A Decade-Long Economic Comparison of Season-Long and Adaptive Rotational Grazing Systems for Stocker Steers in the Shortgrass Steppe

Rangelands are a critical forage base for the livestock industry and provide ecosystem services such as open space preservation, wildlife habitat, and biodiversity. However, few long-term grazing studies have quantified the economic trade-offs associated with implementing conservation-oriented grazing systems at operational ranch scales. This study evaluated the profitability of traditional range management (TRM; continuous season-long grazing) compared to collaborative adaptive rangeland management (CARM; a stakeholder-driven adaptive rotational system) using yearling steers over a 10-year period (2014–2023) at the Central Plains Experimental Range (CPER) in a semiarid, shortgrass steppe of northeastern Colorado. We used steer weight gain data, historical Colorado cattle prices, and system-specific labor and infrastructure costs to determine economic outcomes for TRM and CARM. A Monte Carlo simulation (100 000 iterations) based on historical livestock price distributions was used to calculate annual and 10-year total net revenue and returns to labor and management for both grazing strategies. TRM was more profitable with an 8.8% higher mean net ($884 749) compared to CARM ($812 655). Further, total forecasted returns to labor and management was 78.4% higher ($243 889) for TRM compared to CARM ($136 715) due to decreased animal performance and higher infrastructure costs with CARM. While CARM improved some ecosystem service outcomes, such as increased vegetation heterogeneity, shrub cover, and maintenance of viable habitats for several native grassland bird species of conservation concern, the grazing strategy reduced livestock production and relative profitability. These findings confirm that intensive rotational systems may carry financial trade-offs under typical market and climate conditions in the semiarid shortgrass steppe. This research is relevant to ranchers because it quantifies the cost of achieving ecologically beneficial outcomes through adaptive rotational grazing. Further, it provides insight for ranchers considering system changes and policymakers aiming to design incentives that reflect both the benefits and costs of conservation oriented grazing management on working rangelands.