The next could be wet with serious flooding and followed by delicate new growth of plants which cannot withstand much grazing. Obviously, the weather, water, fires, diseases, flora and fauna that go through various cycles and can either encroach or retreat upon the land, will ultimately dictate the management strategy. Accounting for all of these variables or adapting to them can be difficult. For the rancher, science, as well as art plays an integral role in cattle ranching, though some very astute ranchers may have a difficult time in acknowledging it as anything more than good common sense. Each ranch is unique, and good managers are constantly perfecting their operations, changing them to fit a dynamic environment, going down a winding path of testing and altering their practices, and learning how to get more output from less input.
Environmental variables are many.
To handle these variations, ranchers carefully select those animals from their stock which best fit the environment to serve as future breeding stock for their herd. The work of the late Prof. Jan Bonsma, a specialist in livestock ecology and climatology, has helped many livestock producers to understand the common sense of well integrated ranch management from a scientific point of view. He knows that as conditions change, so must his management practices if he is to keep a high level of productivity. What is not apparent, is that if she has been forced to overgraze the plants, a serious scenario develops which, at the best, creates a weakened condition for the cow. If allowed to continue, it decreases the cow's ability to have another calf, and ultimately may end in her premature death.