Range Management (SRM) 77^th annual meeting, held in Sparks, Nevada.  

SRM is a society for the land and for the people who love the land. Two thousand range enthusiasts varying from agency personnel to students and ranch managers to industry professionals attended the four-day meeting. It was a program that was packed with workshops, symposiums, contests, and tours.

As a rancher interested in rangeland health, I decided to attend this meeting to network with fellow ranchers, learn about programs and collaborate with agencies.

Additionally, my work with MaiaGrazing as a Customer Success Officer relies on my ability to deeply understand and pass along valuable insights on grazing management to other ranchers as part of their adoption of our product, so SRM added to this knowledge base.

Here, I’ll share my key highlights of the meeting.

Highlights of the SRM 2024 Annual Meeting

Focus on Finetuning Stocking Rate

I participated in a workshop that emphasized the importance of appropriate stocking rate and adaptive management. During the workshop, alongside other land managers, I was able to fine-tune available forage by user-defined distance to water and slope steepness, yielding an ecologically responsible starting stocking rate. 

This was an incredible exercise, as one of the key things we look at doing to support our MaiaGrazing customers is ensuring that they gain confidence in matching stocking rate to carrying capacity on our platform.

Ranchers on MaiaGrazing Featured in Program

It was great to hear from some of MaiaGrazing’s customers on the various panels and workshops throughout the event.

The symposia Co-Laboring in the West was panel discussions with agencies and producers collaborating to advance economically viable rangeland stewardship. MaiaGrazing customer Bill Milton and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) range con he works with in Montana discussed connecting community and landscape health. 

The workshop Virtual Fence Working Group updated attendees on virtual fencing, including US Department of Agriculture programs, Bureau of Land Management and US Forest Service implementation.

The producer perspective panel discussion included Mike Camblin, a MaiaGrazing customer. Producers discussed the pros and cons that they have encountered using virtual fence technology.  

Wide Range of Topics Covered

Lastly, there were deep-dives into stockmanship across various panel discussions and lessons on how to effectively write, authorize, and implement Outcome-Based Grazing Authorizations on BLM administered lands. 

These were particularly useful to my operation as we continue to build our stockmanship skills, and the flexibility that Outcome-Based Grazing allows our grazing on public lands.

The Bud Williams Memorial Stockmanship symposium combined new paradigms with old methods. The symposia looked at change on the range from stockmanship, and the increased diversity within stockmanship practices and practitioners.  

Diversified cattle, sheep, and goat producers joined researchers and educators on interactive panel discussions.  

The Outcomes of Outcome-Based Grazing and the Path Forward symposia updated lessons learned about how to effectively write, authorize, and implement Outcome-Based Grazing Authorizations on BLM administered lands. 

Producers and BLM staff discussed how they have effectively managed grazing adaptively, cooperatively monitored short and long-term indicators, and are collaboratively tracking achievement of objectives.

Looking Forward

The Society of Range Management’s 2024 annual meeting was an informative jam-packed session. It brought together those who love the land, and it provided an opportunity to network and exchange ideas and initiatives.

The meeting has inspired me to look at my own ranching business differently, and I’m excited at the prospect of implementing some of the learnings from it. 

Last but not least, I am looking forward to passing along the knowledge I gained to our customers at MaiaGrazing to empower them to continue building resilient grazing practices that are sustainable from an ecological and financial perspective.

Explore MaiaGrazing

MaiaGrazing is grazing management software that helps you make better decisions in order to:

• Maximize your livestock’s potential
• Boost carrying capacity of your land
• Optimize paddock yield
• Minimize feeding costs
• Capture data for seasonal planning and adjustment
• Manage your grazing to build and retain soil carbon