Knowing Your Site’s Potential Might Save You A Lot of Work

Sometimes a pasture makeover just isn't possible.  This is especially true in the wide open spaces of the west, where a single pasture can be as large as an entire farm in the Northeast.  That's when knowing your pasture's potential becomes very important.  By identifying an area's Ecological Site, we can get a handle on the site's potential and  manage grazing to be sure that the site achieves everything it can. What is an Ecological Site? When we look across landscapes, it's easy to see that some areas are different than others.  Some places are hilly, some are flat, some are more arid, and they have different kinds of soils.  All of those characteristics - an area's location, soil properties, and climate - are the controlling factors determining the kind and amount of vegetation an area can produce.  An ecological site is simply a term for describing a particular area's characteristics.  Ecological Sites are used by the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Bureau of Land Management to divide the landscape into units for study, evaluation and measurement. How does a site compare to normal? Just like our doctors measure our basic health by checking our weight, blood pressure, heart rate, and temperature, and comparing them to