Animal rights activists have
long called into question the ethics of chicken houses, where thousands of
chickens are raised in cramped quarters in a less than ideal environment. They
say that Wren the Hen and Dicken the Chicken have the right to a higher quality
of life, and we are obligated to give it to them. There is a similar question
with beef. How should we balance the necessities of economic prosperity with a
desire to be humane to our cattle? It seems we have two choices: commercial
feedlot style or the rotational grazing approach. The problem with the former
is the poor living conditions the cattle are subjected to, and the problem with
the latter is the vast amount of land needed for it to be economically
feasible. Which ditch will we fall into?
The average number of cows per
acre of forage varies considerably. In some high-density areas of grass, you
can run one cow per one and a half acres, and in low density areas sometimes as
much as twenty acres are needed for only one cow. Land costs, whether you are a
landowner or are renting, quickly add up. Most businesses who own feedlots have
far too many cows for the land they own, and, if they wanted to switch to the more
ethical way of running cattle, would need to buy or rent so much land that it
simply makes the cost too great. Ranchers who currently use rotational grazing
are looking for better ways to run more cattle on the land they already own,
and in many places, need to find that better way so they can keep food on the
table. If only the cows would eat everything that grew in the fields, there
would be enough for even more cattle. Even a fairly small increase of cows per
acre can add up quickly to make a substantial monetary difference. Sadly
though, cows have a fine palate and prefer the choicest tufts of grass, leaving
the second-rate grass and weeds behind. Over time this causes the second-rate
forage to take over your field, leaving you with lower quality pastures.
What is a better way to run cows?
Mob grazing. With mob grazing, you can easily run one cow on one acre, and
sometimes get an even better ratio than that. Neil Dennis, a Canadian
mob-grazer for more than twenty years, says that this way of running cattle
actually enriches the land you are using, causing your grass to grow thicker
than ever, while also producing healthier cows, which makes for better beef.[1]
Beef production companies, both large and
small, should switch to mob grazing, an approach that balances ethical
considerations with the need for economic productivity.
The basic idea behind mob grazing
is to simulate life on the prairie: what worked for bison will work for cattle.
In the early days of America, the bison herds were quite large, numbering in
the thousands. When they moved into an area, what do you think happened to the
grass? Everything that wasn’t eaten was trampled underfoot. This was actually
good for the land, as the flattened greenery combined with the ample supply of
manure provided plenty of nutrition for the next round of growth. After the
bison were finished, they would leave and not return for weeks or months. This
gave the land plenty of time to recover and grow even more delicious grass.
How can we replicate this idea
into a strategy for beef production? Suppose we have sixty acres to work with,
and plenty of movable electric fencing. All we do is divide our land into sixty
one-acre sectors with our fencing, and we are just about done. Next, we move in
around sixty head of cattle and place them in the first sector. Since there are
so many cows in such a small area, a sense of competition is immediately
instilled in the animals, and they begin eating everything around them, not
just the choicest clumps. “Hey,” they’ll think, “I’m lucky to get any!” Once
that day has ended, most of the forage has been eaten, and the rest has been
trampled. At the beginning of the next day, you simply make an opening in the
fence to the next acre lot, and the cows rush into the new area, happy for
fresh forage. The acre they just left will be given an entire sixty days to
recover until the cows are once again brought in. By the time this happens, the
grass will be even thicker and better, just like the prairies. Another, often
over trivialized, benefit of this system is the even distribution of manure and
urine. Optimally, you want perfect distribution over your entire field, and
with mob grazing you get really close to this goal. Since the cows are spread
over such a small area trying to eat every blade of grass they can get, this
forces them to spend roughly equal time over the entire area; this gives you
more or less an equal distribution of manure. Here the attentive cattleman will
have an idea: “How about I put the same number of cows on four times as many
acres and let them sit there for four days instead of one? Then I won’t have to
move them every day!” Although this may sound like a good idea at first, Neil
Dennis says simply, “The answer is no.”[2]
Through experience he has found that this does not lead to good manure distribution,
and that you have to stick to moving them every day. Once you have been mob grazing
for a few years, you will see some great results: the land will be
significantly healthier, and able to support even more livestock.
If Mob grazing is so much
better, why don’t more people practice it? First off, large companies already
have a lot of money invested in their feedlots, and this drastic of a change
would involve a certain amount of loss. They would be affected not only by the
immediate costs of switching and the money that would then be wasted on their
current infrastructure, but also in the time it takes to reap the full benefits
of this system. Also, there is a certain economic loss for massive companies in
this approach. It is more hands-on, requiring more effort to effect properly,
and also, from a purely economic viewpoint, it simply will not provide as much
profit in the long run. However, money isn’t the whole picture. Mob grazing is
much more sustainable, both for you and your land. It also provides
dramatically better living conditions for your cattle and a much healthier
living space which makes them contract fewer diseases and live a healthier
life. This in turn makes for higher quality beef. Although the tradeoffs are
worth it, large companies are loath to switch, for they only look to their
pocketbooks.
Smaller outfits tend to stick to
their practices either because they have never heard of mob grazing, or are
doubtful that the practices described here would actually work. Every rancher
does have a different landscape to work with, so the particular way they tailor
this system to their specific situation will vary from place to place, but the
basic principles remain the same. For small scale ranchers, there are only gains
in switching to this practice.
Another common concern with mob grazing
is the issue of moving your cattle every single day. Anybody who has moved
cattle from one large pasture to another knows how much hassle it is, and those
who have seen movies with cattle drives can probably imagine the difficulty
too. This is not the case with mob grazing though. By the time morning rolls
around and you are ready to move them, the cows will have eaten all the grass
and will rush into the new section as soon as it is opened to them. Although
you will be moving cows every day, it will be much easier than your average
move. Yes, you will be spending more hands-on time on cattle than otherwise,
but as Randy Holmquist says, “Haying takes a lot of time too. With mob grazing,
the time you put in pays off.”[3]
If you run a large-scale
feedlot, consider switching to the mob grazing approach, as it will provide a
much-needed healthy environment for your livestock, which will in turn make for
less sicknesses and healthier cows. Healthier cows means higher quality beef.
If you are a smaller-scale non-feedlot rancher, you should definitely consider
incorporating mob-grazing into your operation. There are so many positive
benefits, from increased profits to more prosperous pastures. Mob grazing
provides the long sought-for middle ground between feedlots and rotational
grazing, balancing ethical standards with economic prosperity.
Bibliography
1. Practical Farmers of Iowa, Mob Grazing with Neil Dennis, Practical
Farmers of Iowa. http://practicalfarmers.org/blog/2012/12/18/mob-grazing-with-neil-dennis/,
accessed December 10th, 2016.
2. Gordon, Kindra, Mastering the Mob – Rapid Management of Mob Grazing, Progressive
Cattleman. http://www.progressivecattle.com/topics/range-pasture/3775-mob-grazing-dos-and-donts,
accessed December 9th, 2016.
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