Forensic Grazing Study

 Looking to the past to determine what we do in the future is as important years into regenerative grazing programs as it is in the beginning of them. When converting from conventional or rotational grazing to regenerative grazing, it is important for a person to recognize the grazing behavior that has caused their forage to degrade. It helps them to understand both the causes of the degradation as well as the cure. For those years into a program, it helps them identify areas which need changes in impact. A recent trip where I visited a ranch considering the change, and another which made the change several years ago are good examples.

The first ranch was starting to make the change, recognized the fact their pastures were going backwards, but weren't sure why. Rather than doing a grass survey, we did a Forensic Grazing Study. Rather than looking at the amount of grass, we examined what the grazing patterns had been under their conventional rotation. It was easy for them to see what areas had been over grazed as well as what areas had been under grazed. At the same time, this made it easy for them to understand the changes needed to begin regenerating the pasture, and how it could be done without added outputs for fencing or water (By rebooting their herd instinct and practicing IMG, they will actually be able to reduce their number of water points.)

The second ranch had been using a fencing system for several years. As the country was hilly, and fairly steep in areas, the cells were larger than normally used in these systems (500 acres and up.) While they had made dramatic progress over the last few years, the herd of 700 cows has not impacted the paddocks evenly. Cutting back and forth across the paddocks we were able to identify areas which had barely been impacted, along with areas were grasses were still receiving that second bite to retard plant recovery. There were some areas where there was oxidized litter preventing rain from reaching the ground, and some areas which had reached a plateau of recovery and starting to regress.

All of these things were discovered by crisscrossing the pasture horseback rather than driving through and conducting a grass survey.  His choices to improve his grazing distribution were to either build and maintain more fence, or reboot herd instinct in his cattle. That way, if cattle miss a spot while migrating around the pasture, he will be able to easily spot graze the places which need the additional impact without the headache of adding more "recreational fencing."

For more information, visit http://migratorygrazing.com/about 

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