Adaptive high stock-density grazing. Photo: Pasture Project
By Lee Rinehart, Sustainable Agriculture Specialist, NCAT Northeast
Back in the late 1990s, I was a new county Extension agent in Texas. I met a Brangus rancher who became a friend and demonstration cooperator, and I pitched him a topic that he became immediately interested in. We laid out 11 paddocks and began grazing 24 heifers in a daily rotational system. The lightbulb went on in my head when I looked about the paddock to assess how much they had grazed, and I noticed that all of the curly dock had been stripped bare. What I had observed was a change in grazing behavior, caused by a controlled grazing system that decreased the heifers’ grazing selectivity.
Fast forward to 2020, and the landscape of managed grazing has changed. We understand that we are dealing with a biological system driven by diversity. The powerful principles we learned from management intensive grazing have been refined into an adaptive system of livestock production that can actually regenerate the soil, the water cycle, and the land.
Adaptive grazing improves forage availability and ecosystem functioning, and strengthens grazing landscapes with diversity and resilience. ATTRA has brought together a suite of resources for farmers and ranchers, of all scales and for all species of grazing animals, who are interested in transitioning to an adaptive grazing system.
Consulting the Expert
Cows moving to fresh pasture, Sieben Live Stock Company, Montana. Photo: Cooper Hibbard
Dr. Allen Williams, a leading expert in regenerative, adaptive grazing, recommends providing extended periods of rest between short, high stock-density grazing periods on diverse pastures.
This allows for optimum recovery of forages and increases overall forage dry matter production. It also contributes significantly to soil health through the addition of organic matter.
Williams (2019) speaks of three principles that characterize this system:
- The Principle of Compounding – our actions result in a series of compounding and cascading events that are either positive or negative.
- The Principle of Diversity – highly diverse and complex pastures create positive compounding effects.
- The Principle of Disruption – planned, purposeful disruptions build resilient systems with more vigor and diversity and create positive compounding effects.
As such, adaptive grazing is goal-oriented, focuses on stock density and not stocking rate, and is necessarily flexible.
Ewes making their way from night camp to the day’s grazing in a dryland meadow. Photo: Dave Scott, Montana Highland Lamb
Rotations, grazing-residue heights, rest periods, and grazing seasonality are never the same throughout the year. This grazing system uses frequent movement and adequate pasture rest for plant root-system recovery, and is highly reliant on temporary fencing (Williams, 2016).
ATTRA Can Help You With Your Grazing System
ATTRA offers detailed guidance on developing your grazing system through instructional videos, podcasts, and in-depth publications.
Videos
Video Series: Adaptive Grazing with Allen Williams
Recorded in November 2019 at the Piney Woods School in Mississippi, Allen Williams leads participants on a pasture walk and discusses the various elements good grazing and pastured livestock production with his engaging style.
- Soil evaluation, aggregation, and biology
Stockpiling grass for grazing in southwest Montana.
Photo: Dave Scott, Montana Highland Lamb
- Mycorrhizal fungi
- Forage density, paddock size, and animal movement
- Forbs and medicinal compounds
- Animal density, nutrition, and parasite management
- Setting up an adaptive grazing system
Spring Pasture Management series with Margo Hale, NCAT Southeast Regional Director, Prairie Grove, Arkansas.
- Winter Paddock Recovery
Margo Hale provides a short tour of one of her pastures as spring approaches, and discusses how she manages winter paddock recovery after feeding round bales.
- Forage Diversity in Pastures
Hale discusses the importance of forage diversity in pastures to provide high quality forage and to build pasture soil health.
Regenerative Grazing from the Ground Up highlights Greg and Forrest Stricker’s dairy herd grazing and their use of warm season annuals to supplement their herd with high quality forage while building soil health. Filmed at a Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture Field Day at Spring Creek Farms in Wernersville, PA, September 19, 2019.
Podcasts
Allen Williams and Adaptive Stewardship Management Grazing
https://attra.ncat.org/allen-williams-and-adaptive-stewardship-management-grazing-podcast/
This podcast, recorded in November 2019, provides a “big picture” view of pastured livestock production and offers insight on the development of Allen’s techniques.
Regenerative Grazing: Outcomes and Obstacles
https://attra.ncat.org/regenerative-grazing-outcomes-and-obstacles/
In this episode, Dave Scott and Lee Rinehart, both specialists with NCAT’s ATTRA – the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service – have a conversation about regenerative grazing.
Publication
Pasture, Rangeland, and Adaptive Grazing (IP306D)
https://attra.ncat.org/product/pasture-rangeland-and-grazing-management/
This publication, published in 2020, contains an explanation of the principles and practices, and further resources, for the kind of grazing Allen advocates in the videos. It’s a good supplement to the videos for digging deeper into the intricacies of grazing and pasture management.
Nutrient Cycling in Pastures (IP136D)
https://attra.ncat.org/product/nutrient-cycling-in-pastures/
This publication looks at the pathways and drivers that move nutrients into, out of, and within pasture systems. It attempts to provide a clear, holistic understanding of how nutrients cycle through pastures and what the producer can do to enhance the processes to create productive, regenerative, and resilient farm and ranch systems. Effective management of nutrient cycling in pastures is simply understanding how nature cycles nutrients in natural grasslands and then mimicking those processes.
Building Healthy Pasture Soils (IP546P)
https://attra.ncat.org/product/building-healthy-pasture-soils/
This publication is a supplement to ATTRA’s Managed Grazing Tutorial session on Pasture Fertility, and introduces properties of soil, discusses evaluation and monitoring of soil quality, and introduces grazing management principles and techniques that promote healthy soil.
Tutorial
Managed Grazing
https://attra.ncat.org/tutorials/
Have you heard that changing the way you manage your grazing animals can change the condition of your land and finances for the better? Interested in finding out more about how managing your livestock can improve your soil health, your pasture condition and your bottom line? This tutorial features sessions taught by National Center for Appropriate Technology specialists who are also livestock producers. They share years of experience managing their own pastures to inspire you to start wherever you are and build or refine your own managed grazing systems. Detailed presentations and real-world examples will get you on the road to managed grazing.
References
High stock density removes grazing selectivity thereby utilizing forages more efficiently, and returns large amounts of carbon back to the soil through trampling of uneaten forage. Photo: Understanding Ag, LLC
Williams, Allen. 2016. Adaptive Grazing and Relationship to Soil Health (presentation). www.sfa-mn.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Allen.2017.DirtRich-1.pdf.
Williams, Allen. 2019. Personal Communication.
Small Scale Farmers, Farmers Markets, Food Producers Can Now Access $650 Million in Pandemic Relief Aid
Small-scale farmers, food processors or distributors, or farmers markets financially impacted by Covid-19 can now apply for up to $20,000 to recover costs related to the pandemic. The National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) is helping food producers access these dollars through the USDA’s Pandemic Response and Safety Grant Program. Applications are now open until Nov. 22, 2021.
If you operate a small farm producing specialty crops whose annual revenue is less than $1 million, run a farmers market, food hub, community supported agriculture (CSA) farm, a small food processing business or food manufacturing operation, you may be eligible for grant funding.
According to the USDA, the pandemic-related costs that are recoverable through this grant program relate to the following areas, and include estimating staff time to implement:
This is not a competitive grant program; grants will be awarded based on eligibility. Funding is not awarded on a first-come-first-serve basis, and the 45-day application period opened October 6.
Before applying, all applicants must obtain a Data Universal Number System (DUNS) number. This DUNS number will be required to receive this grant. More information on how to obtain a DUNS number, plus full eligibility criteria can be found at the USDA’s website: https://usda-prs.grantsolutions.gov/usda.
You can also ask further questions about this program by emailing usda.ams.prs@grantsolutions.gov or call 301-238-5550. NCAT’s ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture program will provide additional support related to accessing this new grant program. Check our website at ATTRA.NCAT.ORG or sign up for our weekly e-newsletter for updates.
$650 Million Soon Available for Small Scale Farmers, Farmers Markets and Food Producers
If you’re a small-scale farmer, food processor or distributor, or farmers market and have been financially impacted by Covid-19, you may be able to access up to $20,000 to recover costs related to the pandemic.
The National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) is helping food producers access these dollars through the USDA’s Pandemic Response and Safety Grant Program. Applications will open in early October. Producers should get prepared for the application period now.
If you operate a small farm producing specialty crops whose annual revenue is less than $1 million, run a farmers market, food hub, community supported agriculture (CSA) farm, a small food processing business or food manufacturing operation, you may be eligible for grant funding.
“Food producers provide an essential service for our communities, and these small-scale producers have continued to operate during the pandemic to make sure all of us are fed,” NCAT Executive Director Steve Thompson said. “NCAT is here to help food producers, processors and farmers markets access dollars to keep their doors open.”
According to the USDA, the pandemic-related costs that are recoverable through this grant program relate to the following areas:
This is not a competitive grant program; grants will be awarded based on eligibility. Funding is not awarded on a first-come-first-serve basis, and the 45-day application period is anticipated to open in early October.
To be ready for the application, all applicants should obtain a Data Universal Number System (DUNS) number. This DUNS number will be required to receive this grant. More information on how to obtain a DUNS number, plus full eligibility criteria can be found at the USDA’s website: https://usda-prs.grantsolutions.gov/usda.
You can also ask further questions about this program by emailing usda.ams.prs@grantsolutions.gov or call 301-238-5550. NCAT’s ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture program will provide additional support related to accessing this new grant program. Check our website at ATTRA.NCAT.ORG or sign up for our weekly e-newsletter for updates.
NCAT Highlights Safety Resources During Farm Safety and Health Week
The National Center for Appropriate Technology is reminding farmers and ranchers during Farm Safety and Health Week, September 19-25, 2021, that its ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture service includes trusted and practical resources to stay safe on the job.
For Tractor Safety & Rural Roadway Safety Day on Monday, September 20, NCAT is releasing a series of 13 Spanish-language tractor safety and maintenance videos. NCAT is releasing a video on chainsaw safety for women to mark Safety & Health for Women in Agriculture Day on Friday, September 24. These resources and a new guide to preparing for disaster join an archive of other equipment-related guides available at ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.
“Farmers, ranchers and farmworkers have stressful and dangerous jobs, but they don’t have to weather those challenges alone,” said NCAT Northeast Regional Director Andy Pressman. “Our trusted and practical resources are available online at no cost, plus, our sustainable agriculture specialists are always available to work one-on-one with any producer who would like to be connected with individualized support.”
Later this fall, NCAT’s ATTRA program will release a series of new publications in partnership with the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network Northeast related to behavioral health awareness, literacy, access and outcomes for farmers, ranchers, and farmworkers.
NCAT’s sustainable agriculture service, ATTRA has been providing trusted, practical, and free information for farmers and ranchers since 1987. Over the last 34 years, the program has developed a vast knowledgebase meant to help beginning farmers get their start, to provide continuing education to longtime producers, and to connect farmers and ranchers with information, experts, and the know-how to run a successful, and safe, enterprise.
VIDEO: How a Unique Partnership is Helping Train the Next Generation of Sustainable Farmers
As students from around the country fill their backpacks with pens and paper, some rural Mississippi students are sure to toss in a pair of work gloves for the school year. Since 2019, the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) and The Piney Woods School have partnered to educate the next generation of sustainable farmers, ranchers, soil scientists and food security advocates. They’re now telling the story of this unique partnership in a new video.
Thanks to a grant from USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, NCAT and The Piney Woods School are educating students about gardening, sustainability, and regenerative grazing practices at the school’s 200-acre on-campus farm, sparking interest in agriculture-related career fields. Not only has the site been used to provide hands-on sustainable agriculture training for students, but it’s also hosted workshops for beginning and small farmers across the Gulf States region.
“It has been so rewarding to share with teens from urban and rural backgrounds the idea that farming can not only be a fulfilling career path, but it is also key to strengthening local food systems and economies,” says NCAT Gulf States Regional Director and fourth-generation farmer Rock Woods. “Our unique partnership with The Piney Woods School will have a lasting impact and I can’t wait to see how these students put their knowledge to work.”
The number of farms has been on the decline in Mississippi, and nationwide, while the demand for locally and sustainably produced products has grown. Students learn the fundamentals basic to sustainable farming like the importance of soil health and managed grazing, while they also learn how diverse specialty crops and marketing can make farms more profitable.
From humble beginnings on a fallen log beneath a cedar tree in 1909, The Piney Woods School has grown to resemble a small college encompassing 2,000 acres, including several lakes, a unique rock garden amphitheater, and its demonstration farm. This farm serves as the backdrop for an intensive, hands-on training program that has expanded to teach farmers and future farmers, urban food producers, and traditionally underserved farmers how to produce high-value, nutrient-rich food on small parcels of land. Even as the pandemic has presented a new challenge for schools and communities, students at Piney Woods have been able to safely continue hands-on, outdoor agriculture learning.
Student Ceasar Stewart says he once thought he’d like to be a lawyer, but after his hands-on farm education, he’s more interested in agriculture and health.
“By the time I’m a senior, I would like to see more people at the farm growing more plants and making this place more resilient to humans,” Stewart says in a film produced about the partnership.
“As a career, I definitely want to work with the UN or a nongovernment organization,” says student Isis Bandele-Asante, “I definitely want to help with sustainability, especially in less developed nations and help to rebuild the economy by rebuilding their agriculture industries. So, I want to help them rebuild that and create a better life for the people there.”
Over the course of this partnership, NCAT has provided training to 70 students and more than 200 regional farmers. Over the last year, NCAT’s sustainable agriculture educational resources were accessed more than 3 million times through its trusted digital knowledge base at ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.
THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY has been helping people build resilient communities through local and sustainable solutions that reduce poverty, strengthen self-reliance, and protect natural resources since 1976. Headquartered in Butte, Montana, NCAT has six regional offices in Arkansas, California, New Hampshire, Mississippi, Montana and Texas. Learn more and become a friend of NCAT at NCAT.ORG
THE PINEY WOODS SCHOOL is a co-educational program serving 8th through 12th grades in an experiential learning environment. As the nation’s oldest African American boarding school, we are celebrating 112 years of continuous operations and excellence in education. The cultural significance of the school is recognized by the National Register of Historic Places. The 2,000-acre rural campus is located 20 miles south of Jackson, Mississippi. For more information, please visit: www.pineywoods.org
New Digital Home for NCAT’s Armed to Farm
By Robyn Metzger, Armed to Farm Coordinator
The National Center for Appropriate Technology has launched a new website for its farmer veteran training program, Armed to Farm. The site, ARMEDTOFARM.ORG, features program news, promotes upcoming training opportunities, and connects alumni with sustainable agriculture resources and other farmer veterans.
NCAT developed the first Armed to Farm training in 2013 through a Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Project with the University of Arkansas. The program has expanded over the past eight years with support from a cooperative agreement with USDA-Rural Development. The program has helped more than 800 veterans, and their spouses or farm partners, from 45 states.
Visitors to the new Armed to Farm website will find a calendar of events that highlights not only NCAT-sponsored events, but also veteran-focused educational opportunities offered by other organizations around the country.
The Join Our Network section provides options for staying in touch with the Armed to Farm team and fellow farmer veterans, including sign-up forms for email news and the Veterans in Agriculture Listserv. Visit the News page to find details on upcoming training events, post-training recaps, and spotlights on Armed to Farm alumni. We love to hear and share alumni stories!
Speaking of alumni stories, be sure to check out the About page to view a short video starring three alumni and their farms. They share their experiences with the program and how it helped them as they started out. While you’re on that page, you can meet the five NCAT staff members who make up the core Armed to Farm team.
If you have any questions about Armed to Farm or other farmer veteran resources, feel free to contact any of the team members. We are here to help!
We have at least 20 Armed to Farm events lined up for the next three to four years, and planning is already underway for Spring 2022 events in California, New Mexico, and Texas. Visit ARMEDTOFARM.ORG today to sign up to receive email alerts when the event application periods open!
Biochar Policy Project Aims to Scale Up Rural Climate Solution
By Steve Thompson, NCAT Executive Director
Dave Atkins, a forest landowner in Montana’s Blackfoot Valley, peers through the smoke-filled gloom of another hot and dry August, and he sees hope on the horizon. He’s part of a collaborative project with other small landowners, federal land agencies, conservation and watershed groups that thinks that an important solution can be found in a porous black shred of carbon called biochar.
Read more
Novel Nutrient Management Method: Applying Poultry Litter in Subsurface Bands
By Nina Prater, NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialist
Getting nutrients right in farming is a balancing act. When planning to apply fertilizers and soil amendments, farmers must consider their soil type, climate, the time of year, the crops they are raising, water availability, soil health, water quality concerns, and the nuances of the many different macro- and micronutrients that plants require. The way nutrients are applied is also an important consideration. A series of research projects have been conducted at the Dale Bumpers Small Farm Research Center in Booneville, AR, to assess a new way of applying poultry litter (the manure and bedding removed from commercial poultry houses) by inserting it into the soil.
Poultry litter is a National Organic Program (NOP) approved fertilizer and is readily available in many parts of the U.S. The litter is often surface applied, but this can lead to nutrient loss through nitrogen volatilization or surface runoff. A novel technology has been developed to reduce nutrient loss from poultry litter. Named the “Subsurfer,” it is an implement pulled behind a tractor that inserts poultry litter into the soil in bands and reduces nutrient losses to the air, soil, and water by over 70%. The Subsurfer was initially developed for use in pastures, but researchers have been conducting studies to determine best practices for its use in organic cropping systems. While not yet commercially available, the results of the studies suggest that it is a promising technology that can help solve nutrient-loss issues while maintaining productivity and improving both crop quality and soil health.
Dr. Amanda Ashworth, Research Soil Scientist with USDA’s Agriculture Research Service (ARS) Poultry Production and Product Safety Research Unit, has conducted research to determine the optimal crop row distance from the poultry litter bands for the greatest crop yield and quality. Planting directly into the litter would damage the plants, so the litter has to be inserted to the side of the plant row. But what distance is best for different crops?
How Litter is Applied
The ARS Subsurfer is pulled behind a tractor, inserting the litter approximately 4 inches beneath the soil surface, with wheels that close the soil up over the litter after it is inserted. The litter must have a moisture content of 35% or less. A seeder can be attached to the Subsurfer so that the fertilizing and seeding can be done in one pass. In these research plots, a GPS was used to ensure accurate spacing of seeds and litter bands.
An additional finding of the research was that the crop quality was improved with the use of the Subsurfer, even as compared to plots that were fertilized with urea. Dr. Ashworth found the additional nutrients contained in poultry litter led to this improved quality. The liming properties of the poultry litter, as well as additional macro- and micronutrients it contains, provide a more complete “diet” to the crop in ways that urea, which only supplies N, could not.
There is potential for the Subsurfer to help with nutrient management on small to medium-sized farms, organic and conventional alike. The equipment can only cover approximately 20 to 30 acres in one day, so it is not likely to work well on farms in the thousands of acres, but for smaller-scale operations, it could provide a way to fertilize efficiently.
Citations
Ashworth, A.J., D.H. Pote, T.R. Way, and D.B. Watts. Effect of seeding distance from subsurface banded poultry litter on corn yield and leaf greenness. Agronomy Journal. 2020; 112:1679–1689.
Ashworth, A.J., C. Nieman, T.C. Adams, J. Franco, and P.R. Owens. Subsurface banded poultry litter distance influence on the multifunctionally of edamame (Glycine max Edamame’) yield and leaf greenness. Pending Publication.
Photos courtesy USDA ARS.
Related ATTRA Resources
Meet The Subsurfer: ATTRA Blog
Meet The Subsurfer: ATTRA Podcast
Arsenic In Poultry Litter: Organic Regulations
Sweet Corn: Organic Production
Edamame: Vegetable Soybean
Nutrient Management Plan (590) for Organic Systems
Soil Management: National Organic Program Regulations
The information contained in this blog is also available as a downloadable fact sheet here. This factsheet is produced by the National Center for Appropriate Technology through the ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture program, under a cooperative agreement with USDA Rural Development. This factsheet was also made possible in part by funding from the Arkansas Department of Agriculture, Specialty Crop Grant AM180100XXXXG157.
NCAT and the Montana Farmers Market Network Partner to Celebrate the ‘Bounty of the Big Sky’
Montana joins markets across the country in celebrating National Farmers Market Week August 1-7, 2021. The National Center for Appropriate Technology and the Montana Farmers Market Network encourages everyone to celebrate the “Bounty of the Big Sky” by shopping at local farmers markets this week and every week.
Montana’s market managers voted on the statewide farmers market week slogan Bounty of the Big Sky to celebrate the food and artisanal crafts featured at farmers markets across the state.
Amid a global pandemic, farmers markets — like all other small businesses — have innovated to continue operations for the farmers and communities that depend on them. Market managers have been at the forefront of adapting rapid solutions and innovating to protect staff, customers, and community. When conventional food supply chains failed at the start of the pandemic, farmers markets and local food systems clearly displayed the resiliency of short supply chains and interest in local foods spiked nationwide. Now, farmers markets are headed into another year of building resilience in our community and bringing people together.
There are more than 70 farmers markets in Montana according to the Montana Department of Agriculture. Of those, 24 accept SNAP benefits making fresh, locally produced products accessible to more Montanans. These farmers markets also participate in the Double SNAP Dollars Program which matches a customer’s SNAP benefit. The Double SNAP Dollars program has served nearly 6,400 Montanans and has recirculated more than $500,00 to local farmers, ranchers, and farmers markets.
National Farmers Market Week is an annual celebration of farmers markets coordinated by the Farmers Market Coalition, a membership-based nonprofit organization that supports farmers markets nationwide. The Farmers Market Coalition has partnered with NCAT to coordinate a campaign that is centered around the essential role that farmers markets play in Montana’s local food systems and in developing local resilience in communities.
“In the last year farmers market operators have gone to herculean lengths to keep their markets open and to protect their communities,” said Ben Feldman, Farmers Market Coalition Executive Director. “Throughout National Farmers Market Week 2021, we will be highlighting the vital work of farmers market operators across the nation that provide a space for communities to come together around shared values and work together to change our food system.”
To find a farmers market near you visit AERO’s Abundant Montana Directory.
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The Montana Farmers Market Network is a coalition of partners coordinated by NCAT, including farmers market managers, the Community Food and Agriculture Coalition, AERO, and the Montana Department of Agriculture.
THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY has been helping people build resilient communities through local and sustainable solutions that reduce poverty, strengthen self-reliance, and protect natural resources since 1976. Headquartered in Butte, Montana, NCAT has six regional offices in Arkansas, California, New Hampshire, Mississippi, Montana and Texas. Learn more and become a friend of NCAT at NCAT.ORG.
Adaptive Grazing – You Can Do It
Adaptive high stock-density grazing. Photo: Pasture Project
By Lee Rinehart, Sustainable Agriculture Specialist, NCAT Northeast
Back in the late 1990s, I was a new county Extension agent in Texas. I met a Brangus rancher who became a friend and demonstration cooperator, and I pitched him a topic that he became immediately interested in. We laid out 11 paddocks and began grazing 24 heifers in a daily rotational system. The lightbulb went on in my head when I looked about the paddock to assess how much they had grazed, and I noticed that all of the curly dock had been stripped bare. What I had observed was a change in grazing behavior, caused by a controlled grazing system that decreased the heifers’ grazing selectivity.
Fast forward to 2020, and the landscape of managed grazing has changed. We understand that we are dealing with a biological system driven by diversity. The powerful principles we learned from management intensive grazing have been refined into an adaptive system of livestock production that can actually regenerate the soil, the water cycle, and the land.
Adaptive grazing improves forage availability and ecosystem functioning, and strengthens grazing landscapes with diversity and resilience. ATTRA has brought together a suite of resources for farmers and ranchers, of all scales and for all species of grazing animals, who are interested in transitioning to an adaptive grazing system.
Consulting the Expert
Cows moving to fresh pasture, Sieben Live Stock Company, Montana. Photo: Cooper Hibbard
Dr. Allen Williams, a leading expert in regenerative, adaptive grazing, recommends providing extended periods of rest between short, high stock-density grazing periods on diverse pastures.
This allows for optimum recovery of forages and increases overall forage dry matter production. It also contributes significantly to soil health through the addition of organic matter.
Williams (2019) speaks of three principles that characterize this system:
As such, adaptive grazing is goal-oriented, focuses on stock density and not stocking rate, and is necessarily flexible.
Ewes making their way from night camp to the day’s grazing in a dryland meadow. Photo: Dave Scott, Montana Highland Lamb
Rotations, grazing-residue heights, rest periods, and grazing seasonality are never the same throughout the year. This grazing system uses frequent movement and adequate pasture rest for plant root-system recovery, and is highly reliant on temporary fencing (Williams, 2016).
ATTRA Can Help You With Your Grazing System
ATTRA offers detailed guidance on developing your grazing system through instructional videos, podcasts, and in-depth publications.
Videos
Video Series: Adaptive Grazing with Allen Williams
Recorded in November 2019 at the Piney Woods School in Mississippi, Allen Williams leads participants on a pasture walk and discusses the various elements good grazing and pastured livestock production with his engaging style.
Stockpiling grass for grazing in southwest Montana.
Photo: Dave Scott, Montana Highland Lamb
Spring Pasture Management series with Margo Hale, NCAT Southeast Regional Director, Prairie Grove, Arkansas.
Margo Hale provides a short tour of one of her pastures as spring approaches, and discusses how she manages winter paddock recovery after feeding round bales.
Hale discusses the importance of forage diversity in pastures to provide high quality forage and to build pasture soil health.
Regenerative Grazing from the Ground Up highlights Greg and Forrest Stricker’s dairy herd grazing and their use of warm season annuals to supplement their herd with high quality forage while building soil health. Filmed at a Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture Field Day at Spring Creek Farms in Wernersville, PA, September 19, 2019.
Podcasts
Allen Williams and Adaptive Stewardship Management Grazing
https://attra.ncat.org/allen-williams-and-adaptive-stewardship-management-grazing-podcast/
This podcast, recorded in November 2019, provides a “big picture” view of pastured livestock production and offers insight on the development of Allen’s techniques.
Regenerative Grazing: Outcomes and Obstacles
https://attra.ncat.org/regenerative-grazing-outcomes-and-obstacles/
In this episode, Dave Scott and Lee Rinehart, both specialists with NCAT’s ATTRA – the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service – have a conversation about regenerative grazing.
Publication
Pasture, Rangeland, and Adaptive Grazing (IP306D)
https://attra.ncat.org/product/pasture-rangeland-and-grazing-management/
This publication, published in 2020, contains an explanation of the principles and practices, and further resources, for the kind of grazing Allen advocates in the videos. It’s a good supplement to the videos for digging deeper into the intricacies of grazing and pasture management.
Nutrient Cycling in Pastures (IP136D)
https://attra.ncat.org/product/nutrient-cycling-in-pastures/
This publication looks at the pathways and drivers that move nutrients into, out of, and within pasture systems. It attempts to provide a clear, holistic understanding of how nutrients cycle through pastures and what the producer can do to enhance the processes to create productive, regenerative, and resilient farm and ranch systems. Effective management of nutrient cycling in pastures is simply understanding how nature cycles nutrients in natural grasslands and then mimicking those processes.
Building Healthy Pasture Soils (IP546P)
https://attra.ncat.org/product/building-healthy-pasture-soils/
This publication is a supplement to ATTRA’s Managed Grazing Tutorial session on Pasture Fertility, and introduces properties of soil, discusses evaluation and monitoring of soil quality, and introduces grazing management principles and techniques that promote healthy soil.
Tutorial
Managed Grazing
https://attra.ncat.org/tutorials/
Have you heard that changing the way you manage your grazing animals can change the condition of your land and finances for the better? Interested in finding out more about how managing your livestock can improve your soil health, your pasture condition and your bottom line? This tutorial features sessions taught by National Center for Appropriate Technology specialists who are also livestock producers. They share years of experience managing their own pastures to inspire you to start wherever you are and build or refine your own managed grazing systems. Detailed presentations and real-world examples will get you on the road to managed grazing.
References
High stock density removes grazing selectivity thereby utilizing forages more efficiently, and returns large amounts of carbon back to the soil through trampling of uneaten forage. Photo: Understanding Ag, LLC
Williams, Allen. 2016. Adaptive Grazing and Relationship to Soil Health (presentation). www.sfa-mn.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Allen.2017.DirtRich-1.pdf.
Williams, Allen. 2019. Personal Communication.
Soil Health and Adaptive Grazing with Dr. Allen Williams
Adaptive grazing is a regenerative livestock production system that uses multiple paddocks, frequent moving of livestock with short grazing intervals, and long rest periods to provide full pasture plant recovery. It is a proven method of increasing the resiliency of pastures by building soil organic matter, increasing soil water infiltration, promoting water conservation, adding diversity, and decreasing surface runoff.
Dr. Allen Williams travels all over the world to teach about adaptive grazing. A former professor at Mississippi State University, he came to the realization that conventional methods of production were not working for many of the farmers he was trying to help. Farmers were having to use more and more inputs to get the same productivity and were having a difficult time staying profitable. This caused him to rethink his approach. He transformed his own ranch in Starkville, Mississippi, using adaptive grazing and, ultimately, he decided to leave academia to become a full-time rancher and consultant. He has been teaching other producers how to implement adaptive grazing on their land ever since.
In this video series, filmed at an in-person workshop at The Piney Woods School, Dr. Williams discusses and demonstrates the principles and benefits of adaptive grazing.
This video series was produced by the National Center for Appropriate Technology through the ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture program, under a cooperative agreement with USDA Rural Development. This video series also was supported a grant from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service as part of The Piney Woods School Sustainable Farming Outreach Project. The workshop was hosted in partnership with the Piney Woods School in Piney Woods, Mississippi. ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.