(ELKO, Nev.) -
May 08, 2019By David Voth, Rangeland Health coordinator
The Rangeland Monitoring app is officially available for download to your smartphone or tablet from the iTunes or GooglePlay stores. The app is a tool for collecting, tracking, and storing rangeland monitoring data, and is based on the Rancher’s Monitoring Guide. Monitoring can be used to make long- and short-term management decisions.
Monitoring helps the range, ranchers, and all users of the land
Monitoring provides all users with information and feedback for their current management practices. Monitoring also helps determine whether management objectives are realistic and achievable. Using the new app also allows access to records of environmental and resource conditions, events, and management practices that may influence vegetation trends.
When individuals apply the procedures outlined in the app with accuracy, the information that is gathered is acceptable to federal and state cooperating agencies. It is important to coordinate monitoring of public lands with the appropriate public land manager and jointly collect the information whenever possible. All who collect monitoring information should properly reference and document the data, so it may contribute to evaluating rangelands on a large scale.
New features on the range app
The range app also features Ecological Site Descriptions (ESD) and State and Transition Models (STM). Using the GPS on your device, the app will retrieve the ESD and STM associated with that site, providing a much more detailed approach to land management and site objectives.
With one tap, users will be able to identify the land’s potential, what the land could look like, and what inputs are needed to make that happen. This ESD report will give details regarding expected species composition, soil factors, vegetation factors, average production in pounds per acre, and more.
The STM report will show the land’s potential, help identify the current state of the land, and help to decide what management practices will increase the health of the rangeland, how to maintain the current state, and what some of the risks are that may shift the site to a different state.
Schedule a training on premise!
NDA staff is available to help effectively implement this technology on ranchers’ property or allotments. Send an email to dvoth@agri.nv.gov to schedule a training. In as little as one day per year, monitoring with the range app can provide benefits that will last for generations.
David Voth works as the Rangeland Health coordinator for the Nevada Department of Agriculture (NDA) in Elko, Nevada where he helps to care for Nevada’s rangelands, livestock and livestock producers. He was born and raised in central California where he attended Fresno State to get his degree in animal science. He came to Nevada in 2004 to cowboy on large ranches. He worked in beef production in Nevada until he took his current position at the NDA in September 2016.
The Nevada Department of Agriculture (NDA) promotes a business climate that is fair, economically viable and encourages a sustainable environment that serves to protect food, fiber and human health and safety through effective service and education. NDA includes the divisions of Administration, Animal Industry, Consumer Equitability, Food and Nutrition and Plant Industry.