WSU offering free monthly StockSmart meetups for rangeland managers

By Scott Weybright, College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences

Rangeland managers, ranchers and agency staff across the West can now join free drop-in meetups to get more out of StockSmart, a no-cost online tool that helps users make data-driven grazing decisions.

Beginning Dec. 3, StockSmart meetups will be held online on the first Wednesday of each month from 10 to 11 a.m. PT. Participants can attend one, several, or all meetups to ask questions, explore new features and see how others are using the tool in real-world operations.

“These meetups are designed to be interactive and directly useful to individuals,” said Tip Hudson, Washington State University Extension rangeland and livestock management professor. “You can come with a specific question, explore new features or just see how other managers apply StockSmart to their grazing plans.”

Hudson will start each session by highlighting a key feature of StockSmart and then lead an open discussion where participants can troubleshoot and learn from one another. The first meetup will introduce key features and show users which settings they can adjust to fit their operations. Future sessions will explore the vegetation data that powers StockSmart, refining animal and land details, creating pastures and stockwater features, interpreting results, building “what-if” scenarios and other topics that participants request.

Related: Partnerships strengthen the beef industry

Meetups are led by Hudson and Sonia Hall, agricultural climate resilience specialist with WSU’s Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources , with guest contributions from other StockSmart development team members.

StockSmart uses satellite-based forage production data across the western United States to help users calculate stocking rates, evaluate pasture conditions and build “what-if” scenarios for planning. The tool was developed by Washington State University, the University of Arizona and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station.

The sessions are supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture through the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program.

For details and to register for upcoming meetups , visit their web page.