The V Bar V Ranch
An Agricultural Experiment Station for Northern Arizona

The University of Arizona has established a new agricultural research center dedicated to addressing environmental, wildlife and domestic livestock issues applicable to Arizona and the Southwest. The UA College of Agriculture acquired the V Bar V Ranch in Coconino and Yavapai counties in January 1995 from Ben and Betsy Zink on a gift/purchase basis.

Along the Mogollon Rim, the 57-pasture grazing allotment runs about 30 miles east from Camp Verde and varies between four and five miles in width. Slightly more than forty acres is private land, with the remainder held under lease from the U.S. Forest Service.

With elevations ranging from 3200 to 7000 feet, the ranch allows the UA College of Agriculture to expand its experiment station network to include higher elevation ecosystems. Other research stations are currently located at lower elevations in Yuma, Pinal, Pima, Santa Cruz and Graham counties.

In addition to 550 cattle, the ranch is also home for a wide variety of wildlife, ranging from mammals, birds and fish to reptiles and amphibians. Vegetation zones, including high desert chaparral, pinyon-juniper woodland, and pine forest, are typical of those on most of the commercial ranches in central and northern Arizona.

Eugene Sander, Dean of the College of Agriculture, believes the ranch offers a unique opportunity to study natural resource, wildlife and livestock issues.

“The ranch is an ideal outdoor laboratory,” he says. “The data we gather on-site will be applicable to a majority of the ranches in northern Arizona. And with the elevation gradient, our work will apply to ranchland at each of those elevations. For example, data collected on grasses growing on the high end of the ranch will apply to high altitude conditions on neighboring ranches.”

The V Bar V is managed through the Agricultural Experiment Station, a branch of the UA College of Agriculture dedicated to research.

“We’re able to look at livestock production, range management, wildlife populations and wildlife/livestock interactions, natural resource conservation and related issues on property that is under our control,” said Colin Kaltenbach, Director of the Agricultural Experiment Station. “We haven’t been able to do this before.”

Because the V Bar V is a fully operating, working ranch, research performed there will involve an applied approach to problem-solving, rather than laboratory studies in basic science, according to Kaltenbach. The College of Agriculture hopes to develop a full range of teaching, extension and research activities on the property, including field laboratories for on-campus students, workshops and short courses for community members, and cooperative research with other universities and government agencies.

As part of a university, the ranch will ultimately benefit the students who take advantage of the opportunity to study there.

“I see this as a place where our students can get first-hand experience learning how to appreciate and solve the issues and problems contemporary ranchers face,” says Roy Ax, Head of the UA Department of Animal Sciences. “We need to take the newest scientific developments that affect the ranching community and use the ranch as an opportunity to demonstrate their feasibility.”

Faculty and students will staff the ranch and conduct research in the various disciplines of agriculture, including but not limited to animal and plant science, veterinary science, renewable natural resources, agricultural economics, soil and water science, and agricultural engineering.

“I have seen a tremendous amount of enthusiasm for this activity from our alumni, extension faculty, the ranching community, and state and federal agencies,” Ax says.

Cow Herd Activities

Breed Performance Comparisons

The Department of Animal Sciences maintains a herd of up to 500 cows on the ranch, divided equally among three breeds: Hereford; Braford (a Brahma-Hereford cross); and a composite breed.

“We’re comparing the performance of the three breeds,” says Roy Ax, department head. “Over the long haul we want to keep three genetically diverse herds on the ranch at all times.” While there will always be 150 Hereford cows, the other breeds will change. “When we get down to 50 cows of a group we’ll replace that group with 150 new animals for the first time,” Ax explains. “The Hereford herd will be the gold standard, so to speak. We will always compare two different types against the Hereford.”

Biotechnology Tools

To enhance breeding and fertility, DNA fingerprinting will be incorporated into the ranch management program. This is a method of confirming parentage through a sire or dam. In addition, Ax plans to use a fertility test he and a team of researchers have recently developed.

“We would like to put this test to work on the ranch to make sure we’re only using high conception sires,” Ax says. “You can get a larger calf crop from a higher fertility bull.” Higher conception bulls means fewer bulls need to be kept on the ranch. They can be replaced with more cows and calves — the real economic producing units on a ranch — to increase the beef output.

Electronic Eartags

To make both management and research easier, electronic eartags have recently been installed in the herd. Computer chips embedded in the tags enable ranch hands and researchers to download information regarding each animal. Operators hold an electronic wand about 18 inches from the tag and watch the readout for that cow appear on a computer screen nearby.

“If you have a question about a cow, you can wave the wand over her and find out how she did last year,” Ax says. “It gives us an immediate database on individual cows.” It is also a lot safer for the people who work the animals. “You don’t get injured trying to read an eartag off a squirming animal in a squeeze chute,” Ax says.

Range and Watershed Activities

Watershed

Protecting a watershed — land that collects rainfall or snowmelt — involves finding ways to manage runoff. On the V Bar V, faculty in the School of Renewable Natural Resources (SRNR) are analyzing areas that might be in danger of conducting water off the land too quickly.

“We’re doing a hydrological assessment to get an idea of water resources on the allotment,” says George Ruyle, a range management specialist in the SRNR. “In particular, we’re working on a fairly detailed assessment of the Wickiup Draw area to see if anything can be done to protect that draw from further head cutting.”

Head cuts occur when land cracks, forming gullies. These often can grow longer and larger over time. A head cut may be caused by either human or natural forces. Once head cutting starts, gullies will continue to deepen and widen until they reach a natural equilibrium. By that time, water that may have done the surrounding vegetation and wildlife some good is lost because it courses too quickly and heavily in one place to be absorbed into the soil over a wider area.

“We’re attempting to determine the size of the watershed drainage area and the extent to which it extends aabove and below the current head cut,” Ruyle says. “Where we can, we may try to disperse the water into areas other than right down the middle of the gully.”

Vegetation Monitoring

To study the condition and availability of range plants on the ranch, UA scientists are using transects. These are created by pacing along predetermined lines and measuring vegetation at regular intervals. Along these transects, researchers note the different plant species, and the number of each of those species; they also describe soil conditions.

“We’re selecting and putting in the vegetation analysis and soil surface analysis transects at various locations throughout the ranch,” Ruyle says. “We’ll use those to monitor range trends. We’re also putting in utilization cages at various locations to get a better handle on forage utilization by elk and cattle.” Utilization cages are small moveable cages that allow researchers to compare undisturbed range plants inside the cages with those that have been eaten by grazing animals in the area outside the cage.

The scientists are also locating historical exclosures (larger, permanent caged areas already established on the ranch) and sampling vegetation inside and outside those as well.

Databases

UA researchers are compiling and developing GIS (geographic information system) databases for the ranch. They are combining existing U.S. Forest Service data with data they are developing on their own. This map-based data (i.e., topography, soils, roads, fences, vegetation, geology, etc.) will give university faculty and local state and federal resource managers decision making tools for managing natural resources.

Natural Resources Ranch Tour

On May 18, 1996, this tour offered hands-on learning about ranch and range environments to nearly 200 participants of all ages. After boarding buses in Flagstaff, Prescott, Camp Verde and Payson, they were transported to the V Bar V where they broke into smaller groups and rotated among different locations on the ranch.

At each location, field educators and experts in natural resources guided the attendees through various activities focused on the relationships of water, livestock, range, forestry and wildlife issues to sustainable rangeland resources. They measured tree heights; identified the skulls of various wildlife; examined soil types; and studied the way a cow s rumen digests forage, among other things.

Throughout the day, children and adults of all ages interacted outdoors with the UA College of Agriculture Extension, research and academic faculty, and with members of Arizona Game and Fish and the U.S. Forest Service. Lunch and refreshments were provided at the ranch headquarters.

The event was open to teachers, students, 4-H leaders and members, ranchers, and organizations or individuals interested in experiential learning about the environment.

Extension faculty are currently designing a self-guided auto tour of the V Bar V.


Article Written by Susan McGinley, ECAT, College of Agriculture
This is part of the 1996 Arizona Experiment Station Research Report
This document is located at http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/general/resrpt1996/v_bar.html
Return to index for 1996 report

Researcher:

Colin Kaltenbach, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics
Phone: (520) 621-7201
kltnbch@ag.arizona.edu