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High density system mimics migrating herdsBy Doug Rich Rotational grazing is nothing new. It is popular around the country as a way to improve grass stands and increase stocking rates. Chad Peterson, Newport, Neb., has taken the concept of rotational grazing one step further by dramatically increasing both the stocking rate and the frequency of moves. Peterson said he started out with rotational grazing on his north central Nebraska ranch and began taking it more extreme all the time with more frequent moves. In 2001, he had a chance to visit with Allan Savory and there he decided that the thing to do was to really bunch these animals up. "My target, and I don't always get to my target, is to have a million pounds of beef per acre per grazing period," Peterson said. "That could be 1,000 dry cows on one acre or 300 dry cows on one-third of an acre or 500 pairs on six-tenths of an acre." Depending on grass growth and the amount of forage that is in front of his herd or mob, as Peterson refers to the groups of cattle, he will move them three to seven times a day. "In this climate and with our rainfall, I just go over my paddocks one time," Peterson said. Peterson does not want cattle in a paddock long enough to get a second bite. He does not want them to start grazing the regrowth. "Once you let that second bite happen, it is pretty hard on a grass plant," Peterson said. "Grass plants like being grazed, but eating that second tender bite is what really zaps them." By bunching the animals in a large group and making frequent moves, they are not in the same area long enough for regrowth to occur. Whenever an animal bites a plant, it shocks the system of that plant and the plant will start to slough off some roots. Peterson said it takes energy from the plant'scarbohydrate reserves to shoot that first leaf out and start getting photosynthesis going again. "If you repeatedly graze the new shoots you are pulling from the carb reserves," Peterson said. "When it runs out of carb reserves, the plant dies or it is a weak plant. Weak plants don't have deep roots. Shallow rooted plants die when it gets dry." Peterson wants to maximize the days of photosynthesization to promote carb reserves and deep roots. This increases soil carbon, roots stay in moisture longer and pull up more nutrients. Peterson said soil carbon is important because it holds water. Humus holds up to six times its own weight in water. Organic matter is important to Peterson because of the sandy ground on his ranch. "Our ground is not just sandy. It is sand," Peterson said. "These are sandy sub-irrigated soils, but, basically, it is sand. On some of this lower ground where I have been doing this the longest, I have organic matter ranging from 5 to 9.6 percent." Peterson said another benefit of frequent moves is that the nutrient cycle is instantaneous. Everything is recycled in a 24-hour period. "It is not like putting up a bale of hay and the nutrients are tied up in that hay for a long time," Peterson said. "All that manure is deposited right back on the same ground in less than 24 hours. All of the microbes start working right away." Another benefit of high density rotational grazing is excellent manure distribution. Because you are moving frequently, you are moving ahead of the fly and parasite cycle. "By the time the flies hatch in the manure, your herd is away from that area," Peterson said. One of Peterson's goals is to impact every plant in a paddock. Every plant needs to be eaten or trampled. By putting that many cattle in a small paddock, that is not usually a problem. Peterson calls it "scorched earth." "They don't break the sod, but it is major devastation," Peterson said. "You can't step out there without stepping in manure, but it is broken up and evenly spread." The concept is to mimic nature's migrating herds, Peterson said. He does not know how dense the buffalo herd were, but Louis and Clark talked about the tilled earth left after the herds went through an area. "I think the herds were much, much larger than everyone estimates," Peterson said. The Peterson Ranch is known nationally as a buffalo ranch and it still is. Peterson said as far as he knows, it is the oldest private buffalo ranch in the country. His great-grandfather brought buffalo to the ranch in 1937. "I don't do as intensive a grazing system with the buffalo," Peterson said. "They don't accept that kind of pressure. They are really athletic and smart and will jump over a wire or toss another animal through the wire to get into a new paddock." Most people might think that moving cattle up to seven times a day is the biggest disadvantage to this system, but Peterson said that is not a problem. "This is not a high labor system," Peterson said. "One person can run a mob by himself, easily. I will manage two mobs by myself this summer. Most people hay all summer; we just move cows all summer." The drawback is that it does not stop. Peterson compared it to running a dairy farm. Once you start, you can't just shut down and take a week off in the middle of the grazing season. It is low labor, but continual labor. There is a long list of advantages, but Peterson said more days of recovery for his grass is the biggest. "I am growing so much more grass every year," Peterson said. "Recovery time is the biggest advantage." The Peterson Ranch is in tall grass country with a mix of big bluestem, switch grass and Indian grass. There are a lot of introduced cool season grasses in the low ground, mostly timothy and clovers. "Grazing experts call Indian grass a decreaser," Peterson said. "It is probably your most fragile native warm season grass and the first to disappear. It is the first to decrease, but we see it increasing." All cattle tend to bunch up, even in a continuous grazing system. The difference between bunched cattle in a continuous grazing system and Peterson's high density rotational system is that those cattle are on the same spot every day fighting flies and not eating. "Mine are moving, eating and staying ahead of the flies," Peterson said.
Doug Rich can be reached by phone at 785-749-5304 or by e-mail at richhpj@aol.com.
4/21/08 Date: 4/17/08
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