However, this depends in part on the type and number of predators. If you drive around the countryside this is generally what you still see: a closely grazed pasture with leggy tufts of mature stalks from less-palatable plants, and cattle or sheep scattered over the area, repeatedly selecting the newest growth and bringing selection pressure to bear in causing the eventual demise of the best forages. If you have multiple species and are running a very diverse operation, it is important that the dogs are bonded with each one of the species. Also, remember that sheep and goat herds grow more quickly than cattle herds. A graduate of Texas A&M University and a Program Specialist for NCAT’s ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture program, his work focuses on agronomy, livestock, and grazing. Multispecies grazing takes full advantage of biological diversity. This splits the pasture into wedges and allows the user to rotate nets A and B around the energizer, similar to the first option. “We’re in a fragile environment here,” he explains. Before acquiring a livestock guardian dog, do some research to decide what breeds will work best for you. 2014. Multispecies grazing requires matching animals to the landscape and having the right fencing and working facilities. “We have to be careful not to overgraze and lose what little topsoil we have,” says Anderson. All Rights Reserved | Website by Maple Creative, https://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub-summaries/?pub=244, https://attra.ncat.org/pasture-rangeland-and-grazing-management/, ← Consider Bedded Pack Barns for Cow Comfort and Manure Management, Workshops on Anaerobic Digesters for Small Farms Offered this Winter →. Starting From Scratch: Multispecies Rotational Grazing in Three Months Despite all the advice in seminars and books, few people getting into farming do so in a planned, methodical way. Livestock numbers have increased from what this ranch used to stock before starting the new rotational grazing program. He’s found that a 1:1 or 1:2 ratio of sheep to cattle works well (Brann, 2018). No matter if your MOB has one species or more than one species, you must follow a couple of grazing principles. Do not be tempted to pick up a “free” dog of mixed breed, if some of that “mix” is a guardian dog breed. The reason we can do that is because we give the grass a rest, so it can regrow and produce more forage for us. Unlike cows, sheep and goats do a great job of controlling blackberry brambles, thistle, honeysuckle, multi-flora rose and other uncontrolled pasture plants, and those plants became quickly eradicated from our pastures. For related content and insights from industry experts, sign up for Successful Farming newsletters. Given that sheep parasites do not usually affect cattle, cattle can be used to break the life cycle of sheep and goat parasites (and vice versa, generally). Cattle and horses grazed with sheep and goats help to break parasite life cycles because the sheep and goat parasites cannot survive in those other species. The maximum advantage comes from using daily pasture moves. Walker, John. 2018. The sheep get only a little corn supplement during the winter months, so they graze all year. Livestock guardian dogs must be bonded with the livestock they are guarding. All https://www.barchart.com/solutions/ is provided by Barchart Solutions. Mitigate soil compaction caused by equipment in the fields. Pastures that support multiple species and are properly rotated will yield higher total animal mass per consumed pasture than unrestricted grazing. “We’re using a multispecies grazing method, grazing both cattle and sheep. It’s amazing how much we can stockpile by giving the grass a rest and not overgrazing. This system can be implemented in one of two ways. Additionally, cattle can usually handle parasites much better than small ruminants. Sheep Research Journal, Special Issue. Bonding species imparts many more benefits, as well. One example is a multi-species pasture rotation (MSPR) system, which symbiotically stacks multiple animal production enterprises (i.e. Studies have shown that when you add sheep to a cattle herd, you get 20 to 25% greater productivity and carrying capacity over cattle alone, and 8 to 9% greater productivity and carrying capacity over sheep alone (Walker, 1994). At it's simplest Multi-Species Pasture Cropping is a technique of zero-till sowing annual crops directly into living perennial pastures. We always give a pasture 45 to 60 days rest before we graze the next species. Langston University. Managing livestock using animal behavior: Mixed-species stocking and flerds. If rancher Dan Anderson has learned any lesson the past couple of years, it probably would be titled, “Give It A Rest.” That doesn’t apply to humans, livestock, or cattle dogs; it applies to grass. October 26, 2017 March 9, 2019 Laura B. Email communication. Rotational grazing is simply moving the animals from one paddock to another to allow the previously grazed paddock to recover. Lee Rinehart has been writing and educating on sustainable agriculture for over 20 years. ATTRA features publications, grazing calculators, and managed grazing tutorials at https://attra.ncat.org/pasture-rangeland-and-grazing-management/. Much has been written on diversity of crops, forages, and soil biology but the diversity of grazing species is just as important. It should deter predators and keep your animals off the highway or out of the neighbor’s garden. Fencing is probably the most critical and challenging component of multispecies grazing from a practical standpoint, and is a crucial question given the size and behavioral differences between livestock species. That way, we’re utilizing grasses that one species or the other doesn’t use,” he says. ... “Rotational grazing … 6, No. Try to maintain at least a 6-inch residual after grazing. Using this technique cropping and grazing are combined into one land management system and each enterprise enhances the other both economically and environmentally. Animal. Be sure to take this increasing herd size into account when you are planning your grazing. By contrast, I was taught in college to plant one or two species of pasture forages and graze them continuously with a single livestock species. Your fencing should serve multiple purposes. Their job is to keep the flock safe from predators, mainly coyotes. That is the value in managing your pastures with excellence, and fully leveraging the benefits of rotational and management-intensive grazing techniques. Courtesy of Linda Coffey / NCAT. ... Pasture Rotation. There is safety in numbers, and an intensively managed multispecies herd will be less bothered by predation. I am not a farmer and thus a lot of this planning is being done without experience and leaving me very confused about the best way to approach such practices as multi-species rotational grazing. Multi-Species Rotational Grazing In our pastures, we use a variety of animal species: chickens, ducks, rabbits, and a specific breed of sheep known for grazing weeds to help encourage the grasses and native vegetation and discourage noxious weed growth. Combined with an integrated parasite-management plan, grazing multiple species together or in sequence can reduce parasite populations, due to timing of grazing and the characteristics of the parasites that infect each species of livestock. As vegetation of pastures becomes more diverse, multispecies grazing tends to improve composition and utilization. Futures: at least 10 minute delayed. Rotational grazing also can increase the amount of forage har- vested per acre over continuous grazing by as much as 2 … (2012). “A multi-species open pasture system has a higher level of animal welfare,” says Will Harris of White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, Ga. “I believe it is more regenerative for the land and I think it benefits rural economies.” Harris pasture-raises cattle, hogs, sheep, goats, rabbits and … In my opinion, a grazing plan is critical! Rains vary each year. Your “sheep” dog should be calm around cattle, and not chase the chickens or harass the pigs. multi-species rotation. While sheep and goats share many of the same parasites, cattle and horses do not. However, an integrated management system with combined livestock species can certainly make a dent in their populations. “Vegetation can maintain a stable composition under higher foraging pressure when two herbivores rather than one are used to stock a pasture” write Anderson et al. A multi-species grazing scheme may offer ways to moderate the problem of parasites. Where predatory pressure is high, it may be necessary to use guardian dogs. There is an overlap of 40% of what sheep and cattle consume, leaving quite a little of what one species over the other doesn’t eat. Visit the ATTRA website at https://attra.ncat.org/. Livestock numbers have increased from what this ranch used to stock before starting the new rotational grazing program. Courtesy of Linda Coffey / NCAT. With an understanding of the different grazing behaviors of each species, various combinations of animals can be used to more efficiently utilize the forages in a pasture. When the cows are moved to a new paddock, the chickens are placed in the old one to scratch through those tasty cow pies, spreading the fertility throughout the pasture. Cattle fencing can work very well for sheep when the sheep are bonded to cattle, and grazing distribution is enhanced, as sheep and goats tend to “spread themselves more evenly over the landscape during foraging compared with non-bonded flocks,” (Anderson et al., 2012). We conducted a whole-farm life cycle assessment (LCA) of a MSPR in the southeastern U.S. that was originally converted from degraded cropland. “When we worked with Ryan Beer at our local Natural Resources Conservation Service office to develop a grazing plan, one of our main focuses was to retain as much rainfall and moisture on this ranch as we could.” It’s working. If you keep your grazing period at less than four days, your animals will be moved off the paddock before the larvae can move up into the sward to be consumed by animals. Winter grazing is important. What About Multi-Species Operations? This paradigm, though prevalent, is changing. “The presence of multiple species of large herbivores is the typical condition of grassland and savanna ecosystems,” says John Walker, a range ecologist who wrote on the subject more than two decades ago (Walker, 1994). Very intensive rotational grazing, or mob gr… Co-and Multi-Species Grazing. A pasture rotation is designed to recreate a wild herd migration.Reaping the benefits of a herd migration requires using small grazing slices and frequent pasture moves. The ranch usually gets 14 inches of moisture per year, but some years see one third of that. Chickens are primarily seed eaters, but in rotation following cattle or small ruminants will reduce the number of insects as they eat larvae from the manure. We stop animals from taking second, third, and fourth bites out of that plant when it’s trying to regrow.”. Dave Scott, an ATTRA specialist and sheep rancher in Montana, recommends that producers with high predator pressure buy a charger that is twice the joule rating of what they initially think they need. Pastures don’t have to be native for pasture cropping however; crops can be sown into improved pastures too. Another benefit of multi-species grazing relates to parasites. Use a 40-day recovery period— at the very least—in pastures you know to be infected by parasite larvae. We always give a pasture 45 to 60 days rest before we graze the next species. All Rights Reserved | Website by Maple Creative, buildwithmaple.com. Cattle and sheep are natural complementary grazers. For instance, fowl and swine are not susceptible to the same parasites as cattle, sheep, and goats. Multispecies grazing works best when a multitude of forage species comprise the pasture. There are over 50 native pasture species present today, versus just 5 in 1999. A 30- to 50-joule charger is not unwarranted, because you want to instill fear of the fence in any predator that encounters it. It will change depending on temperature, rainfall, pasture composition, animal growth rates, and many other factors. The ability to exclude predators with fencing depends upon the predator species and the intensity of predatory attempts on the herd. Anderson sums up his philosophy on his new grazing methods this way: “By doing what we’re doing, by increasing our numbers and increasing the production of this land, we can afford the next generation a chance to produce food for the world.”. Anderson watches them weave in and out of the flock. Having guardian dogs adds cost to the operation, but in some situations, it would be impossible to raise livestock without these protectors. USDA researchers have noticed that when small ruminants are bonded to cattle to form one herd they tend to remain together, which provides safety from predators and results in less time required to check on livestock. Parasite Control with Multispecies and Rotational Grazing Dr. Steve Hart, Langston University Parasites, worms or more specifically, the barber pole worm (Haemonchus contortus) is amajor cause of reduced production, morbidity and mortality in grazing goats. “Vegetation can maintain a stable composition under higher foraging pressure when two herbivores rather than one are used to stock a pasture” write Anderson et al. Hart, Steve. Another benefit of multi-species rotational grazing relates to parasites. Turning just one species out in the pasture is also not good for internal parasite management. Anderson, Dean, E. L. Fredrickson, and Rick Estell. Download the publication at https://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub-summaries/?pub=244 Multi-species grazing also contributes to breaking the parasite life cycle. © 2021 Meredith Corporation. Rotational multi-species grazing has many positive aspects. Farmers who work hard to increase pasture-plant diversity will also see an even greater ecological and financial advantage by adding diversity of livestock to the mix. Multi-species grazing is the practice of using two or more livestock species together or separately on the same pasture-land in a specific growing season. Brann, Greg. In that way, the grazed plants, such as the clover, can grow sufficiently until it can be grazed again. We give the plants more rest, thereby developing more root systems, all to help get our subsoil moisture at a higher level. “We were at six pastures when we started; we’re now up over 60. “A multi-species open pasture system has a higher level of animal welfare,” says Will Harris of White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, Georgia. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. This uniformity of grazing contributes greatly to forage quality and resiliency by keeping forage growth constant; resetting the plants to the same stage of growth with each grazing event and preventing unpalatable plants from taking over. The pasture is composed of 11 different species of plants — five kinds of legumes and six grass species — a combination Tom somewhat jokingly refers to as their salad bar mixture. In addition, you can also use a shorter grazing period. ... Multi-Species Grazing for Weed Control in Horse Pastures. We try and take advantage of all the stuff we do grow on this ranch to provide income for us.”. Anderson and his wife, Sharon, raise sheep and cattle near Meadow, South Dakota, population a dozen or so. Interested in finding out more about grazing management? For more information: As long as you keep grazing to the top leaves of the sward, and move the animals before they graze too low, you can significantly reduce infection. With multi-species grazing, the animals do not have to be in the same pasture at the same time. Multispecies grazing can be defined as grazing two or more animal species in a pasture-based system. 2012. Ground cover consisted of a higher percent of grasses and lower percent of bare ground in the rotational system compared to the continuous system. The Cornell Small Farms Program is housed at Cornell University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) in Ithaca, NY, and works in partnership with Cornell Cooperative Extension across New York State. References: Anderson’s hand grabs the horn of his well-worn saddle as he swings down from his horse, boots creaking in the stirrups. chickens, cattle, sheep, and pigs) on one landscape. First, your rotation must be in tune with how fast the grass is growing. Lee can be reached at 479-587-3474 or lee@ncat.org. (2012) note that this management practice “may be one of the most biologically and economically viable systems available to producers, especially on landscapes that support heterogeneous plant communities.” However, with more predator pressure, a fix-knotted high-tensile woven-wire fence with fiberglass posts should be used and powered with a high-joule charger. Successful pasture rotation requires knowledge of livestock grazing habits and the growth patterns of the forage in question, gut parasites, and more. Internal parasites might first appear to be, thereby developing more root systems, all to get! 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