Grazing Systems
The art of grazing is in the observational skills of the farmer or rancher. We’ve taken the “culture” out of modern agriculture and replaced it with assembly line business model, hence agribusiness.
“Defecation patterns affect nutrient cycling and plant–animal nutrition, note Anderson et al. (2012), and “although cattle prefer not to graze around their dung, sheep have been reported to graze around cattle dung, thus increasing the utilization of pasture” (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/231959800_Managing_livestock_using_animal_behavior_Mixed-species_stocking_and_flerds) “The mixing of a flock of sheep and/or goats with a herd of cattle into a flerd has been shown to protect sheep and goats from coyote predation, as well as offering other husbandry advantages. Some of the added
advantages include more efficient conversion of forage into animal protein.”
AMP Grazing “This is not intensive grazing but intensive management of grazing (Dowhower et al., 2019)” (Teague)
“When we think of the cow, we will not forget the demands of the grass. When we examine the grass, we will always bear in mind the demands of the cow. It is by satisfying as far as possible the demands of both parties that we will arrive at a rational grazing, which will provide us with maximum productivity on the part of the grass while at the same time allowing the cow to give optimum performance.” – Andre Voisin Grass Productivity (1959)
“Whatever our system of “rational” grazing, whether we call it rotational, rationed, etc., the grass production will be low if the period of occupation is sufficiently long to allow the animal, within one rotation, to shear for a second time grass sheared during the initial days of occupation on the plot in question.”- Andre Voisin Grass Productivity (1959)
“It is immediately obvious that this enormous reduction in the period of occupation and extension of the periods of rest will increase the yield considerably while simplifying the work and making it less arduous. Summer grazing will therefore be much easier to manage, and it is improbable that grass will become scarce if the principles of compensating for seasonal fluctuations are observed, particularly in this region [Northern France], where summer rainfall is plentiful. As soon as one fixes one’s attention on the basic factor in all rational grazing, namely, time, everything appears in a very different light and yields increase rapidly.” – Andre Voisin Grass Productivity (1959)
Plants react positively to the tugging action, components in saliva and vice versa. Regrowth helps soil biology and soil structure. AMP
grazing improved water infiltration (Dobert et al. (2021) “Adaptive multi-paddock grazing improves water infiltration in Canadian grassland
soils”), grazing reduced soil temperature, increased microbial CO2 respiration values and decreased methane and nitrous oxide emissions in
North Central Texas tallgrass prairie(Dowhower et al. (2020) “Soil greenhouse gas emissions as impacted by soil moisture and temperature
under continuous and holistic planned grazing in native tallgrass prairie”), encouraged more plant species diversity (Eskelinen et al.
(2022) “Light competition drives herbivore and nutrient effects on plant diversity”) Gets plant material in contact with the soil surface. Oxidizes, lose
nutrients, plant stand becomes weaker, thinner, new growth can’t break through as easily. Trampling puts plant material in contact with the
ground, rather than it lightly on top, providing food for microbes to live and do helpful things. Animal integration positively affects soil
microbial population and activity. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0038071715002795) Livestock also benefit from challenges/eustress: A Case for Animal Eustress -https://europepmc.org/backend/ptpmcrender.fcgi?accid=PMC6753217&blobtype=pdf