Can Rangeland livestock systems compete in a global market? Evidence from the past and present

Rangelands provide a broad array of goods and services for human existence and use (Havstad et al., 2007). In an agricultural production context, rangelands are predominantly used for the production of animal proteins, such as beef and sheep meat (Havstad et al., 2007). Rangelands based beef and sheep production systems are typified by low input/low stocking rate production systems that utilize native ornaturalized grasslands under low and variable precipitation. With competition for rangeland use being increasingly driven by a range of factors (use and non-use factors), the comparative ability of rangelandsto economically produce meat protein within a global market will partly determine future land use, the mix of goods and services supplied and their economic value. The focus of this study is to use globalhistorical production and economic performance data to look at the competitiveness of producing meat protein from rangelands, when compared against grasslands and more intensive feeding based systems.