Abstract
The research investigated the costs and returns associated with continuous and rotational grazing in the framework of riparian areas within the rangeland of Rinker Rock Creek Ranch near Bellevue, Idaho. Many papers have focused on the cost-benefit analysis of continuous and rotational grazing in the rangeland. The analysis concerning grazing management practices in the context of the riparian area is limited. Overuse of riparian areas by livestock has been associated with the degradation of riparian areas, and the response of land managers for the riparian area conservation has been to remove the riparian habitat grazing within the allotment. Hence, to evaluate sustainable grazing management practices in riparian areas, we created eight grazing scenarios of continuous, exclusion, and rotational grazing. We then compared the costs (fencing, water, labor, and buying of cattle) and revenue for each grazing scenario. We assumed a ranching operation where steers were bought at the beginning of the grazing season and then grazed in the rangeland. Our results showed that rotational and exclusion grazing had higher infrastructure costs associated with them compared to continuous grazing. Results also revealed that the returns per acre were negative for rotational grazing and positive for continuous and exclusion grazing. The study shows that continuous grazing provides higher stocking rates, incurs lower infrastructure costs, and yields higher revenues compared to rotational grazing. Continuous grazing offers immediate financial benefits but poses risk to the long-term sustainability of riparian areas. However, rotational grazing, despite greater initial costs, may lead to environmentally friendly and sustainable outcomes for riparian areas. Thus, it is necessary to find a balance between the short-term economic gain of continuous grazing and long-term ecological benefit of rotational grazing.