Why are rangelands often located on land that is unsuitable for permanent crop farming?

Rangelands are typically located on land that is considered marginal or submarginal for agriculture, or entirely unsuited to permanent crop cultivation.1

While areas with high agricultural potential—such as the tallgrass prairies of the North American Great Plains—were historically converted into cropland to maximize food energy yields, rangelands remain in their native state because they lack the conditions necessary to sustain intensive farming. Factors that often render land unsuitable for permanent cultivation include:12

• Climatic Limitations: Many rangelands exist in regions with extreme temperature variations, short growing seasons, or insufficient precipitation, which make reliable crop production difficult.3
• Soil and Topographic Constraints: Land that is too steep, rocky, or otherwise physically challenging to manage with intensive agricultural practices like plowing and irrigation is often relegated to grazing.14
• Economic and Ecological Viability: In these marginal environments, the native vegetation is better adapted to the local ecosystem than introduced crops, allowing the land to remain productive through grazing without the need for the intensive inputs—such as fertilizers and irrigation—required to maintain high-yield crop production.12