Evaluating prairie dog–cattle competition from the perspective of a ranching enterprise in the western Great Plains: An economic analysis of potential effects on long-term profitability

Authors: CROW, LEWIS - University Of Wyoming; Porensky, Lauren; Augustine, David; BASTIAN, CHRISTOPHER - University Of Wyoming; PAISLEY, STEVEN - University Of Wyoming; RITTEN, JOHN - University Of Wyoming

Submitted to: Rangeland Ecology and Management
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/22/2022
Publication Date: 10/30/2022
Citation: Crow, L., Porensky, L.M., Augustine, D.J., Bastian, C.T., Paisley, S.I., Ritten, J. 2022. Evaluating prairie dog–cattle competition from the perspective of a ranching enterprise in the western Great Plains: An economic analysis of potential effects on long-term profitability. Rangeland Ecology and Management. 85:56-65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rama.2022.09.003.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rama.2022.09.003

Interpretive Summary: Prairie dogs and livestock compete for forage resources, but prairie dogs also support many threatened and endangered wildlife species. This tradeoff creates challenges in the management of multiple use landscapes. A better understanding of how prairie dogs affect rancher livelihoods may help to inform management decision-making. We used economic data for a representative cow-calf ranch operation in the Thunder Basin Ecoregion of Wyoming to determine prairie dog impacts on ranch economics over a 40-year production period. We examined prairie dog effects using two different forage/livestock use assumptions; the first is simply forage competition, and the second scenario assumes cattle are excluded from prairie dog colonies. As expected, our results indicate that prairie dogs decrease forage availability for grazing, thus reducing the average cow herd size on a ranch, the annual returns from livestock sales, and the maximized net present value of annual returns. However, the magnitude of these impacts and the financial feasibility of managing prairie dogs largely depends on the effects prairie dogs exhibit on forage resources and how cattle use these forage resources. More research is needed to address this key uncertainty.

Technical Abstract: Prairie dogs and livestock have long been viewed as competitors for forage resources, causing widespread exterminations of prairie dogs, resulting in the decline of threatened and endangered wildlife species. In this study we use economic data for a cow-calf ranch operation in the Thunder Basin Ecoregion of Wyoming to determine the impacts that prairie dogs exhibit on the long-term profitability and cow herd dynamics of a ranch over a 40-year production period. More specifically, we evaluate the effects of prairie dogs on a cow-calf operation through two forage/livestock use assumptions; the first is simply forage competition, the second scenario assumes cattle are excluded from prairie dog colonies. As expected, our results indicate that prairie dogs decrease forage availability for grazing, thus reducing the average cow herd size on a ranch, the annual returns from livestock sales, and the maximized net present value of annual returns. Further, the magnitude of these impacts and the financial feasibility of managing prairie dogs largely depends on the effects prairie dogs exhibit on forage resources and how cattle use these forage resources.