Grazing Systems
What is it?
Grazing systems are ranch grazing management strategies that balance the needs of livestock production with protecting upland, riparian, and stream habitats. The most common grazing systems are continuous, deferment, rest rotation, short (intensive) duration, and seasonal suitability. Grazing systems differ by accounting for plant growing seasons and life history needs, duration and timing of resting pastures, and intensity of grazing. Management strategies should be decided with the help of technical experts and should consider location in the watershed, climate, soils, topography, and present vegetation.
Conservation Benefits
- Protects upland, riparian, and stream habitats
- Reduces erosion from livestock on streambanks
- Reduces siltation in streams
What does it include?
Continuous (or Season-long) grazing: involves grazing all pastures for the entire growing season. This grazing strategy should be carefully implemented as it can cause overgrazing and damage grasses to the point of little regrowth.
Deferred rotational grazing : involves dividing the property into different pastures and periodically allowing selected pastures to rest on a seasonal rotation.
Rest rotational grazing : is similar to deffered rotational grazing, but allows for pastures to rest for a year instead of just seasonally
Rotational grazing : involves dividing the property into different pastures and periodically moving the livestock through each pasture to prevent overgrazing of one area. Timing and duration will be site specific
Short (intensive) grazing : is a rotational grazing strategy that divides the property into many small patures and allows for heavy grazing of each pasutre for a short duration before livestock are moved to the next pasture
Seasonal suitability grazing : involves planning grazing strategies around seasonal needs and availability of property vegetation
Grazing Systems Links
- A summary of livestock grazing systems used on ranagelands in the Western United States (The University of Arizona Cooperative Extension)
- Controlled grazing strategies (Ohio State University Extension)
- Four steps to rotational grazing (PennState Cooperative Extension)
- Grazing systems (Texas Section of the Society for Range Management)
- Grazing systems (Alabama Cooperative Extension)
- Grazing systems for profitable ranching (AgriLife Extension)
- Grazing management and livestock health (Iowa State University Extension)
- Grazing systems planning guide (University of Minnesota Extension Service and NRCS)
- Grazing systems and management for irrigated pastures in New Mexico (New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension Service)
- Intensively managed rotational grazing systems for irrigated pasture (California Cooperative Extension)
- Managing soils for greater grazing productivity (University of Minnesota Extension)
- Managed grazing systems and fencing for distribution of beef manure (MU Extension)
- Off stream watering with stream fencing and rotational grazing (p 18; Chesapeake Bay Program)
- Pastures for profit: a guide to rotational grazing (University of Wisconsin Extension)
- Planned grazing system (p 7-21; Nevada State Conservation Commission)
- Proper grazing use (p 7-25; Nevada State Conservation Commission)
- Rotaional grazing (ATTRA)
Grazing Systems Bibliography
- Armour et al. 1994. The effects of livestock grazing on western riparian and stream ecosystems. Fisheries 19: 9-12.
- Clary. 1999. Stream channel and vegetation responses to late spring cattle grazing. Journal of Range Management 52: 218-227.
- Platts. 1979. Livestock grazing and riparian/stream ecosystems - an overview. pp. 39-45
- Rinne. 1988. Grazing effects on stream habitat and fishes: research design considerations. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 8: 240-247.