How did railroad expansion affect the cattle ranching industry?

Answer 1

One word: Overgrazing.

The Great Plains could not support so many head of livestock in such a prolonged period of time, like what happened with ranches that established themselves on the Great Plains. As a result, grass that otherwise thrived and diversified under the movements and grazing pressure of the American Bison perished and died under the grazing pressures from cattle ranchers who have brought their grazing methods over from Europe, which apparently did more damage to the native prairie than they anticipated. These ranchers were very ignorant and uneducated about stocking rates, carrying capacity and the methods the massive herds of bison used to graze such sensitive grasslands. All these ranchers saw was a lot of grass, and automatically assumed that they could overpopulate that area with a lot of cattle (quite often much more than the land could handle over a year period). Cattle are not bison, they do not move around like bison do, and as a result they kept going back to the same spots they grazed just a few days before. This is the definition of overgrazing, and the key element that affected the Great Plains in such a devastating manner.

Today, it is a different story. The cattle ranchers that live and ranch on the Great Plains today are far more educated and knowledgeable about the stuff beneath their feet and how it affects their ranch and cattle. They know how many cattle the native grassland areas that they own should hold, as well as when and when not to graze. As a result, overgrazing is pretty well eliminated, and native grasslands thrive and prosper under such great grazing management as they have when the bison roamed and ruled the plains.