Livestock demographics, management practices, and attitudinal orientations of native livestock producers on the Navajo Reservation

Abstract

Livestock production characteristics on the Navajo Reservation were studied to quantify and characterize herd demographics, feeding practices, management practices, marketing practices, and attitudinal orientations of producers. A stratified random (by grazing Agency) sample of the population (n = 10,000) yielded 125 possible respondents from each Agency. Face to face interviews were conducted by Navajo district grazing committeemen in the fall of 1997 for a total of 257 completed surveys. Navajo livestock producers were subsistence-level producers, who battled low birthing rates, slightly elevated mortality rates, diminished resource capacity, and challenges to economical feeding regimes. Most Navajos believed that livestock were an important part of their family's financial well-being; the Reservation was overgrazed; and that Navajos should be allowed to fence their land over their neighbors' objections. Navajo livestock production can be improved through education and greater articulation of the resource base. More detailed data collection is warranted to provide greater insight into production characteristics.