Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Emery Mitchamore <emitch@att.net>]

A key point of so-called "mob" grazing is that cows, like any animal, will, given the time, eat what they prefer and leave the rest.  With high stocking rates and little time, they will eat what they can get.  Thus a mixed-grass pasture (like a native prairie), which has greater resilience, will be eaten more evenly.  Alan Savory and the Holistic Management organizations have a great deal of information on this topic.  The more "mainstream" stockman's organizations are only recently getting on board.

On Jul 17, 2009, at 3:54 PM, mdnagel@verizon.net wrote:

I don't have a high degree of confidence that they performed the best tests available or that they measured things properly.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand the benefits of livestock on the land stimulating healthier plant/grass growth and depositing fertilizer.

It DOES, however, make a big difference how much the plants (yes, grass is a "plant") are grazed.  Also, from what I've read in The Stockman Grass Farmer (TSGF), mob grazing is very productive: animals are packed more tightly (to stimulate them into eating more quickly so that they can then more quickly get on with the process digesting what they consume) into smaller areas of land and moved off sooner.  Grass is never allowed to be taken down too far.

As suggested in this article, and stated in TSGF as well, proper grazing results in increased root mass growth.  More root mass growth means more biomass available for all the microbes.  Healthier soil!  TSGF has been increasingly viewing grazier's real focus as soil farmers.

Also consider that, unlike crop production, livestock production results in far less loss of nutrients from the land.  The reason being is that livestock leaving the land is less mass than crops leaving the land.

I don't see how there can even be any doubts on all of this.  Joel Salitin's operation is living proof.


Mark Nagel
Everett, WA


Jul 17, 2009 10:39:56 AM, livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org wrote:

Prof: Grazing a mixed bag
http://www.azdailysun.com/articles/2009/07/15/news/20090715_front_199915.txt

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E. E. "Mitch"  Mitchamore

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