Promoting healthy watersheds through sustainable land management
On October 18, 2018, Dixon Water Foundation held a workshop featuring Walt Davis & Dr. Richard Teague, experts in the benefits of planned grazing and the science behind it.
The workshop covered biological capital, planned grazing, relationships between forage and grazing animals, and how to plan for drought recovery.
Click here to view the workshop flyer with more information on the speakers.
The Dixon Water Foundation’s own Robert Potts spoke on April 21 at the USO Building in Marfa, Texas for the 2018 West Texas Water Symposium.
More information: www.facebook.com/events/1216798995124265/
Dixon Water Foundation board member Dr. Lisa Bellows was honored by the City of Gainesville with an article in their Heroes Among Us series in the Gainesville Daily Register:
“This year, the foundation’s hard work gained national recognition by winning Texas’ top conservation honor: the Leopold Conservation Award. The Sand County Foundation, a national nonprofit land conservation organization, presents the $10,000 award to one rancher or organization each year in honor of conservationist Aldo Leopold. Unlike past Texas honorees, the Dixon Water Foundation is not an individual landowner but a nonprofit organization focused on the bigger picture of Texas’ land health.”
Foodtank.com recently posted Texas Ranches Manage Cattle to Improve Habitat and Watershed Health, an edited excerpt from Replenish: The Virtuous Cycle of Water and Prosperity by Sandra Postel, published by Island Press.
The research of Dr. Richard Teague has been supported by the Dixon Water Foundation for many years. The following is a list of projects and papers by Dr. Teague that have received Dixon Water Foundation funding. (Please also see our Resources pages for links to more of Dr. Teague’s publications.)
DIXON WATER FOUNDATION LIST OF FUNDED PROJECTS
Richard Teague, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Box 1658 Vernon, TX 76384
1. The Hydrological Effects of Intensive Grazing Systems
Title: Grazing management impacts on vegetation, soil biota and soil chemical, physical and hydrological properties in tall grass prairie
Papers:
2011. Teague, W.R., Dowhower, S.L., Baker, S.A., Haile, N., DeLaune, P.B., Conover, D.M. Grazing management impacts on vegetation, soil biota and soil chemical, physical and hydrological properties in tall grass prairie. Agriculture Ecosystems and Environment 141:310-22.
2013. Norton, B.E., Barnes, M., Teague, R. Grazing management can improve livestock distribution. Rangelands 35:45-51.
2013. Provenza, F., Pringle, H., Revell, D., Bray, N., Hines, C., Teague, R., Steffens, T., Barnes, M. Complex Creative Systems: Principles, Processes, and Practices of Transformation. Rangelands 35:6-13.
2013. Teague, W.R., Provenza, F., Kreuter, U.P., Steffens, T., Barnes, M. Multi-paddock grazing on rangelands: Why the perceptual dichotomy between research results and rancher experience? Journal of Environmental Management 128:699-717.
2014. Sacks, A.D., Richard Teague, Fred Provenza, Seth Itzkan, Jim Laurie. Restoring Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide to Pre-Industrial Levels: Re-establishing the Evolutionary Grassland-Grazer Relationship. In: Geotherapy, Edited by Thomas Goreau. CRC Press. pp. 155-194.
2015. Teague, W.R. Toward restoration of ecosystem function and livelihoods on grazed agroecosystems. Crop Science 55:1-7.
2015. Teague, R., Grant, W., Wang, H. 2014. Assessing optimal configurations of multi-paddock grazing strategies in tallgrass prairie using a simulation model. Journal of Environmental Management 150:262-273.
2016. Teague, W.R., S. Apfelbaum, R. Lal, U.P. Kreuter, J. Rowntree, C.A. Davies, R. Conser, M. Rasmussen, J. Hatfield, T. Wang, F. Wang, P. Byck. The role of ruminants in reducing agriculture’s carbon footprint in North America. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 72:156-164.
2016. Teague, W.R. Bridging the Research Management Gap to Restore Ecosystem Function and Social Resilience. In: Global Soil Security Conference, College Station, Texas. (Eds) Alex McBratney, Christine Morgan & Andrea Koch. pp. 341-350.
2017. Teague R., and Barnes, M. 2017. Grazing management that regenerates ecosystem function and grazing land livelihoods. African Journal of Range and Forage Science 34:77-85.
2. Restore Big Bluestem Using Planned Grazing
Title: Dynamics of tallgrasses to native tallgrass prairie using adaptive multi-paddock grazing
Papers: In preparation. Final analyses being conducted now to be submitted to journal in 2018.
3. Compost Tea Evaluation – Lake Lewisville Education Area – Abandoned
New Title: Grazing Management Impacts on Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Soil (see below)
4. Grazing Management Impacts on Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Soil
Papers: In preparation. Final analyses being conducted now to be submitted to journal in 2018.
5. Range Restoration using Planned Grazing – Lake Lewisville Education Area
Title: Using fire and multi-paddock grazing to restore degraded secondary succession tallgrass prairie
Papers: In preparation. Final analyses being conducted now to be submitted to journal in 2018.
6. Watershed Project
Title: Evaluate the impact on water catchment function of using traditional grazing versus multi-paddock grazing in southern tallgrass prairie
Papers:
2017. Park, J., S. Ale, and W.R. Teague. 2016. Simulated water quality effects of alternate grazing management practices at the ranch and watershed scales. Ecological Modeling 360:1-13.
2017. Park, J.Y., S. Ale, W.R. Teague, and J. Jeong. 2016. Evaluating the ranch watershed scale impacts of using traditional and adaptive multi-paddock grazing on runoff, sediment, and nutrient losses in North Texas. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 240: 32-44.
2017. Park, J., S. Ale, W.R. Teague, and S.L. Dowhower. Simulating hydrologic responses to alternate grazing management practices at the ranch and watershed scales. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 72:102-121.
7. Life Cycle Assessment
Title: Evaluate long-term economic consequences of using traditional and multi-paddock grazing in southern tallgrass prairie using Life-Cycle-Analysis
Papers:
2013. Wang, T., S.C. Park, S. Bevers, R. Teague, and J. Cho. 2013. Factors affecting Cow-Calf Herd Performance and Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics 38(3):435-456.
2015. Wang, T., Teague, W.R., Park, S.C., Bevers, S. GHG mitigation potential of different grazing strategies in the United States Southern Great Plains. Sustainability 7:13500-13521.
2016. Rowntree, J.E., R. Ryals, M. DeLonge, W.R. Teague, M. Chiavegato, P. Byck, T. Wang, and S. Xu. 2016. Potential mitigation of Midwest grass-finished beef production emissions with soil carbon sequestration. Future of Food: Journal on Food, Agriculture, and Society 4:31-38.
2016. Wang, T., W.R. Teague, and S.C. Park. Evaluation of Continuous and Multipaddock Grazing on Vegetation and Livestock Performance—a Modeling Approach. Rangeland Ecology and Management 69:457-464.
The Dixon Water Foundation is hosting with Upper Trinity Conservation Trust, Texas A&M AgriLife, Upper Trinity Regional Water District a workshop about land stewardship practices that benefit landowners and water quality in nearby water sources. The workshop will be held from 8am to 1:30pm on Oct. 27 at Dixon Ranches Leo Unit near Decatur (PDF: directions to Leo Unit and the pavilion). Presentations include: feral hog control, grazing management, NRCS cost-share programs, conservation easements and a tour of a grazing demonstration area. The workshop costs $10 and includes lunch, as well as 1 hour CEUs (Laws and Regs).
For more info, contact Blake Alldredge at balldredge@utrwd.com or RSVP to Marty Morgan, Cooke County AgriLife: 940-668-5412 or Marty.morgan@ag.tamu.edu.
“Understanding Soil Health and Watershed Function” is a new teacher’s workbook by Didi Pershouse, now available as a “sneak preview” for educators preparing their fall lessons. The Dixon Water Foundation supported the production of this resource, which was a joint project of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, the USDA Southern Plains Climate Hub, The Soil Carbon Coalition, and Redlands Community College.
