{"id":331,"date":"2019-07-04T22:25:09","date_gmt":"2019-07-05T02:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=331"},"modified":"2022-04-14T17:56:35","modified_gmt":"2022-04-14T21:56:35","slug":"rotational-grazing-management-intensive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/rotational-grazing-management-intensive\/","title":{"rendered":"Rotational Grazing: Why It’s So Good"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is rotational grazing, or management intensive grazing? How is it used in responsible farming to produce healthy foods, responsibly? Learn what rotational grazing produces, and how to put it into practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Output of Rotational Grazing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The foundation of the grass-fed farm\u2019s food chain is grass of various types<\/strong>, in the way corn is the foundation of the industrial food chain<\/a> starting on an Iowa farm. Animals and crops are rotated through the various pastures and benefit in a symbiotic way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pastures are grazed twice by beef cattle, followed by hens that eat bugs in the manure and spread the manure around (acting as a cleanup crew). Chickens also add their own fertilizer (nitrogen). Finally the pastures are cut for hay. 
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By the end of a season, the grass has produced 25,000 pounds of beef, 50,000 pounds of pork, 12,000 broilers, 800 turkeys, 500 rabbits, and 30,000 dozen eggs.
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The pasture is not degraded in the process; it is improved, becoming lusher, more diverse, and more fertile, with more earthworms. The process shows that farming in accordance with nature is not a zero sum proposition in which humans benefit but nature is diminished. 
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Organic Rotational Grazing Principles<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Animals eat grass and we eat the animals. The Old Testament describes the connection this way: \u201cAll flesh is grass.\u201d But the industrial food chain overlooks or eliminates grass <\/strong>as a component.
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The human connection<\/a> with grass began with our ancestors. They encouraged the growth of grass to attract and fatten animals. They set fire to it periodically to prevent trees and shrubs from taking over, and to improve the soil. This helped the grass, which then helped the animals and the humans.
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Annual grasses (corn, wheat, rice) developed, which humans could eat, and we eventually put all our energy into growing and harvesting them. Our appreciation for the polyculture of grass waned.
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At Polyface Farm, grass of many types \u2014 bluegrass, timothy, fescue, clover \u2014 underlies the farm\u2019s success. It\u2019s supported by soil teeming with fungi, bacteria, insects, earthworms, and voles. (Healthy soil digests decomposed matter.) 
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The grass must be managed effectively, which requires local knowledge<\/strong> and action, as opposed to the one-size-fits-all approach of industrial farming<\/a> using machines and chemicals for greatest efficiency.
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Salatin practices \u201cmanagement intensive grazing<\/strong>,\u201d which involves rotating animals through different pastures at various intervals. This requires using portable fencing and moving animals every day, as well as understanding how grass grows and responds to rotational grazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n