Livestock
In North America, vast herds of grazing animals used to roam.
Our rangeland ecosystems evolved under this high intensity, short duration grazing.
Nomadic herds no longer range from north to south and back again, but with careful management livestock can fill the void. Well-managed livestock are a useful tool for rangeland, forest and fisheries restoration. Instead of being a threat, well-managed livestock can reinvigorate landscapes that have devolved into barren unproductivity, helping restore other essential ecological processes along the way.
Livestock, on the range, efficiently convert the sun’s energy locked within plants into edible protein. Livestock, in intensive confinement, provide a haven for problems, ranging from their own behavior and health including the rise of disease, to environmental concerns such as non-point source pollution arising from collected waste.
Latest articles
Read more about the benefits offered by domestic animals:
Extinctions, Scenarios, and Assumptions: Changes in Latest Pleistocene Large Herbivore Abundance and Distribution in Western North America
“Here is another explanation of the Pleistocene Extinctions, the catastrophic event in natural history wherein over 50-large species abruptly disappeared from North America 10-12,000-years ago. Humans and climate warming are usually blamed. This author says […]
Land Stewardship on Chihuahuan Desert Grasslands of Mexico
Para más información, contáctenos: pastizales@birdconservancy.org Bird Conservancy of the Rockies collaborates with private landowners across western North America, from the Northern Great Plains to the desert grasslands of Chihuahua, Mexico. We […]
Plan to Allow Wolf Hunting in Europe to Spare Livestock Could Backfire, Some Scientists Say
“Wolves are even more controversial in Europe than the US. Pre-firearms Europeans lived with wolves for millennia; fear of wolves was reality-based and deeply ingrained in European culture.
Allan Savory and the Science of Tracking
Over the last 60 years, Allan Savory has at different times worn a wildlife agency shirt and crest, his country’s military battle camouflage, the formal attire of a parliamentarian, and rancher’s dungarees. His in-the-bush and […]
How Bison Are Saving America’s Lost Prairie
Quoting the makers of this very interesting video, “The Nature Conservancy reintroduced 300 bison to this prairie in 1993, and the herd has grown to more than 2,000 animals today. They graze on the majority […]
A Plant That’s Everywhere is Fueling a Growing Risk of Wildfire Disaster
As reported in this article below, the invasive plant warriors have a new enemy. Their latest villain is grass, which CNN says is an invasive, dangerous plant. The true problem is too few animals […]
New Wolf Management | Montana PBS Reports: IMPACT
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is working on a new conservation and management plan for the state’s Grey Wolf population. Montana PBS talks with agencies to learn more about the changes and ranchers who are […]
Building Cattle Pens in Minutes
Considering the difference in populations, the Aussies are way ahead of the US in their cattle practices. Neil Dennis 41 seconds from Peter Byck on Vimeo. NOTE: this post was originally published on […]
Holistic Grazing in the Arizona / Sonora Borderlands
Cattle are grazed in any spot for 6-hours, followed by 18-months recovery.
Brush Sculpting
“Much has been said about using cattle as proxies for bison: What about bison as proxies for cattle?
How Holistic Planned Grazing Works in 60 Seconds
How does holistic planned grazing heal the soil? We explain it in this short introductory video. For more visit: http://savory.global Note: this post was originally posted to this site on August 2, 2021
REGENERATIVE GRAZING: Using Cows to Rebuild Soil After a Century of Tillage.
This episode shares the story of Stephen Brass of Walnut Grove Brass Family Farm in Stillman Valley, Illinois, and how he successfully transitioned his 160 acre farm from a chemical intensive, commodity crop operation to […]
Functional Traits – Not Nativenes – Shape the Effects Of Large Mammalian Herbivores on Plant Communities
For decades the assumption shared by conservation dogma and Invasive Species “Biology” has been that non-native animals – by definition – harm native habitat and plants. This belief is often used to justify the ongoing […]
Fuel, Fire, and Wild Horses
Wildfire continues to devastate the American West at increasing rates. As this video is posted, wildfires are burning across more than 768,000-acres of land in twelve Western states, and 500,000-acres in Canada. Ten fires […]
Amazing 23-Year-Old Permaculture Food Forest – An Invitation for Wildness
The idea that forest and farms are mutually exclusive is incorrect. Doing what this video show alongside wildlife is difficult but possible. In the small town of Riverton at the bottom of […]
Biodiversity and Holistic Management
These excellent thoughts on the importance of biodiversity apply to wildlife as well as agriculture.
How We Treat Wild Horses
This video was created by Wild Horse Fire Brigade, a non-profit dedicated to expanding wild horse populations in order to reduce fire hazard on public lands. They challenge viewers with this question: “Do you want […]
Invasive Species vs. Native Species
Presented below is a scholarly article on the issue of whether so-called invasive ‘exotic’ species like feral pigs, goats, buffalo, and horses, are by definition harmful to environments in which they did not evolve, or […]
Creosote, Cows & Keyline
“Creosote, Cows & Keyline is a 5-minute video which discusses a quick, cheap method to restore desertified desert grasslands. It was filmed in the high-mountain deserts of far-West Texas.”
Farming Sustainably with Regenerative Agriculture | Restoring Paradise
Regenerative agriculture offers a future for sustainable farming of meat in line with nature’s needs, by using holistic management and organic/biodynamic practices and even sequestering carbon in the soil – so important in our response […]
What Are Farm Animals Thinking?
“Quoting the article below, “These are not dumb creatures. They have a rich emotional life and personality.”