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What are the economic impacts of public and private grazing practices on a rancher and the community?

Last Updated: March 29, 2011

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Grazing domestic livestock on public and private lands results in economic returns and costs to the livestock owner. The ranch family earns a return and spends money on various inputs for production. The money that they spend in the community to purchase the inputs provides input to that store. Likewise, that store hires people and spends money with other businesses. The result is known as an economic multiplier (how a dollar earned cycles through the economy). Since most goods are imported from outside the community, leakage occurs, resulting in less than a dollar staying in the community and so forth. Economic multipliers are generally less than 2 for most rural communities but will vary by community. The size of the economic impact from grazing depends on how livestock are being grazed, their numbers, and whether livestock are sold and inputs purchased in the local community.

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