Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

W1198: Socio-Economic Sustainability of Operations and Communities that Rely on Rangelands

Schedule of Events

Location: Las Cruces, NM

Dates: October 15-17, 2025

Organizing Committee:

Dr. Gregory L. Torell (gtorell@nmsu.edu)

Dr. John P. Ritten (john.ritten@colostate.edu)

Hotels:

Courtyard by Marriott at NMSU, 456 E University Ave, Las Cruces, NM 88005, (575) 526-1722

https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/lrucy-courtyard-las-cruces-at-nmsu/overview/

Holiday Inn Express & Suites, 2635 S Valley Dr, Las Cruces, NM 88005, (575) 527-9947

https://www.ihg.com/holidayinnexpress/hotels/us/en/las-cruces/lrusv/hoteldetail

Hilton Garden Inn, 2550 Don Roser Dr, Las Cruces, NM 88011, (575) 522-0900

https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/lrulcgi-hilton-garden-inn-las-cruces/

Meeting Location

Gerald Thomas Hall, NMSU, Room 375

940 College Dr, Las Cruces, NM 88003

Oct 15 – Welcome Travel and arrival.

12:00 – Introductions and orientation to meeting goals

2:00 –  and research updates

Optional dinner to meet with participants.

Oct 16  – Meeting Day 1

8:00 – Optional breakfast and coffee, location TBD

9:00 – Solidification of research thrusts and goals, of research roles, personnel requirements, and recruitment targets

12:00 – Optional lunch, location TBD

1:00 – Continued discussion of research thrusts and goals, defining of research roles, personnel requirements, and recruitment targets, USDA NIFA Updates

4:00 – Summation of day’s topics, and preparation for day 2

5:00 – Optional dinner and conversation, location TBD

Oct 17 – Meeting Day 2

8:00 – Optional breakfast and coffee

9:30 – Reminder of day goals

9:45 – Proposal outline definition followed by writing breakout sessions

12:00 – Discussion of grant opportunities and grant writing methods and goals, discussion of target outlets for funding

1:00 – Closing, summation, and preparation for next meeting

1:30 – Optional lunch, location TBD

Oct 17

Farewells and Travel

Objectives

1. Advance knowledge about impacts of and responses to potential external threats (e.g., climate changes) and opportunities (e.g., carbon and Environmental, Social, Governance markets) to rangelands, ranches, and rangeland dependent communities in the western U.S. (including the impacts of adopting new technologies to address these threats/opportunities) [All researchers]

Raynor, E.J., Shadbolt, A.M., Johnston, M.K., Augustine, D., Derner, J., Ritten, J.P., Delay, N.D., Carvalho, P.H., Vargas, J., Place, S.E. and Stackhouse-Lawson, K.R. 2025. Incorporating virtual fencing to manage yearling steers on extensive rangelands: spatial behavior, growth performance, and enteric methane emissions. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, In Press. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2025.1637190 (CO)

Derner, Justin D., David J. Augustine, Gonzalo Irisarri, John P. Ritten, Edward J. Raynor. 2025. Does Initial Body Size Influence Weight Gain of Stocker Steers During the Growing Season in Semiarid Western Great Plains Rangeland? Rangeland Ecology and Management, 103, 196-201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rama.2025.08.009 (CO)

Gandolfo, Inéz Mesa, Justin D. Derner, R. Mark Enns, Larry A. Kuehn, Melissa Johnston, Sean P. Kearney, Sara E. Place, Edward J. Raynor, John P. Ritten, Anna M. Shadbolt, Kimberly R. Stackhouse-Lawson, Juan de J. Vargas, Pedro H. V Carvalho. 2025. Steer Growth Performance and Enteric Gas Flux Across Backgrounding Phases in the Western Great Plains. Rangeland Ecology and Management, 103, 247-257. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rama.2025.08.010 (CO)

Windh, J., Meredith, G., Miller, M., Lee, K., Ritten, J., Thayer, A.W., Torell, G., Spiegal, S. and Wulfhorst, J.D. 2025. Identifying a Path Forward: Evaluating Ranch Socio-Economic Sustainability and Impacts on Ranch Succession Planning. In Western Economics Forum, 23(1), 18-27. (CO, ID, NE, NM, SC)

Fancher, H., Nagler, A., Ritten, J. and Wulfhorst, J.D. 2025. Labor Changes in the US Beef Industry Magnify Challenges with Succession in Rangeland Systems. In Western Economics Forum, 23(1,) 56-68. (CO, ID, WY)

Donovan, Megan, Sheri Spiegal, Nicole Kaplan, David Archer, Alycia Bean, Brandon Bestelmeyer, Sarah Beebout, Patrick Clark, Alia DeLong, Ann-Marie Fortuna, Claire Friedrichsen, David Hoover, David Huggins, Peter Kleinmann, Matthew McIntosh, Chris Renschler, John Ritten, Douglas Smith, Nicholas Webb, JD Wulfhorst.  2025. Building consensus toward an effective performance indicator framework for sustainable farms and ranches.  Journal of Environmental Quality. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeq2.70051 (National)

Clare Kazanski, Mulubhran Balehegn, Kristal Jones, Harriet Bartlett, Alicia Calle, Edenise Garcia, Heidi Hawkins, Dianne Mayberry, Eve McDonald-Madden, Wilfred Odadi , Gongbu Zeren, Jessica Zionts, Michael Clark, Tara Garnett, Mario Herrero, Hannah Van Zanten, John Ritten, Giovanni Mallman, Matthew Harrison, Deborah Bossio, Sasha Gennet. 2025. Context is Key to Understand and Improve Livestock Production Systems. Global Food Security, 45. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeq2.70051 (National/Global)

Fancher, Hana, Amy Nagler, John Ritten, JD Wulfhorst.  2025. US Beef Cattle Inventory Trends with Implications for Land Use and Rangelands.  Rangeland Ecology and Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rama.2025.01.007 (CO, ID, WY)

DeLay, Nathan, Daniel Mooney, John Ritten, Dana Hoag. 2025. Virtual Fencing: Economic and Policy Implications of an Emerging Livestock Technology for Western Rangelands.  Western Economic Forum, 22(1), 54-64. (CO)

Salerno, J., A.A. Aguirre, L.F. Aguirre, C. Bonacic, A., A. Bosco-Lauth, S.W. Breck, P.N. Gitonga, T. Goldstein, M.N. Gonzalez, D.L.K. Hoag, C. Mayo, J. Mizia, E.J. Raynor, J.P. Ritten, T.J. Sherman, K. Shockley, R. Sukumar, T. Thekaekara, G. Titcomb, S.M. Wilson, B.A. Wolfe, V. Yovovich, and K.R. Crooks. 2025. Transdisciplinary research priorities for a One Health approach to human-wildlife coexistence. BioScience. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biaf026 (CO)

Berg*, Nikolas L., Anastasia W. Thayer, Matthew Fischer*, Dillon Feuz. “Feeder Cattle Basis in the Western United States Over the Last Decade.” Western Economic Forum. (2024) 22.1, 18-36. https://doi.org/ 10.22004/ag.econ.349291   

Thayer, Anastasia W., Matthew Fischer, Braeden Mull. “A Look at the Livestock Forage Disaster Program.” Southern Ag Today (December 2024).

Related Presentations:

Kazanski, Clare E. , Mulubhran Balehegn, Kristal Jones, Harriet Bartlett, Alicia Calle, Edenise Garcia, Heidi Hawkins, Di Mayberry, Eve McDonald-Madden, Wilfred Odadi, Gongbu Zeren, Jessica Zionts, Michael Clark, Tara Garnett, Mario Herrero, Hannah VanZanten, John Ritten, Giovanni Mallmann, Matt Harrison, Deborah Bossio, Sasha Gennet..  “Transforming Ruminant Livestock systems for Nature Protection, Human Wellbeing, and Climate Mitigation: Diverse Production Systems Require Nuanced solutions.”  Society for Range Management Annual Meeting, February 12, 2025. (Global) (Presented by Ritten)

Dillon, J.A., H. Wilmer, J. P. Ritten, A. J. Loudenback, F. B. Garry, J. W. Hale, C. C. Hinrichs, K. E. Jablonski, M. Natarajan, H. M. Swain, J.D. Wulfhorst.  An interdisciplinary framework for designing social LCA for rangeland beef systems: Lesson for the Northern Great Plains.  Society for Range Management Annual Meeting, February 10, 2025. (CO, ID) (Presented by Ritten)

Ritten, John.  Economic Impacts of Irrigation Curtailment.  Colorado Water Congress. Denver, CO. January 30, 2025. (CO)

Ritten, John. Understanding Sustainability Trade-offs. Colorado Cattlemen’s Association Grazing Workshop. Denver, CO.  January 7, 2025. (CO)

Ritten, John. Comparison of Grain and Grass Finishing Operations. Mission Valley Producer Summit. Polson, MT. March 27, 2025. (CO, MT)

Ritten, John. How Do You Find a Market? Mission Valley Producer Summit. Polson, MT. March 27, 2025. (CO, MT)

Ritten, John. Grazing Economics/Costs of Conservation.  Central Grasslands Roadmap. Online. May 1, 2025. (CO, ID, WY)

Ritten, John. Virtual Fencing Uses. Western Slopes Virtual Fence Overview. Logan, UT. May 7, 2025. (CO)

Ritten, John. Ranching Econ 101. Bird Conservancy of the Rockies. Online. October 13, 2025. (CO, ID, WY)

Wang, Z., Thayer, A.W., De Figueiredo Silva, F., Vassalos, M., Smith, N., "Exploring Farmers’ Knowledge of Carbon Contracts: Insights from Machine Learning." Southern Ag Econ Association Meeting. Irving, TX. February 3, 2025.

Smith, N. Thayer, A.W., Fischer, M., Berg, N. Miller, M. Extension Risk Management Education National Conference. “Successes and Challenges for the Role of Extension in Promoting the Adoption of Conservation Practices: The Case of Beef Cattle Producers Participating in a Climate-Smart Agriculture Program” ERME Nashville, TN. April 2, 2025.

Grants:

Ritten, John, Sudeep Pasricha, EJ Raynor, Anna Shadbolt. AI-Enabled Precision Livestock Technologies for Enhanced Adaptive Grazing Management. USDA NIFA. $650,000. Submitted October 2, 2025. (CO) (Pending)

Delay, Nathan, John Ritten, Kim Stackhouse-Lawson, Sara Place, Mark Enns. “Innovative Technologies to Reduce Beef Industry GHG Emissions.” USDA, NRCS. Amount Requested: $1,032,834. (CO)

Thompson, Logan,  KC Olson, Dale Blasi, Zachary Smith, John Ritten. “Environmental Solutions for the "Little Guy": Using Precision Feeding to Improve the Sustainability of Feedlot Finished Beef Cattle .” USDA, AFRI. Amount Requested: $650,000. (CO)

Boone, Randall, John Ritten. Evolving optimal virtual fencing grazing schemes to improve ranch enterprise sustainability.  USDA NIFA. $650,000. Submitted October 16, 2025. (CO)

1. Define and characterize the ecosystem services that are produced on rangelands and to whom they accrue. Determine how ecosystem services and their accrual changes with alterations to the rangeland system, including land use change, policy change, climate change. [Spiegal, Wulfhorst, Torell, Ritten]

Gallo-Cajiao, Eduardo, Joel Berger, Ken Shockley, John Ritten, Andrew Sampson. “MARCHIN (Migratory Animal Research and Conservation Hub Initiative).” School of Global Environmental Sustainability, Colorado State University, 2025-2027 Global Challenges Research Team.  $30,000. (CO)

1. Develop a framework of social adaptation archetypes (identity, motives, vulnerability) land-use change and the valuation of ecosystem services at regional-, community-, and ranch-scale adaptations. [Spiegal, Wulfhorst, Torell, Miller]

Miller, M., Regmi, M., Mitchell, P., Mikkelson, S., Lillywhite, J. (2023-2026). “New Mexico Farm Business Management and Benchmarking.” Sponsoring Organization: USDA - NIFA. $646,005. 

1. Develop integrated regional socio-economic models to better understand the linkages and identify the leverage points between ranch and rural communities, and the multidimensional well-being within these connected systems. [Torell, Lee, Thayer, Ritten, Miller, Coupal]

Williams, Perry, John Ritten, Jeffrey Mosley, Christian Hagen, JD Wulfhorst, and Katherine Lee. “Sustaining Rural Livelihoods, Livestock Grazing, And Sage-Grouse Habitat In Western Sagebrush Systems.” U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). Amount Requested: $650,000. (CO, WY, MT, UT, NV, ID)

Kazanski, Clare, Philip Loring, Patrick Lendrum, John Pattison-Williams, Ronnie Drever, Suzy Friedman, Sarah Olimb, Adam Dixon, Tyler Clark, John Ritten, Callie Berman, Drew Bennet, Ginger Allington, Peter Bauman, Dirac Twidwell, Jeremy Pittman.  “Grassland Futures: Transboundary and transdisciplinary insights for mitigating grassland conversion.” Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research. $3,109,245. (Pending)

Garry, Frank, John Ritten, James Hale.  “Exploring incentives for beef industry participation in Foot and Mouth Disease preparedness.”  USDA, APHIS. $253,068. 

1. Determine pathways of communication and cooperation among land grant universities and research partners (government agencies, landowners, NGOs, etc.) in the West, with a focus on community sustainability and rangelands contexts. [All researchers]

Currently serve as Director of Grazing Lands Research and Engagement Program at CSU, and currently working towards statewide needs assessment and coordination. (CO)

Co-Lead USDA ARS LTAR Engagement Working Group. (CO)

Member USDA ARS LTAR Grazinglands Working Group. (CO)

Member Provost Council for Engagement (CO)

Developing Amplifier group as part of CARM to help better connect with regional partners and disseminate information. (CO, KS, NE)

USDA ARS, University of Idaho, University of Montana Western, The Common Ground Project. US Sheep Experimental Station Rangeland Collaboratory. A collective of ranchers, conservationists, and agency groups collaborating with scientists to develop collaborative, adaptive rangeland management to meet range sheep production and ecosystem service needs. (ID)

Raynor, E.J., Shadbolt, A.M., Johnston, M.K., Augustine, D., Derner, J., Ritten, J.P., Delay, N.D., Carvalho, P.H., Vargas, J., Place, S.E. and Stackhouse-Lawson, K.R. 2025. Incorporating virtual fencing to manage yearling steers on extensive rangelands: spatial behavior, growth performance, and enteric methane emissions. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, In Press. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2025.1637190 (CO)

Derner, Justin D., David J. Augustine, Gonzalo Irisarri, John P. Ritten, Edward J. Raynor. 2025. Does Initial Body Size Influence Weight Gain of Stocker Steers During the Growing Season in Semiarid Western Great Plains Rangeland? Rangeland Ecology and Management, 103, 196-201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rama.2025.08.009 (CO)

Gandolfo, Inéz Mesa, Justin D. Derner, R. Mark Enns, Larry A. Kuehn, Melissa Johnston, Sean P. Kearney, Sara E. Place, Edward J. Raynor, John P. Ritten, Anna M. Shadbolt, Kimberly R. Stackhouse-Lawson, Juan de J. Vargas, Pedro H. V Carvalho. 2025. Steer Growth Performance and Enteric Gas Flux Across Backgrounding Phases in the Western Great Plains. Rangeland Ecology and Management, 103, 247-257. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rama.2025.08.010 (CO)

Windh, J., Meredith, G., Miller, M., Lee, K., Ritten, J., Thayer, A.W., Torell, G., Spiegal, S. and Wulfhorst, J.D. 2025. Identifying a Path Forward: Evaluating Ranch Socio-Economic Sustainability and Impacts on Ranch Succession Planning. In Western Economics Forum, 23(1), 18-27. (CO, ID, NE, NM, SC)

Fancher, H., Nagler, A., Ritten, J. and Wulfhorst, J.D. 2025. Labor Changes in the US Beef Industry Magnify Challenges with Succession in Rangeland Systems. In Western Economics Forum, 23(1,) 56-68. (CO, ID, WY)

Donovan, Megan, Sheri Spiegal, Nicole Kaplan, David Archer, Alycia Bean, Brandon Bestelmeyer, Sarah Beebout, Patrick Clark, Alia DeLong, Ann-Marie Fortuna, Claire Friedrichsen, David Hoover, David Huggins, Peter Kleinmann, Matthew McIntosh, Chris Renschler, John Ritten, Douglas Smith, Nicholas Webb, JD Wulfhorst.  2025. Building consensus toward an effective performance indicator framework for sustainable farms and ranches.  Journal of Environmental Quality. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeq2.70051 (National)

Clare Kazanski, Mulubhran Balehegn, Kristal Jones, Harriet Bartlett, Alicia Calle, Edenise Garcia, Heidi Hawkins, Dianne Mayberry, Eve McDonald-Madden, Wilfred Odadi , Gongbu Zeren, Jessica Zionts, Michael Clark, Tara Garnett, Mario Herrero, Hannah Van Zanten, John Ritten, Giovanni Mallman, Matthew Harrison, Deborah Bossio, Sasha Gennet. 2025. Context is Key to Understand and Improve Livestock Production Systems. Global Food Security, 45. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeq2.70051

Fancher, Hana, Amy Nagler, John Ritten, JD Wulfhorst.  2025. US Beef Cattle Inventory Trends with Implications for Land Use and Rangelands.  Rangeland Ecology and Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rama.2025.01.007 (CO, ID, WY)

DeLay, Nathan, Daniel Mooney, John Ritten, Dana Hoag. 2025. Virtual Fencing: Economic and Policy Implications of an Emerging Livestock Technology for Western Rangelands.  Western Economic Forum, 22(1), 54-64. (CO)

Salerno, J., A.A. Aguirre, L.F. Aguirre, C. Bonacic, A., A. Bosco-Lauth, S.W. Breck, P.N. Gitonga, T. Goldstein, M.N. Gonzalez, D.L.K. Hoag, C. Mayo, J. Mizia, E.J. Raynor, J.P. Ritten, T.J. Sherman, K. Shockley, R. Sukumar, T. Thekaekara, G. Titcomb, S.M. Wilson, B.A. Wolfe, V. Yovovich, and K.R. Crooks. 2025. Transdisciplinary research priorities for a One Health approach to human-wildlife coexistence. BioScience. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biaf026 (CO)

Berg*, Nikolas L., Anastasia W. Thayer, Matthew Fischer*, Dillon Feuz. “Feeder Cattle Basis in the Western United States Over the Last Decade.” Western Economic Forum. (2024) 22.1, 18-36. https://doi.org/ 10.22004/ag.econ.349291   

Thayer, Anastasia W., Matthew Fischer, Braeden Mull. “A Look at the Livestock Forage Disaster Program.” Southern Ag Today (December 2024).