As spring is upon us and green grass is growing we are preparing for a new grazing style on the Encantada Ranch. It will be really interesting and a lot of adjustment to see how this intense grazing vs. extended grazing program will change the health of our land.
I think it's fair to say that it is pretty standard for ranches to have large pastures and allow for long term grazing. This has its perks - the cattle are self-efficient and don't need much care which is a relief after calving season and allows for ranchers to focus on other things: irrigation, field work, etc. But it also has its drawbacks. The cows will eat the grass down and continue to eat the grass never allowing it to re-grow to much height which affects how well the grass grows.
Research has shown great benefit in breaking pastures down into several small grazing areas encouraging your cattle to intensely graze a field to a height of 4-6" in a short period of time. This obviously requires a more hands on approach as you rotate your cows to new pasture every day or so but it has shown tremendous results. Neighbors of ours recently adapted this program and the change in their fields was impressive to say the least. We are lucky to have a wonderful crew of "advisers" that work for the government that are guiding us through this process.
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Dave and I were first turned on to this concept through books we read by Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms (
link here) when still leading our city life and dreaming of "one day". Joel has become a well known advocate for small family farms and ranches. I highly encourage you to read about his family story and their free thinking on the ranching process.
