Abstract
A long standing question in range management concerns the relative importance of the stocking rate versus the length oftime during which animals graze a particular rangeland. Weaddress this question by analyzing the problem faced by a privaterancher who wishes to minimize the long run expected net unit cost (LRENC) from range operations by choosing either the stocking rate or the length of time during which his animals graze hisrangeland. We construct a renewal-theoretic model and show that,in general, this rancher's LRENC with an optimally chosen stocking rate is lower than his LRENC with an optimally chosen grazing cycle length. From a management perspective, this means that correct stocking of the range is more important than the length of time during which animals graze the range. In addition, our research shows how to address questions concerning the desirability of temporal versus non-temporal controls in managing naturalresources such as fisheries and hunting grounds.
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Batabyal, A.A., Biswas, B. & Godfrey, E.B. On the Choice Between the Stocking Rate and Time in Range Management. Environmental and Resource Economics 20, 211–223 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1012647003818
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1012647003818