Ranches generally consist of large areas, but may be of nearly any size. In the western United States, many ranches are a combination of privately owned land supplemented by grazing licenses on land under the control of the federal Bureau of Land Management. If the ranch includes arable or irrigated land, the ranch may also engage in a limited amount of farming, raising crops for feeding the animals, such as hay and feed grains.
Ranching is practiced in the extensive temperate grassland which is occupied by nomadic herdsmen or hunters. It is also practiced in tropical grassland extensively which are sparsely inhabited and where the rainfall is too low to support arable farming.
The most important ranches are found in Europe, USA, Australia, New Zealand and Argentina. In Africa some modern ranches are found in Zimbabwe, Botswana, Tanzania and in Kenya specially taita taveta, makueni and machakos. Ranches can be considered as a modern land use system. It is a labor extensive system focusing on the production of marketable commodities from one or two selected species. This is mainly in the form of producing life slotted animals for meat. The main function of the system is to generate cash income through selling of beef, manure, wool, providing ground for scientific research and tourism.
Characteristics of ranches;
- The farms are large covering hundreds of hectares, this is to accommodate the large numbers of animals kept.
- Ranching requires large capital for buying machines, building feeding towers, dipping structures, labor, veterinary service, selective breeding and maintaining the functions of the ranching.
- Different animals are kept depending on the climatic characteristics of the region for example; in the temperate grasslands of Europe, USA, Australia and New Zealand mainly cattle and sheep are reared. In the equatorial regions of Tanzania (Kitengule ranch-Kagera ) cattle are mainly reared.
- Animals are kept on permanent farms called estancials in Argentina, and ranches in USA and other parts of the world where there is no migration of animals.
- In most developed countries the carrying capacity of land is strictly followed, there is no overgrazing animals are kept in accordance to the potential of land and its resources. In developing countries the carrying capacity of land is not strictly considered as there are some cases of overgrazing, due to various reasons such as; poverty, land scarcity and rapid population growth.
- The livestock feeds (pastures) are improved by planting nutritious plants such as; Alfalfa, elephant grasses, lucerne, clover and others which are excellent for animal grazing as they supplement animal pastures.
- The ranches are paddocked by wire fences or wooden barriers to facilitate rotational grazing. This encourages regeneration of pastures, easy handling of animals and also the control of parasites and diseases.
There is regular control of diseases which is done through; spraying, dipping and deworming.
- The ranches are scientifically managed, Example; selective breeding is done to produce high quality beef, mutton, wool and other products. By combining genes of indigenous and exotic species.
- All farm records are kept which helps ranchers to show the performance of farm over a given period of time. Example; the numbers of animals sold, who are sick, died, slaughtered.
- Ranchland is either owned individually, cooperatives or states.
- Water resources are usually available in the ranches; animals usually drink water from a natural source or artificial sources which are constructed on ranches.
Importance of ranching
Ranching generates income; this can be generated from selling of beef, wool and milk to the local and the international markets. Ranches are also used as tourist attraction sites, education and research centers which generate income by the visitors and researchers.
Ranching improves food production, where animals of high quality are being kept in ranches which are some times sold or slaughtered, this adds to the amount of beef for human consumption.
The animal wastes from ranching are used as manure which improve the quality of the soil and reduce the need for inorganic fertilizers, hence increasing the productivity of the crops while maintaining the soil quality. Manure can also be used as a source of energy, where by it is composted to generate fuel gas methane or it is dried and burnt directly.
Acts as educative and research centers, a lot of zoological researches are being conducted on ranches which help the researchers to gain knowledge on how to improve the quality of the breeds, how to control animal diseases such as; anthrax, rinderpest, tick fever and others. Students also gain enough knowledge on animal gestation periods, animal behaviors from visiting ranches.
Provides employment since it is practised on a large scale thus a lot of skilled labors is needed. For example; vet nary officers, ranchers, security guards and others are employed.
It stimulates other development projects such as; road infrastructures, power supply and the distribution and supply of water.
Improves the health of livestock since animals are given proper nutritious food, adequate water and medical treatment when they are sick, unlike the nomadic herding. This has helped to minimize calf mortality and losses due to diseases. Ranchers pay close attention to the status of the animals by noticing which ones are sick and which one are healthier.
When practiced properly, it leads to improvement of the land quality since the carrying capacity of a given land is considered. Pastures are improved, pests or diseases in a given area are well controlled, water sources are well conserved this maintains the quality of the land.
How ranching affects the environment:
Deforestation
Ranching process, involves the conversion of forest lands into pasturelands, this has led to the clearance of forests, example in Latin America: some 70 percent of previously forested land in the Amazon is used as pasture as trees were cleared to plant pastures for animals.
Bush encroachment
Most of the ranches in developing countries do overstock in which they keep a large number of animals in a given area this destroys vegetation example in Mkata ranch in Morogoro Tanzania a shrub species(Acacia Zanzibarica) has been seriously destroyed as most animals feed on it.
Release of greenhouse gases
Large scale animal keeping in ranches may contribute to the release of greenhouse gases. FAO estimated that livestock are responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gas
emissions, a bigger share than that of transport. It accounts for nine percent of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions, most of it due to expansion of pastures and arable land for feed crops (due to burning process). It generates even bigger shares of emissions of other gases with greater potential to warm the atmosphere: as much as 37 percent of anthropogenic methane, mostly from enteric fermentation by ruminants, and 65 percent of anthropogenic nitrous oxide, mostly from manure.
Contamination of water resources
The livestock business is among the most damaging sectors to the earth's increasingly scarce water resources, contributing among other things to water pollution, eutrophication and the degeneration of coral reefs. The major polluting agents are animal wastes (from handling yards and slaughter houses), antibiotics and hormones, chemicals from tanneries, fertilizers and the pesticides used to spray feed crops. Widespread overgrazing disturbs water cycles, reducing replenishment of above and below ground water resources. Livestock are estimated to be the main inland source of phosphorous and nitrogen contamination of the South China Sea, contributing to biodiversity loss in marine ecosystems. Too much concentration of animal wastes in water pollutes water making it harmful for human consumption.
Soil degradation
Due to overstocking in most ranches, animals almost feed every edible vegetation on top, this turns the soil bare , removes vegetation cover which reduces water retention capacities, spreading surface run offs which erode the soil. Animal movements also cause compaction of soil due to tramping, erode\ disclose the soil particles, this affects the fertility and productivity of the soil.
Loss of biodiversity
Due to deforestation, overgrazing, burning of rangelands for pastures improvement a lot of biodiversity have destroyed or others are forced to migrate to another areas as their habitats are destroyed. Burning of pasture lands kills soil microorganisms, causes wild
animals like deer to migrate. It has also been observed that animals like cattle destroy the nesting sites of birds example they destroy wetlands by grazing nesting habitat for waterfowl, by adding suspended solids and bacteria to the water, and increasing water temperature.
Desertification as a result of continuous soil degradation and hydrological cycle disorder in most of the overstocked ranchlands, vegetation covers are lost since drought is experienced so frequently. Due to these, no rainfall will be received in such an area hence desertification.
Problems / challenges facing livestock ranching
Livestock ranching in both developed and developing faces problems that have hindered its progress as compared to other methods of agriculture like shifting cultivation, continuous rain fed agriculture and others. The following are among the problems faced by ranchers;
Inadequate capital
Most ranchers in both developed and developing countries do not have enough capital to manage and operate their ranches, there is no enough money (funds) for constructing dipping facilities, handling yards, water supply systems, providing veterinary services to animals (vaccinations) like tsetse fly control, east coast fever and other diseases. Enough capital is also lacking for employing enough ranch managers other laborers, and buying better breeds of livestock.
Animal diseases
In some areas animal diseases hinder the development of ranching example; tropical regions experience a wide range of cattle diseases such as anthrax, rinderpest, tick fever, foot and mouth disease. These diseases contribute to high rate of calf mortality. These diseases lead to decline in quality and quantity of livestock products since there
is no enough capital to invest in controlling and treating disease and poor veterinary services.
Water Scarcity
Due to seasonal changes of climate, some areas or regions experience seasonal droughts for long periods, dryness in these areas affect the growth of pastures, water supply for drinking, these affect livestock production as most animals die or suffer due to lack of water and pasture to feed on. The few animals who survive are of poor quality, this hinders the progress of ranching sectors.
Land shortage
Due to rapid population increase especially in developing countries, pressure on land as increased for various activities like settlement, crop production, and building of social infrastructures, these have reduced the available land for establishing new ranches. That is why number of ranches in the world is still low.
Lack of clear defined boundaries in Ranches
Most ranches lack well defined boundaries as most of them are not fenced. Due to this local communities encroach into rangelands for cultivation of food crops and grazing their animals as they do not have enough land for agriculture, causing conflicts with the ranchers. Also due to lack of fence, ranching animals trespass into farm lands of nearby communities there by destroying crops. Open ranches are easily invaded by wild animals like lions, cheetahs and others, these wild animals may endanger the ranching animals by killing or hurting them, displacing them from available natural water sources in case they are outnumbered. Prolonged stay of wild animals in the range lands may deplete available pastures from livestock and also may be carriers of diseases for livestock and yet they themselves do not suffer.
Unavailability of Market
Some ranches face difficulties in finding suitable markets for selling their livestock products, this discourages ranchers from carrying out ranching. Sometimes they sell their products at available low prices, obtaining low profits as a result of world price fluctuation which hinders the economic growth of the sector.
Poor transport and communication systems
As most ranches are usually located in remote areas where transport facilities like roads are not well maintained this limits the transport of animals/ beef from the ranches to market places. Also it limits the veterinary officers to reach ranches for providing veterinary services. This affects the management and productivity of live stocks.
Poor technology
Insufficient capital makes most ranches to rely on low technologies on managing their livestock. This lead to low livestock productivity for example lack of modern breeding practices and improved breeds, modern dipping and spraying facilities and so forth.
Thefts
Ranching activity is being affected by people who steal the animals; they slaughter them and sell them illegally. Stealing of animals cause great loss to ranchers, this also discourages the development of the sector.
Overstocking
Ranches frequently over stock their pastures this is because it is difficult to determine the carrying capacity of pasture land, this leads to deteriorates pastures leading to soil erosion, as a result animals suffer from lack of pastures to feed on.
Poor government policies
In most countries, government policies do not empower agricultural systems (Ranching) it is usually left behind as government tend to favor other system of agriculture like arable farming, pastoralism and others, these made the ranching activity hindered since government do not intervene to support ranching in case of disasters like disease outbreak and drought that need subsidize from government in overcoming them.
Ways of improving Ranching system
- Ranchers should allocate more capital in ranching activities, this will help in managing the livestock like building modern animal yards, dipping structures, capital will help in providing better veterinary services and proper breeds for cross breeding which will improve the quality and quantity of livestock. In case they (ranchers) do not have enough capital, they should seek for loans from banks or other organizations.
- More markets for ranching products like beef should be allocated, prices should be improved. Stakeholders should help the ranchers in finding markets both within the country and outside the country which will generate more income.
- Transport and communication should be improved in order for the good to be received by the consumer safely and in time. Communication will make the process easier as ranchers will be able to link with the veterinary officers and other market stakeholders.
- More research should be done on how to improve on animal breeding, pastures, and on how to better control the animal diseases like anthrax.
- Animal husbandry education should be provided to ranchers, this will improve on the knowledge of the ranchers thus raising animal production.
- Proper land use planning should be carried out which will help in allocating places suitable for ranching hence minimizing environmental degradation like soil erosion and surface water pollution.
- Proper management of livestock waste products should be done, this will conserve water resources.
- Government policies should favor ranching sector like giving out policies which favor exportation of livestock products, subsidizing the costs for animal drugs and providing regulatory authorities to monitor livestock husbandry
- Boundaries should be clearly defined which will help in minimizing conflicts between nearby communities and ranchers.
CONCLUSION
Ranching is a modern land use practice which plays a great role in increasing food production, income levels of the people, improves soil quality however it also impacts on the environment if not properly practised. A lot of effort is needed from various stakeholders in overcoming the challenges facing this system of agriculture. Ranching is on the decline in its practice as a result of exponential population growth in most of the developing countries.