Net retumm to laveetment on weetern ranches are often low or negative. Ranchem who graze cattle on federal raoge during the summer in Colorado were eampled to determk the& wllllngnesa to wll their rmchee and to detemdne which factom were important ln their dedsloa to ranch. Cluster uulysia waa used to classify the rancher8 into 4 groups. Willingnena to rll the much wm the most important factor in clessitylng groupa. Approsbnately 75% of the federal pemdtteee would not coneider selling their ranches lo the current market wblle over half rupooded that rate of return oo lnvestmeot wea of llttle or oo importance IO their dectslon to be in the cattle bueineee. The groups also differed with respect to the lmportmce of being near fmlly and Idends, and labor end amet mobility. Key Wordaz publk la&, raocher behavior Net returns to capital and management in western range livestock operations are often low or negative. This fact has prompted some economists to view a ranch as a consumption good to some degree rather than a pure production enterprise (Smith and Martin 1972). Consumptive components such as the value of a rural lifestyle or a land ethic could raise ranch prices beyond that which economic returns from livestock would justify. The degree to which these consumption attributes dominate ranch decisions will vary with the values of individual ranchers. The purpose of this paper is to determine what motivates ranchers to stay in ranching. We grouped ranchers based on the importance they placed on various attributes including their willingness to sell their ranches. The results apply to ranchers using forage from federal land during the summer of 1983 in Colorado. The research reported here was part of a study that applied the contingent valuation method to estimate the demand for summer forage from federal land in Colorado (McKean et al. 1986). Therefore, Colorado ranchers not using federal forage were not included in the population. Social parameters were measured and related to demand for forage. Methods A mail survey was used to elicit attitudes from a sample of ranchers. The questionnaire included Smith and Martin's questions defining "land fundamentalism" as a starting point (Smith 1971). Smith defined land fundamentalism as "the attitude that a greater amount of satisfaction can be received from associating directly with the physical environment than with the 'man-made*." Discussion with Rogers' aided the design of the social parameter questions. We concluded that we should reduce the redundancy in the "Land or Rural" preference questions that Smith and Martin USDA Forat Service d Colorulo St&c University with fundii from Colomdo State University Agricultural Experiment Station (Projca CO-191). The usual dischimer applies. hdwwxipt acqted 24 April 1989. QJer& D. 1983. Personal communication. Formerly profeuor and department * Dept. of sociology, Colomdo state uniwmity.

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The value of public land forage has been of key interest since grazing fees were first established on federal lands. Additionally, knowing the value of rangeland forage is important for assessing the economics of range improvements, grazing systems, and alternative land uses. It is important for resource value comparisons and impact assessments when public land forage is allocated to other uses. In this synthesis paper, we review the various methods that have been used to value public land forage and discuss the advantages and limitations of each. We highlight that past valuation efforts have concentrated on the value of public land forage for livestock production and, consequently, underestimated total forage value and rancher willingness to pay for forage and grazing permits. These research efforts failed to recognize that amenity and lifestyle attributes from ranch ownership and forage leasing play important roles in the use and pricing of rangeland forage. We review the numerous studies conducted to estimate public land forage value and suggest modifications to improve future value estimates. Because lifestyle attributes of ranch ownership have so strongly influenced ranch values and what ranchers are willing to pay for grazing use on public lands, we find the market value of federal grazing permits and a modification of the standard contingent valuation method for valuing non-market goods to hold the greatest promise for valuing public land grazing.

Yearlong total confinement and partial confinement feeding were compared to conventional range grazing to determine the cultural and digestible energy expended to produce a kilocalorie of dressed-carcass meat from weaner calves and the protein consumed to produce a pound of red-meat protein. The range groups required the least amount of cultural energy to produce a kilocalorie of meat and the total confined groups required the most. The total confined system on a low level of nutrition, where calves were weaned early, converted digestible energy most efficiently but converted digestible protein least efficiently, whereas range groups converted digestible energy least efficiently and digestible protein most efficiently.

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