Mountain or mesa range; a comparison of costs and returns determines relative value of each

TitleMountain or mesa range; a comparison of costs and returns determines relative value of each
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication1953
AuthorsAres F.N.
JournalThe American Hereford Journal
Volume44
Pagination104-105
Date PublishedAugust 15, 1953
Keywordscomparison of costs and returns, mesa range, rugged mountain range
AbstractAnyone who has had ranching experience knows that it costs more to run cattle and produce beef on rough, rugged mountain range than on level, easily accessible mesa range. Yet, little if any detailed information is available on comparative costs and returns from ranching in the two kinds of cattle range in the semiarid Southwest. Information is provided here on the various items of operating costs and the factors influencing them. It should point the way to more efficient herd and range management and aid in appraising the sale, rental or lease value of the two kinds of ranges. Comparative records of costs and returns from both mesa and mountain rangelands have been obtained for a 7-year period, from 1940 through 1946, on the Jornada Experimental Range, a branch of the Southwestern Forest and Range Experiment Station, 23 miles north of Las Cruces, New Mexico. Even though, because of changing economic conditions, the data applydirectly only to the period of record, they provide a good economic comparison between the two types of range when grazed by cattle of the same herd and managed by a single operator.
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