AoR 185: Rod Heitschmidt on a Lifetime of Integrating Rangeland Science and Application

From fighter pilot instructor to rangeland science legend, Rod Heitschmidt has done it all. In this Sages of Rangelands conversation, Tip Hudson sits down with Rod at his home to trace his path from flying supersonic T-38s to studying livestock grazing at the Texas Experimental Ranch and USDA's Fort Keogh lab. Rod recounts his spirited clashes with Allan Savory over rotational grazing and stocking rates, the research on drought management, early weaning, prairie dogs, and mesquite that shaped his career, and the story behind his enduring textbook Grazing Management: An Ecological Perspective. Rod shares hard-won wisdom on economics as "a measure of one's beliefs," the real progress rangeland stewardship has made, and why anyone entering natural resources has to genuinely care about the land. Rodney Heitschmidt received the Society for Range Management's Outstanding Achievement Award in 1991 and the SRM Fellow Award in 2004. He was honored with the Frederic G. Renner Award in 2013, which is the Society's premier award for sustained accomplishments in range management. Rod served as the SRM President in 2002. Visit the episode page at https://artofrange.extension.wsu.edu/episodes/aor-185-rod-heitschmidt-on-a-lifetime-of-integrating-rangeland-science-and-application/ for the transcript of this interview and links to resources mentioned on the show. Music by Lewis Roise.