Planned Grazing
The cattle herds are just one part of our ranches, but they serve as the metaphorical bloodflow that keep the organism of our land healthy. (See “Restoration ranching” for more on our reasons for involving cattle in our work). Just as good circulation is essential for moving nutrients and oxygen through a body, the movement of animals throughout our ranches keeps land healthy—wildlife, trees, grasses, water, and soil all benefit from a thoughtful relationship with large animals.
One of our goals with our operation is to limit the dependence on outside inputs. We do this by being mindful of the carrying capacity of the land, and we hope that by paying close attention to the grass growth patterns we can improve the productivity (and thus, the carrying capacity) of this landscape, and accelerate the rate of ecological repair and food production for our whole biotic community.
We also want to respect the life cycles of the other entities that call the ranch home. Just as we manage for the growth and development of our calves, we also care about keeping habitat for ground-nesting birds, clean water for tadpoles, and protection for turtle nests. And we want our native grass species, the foundation of resilient grassland, to grow to full recovery before being grazed again. We want some of them to grow to reproduction, so that they can refresh the soil’s seed bank from time to time.
One way we do this is through a grazing chart. This chart allows us to plan our grazing around the ecological aspects that are unique to our ranch. We block off periods of time and specific acreages where we don’t want to graze, because good grazing is as much about where the animals aren’t as where they are. Planning our grazing also helps us track the places and times where we do want the cattle to be. In this way, we can synchronize the needs of the ranch as a living organism.