Rotational grazing key to success

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'We always say the quality of the pasture will result in quality, providing healthy and flavorful meat,' Josh Miner says.

Contributed

Jim Munsch works with specialty-crop and livestock farms, helping operators to make data-driven decisions to improve profitability. He's a member of Grassland 2.0 as well as a grass-fed beef producer.

Grassland 2.0

Grassland 2.0 offers educational training and events for producers who want to learn more about grazing.

Grassland 2.0

The rotational-grazing concept is to allow a plant on a pasture to be partially eaten, then moving the cattle or sheep off that piece of land and allowing it to regrow. 'This is nothing new,' Jim Munsch says. 'Homo sapiens didn’t dream this up; it has been going on forever naturally.'

Contributed

Cattle, sheep and goats are ruminants and are able to digest grass and clover, and turn them into excellent-quality milk and meat, states Grassland 2.0. They can live entirely on perennial pastures and hay with no grain. And perennial pastures can deliver a suite of ecosystem services like improved water quality and carbon storage all while providing excellent, tasty grass-fed meat and dairy.

Grassland 2.0

Managed grazing of grasslands is working for many producers in the Upper Midwest and beyond, according to Grassland 2.0. Harvesting forage from perennial grasslands is one of the cheapest ways to feed cows and can be an effective way of reducing feed costs, one of the largest expenses on a farm. Well-managed grass-based systems are profitable.

Grassland 2.0

Poultry on pasture at Three Brothers Farm

Poultry on pasture are moved daily during the summer at Three Brothers Farm. They're part of a rotational-grazing system that also includes sheep and dairy heifers.

Contributed

Rachel Bouressa rotates her herd multiple times per day.

Contributed

Cows and calves are rotated through six paddocks in the rotational-grazing program at Clary Cattle.

Lynn Grooms/Agri-View

Cattle stand in a paddock on a grass-fed-beef farm near Peshtigo, Wisconsin. Pastures that are used for rotational grazing can be examples of permaculture, which are agricultural ecosystems intended to be sustainable and self-sufficient. Permaculture practices can also improve soil health.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

Becky Atten surveys her paddocks. She rotationally grazes cattle on 32 acres, moving the animals every 24 hours.

Lynn Grooms/Agri-View

Cows on the Peaslee farm are rotationally grazed every 12 hours. Perimeter fences were financed with National Resources Conservation Service funds.

LeeAnne Bulman/For Agri-View

Sheep do their lambing in January and February, and rotational graze during the summer. Rodrigo Cala would like to increase the size of his flock.

LeeAnne Bulman/For Agri-View

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Jim Cryns For Agri-View

More than one-quarter of the Midwest’s agricultural land exists in some form of pasture, according to the Wisconsin Grass-fed Beef Cooperative. Yet 80 percent of those pastures suffer from poor and uneven fertility, coupled with serious weed and erosion problems.

Jim Cryns has for more than 25 years worked as a freelance writer in Wisconsin. In addition to being a staff writer for the Milwaukee Brewers Baseball Club, he was a radio news anchor with both WTMJ and WISN.

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