Because drought impacts are accelerating due to climate change, drought preparedness on western rangelands matters now more than ever. Range professionals perceive, however, that many Utah ranchers remain ill-equipped for drought. The main research objective was to determine why ranchers often don't adopt recommended drought-mitigation tactics. Another objective was to clarify how grazing is managed during drought on federal lands. Fourteen tactics studied included management of water, forage, herds, and finances and access to information and government programs. Data collection included surveys of 429 ranchers and interviews of seven federal employees. Data analysis used descriptive statistics and logistic regression. Results indicated that 3,133 non-adoption decisions were heavily dominated by the perceived incompatibility between tactics and operational needs; producer situations may often be misunderstood by experts. Weather forecasting tools were typically regarded by ranchers as “too complex,” while Extension information was often viewed as “not useful.” Factors promoting drought preparedness included having a strong livestock-business orientation or a drought-planning mentality. Factors hindering drought preparedness were dominated by advancing rancher age. Grazing permittees benefit from federal drought early-warning systems, yet herd adjustments on allotments were rare during the 2019 drought, pushing forage utilization to the limits. While challenges appear daunting, there are opportunities to enhance drought preparedness, prominently including creative efforts to promote more education and mentoring on operational drought management. Comprehensive, user-friendly drought websites remain rare, yet they can be vital hubs for stakeholders. Such websites must meet diverse communication needs including a greater focus on information requirements of seniors. Drought policies for ranchers should: (1) Eliminate perverse incentives that foster inappropriate risk taking; (2) reward pro-active, risk-management behaviors; and (3) facilitate recruitment of a younger, innovative cohort of new producers. Updating federal management plans could support grazing adjustments that incorporate more grass banking. Unified drought-response guidelines could harmonize agency approaches. © 2020 The Society for Range Management
Scholarly peer-reviewed articles published by the Society for Range Management. Access articles on a rolling-window basis from vol. 1, 1948 up to 5 years from the current year. Formerly Journal of Range Management (JRM). More recent content is available by subscription from SRM.