Survey of rancher grazing management practices in extensive rangeland production systems of the Central Coast of California

•Because of the diverse rangeland ecosystems across California and in the Central Coast region, producers employed a wide array of grazing management practices to best benefit the goals of their operation.•Top priority grazing goals include fire suppression and cattle health, while the lowest priority includes increased forage species diversity and wildlife management.•Producers indicated they monitored the grazing behavior of their cattle and used mineral and protein supplementation.•We discovered three themes among the qualitative interviews that drove grazing management decision-making among producer respondents: specific characteristics of the managed rangelands, reactions to and planning for extreme weather patterns and natural disasters, and concerns about the divide between rural and urban understanding of management of California rangelands.•Most producers responded that their grazing management systems were successful, and their grazing management methodology was dependent on the specific landscape and ownership/management of the land.