What is rotational grazing?

Rotational grazing is the practice of moving livestock between pastures called paddocks while other portions rest. This gives the other land time to rest and recuperate.

Healthy, lush pastures intercept and infiltrate more rainwater keeping nutrients and water in the fields and pastures instead of in lakes or streams Google images

Benifits of rotational grazing

Increased forage production
A well-managed grazing program can increase the forage production by 30-70% each year. Much of the increase is due to the minimization of damage caused to some of the plants from overgrazing. For example a grass or clover plant that has been nibbled on has more of a chance to recover when practicing rotational grazing. On the other hand, if rotational grazing was not practiced the plants would not have a chance to rehabilitate and would more than likely die decreasing the forage production.

Improving soil texture
When asked Sebastian Pin᷉on, a California FFA State Champion in Soils and Land Evaluation judging team said that “Rotational grazing improves the soil quality through the manure of the livestock. This improves the nutrients, texture, and energy in the soil allowing it to hold a higher water holding capacity for crops. This can benefit coarser texture soils as they have a lower water holding capacity as a finer texture soil. The ideal texture of soil for farming is a silty clay loam, this has the ideal water holding capacity and a low clay texture.”

Grassland restoration and protection against climate change
According to “Is More Cattle Grazing the Solution to Saving Our Soil?” an article written by “Maya Mckenna” “Savory, has a theory that states that Instead of fearing overgrazing, and taking livestock off land to rest it, he argues that most grazing lands should have more livestock added, because their movement and their waste and their relentless chomping stimulate grasses to grow. When grasslands restore themselves, he adds, they sequester carbon; so, increasing the density of cattle and other grazing animals not only restores the environment, it protects against climate change.”

Soil erosion

The USDA collected data that stated that in 1997, an average of 3.3 tons of soil per acre were lost each year due to sheet and rill erosion on Wisconsin cropland. When practicing rotational grazing you minimize the amount of erosion happening on the cropland leaving the most fertile soil with the higher water holding capacity. This helps farms get healthier crops and higher harvesting rates because they have less crops dying out.

How does this help agriculture?

Rotational grazing helps improve long-term soil pasture quality and fertility by favoring certain pasture species. It also allows for even manure distribution which also contributes to soil fertility. Soil fertility is a big part of why rotational grazing is good for agriculture. When soil is fertile it allows for the crops to have more nutrients and it allows for a smother harvest. We have been looking for a solution to our many environmental issues such as climate change and our need for larger harvests due to our growing population while all along the answer had been under our noses or well more specifically our feet all along.