Why does Audubon California support cattle ranching, when some believe that cattle production and beef consumption are bad for the planet? For an answer, look no further than the hills northwest of Winters, to Bobcat Ranch. Although it may look like an ordinary cattle ranch, its grazing program aims to improve the biological diversity of its grasslands and blue oak woodlands, and thereby increase both its bird abundance and its storage of carbon from the atmosphere.
Bobcat Ranch is certified as part of National Audubon’s Conservation Ranching Initiative, which foregoes use of pesticides, antibiotics and feedlots, and relies on pasture rotation, in which cattle are methodically controlled as to location, timing, duration and intensity of grazing in a multi-year rotation across a ranch. This rotation is designed to mimic the behavior of native elk and pronghorn, which used to roam across California in huge herds.
This grazing method reduces wildfire damage and limits soil compaction and exposure of bare ground. Importantly, it also induces cattle to eat the winter crop of non-native, shallow-rooted grasses (which absorb water before other plants can get it), while preserving the spring-time growth of native deep-rooted grasses and trees. The roots of the native plants hold the soil and allow rainwater to sink in, thus slowing water-driven soil erosion. In turn, the plants provide food and shelter for native animals, including birds.
Rotational grazing also has the potential to contribute to California’s greenhouse gas mitigation efforts, if it is widely adopted. Many of the native rangeland plants are long-lived perennials that lock up atmospheric carbon in their tissues. This contrasts with the predominant rangeland grasses, which live only a few months.
On Bobcat Ranch, hundreds of acres of native perennial grasses have been restored and a mile and half of creek bank has been planted to shrubs and trees. Yolo Audubon volunteers have been systematically counting birds on the ranch for the past five years to define the starting conditions of the project. However, the past decade of exceptional drought and wildfire has almost certainly been the worst time ever for native vegetation, and for any method of cattle grazing, in California’s foothills. Thus, it should be interesting to see how well the project will work for vegetation and wildlife.
Information about California Audubon’s conservation ranching initiative can be found here. A bill, SB 322, introduced in the California legislature this year, and under consideration for the next session, would establish a “conservation ranching incentive program” to support grazing practices that benefit grasslands as habitat. The bill also includes technical and financial support for ranchers to protect and restore streamside and wetland habitat.
To learn about Yolo Audubon’s bird surveys at Bobcat Ranch, visit https://groups.io/g/yoloaudubonphenology or contact Sonjia Shelly at sshelly1129@gmail.com or Joe Zinkl at jgzinkl@ucdavis.edu.
Michael Perrone, YAS Conservation Chair