Numerous research projects are conducted to achieve our IRM mission. We partner with a number of ranches to conduct this research.  We conduct whole-ranch systems research on the Kite Camp on the Waggoner Ranch. Here we measure economic and ecological responses with a livestock production system using whole ranch accounting and accounting for natural resources.  Grazing is managed to provide fuel for low-cost prescribed fire to be used to reduce brush. Grazing management is also utilized to improve rangeland health and wildlife habitat.  There are often hidden costs to production from rangelands such as losses in soil fertility or distribution of noxious seeds or insects that we need to measure and eventually analyze in the same currency as we do traditional economics.  The Kite Camp also serves to investigate the effects of mesquite regrowth following fire on bobwhite quail habitat.

The Smith-Walker Research Unit is used for  cattle behavior and nutrition, wheat pasture, improved forages and mesquite ecology research. Cattle behavior studies involve use of GPS collars to improve our understanding of livestock movement patterns with the goal of improving grazing distribution in a pasture.  Supplementation research is designed to improve the effectiveness supplement delivery and consumption across a cow herd.  A study investigating effects of phosphorus fertilizer on stocker cattle gains from grazing wheat during winter was initiated 4 years ago.  Forage studies include evaluating the potential of cool-season forages for improved pastures.  We are also investigating wildlife and cattle utilization and distribution of mesquite seeds.  The distribution of mesquite seed through cattle and wildlife feces may be the most significant process related to the encroachment of mesquite into grasslands.

The Nine-mile and Gin pasture sites on the Waggoner Ranch are small plot study areas used to evaluate mesquite herbicides and improve our understanding of fire behavior and fire effects on rangeland.  These studies will aid in designing fire prescriptions to meet management goals and improve the safety of using fire. The sites also are used for basic mesquite ecology studies to enhance our understanding of water use by this species and competition between mesquite and grasses.

A watershed site on the Y Ranch west of Crowell is used to determine the effect of mesquite and juniper on water runoff and associated soil erosion.  We have also conducted fire and herbicide research and characterized the grass-feeder and mixed-feeder grasshoppers for mesquite and juniper communities on the Y Ranch.

A study on the Halsell and Johnson ranches is investigating the efficacy of juniper removal with chaining and follow-up prescribed burning as a means of reducing cedar fly populations.