2026 Grazing Season Update
June 26th
Hello, CARMers!
On Mondays we review the CPERViewer and record the values to determine cattle moves. This year the scientific staff suspects that the model is underpredicting forage so Augustine is reworking the raw values.
This week we observed a vegetation trigger which meant a move should occur on Thursday, however, there was also a prediction for potential rain on Thursday. So we chose to wait and see what fell. The storm on Thursday didn’t produce as much as some places (I heard some got an inch), but we got a little as nothing to as much as half an inch! We’ll take it.
So all three CARM herds had a subset moved this week.
Review any of the previous updates here.
Let’s dive into the details
Here’s the current CARM stocking rate:
The map is interactive.
Highlights of Happenings
Station Rainfall:
| Rainfall_Total | |
|---|---|
| Jun | 0.66 |
| YTD | 3.85 |
Cumulative Rainfall (in)
Rainfall Distribution
Station Biomass:
| Biomass lbs/ac | NDVI (greenness) |
|---|---|
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CARM Biomass
| CARM Rep | Longspur Zone | Prairie Dog Zone | Short | Tall |
|---|---|---|---|---|
CARM 1 HighHawk & Slayton |
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CARM 2 CenterCreek & PrairieRidge |
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CARM 3 OwlCreek & SaltTree |
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Livestock
701x: Where the steers were the last 7 days.
CARM 1 - HighHawk & Slayton
| Last Week | This Week |
|---|---|
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CARM 2 - CenterCreek & PrairieRidge
| Last Week | This Week |
|---|---|
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CARM 3 - OwlCreek & SaltTree
| Last Week | This Week |
|---|---|
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Grazing Management:
CPER Viewer Longspur Habitat
Last Date Recorded - Special Note here: Even though the biomass suggests to changes to stocking rate, the CARM Scientific team thought otherwise, see comments below.
[1] "2026-06-26"| Last_Week | This_Week | Trigger_Status | |
|---|---|---|---|
| CenterCreek-LongSpur | 361 | 323 | No change |
| CenterCreek-Pasture.Mean | 391 | 351 | No change |
| HighHawk-LongSpur | 455 | 404 | No change |
| HighHawk-Pasture.Mean | 464 | 423 | No change |
| OwlCreek-LongSpur | 294 | 309 | 30/70 |
| OwlCreek-Pasture.Mean | 384 | 340 | No change |
The table above is showing the remote-sensing values populated by CPERViewer.
| Management.Decisions | |
|---|---|
| 2026-06-22 | Based on these values from the 17th(CC323/351, HH404/423, OC309/340), combined with knowledge of existing ATCA biomass in Owl Creek, and the potential for small numbers of cattle to forage in the drainages wheere biomass is still adequate, the decison on the 22nd (pending consultation with Johnson/Thomas) is to keep cattle where they are in HH. For OC and CC, we will wait to see if we get rain on wed or thurs, and if no, then move cattle on friday (shifting to 30:70 ratio in short vs. tall in those two reps). |
| 2026-06-26 | Moved today, chose not to use the projected values for 6/22 went with the CPERViewer and checked with boots on the ground |
Up & Coming
- CARM Field Day July 7th
- First 28 Day Weigh July 9th
Desktop Field View
On behalf of the USDA-ARS Rangeland Resources and Systems Research Unit, we thank you all for your continued participation in this project.
Happy Trails,
CPER Crew