Estimates of rangeland vegetation production are one of the most important variables influencing livestock stocking rate decisions and wildlife management. Stocking rates are a critical factor when considering grazing management and can have significant impacts on the financial sustainability. Likewise, public land managers need to consider trends and variability of forage amounts across areas in their jurisdiction to ensure sustainable production of goods and services.
In response to these issues, Matt Reeves, with the USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station has developed a database of forage conditions for coterminous U.S. rangelands that is regularly updated and available to the public. This database is the Rangeland Production Monitoring Service (RPMS).
The data have been tested against production estimates across 100 vegetation types and can be used to evaluate nearly any spatial domain from pastures, to allotments, to entire counties and beyond. The product represents annual vegetation production from 1984 to 2017, with annual updates thereafter and was developed using satellite imagery processed through a new production analysis system called the Rangeland Vegetation Simulator (https://cloudvault.usda.gov/index.php/s/gg2Wzx9xWwgEBMx).
Visit this site to get the latest information and data: https://www.lankstonconsulting.com/data-warehouse.