Ranching

:This article is about ranching. For ranch, see ranch disambiguation.

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Ranching is the raising of cattle or sheep on rangeland, although one might also speak of ranching with regard to less common livestock such as elk, bison or emu. The word applies in the western United States, in Canada, Latin America and South America. (Australian usage would refer to ranches as "stations"; New Zealanders use the term "runs".)

Related Topics:
Cattle - Sheep - Rangeland - Elk - Bison - Emu - United States - Canada - Latin America - South America - Australia - Station - New Zealand - Run

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Historically, during a period on the Frontier in North America after the removal of the American bison and the Native Americans and before the coming of the homesteaders, ranching dominated economic activity. The public lands on the Great Plains consisted of "open range," where anyone could turn cattle loose for grazing. Barbed wire, invented in 1869, gradually made inroads in fencing off privately-owned land, especially for homesteads. Ranching became limited to lands of little use for arable farming.

Related Topics:
The Frontier - North America - American bison - Native Americans - Homestead - Great Plains - Barbed wire - 1869

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Ranching forms part of the iconography of the Western in motion pictures.

Related Topics:
Iconography - Western

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