Estimating Grazingland Yield from Commonly Available Data

Range managers must often estimate or predict annual forage yield at a distance, from minimal data, or for a variety of sites. This study compared and modified 6 simple formulas potentially useful for this purpose. The grazingland data that were used represented 44 sites on 5 continents. Soil texture at site affected accuracy of all formulas. Shrubbiness affected accuracy of formulas based on evapotranspiration. Some formulas modified to include past-year yield as a variable were fairly accurate over a variety of grazinglands. An equation based only on past-year yield predicted yield within an average of 34% at new sites. Equations that incorporated past-year yield, used a measure of current effective moisture, and had a limiting-factor approach estimated current yield within an average of 18-19% at new sites.This material was digitized as part of a cooperative project between the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries.The Journal of Range Management archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact lbry-journals@email.arizona.edu for further information.Migrated from OJS platform August 202