Experimental findings on rotational grazing (RG) trials have generally differed from producer observations of RG outcomes on commercial scale ranches. Factors such as small plot size, short duration trials and relatively rigid grazing management that lacks responsiveness to the dynamic and complex social-ecological systems in grazing trials could all contribute to this disparity in outcomes. These differences call for a better understanding of producer perceptions of RG benefits. To fill this knowledge gap, we surveyed 4500 producers from the Northern and Southern Great Plains of the USA. Among the 875 respondents, 40.5% reported that they used continuous grazing (CG), 52.7% implemented RG management in an extensive manner, while 6.8% adopted management intensive grazing. Compared with CG users, adopters of RG in its extensive and intensive form reported an average annual increase of grazing season by 7.6 and 39.3 days, respectively. When controlling for producer demographics, ranch management goals and other rancher characteristics, we found soil and climate heterogeneity significantly affected the perceived relative benefits of RG vs CG strategies. Therefore, instead of focusing on whether RG outperforms CG per se, future research could focus on comparison of RG benefits under different management intensity levels and identifying soil and climate conditions where RG benefits are more noticeable.

中文翻译：

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了解生产者对美国大平原轮牧效益的看法

轮牧 (RG) 试验的实验结果通常不同于生产者对商业规模牧场 RG 结果的观察。诸如小地块面积、短试验时间和相对严格的放牧管理等因素对放牧试验中的动态和复杂的社会生态系统缺乏反应，都可能导致结果的这种差异。这些差异要求更好地了解生产者对 RG 收益的看法。为了填补这一知识空白，我们调查了来自美国北部和南部大平原的 4500 家生产商。在875名受访者中，40.5%的人表示采用连续放牧（CG），52.7%的人采用粗放方式实施RG管理，6.8%的人采用管理集约放牧方式。与CG用户相比，粗放型和集约型 RG 的采用者报告说，放牧季节平均每年增加 7.6 天和 39.3 天。在控制生产者人口统计、牧场管理目标和其他牧场主特征时，我们发现土壤和气候异质性显着影响了 RG 的感知相对收益对比CG策略。因此，与其关注 RG 是否优于 CG本身，未来的研究可以侧重于比较不同管理强度水平下的 RG 效益，并确定 RG 效益更显着的土壤和气候条件。