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planned grazing

A collection of 61 posts

Grazing to Promote Riparian Health on a Private Ranch in Nevada

"Invasion Biology"

Grazing to Promote Riparian Health on a Private Ranch in Nevada

This video features Agee Smith, Co-Owner, Cottonwood Ranch, Wells, Nevada

Plow and Tractor for Desert Grassland Keyline Subsoiling

Plow and Tractor for Desert Grassland Keyline Subsoiling

This video discuss equipment for Keyline subsoil plowing. Over 30 American companies make plows that can be used for Keyline contour subsoiling.

green grass field near mountains

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 support working ranches, improving landscape productivity through holistic management while also enhancing grassland habitat for birds and

circle_ranch_drough_busters

"Invasion Biology"

Drought Busters 101 : A 21-Minute Video on Desert Grassland Restoration

“Drought Busters” is an inexpensive, quick, physiologically and economically sustainable method of habitat and wildlife restoration. We call it Drought Busters because it increases effective rainfall by rebuilding soil fertility and the soil’s ability to absorb and store water. This 21-minute video explains Drought Busters, and our experience on

Plug and Spread Made Easy

Plug and Spread Made Easy

This is a 4-1/2 minute video about the “Plug-and-Spread” method of harvesting water from gullies. Water harvesting including Plug and Spread, in combination with Keyline sub-soiling, wild animal impact and planned grazing of cattle are the cheapest, easiest and quickest way to restore water function to degraded desert grasslands.

circle_ranch_drough_busters

"Invasion Biology"

Drought Busters: Restoring Desertified Desert Grasslands

We call the combination of wild animals, planned grazing, water harvesting, and Keyline subsoiling “Drought Busters”. Drought Busters is cheap, fast, poisons no plants, kills no animals, and increases the numbers and diversity of both. Drought Busters can’t make it rain, but it will make actual rain more and

A Bird’s-eye view of the Dingambombwe Conservancy Cattle Herd

A Bird's-eye view of the Dingambombwe Conservancy Cattle Herd

Here is a great aerial time lapse visual of Africa Center for Holistic Management (ACHM) herd moving through the conservancy regenerating as they go. Note: With many thanks to the ACHM newsletter, where this was posted in June 2023. These animals are concentrated by using human herders. They are now

Virtual Fences for Cattle Find a Home on the Range

Virtual Fences for Cattle Find a Home on the Range

“Virtual fences could be a game-changing grazing innovation, especially on public lands where permanent fences are prohibited. “I think it’s the best thing since barbed wire,” said Kristy Wallner, a BLM rangeland specialist in Colorado. NOTE: this article was originally published to WSJ.com on May 18, 2023. It

Small Pasture Management for Cattle

Animal Development

Small Pasture Management for Cattle

This video is about Utah Cattleman Darrell Yardley, who attended an NRCS (National Resource Conservation Service) pasture management school and instituted a rotational grazing system on 23 acres. As he explains, this has produced more forage for his cattle. In the West, the stocking questions usually are “how many mother

What is Regenerative Grazing and Why Does It Work So Well?

What is Regenerative Grazing and Why Does It Work So Well?

“Domestic animals can either hurt the land, or heal the land. NOTE: this article was originally published by The Regeneration on March 17, 2023. It was written by Meg Chatham. Can we graze livestock in a way that repairs, rebuilds, revitalizes, and restores ecosystem function? Regenerative grazing – also referred to

How an Oregon Sheep Ranch Is Carrying on the Heritage of American Wool—and Shepherding It Into the Future

How an Oregon Sheep Ranch Is Carrying on the Heritage of American Wool—and Shepherding It Into the Future

“As discussed below, planned, moderate rotational grazing and restricted soil disturbance on Western sheep ranches have aided the recovery of bunchgrass and fended off cheatgrass, the interior West’s most troublesome invasive species. NOTE: this article was originally published to TheEpochTimes.com on November 18, 2022. It was written by

leopold_conservation_dixon_water_foundation

Rotational Cattle Grazing to Restore Degraded Chihuahuan Desert Grasslands and Promote Watershed Health

Describing the Mimms Ranch in Marfa, Texas, the authors write, “The Foundation aims for practical conservation, with the belief that restored grasslands improve overall watershed health, resources for native wildlife, and continued support of ranching.” NOTE: this article was originally published to usbr.maps.arcgis.com. As well – it was

Rangeland Restoration: Subsoil Contour Plowing at Circle Ranch, in far-West Texas

Rangeland Restoration: Subsoil Contour Plowing at Circle Ranch, in far-West Texas

Subsoil contour plowing is an excellent way to increase water absorption in the desert grasslands of far-West Texas and Southern New Mexico. The effectiveness of the practice is shown in these before-and-after comparisons. NOTE: this post was originally published to this site on October 9, 2017.

Gulleys for Grassland Restoration #9: Harvesting Water in Steep Canyons

Gulleys for Grassland Restoration #9: Harvesting Water in Steep Canyons

Restoring the Southwest’s desert grasslands takes water. Most ranches treat eroding gulleys and roads – and their stormwater runoffs – as liabilities. In fact these are potential water assets on every ranch. This little diversion dam harvests water from a steep desert canyon and returns it to water-starved meadows, restoring upstream

Gulleys for Grassland Restoration #3

Gulleys for Grassland Restoration #3

Eroded galleys can be used to restore desertifying grasslands – alongside creosote bush – without chemicals. Third in a series filmed at Circle Ranch in far-West Texas. NOTE: this post was originally published to this site on July 24, 2017.

Keyline 101: Desert Grassland Restoration

Keyline 101: Desert Grassland Restoration

This 18-minute video explains how we use P.A. Yeomans’ Keyline concepts to improve water function at our family’s 32,000-acre Circle Ranch in the Chihuahuan high-desert grasslands of far-West Texas. The Keyline explanation is followed by a discussion of water harvesting and the role of drones. NOTE: this

Goats Clearing Meadows and Forest at Pitchstone Waters #2

Goats Clearing Meadows and Forest at Pitchstone Waters #2

On the Fall River in Idaho, 5-miles from the southwest corner of Yellowstone Park, we use goats instead of herbicides to control weeds and stimulate grasses in sagebrush meadows. Goats Clearing Meadows and Forest at Pitchstone Waters #2 from Christopher Gill on Vimeo.

snowy creek full of ice and trees

Who Gets to Own the West?

This article complains that private landowners won’t open their land to the public in Idaho, a state in which about 70 percent of all land already belongs to the public, but is mostly controlled by Washington. Idaho has the fourth highest percent of such land of all 50 states.

"Invasion Biology"

Can Dirt Save the Earth?

This article concludes, “The essential (environmental) insight is one often overlooked when we talk about climate change: The element that threatens to smother civilization is also, in different forms, the fundamental building block of life. To prevent carbon from causing misery and destruction, perhaps we just need to change its

round_up_glysophate

"Invasion Biology"

Monsanto’s New Weed Killer, Dicamba, Divides Farmers

The ever growing use of stronger and stronger poisons defines Industrial Agriculture. This article tells how farmers who try to avoid using the GMO seeds that are bred to withstand these poisons have their crops ruined. This is one small example of the vast damage Industrial Agriculture is doing to

"Invasion Biology"

This Man Wants You to Eat More Meat

“We’ve had about a hundred years of ‘range science.’ I hate that term because it’s not science, it’s range beliefs that assume scientific proportion. They come up with rotational grazing and other approaches on and on endlessly, and those have turned pastures into deserts.” … Allan Savory NOTE:

australian_cattle_erosion_control

"Invasion Biology"

How an Australian Ranch Uses Cattle to Restore Soil

Meet Glenn Morris, General Manager of Figtrees Organic Farms, producers and marketers of award winning organic beef from the award winning properties ‘Wilton Park’ in New South Wales, Australia. Glenn has spent more than two decades observing, studying and thoughtfully managing the diverse ecosystems in his care. His keen eye

african_grasslands

A South African Solution to Texas’ Feral Hog Problem

This story of a start-up hog farm in South Africa points to how Texas can address its wild pig ‘problem’. Hogs can improve soil by by rooting for food, trampling, eating plants, tilling in seeds with their hooves and leaving behind dung and urine. They do best on rangeland, where

Wild Horses Wait on New Pastures

Animal Development

Wild Horses Wait on New Pastures

Viewed in hindsight, it turns out the good intentions of horse advocates have led to bad consequences for horses. The slaughter prohibition discourages horse ownership. The wild horse population explosion has caused a backlash in sentiment towards wild horses. And, Mexican slaughter yards are less humane than America’s. NOTE:

Ranchers Deploy Donkeys Against Dingoes in Australia

Ranchers Deploy Donkeys Against Dingoes in Australia

In yet another example of species that have the same diet being complementary not competitive, burros and horses (equids) will defend other species such as sheep against predators. If we think outside the box, perhaps the equids’ inbred hostility to coyotes, wolves and lions might make them useful in protecting