Land Stewardship Project

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Grazing

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A functioning ecosystem isn’t complete without animals to help close the nutrient loop. One key way farmers are building soil organic matter, cycling nutrients, and adding economic value to their farmland is by integrating ruminant livestock — beef cattle, dairy cattle, sheep, and goats — into a well-managed grazing system. Simply turning animals out onto open pastures and allowing them to roam creates its own problems. Farmers raising livestock as a soil- and profit-building tool are using managed rotational grazing of livestock. A managed rotational grazing system generally includes:

  • Being goal-oriented and flexible.
  • Using higher stock densities and moving livestock more frequently to graze and distribute fertility across the landscape evenly.
  • Relying on temporary fencing technology for frequent movement.
  • Increasing rest periods to allow for plant root system recovery.

Managed rotational grazing systems can go beyond sustainability — they can help to regenerate soil by sequestering carbon, supercharging biological activity, and building soil structure. Many farmers are using managed rotational grazing to increase productivity of perennial pastures and allow for multiple uses of annual cropland through grazing of cover crops and crop residue.Check out the resources on this page to learn more about managed rotational grazing and the ways farmers are implementing this tool.

 

2024 Driftless Grazing School June 28-29

Join the Land Stewardship Project June 28-29 for a two-day Grazing School in the rolling Driftless Region of southeastern Minnesota. This in-depth grazing school will be led by Jordan and Rachelle Meyer, plus a cohort of regional grazing leaders. Any grazier wanting to take their grazing skills to the next level should attend. Both beginning and seasoned farmers alike will benefit from the comprehensive, in-field experience that will be provided. Come prepared to network and ask questions. This event is limited to 70 people to allow for the best student-to- instructor ratio. For details and to register, click here.

2024 Pasture Walks

For a complete listing of 2024 LSP pasture walks, click here.

Soil Health Podcast Series

Check out LSP’s ongoing Ear Dirt podcast series for conversations on cover cropping, no-till, managed rotational grazing, fungi, and just about anything else that builds soil health.

Grazing Videos

Check out LSP’s series of videos featuring farmers and other experts talking about the role grazing and other regenerative practices can play in building healthy, profitable soil.

Got an Idea?

If you have an idea you’d like to have featured in a video, blog, podcast, or field day, contact us.

Grazing Fact Sheets

• Financial Analysis of Cow-Calf Grazing
• Grazing For Landowners: Livestock as a Tool for Land Management
• Managed Grazing: Soil Health & Profitability for Farmers With Livestock
• Farming with Well-Managed Grazing & Continuous Living Cover Enhances Soil Health & Addresses Climate Change

White Paper: Grazing, Continuous Living Cover, Climate Change & Water

In early 2020, LSP published a white paper showing that farming systems that integrate managed rotational grazing and continuous living cover can help us tackle the twin problems of climate change and water pollution. Check it out here.

Related Posts

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    February 2, 2023

    RED WING, Minn. — Improving your farm business takes rolling up your sleeves and getting to work — not just IN your business, but ON…

    News Releases
    adaptive managed grazing, business planning, Dave Pratt, financial, grazing, livestock, pasture-based livestock, Ranch Management Consultants, regenerative agriculture, soil health
    Workshop on ‘3 Secrets for Increasing Farm Profit’ March 23 in Red Wing
  • Ear to the Ground 274: From Dirt to Diversity

    How Scott and Amanda Holthaus are transforming corn-soybean ground into perennial pasture utilizing soil biology and the rotational grazing of diverse cover crops.
    More Information:
    • LSP…

    Ear to the Ground 274: From Dirt to Diversity
  • Ear to the Ground No. 291: Shovel Doesn’t Lie

    What Allen Williams unearthed on the farm of Rachelle and Jordan Meyer.
    More Information
    • LSP’s Soil Health web page
    • Land Stewardship Letter: A Season of Knowledge…

    Ear to the Ground No. 291: Shovel Doesn’t Lie

Soil Health Team

  • Alex Kaminski, 320-269-2105, e-mail
  • Robin Moore, 612-767-9480, e-mail
  • Shea-Lynn Ramthun, e-mail
  • Alex Romano, 612-767-9880, e-mail
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Upcoming Events

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May 2025

Thursday May 29

9:00 am – 12:30 pm
Storytelling for Sales: Digital Marketing for Sustainable Farmers
Thursday May 29
9:00 am – 12:30 pm
Storytelling for Sales: Digital Marketing for Sustainable Farmers
Zoom Online

Storytelling for Sales: Digital Marketing Best Practices to Get Your Farm’s Next Customer is designed to help farmers grow their customer base by sharpening their storytelling and digital marketing skills—whether they’re selling through farmers’ markets, CSAs, or direct-to-retail. This Greener Pastures and Meet the Minnesota Makers workshop will cover how websites and social media can actually convert viewers into buyers to creating content that builds community loyalty.

This workshop is also designed for ag educators, professionals, and partner organizational staff who support farmers directly and want to be well-versed on the marketing best practices to support direct-to-consumer farms. 

For details and to register, click here.

Saturday May 31

10:00 am – 12:30 pm
Multi-species Pasture Walk
Saturday May 31
10:00 am – 12:30 pm
Multi-species Pasture Walk
872 320th Ave, Frederic, WI 54837, USA

The NW Wisconsin Graziers Network, River Country RC&Dand UW-Madison Extension invite you to a multi-species pasture walk hosted by JohnsonFamily Pastures LLC. The farm is located five miles east of Frederic in PolkCounty. This educational event willemphasize direct marketing, multi-species grazing, part-time family agricultureand silvopasture development. Light snacks and refreshments will be provided.

TheJohnson Family Pastures farm is home to Chris and Tamara Johnson and their twochildren. They raise grass-fed beef, silvopastured goats, and recently raised anumber of other species. The farm consists of about 160 acres of gently rollingpastures, silvopasture, and forest. Use of both temporary polybraid fencing andhigh tensile permanent fences allow for rotational grazing of small ruminants andout-wintering of beef cattle. Use of long-term farm transition strategies, cost-shareprograms, silvopasture development with goats, regenerative grazing, cattlehandling facility and bale grazing will be discussed along with answering anyand all questions from pasture walk participants.

An extensive and diversified direct marketing programhas been developed by Tamara and Chris that has included farmer markets, e-maillists, newsletters, website ordering, on-farm freezer storage, and other strategiesand tools to support direct sales and services for their customers.  Come and learn all about their successfulapproach.

For more information,contact Chris Johnson at 920-960-4475 or Lynn Johnson 715-225-9882 at NW Graziers.

June 2025

Wednesday June 25

2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
LSP-PFI Grazing Field Day at Hoosier Ridge Ranch
Wednesday June 25
2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
LSP-PFI Grazing Field Day at Hoosier Ridge Ranch
Hoosier Ridge Ranch, 15998 Wabasha County Rd 26, Altura, MN 55910, USA

Over the last 50 years, livestock have left many farms. Eric Heins is doing the reverse: bringing cattle – and their poop, pee and hooves – back to his land. Come see how Eric is using his Normande-shorthorn crosses in a variety of grazing situations. During this Land Stewardship Project-Practical Farmers of Iowa field day, you can view permanent pasture, where Eric (like everyone) is battling the cool-season grass takeover. You’ll also learn how Eric is using his cattle in cover crop mixes, prairie and woodlands.

Since purchasing the farm in 2020, Eric has converted the cropland to pasture. He also custom-farms a diverse rotation of crops, covers and small grains on neighboring farms, including an established prairie on Iowa Department of Natural Resources land. A possible bonus: Eric is hoping to have virtual fence collars by the time of the field day, but no guarantees!

A meal featuring Hoosier Ridge Ranch burgers will follow the field day.

See & Discuss

  • Cash-flowing the conversion to pasture on owned versus rented cropland
  • Stockpiling pasture for winter grazing
  • Mechanical buckthorn clearing for silvopasture
  • Grazing agreements on DNR prairie and neighboring cropland
  • A sudangrass mix after a canning pea crop
  • An extended rotation with oats, barley and Kernza

For details and to register, click here.

Saturday June 28

4:00 pm – 8:00 pm
LSP's Boots & Roots: A Celebration of Land & People
Saturday June 28
4:00 pm – 8:00 pm
LSP's Boots & Roots: A Celebration of Land & People
Dream Acres, Co Hwy 8, Spring Valley, MN 55975, USA

Join Land Stewardship Project members and supporters to kick-start the Driftless summer with an evening of good food, good music, and good times. We’ll have activities for all ages that will get you out in nature, exploring the connection between our region’s farms and your community’s food, land, and water. Bring a side or dessert to share for dinner, and the Dream Acres wood-fired oven will provide locally-sourced pizzas and flat breads. Dinner will be followed by live music and contra dancing by the Crater City String Band.  

To reserve a spot, click here.

Camping sites are available at nearby Masonic Park and Forestville Mystery Cave and Lake Louise State Parks. Camping at Masonic is rustic,first-come-first-serve, free, and does not require a reservation. Fillmore County, who manages the park, only asks that you call the dispatchers at507-765-3874 when you arrive with your vehicle information and phone number in case of emergency. State Park reservations cost $25 a night and can be made online.

July 2025

Tuesday July 15

5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Organic Fruit & Vegetable Field Day
Tuesday July 15
5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Organic Fruit & Vegetable Field Day
1805 Dudley Ave, Falcon Heights, MN 55113, USA

Join U of M researchers and Extension for updates on organic fruit and vegetable research and tour the Student Organic Farm and the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station in Saint Paul. Topics include: organic insect management, integrating livestock into vegetable farms, new crops for Minnesota, irrigation strategies, and more. Free to the public.
 
For details and to register, click here.

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