“We do it that way because it’s tradition.”
 
It’s a statement that has been used in every era, across cultures, and bridges the workforce divide. It can be a statement that exhumes a variety of feelings to different people. It can be feelings of resentment or anguish – a work culture that has poor support programs that leaves employees feeling frustrated and undervalued. Or it can be the exact opposite – feelings of pride may overflow from individuals that belong to organizations that put standards and ethics first. Coming from an outsider perspective, it may even leave us wondering: what is the tradition and what makes it so special it has been passed down from generation to generation? 
 
In ranching and range, we hear this phrase a lot when moving cattle from one pasture to another, planting crops at a certain time of year, maintaining wildlife interactions with domestic animals, and burning brush. An inquisitive mind unfamiliar with these traditions might ask why, and a scientific mind might ask if there is any data to support if these traditions are grounded in fact. That’s the interesting thing about traditions; while they may answer ‘why’ they may not always have hard data to show that these traditions actually do have support to back them up. 


So then why do these traditions work? Though times have changed and technology has improved, a lot of ranchers still follow very similar traditions that someone in the 1920’s would be familiar with. Knowing your ground, soil, and stock; staying diversified and keeping the land healthy for future generations – these are all practices that were as true back then as they are today. So then these traditions, formed from trial and error and passed down through oral history, MUST have some root in scientific fact. How else would they have survived the test of time? 

This brings us to the part that is exciting, and most of all, pertinent. Range science does not have to invalidate tradition. In fact, it can bring to light new discoveries and provide a chance to explain that which has been known for centuries. We can study the endocrine responses of a cow ready for breeding, measure soil pH to explain why certain plants grow better in certain areas, and monitor migration and behavioral patterns of living beings. Science and tradition used in sync begin to paint a picture everyone can come to know and understand.


So why is this helpful? Why do we care to see the bigger picture? I can tell you from personal experience it is all about better communication so we can share a tradition’s benefits, know how to tweak these traditions in a manner that best suits a new situation, and influence policy. Ranchers have to be their own best advocate and teaming up with science opens doors to create positive influence in a political environment that is all about numbers, data, and investment. No entity gets created, funded, or destroyed in America without the interface of law and regulation. Having more data on hand will not only create a support system for which the tradition can call upon, but it also puts the needs of the ranchers and the land in a position to be best heard.
 
So the next time you’re at a farmers market or taking a trip to a dude ranch and hear the rancher say, “We’ve been ranching this way since my grandpa owned this land,” you’ll know why the importance of tradition runs deep.
 
– Kaelanne Quinonez
 
Kaelanne is a master’s student in the Department of Ranchland, Wildlife & Fisheries Management.