Rotational grazing is more than just a buzzword.
The practice of moving cattle and letting pastureland rest has a myriad of benefits to productivity, profitability, sustainability and legacy for America’s grazing lands.
To reap the most benefits from rotational grazing, farmers and ranchers can utilize written grazing management plans that allow them to track their success year-over-year, pulling in data they can use to make better decisions in the future.
With those benefits in mind, U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef has established an ambitious goal of putting 385 million U.S. grazing lands acres under written management plans by 2050.
Anecdotally, USRSB leadership, which is made up of farmers, ranchers and value chain officials, knew that grazing management practices were as diverse as the lands and ranchers they represented. Common practices for managing grazing can range from plans that exist in an operator’s mind to pen/paper tracking and even to sophisticated software or web-based platforms.
In the previous article in this series, we heard from two generational ranches that have historically had different approaches to grazing management and planning.
In that piece, Suzanne Schuchart of Running V Ranch in Texas says, “I didn’t have a visual grazing chart or plan because I just knew my rotation in my mind.”
Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado countered, “Writing down the plan helps you remember it and gets everyone engaged with it.”
In order to more fully understand that diversity in planning, USRSB turned to data.
The Study
Recently, USRSB tapped the expertise of Trust In Food, Farm Journal’s social purpose initiative, to fully understand both where the industry stood toward its goal and to comprehend the unique barriers that stand between ranchers and the adoption of written grazing management plans.
“We have an incredible opportunity ahead of us to work with farmers and ranchers across the U.S. to put their plans to paper and support efforts for them to optimize their management strategies and build resilience in not only their businesses but in the land they manage and in their communities,” says Samantha Werth, PhD, executive director of USRSB. “Ultimately, reaching our goal of 385 million acres under written grazing management plans supports industry-wide commitment to continuous improvement while also helping to build a more resilient beef supply chain.”
The study, which pulled from quantitative and qualitative data gathered from ranchers across the U.S., dug into findings around:
- Grazing management plan goals and sentiments
- Approaches to planning
- Current acreages managed under best practices
- Potential value chain actions that would support more rapid transition to written plan
The collaborative has released the study findings in a public report titled, “State of Grazing Management,” which provides a tool for quantifying the positive progress that beef cattle ranchers are making so that a pathway will emerge for ensuring sustainability in the beef value chain through securing economic and environmental value simultaneously.
The Findings
The study found that ranchers who report managing their resources under a written grazing management plan overwhelmingly capture their entire acreage within the plan and utilize it in making operational decisions on their farms that ensure productivity and profitability. Additional key findings from the report include:
- USRSB’s goal of 385 million acres under written grazing management plans is 11% fulfilled.
The study found that 44 million acres would qualify now as managing under a written grazing management plan, representing 10% of all U.S. ranchers and 11% of USRSB’s target acreage.
- Grazing management is currently diverse.
372 million acres (40% of U.S. ranchers) are managed under grazing management plans that are undocumented. 66% of written grazing management plans utilize pen/paper and only a fraction (7%) use a farm management software or app to track grazing management.
- Stewardship drives the need and desire for grazing planning.
Ranchers who regularly face natural resource stress are more likely to have a grazing management plan than ranchers who are less likely to face similar stressors, indicating that they are using GMP to steward resources for their land. Additionally, 60% report that having a plan is the “right thing to do” for overall land and legacy stewardship. Conversely, very few respondents had a plan because it was a requirement or a condition of lease agreements, indicating that requirements may not be a significant driver.
- Producers without a formal, written plan are more diversified.
This group is less focused on cattle as core revenue drivers, may be structured around row crops or a more diversified income, are less comfortable with technology and less proactive in running their livestock operations and are less motivated by resource management.
“Interestingly, this report uncovered that ranches managed under a written grazing management plan are more likely to also have succession plans in place, which gives us some insights into the generational resilience of the beef supply chain as a whole and indicates that a leading indicator of change overall could possibly be written plans,” says Amy Skoczlas Cole, president, Trust In Food. “This is critical information as our industry faces a widening gulf between farm and table and also a tipping point for generational transfer of working lands.”
The free report, along with its methodology and further insights, is available online.
This article is part of an ongoing State of Grazing Management series brought to you by Trust In Food and U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef. You can learn more by visiting www.trustinfood.com or www.usrsb.org.
Your Next Read: State of Grazing Management: To Plan or Not to Plan
