The Positive Impacts of Intensive Rotational Grazing

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October 26, 2023

Are you curious about sustainable farming practices that not only benefit our environment but also result in healthier, happier cattle? Intensive rotational grazing is a remarkably simple technique that accomplishes just that. In this blog post, I'll share the positive impacts of intensive rotational grazing, shedding light on why it's a win-win for consumers, farmers, and our planet.

What Is Intensive Rotational Grazing?

Before we dive into the benefits, let's understand what intensive rotational grazing is. This method involves carefully managed grazing cycles where the cattle are quickly rotated through smaller sections of pasture, allowing the grazed areas time to recover. This rest period lets the grass regrow and thrive, ensuring a consistent supply of high-quality forage. Our rotational grazing here at DP involves, weekly, daily, or even twice daily rotations, depending on the time of year.

1. Healthier Cattle

Intensive rotational grazing translates to healthier and happier cattle. Here's how:

- Nutrient-Rich Forage: The rest periods allow grasses to grow taller and more nutritious. This means that cattle have access to better-quality forage, leading to improved nutrition and overall well-being.

- Reduced Disease Risk: Rotating often and grazing taller grasses means less exposure to parasites and disease vectors. We do not use antibiotics or other medications in our cattle production, but even if we were okay with that we wouldn't have a reason to; healthy, well-managed cattle have no need for veterinary intervention!

2. Enhanced Biodiversity

Intensive rotational grazing is not only about the cattle but also about fostering biodiversity in the pasture ecosystem. Here's how it contributes to a thriving natural environment:

- Diverse Plant Communities: Intensive grazing reduces competition and encourages a variety of plant species to coexist. This diversity attracts a wider range of insects, birds, and other wildlife, contributing to a healthier ecosystem, as well as a more balanced diet for the cattle grazing it.

- Soil Health: Healthy grasses with strong root systems help prevent soil erosion and compaction by giving providing structure and aeration. This, in turn, improves water infiltration and carbon sequestration, making the soil more resilient and sustainable through flood and drought.

- Integration of Poultry: Rotational grazing allows us to easily integrate pasture-raised poultry into our cattle program. The cattle graze the grass short enough for the poultry to browse, and the poultry clean up the bugs behind the cattle, keeping the pest population in balance.

3. Reduced Environmental Impact

Consumers are increasingly concerned about the environmental footprint of their food. Intensive rotational grazing addresses these concerns effectively:

- Carbon Sequestration: Taller grasses sequester more carbon in their roots and soil, making it a potent tool in combating climate change. Cattle grazing on this forage indirectly contribute to carbon capture and storage. FUN FACT: Healthy pasture can sequester more carbon than forested area. And with intensive rotational grazing, we speed up the process by grazing several times per year and allowing rest periods in between for regrowth.

- Water Quality: Managed grazing systems filter and purify water by retaining more water in the soil, and creating better filtration. This also reduces runoff, and minimizes the impact of livestock operations on nearby bodies of water.

- Better Long-Term Productivity: By managing pastures through intensive rotational grazing, we are promoting a healthier ecosystem that can support our cattle over the long term, ensuring sustained and even increasing productivity. We are able to support more cattle per acre on our farms than we could when we first stared years ago, all thanks to intensive rotational grazing.

How Can You Support Intensive Rotational Grazing?

As consumers, you have the power to encourage regenerative practices by supporting farmers who implement intensive rotational grazing. Many farmers selling "grass-fed" or "pasture-raised" meat and dairy products utilize intensive rotational grazing, but not all, so make sure to ask. These terms are loosely regulated in the US and are often hijacked by companies for marketing purposes. Know your farmer, know your food.

In conclusion, intensive rotational grazing is not just a buzzword; it's a practical and proven approach to farming that benefits us all. It results in healthier, happier cattle, supports biodiversity, and reduces environmental impact. By choosing products from farms that prioritize this method, you are not only enjoying better-quality food but also contributing to a more sustainable and ecologically responsible future.

All of the beef we raise and sell comes from rotationally-grazed cattle who were grass-fed and grass-finished, which means that they never received grain. In addition, our cattle have not been vaccinated or given any medications.

CLICK HERE to order grass-fed beef that you can eat with confidence.

Your farmer,

Remi Kesten

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Why I Choose Grass-Fed & Finished Beef (by Tracey Long, MPH, RDN)

Hey guys, Remi here! This is a post from Tracey Long's blog that she gave me permission to share here. She works in integrative and functional nutrition at Big Picture Health. Tracey has seen many people's lives changed through their bettered understanding of food, including her own. Enjoy this article, and feel free to reach out to her if you are looking for guidance in your healing journey. Pictured on left: Cows raised on pasture by the Bauman Family near Garnett, KS.Pictured on right: Cows started on grass, but finished on grain/soy at a feedlot. 1. I believe in supporting local food, small family farmers and the economy. The average miles our food travels to reach our dinner plates is about 1,500 miles1. When we eat local we conserve fuel, keep our food dollars local and can have a personal connection to the farmer and how our food is raised. I subscribe to the mantra, know your farmer, know your food. Know your farmer, know your food 2. Cows are biologically meant to eat grass and pasture, not grains like corn or legumes like soy. When you feed an animal the food that it is biologically set up for it will be healthier. Cows are four-legged ungulates best adapted to graze on forage. The digestive system of cows, the four stomachs they have that we learned about in basic biology, are meant to ferment forage. Grains like corn and legumes like soy are used as high energy-dense food alternative for cows to put weight on them quickly for faster processing. This diet that is not congruent with the cow’s biology does work to speed up the process from start to finish, but can actually compromise the animal’s health. A review article by Calloway et al2 found that cows fed a diet high in grain had higher levels of the food-borne pathogen E. coli. When the diet was changed back to forage the E. coli levels were lowered within five days. A research study by Khafipour et al3 found that cows fed a diet based on grain became acidotic, and had high levels of lipopolysaccharides (LPS) that triggered inflammation and health problems in the cattle such as liver disease. These are two scientific examples of how grain can be unhealthy for cows. 3. Grazing cattle from start to finish is better for the environment and planet. You may be interested in reading the book by Judith Schwartz, “Cows Save the Planet.”4 Judith discusses how raising cows on pasture returns moisture and nutrients to the soil and, therefore; our food. Cattle feedlots are also a significant source of environmental pollutants such as antibiotics that affect downstream aquatic life and hormones that end up in the drinking water supply as additional examples.5,6 Feedlots use antibiotics and hormones to encourage rapid and increased growth and require antibiotics to suppress illness due to the confined living space and large buildup of fecal matter. Pastured cows arguably have less negative impact and even reported positive impacts on the environment. 4. I believe in respecting and honoring the animals I eat. As humans we have the capacity to treat animals poorly for our benefit (food) or treat them in a thankful manner for the nourishment they provide us. Joel Salatin, a well-known sustainable farmer in Swope, Virginia, said in a magazine interview, “Our first responsibility is to try to figure out what kind of a habitat allows them (cows) to fully express their physiological distinctiveness. The cow doesn’t eat corn; she doesn’t eat dead cows; she doesn’t eat cow manure, which is what is currently being fed to cows in the industrial food system. We feed cows grass, and that honors and respects the cow-ness of the cow.7” Joel Salatin 5. Pasture raised and finished beef has a healthier fatty acid profile than conventional beef. The standard American diet is high in omega 6 fatty acids relative to omega 3 fatty acids. The problem is that omega 6 fatty acids, when out of balance with omega 3’s are highly inflammatory to the human body. Inflammation is now known to be the root of many chronic diseases. The good news is that the fatty acid composition of grass fed and finished beef is higher in the beneficial and anti-inflammatory omega 3 fatty acids than grain-fed beef. A study by MacAfee et al found that people who ate grass-fed meat had higher levels of the anti-inflammatory omega 3’s when their blood was tested for this healthy fat.8 David (founder) and Reeves Kesten at the Brookside Farmers Market, 2017 Meet David and his [second] son Reeves, of David’s Pasture, from Concordia, MO. I am grateful for the opportunity to purchase quality meat, pork, poultry and eggs from a farming family like Dave’s. Dave’s cattle are raised on pasture and get to express their, “cow-ness,” as Joel Salatin would say. Dave shared with me that he even feeds his cattle organic apple cider vinegar to improve their gut health and does not use hormones or antibiotics. His cattle fertilize the land they forage on and he rotates their grazing to promote healthy soil. Yes, I pay more for the products I buy from Dave than I would pay at the local grocery store, but for the reasons I listed above I know the price is worth it!Original post by Tracey Long, MPH, RDN at Big Picture Health. Specializing in integrative and functional nutrition. Re-posted here by Remington Kesten, David's Pasture. Grass-fed & finished Beef delivered to your door.

The Positive Impacts of Intensive Rotational Grazing

What Is Intensive Rotational Grazing?

1. Healthier Cattle

2. Enhanced Biodiversity

3. Reduced Environmental Impact

How Can You Support Intensive Rotational Grazing?

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