Intensive Rotational Grazing and Soil Health: What It Actually Means

The Misunderstanding and Cattle Hygiene

There's a misunderstanding of what intensive rotational grazing means. Most ranchers seem to think that it's moving the cattle every once in awhile rather than letting them have the whole ranch to wander. Obviously that's good, but it doesn't address what's happening in the soil as well as the hygiene of the cattle adequately.

One of the main reasons is because parasites start propagating in the manure after twelve days. So, ideally cattle are moved at a minimum of every 10 days. This will result in healthier cattle. It also helps keep them away from the flies, though only marginally.

Mimicking Natural Herd Behavior

When cattle are left to roam freely, the perspective is that this is the way God intended. Well, maybe it was before the fall. But after the fall, predators changed the game and the natural systems we see today are part of that.

Herds that are concerned about predators bunch up and roam together. Rarely will one member be off by itself. This is because numbers provide safety. Note that with many predators the goal is to single out one member of the herd so that they are more vulnerable.

Now translate that to the land. Seldom were animals in the same location for very long. Even the vast herds of bison would cross a specific location in a few hours, or perhaps a couple of days at most. So the pressure on any given location was intense, but very short and seldom, perhaps no more than two or three times a year. The ruminants were only on the land long enough to graze the tops and trample some of the grasses into the soil. They left behind their natural fertilizer as well. It's the perfect storm to sort of massage the land and create the optimum environment for the soil, and all that grows in it, to thrive.

Why Perennial Grasses and Rest Periods Matter

When cattle are allowed to free-range without intensive grazing practices, they gravitate towards what they like best. And that's often the perennials. And since they have all the time in the world, they eat them down to nothing. Then they move on to the next thing.

One of the major problems with this is that the perennial grasses are an incredibly vital part of any pastureland. The roots of perennial grasses, if nurtured and thriving, can extend over eight feet into the ground. This is eight feet of nutrient creating, moisture holding, soil protecting goodness. But it's impossible if the land cannot rest for the vast majority of the year. And as the perennials are grazed down, the roots shrivel up in accordance. After a few years of such treatment, perennials are pretty much gone.

Building Soil Water Storage

Each situation is unique. The ground cover will help the soil, of course. The biology of the soil will increase with more ground cover, because the sun can't bake it so badly. The roots in the soil, as well as what's trampled when the cattle come through, act as both a shield from the sun's rays and a sponge, holding moisture in the ground.

Just 1% of organic matter in the top one foot of soil in an acre provides over 20,000 gallons of water storage. Considering that it's possible to get up to around 8% organic matter in our topsoil, it's feasible to store over 160,000 gallons of water in just the top foot of soil in each acre, not including tanks or other water storage measures.

How Often to Move Cattle and What to Expect

So how often to move the cattle? There is no single answer. Each situation is different. But the folks at Birdwell & Clark Ranch up near Henrietta have been doing this for over a decade now and have gotten to where they move 5,000 head once or twice a day. And their cattle are some of the most placid you could ever see. They do this without their cattle returning to the same pasture for at least around 90 days.

Every situation is different. Trying to implement these practices in the middle of a drought is going to have vastly different results than in a year of abundant rain. However, if you pursue this on your land you will notice a few things, usually within a few years: growing season will lengthen, maybe by as much as two months. Ground cover will increase dramatically, resulting in healthier soil equals healthier grasses equals healthier cattle. The land will become far more drought tolerant. Cattle will be calmer and healthier overall. Carrying capacity will begin increasing, possibly dramatically.

Once the cattle are used to this kind of management, all that's needed to keep them in a pasture is a single strand of hot wire. To simply get things going, divide your land up into 90+ pastures of equal production, not size, and move the cattle daily. Ideally they're moved around noon because the grass on the next pasture has the highest nutrients around 2pm.

This is enough to get you started. And you'll learn a ton about your land as you pursue this sort of management. It's not rocket surgery. It's simply soil management. This is just one, though a vital, aspect of regenerative agriculture.