Carrying capacity is the number of grazing animals a piece of land can support long term without causing harm to rangeland resources (vegetation, soil, and water). The characteristics of the land, vegetation, and soil determine the carrying capacity, not the land manager. Proper carrying capacity attempts to balance between long-term forage supply and forage consumption by all grazing animals, both livestock and wildlife. Determining carrying capacity is an important goal of any rangeland inventory or monitoring program and forms the basis of stocking-rate decisions. Furthermore, an assessment of carrying capacity can provide information on potential economic returns from ranch developments and forms one basis of ranch value on the real estate market. For more information, see Calculating Carrying Capacity.
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