Livestock Management
Why You Can’t Have Beef Sustainability without Grazing Management
Land health is the singular thing that allows the beef industry to subsist. By Bryan Weech, in BEEF Magazine
S
ustainable beef has been defi ned as beef that is produced in such a way that is environmentally
sound, fi nancially viable and socially responsible (see
grsbeef.org). Nowhere in the beef value chain do these factors come together to affect sustainability as much as it does with grazing. With few exceptions, grazing is the singular com-
mon practice participated in by every animal in the beef value chain. Given the impacts, both positive and negative, across the range of sustainability issues (Table 1), every participant in the beef value chain, from the smallest producer to the largest retailer, should be keenly aware how vital it is that the beef industry is a good steward of the land. Adaptive Planned Grazing (APG) Management is
the key to better environmental stewardship. APG is an approach to management that considers the needs of the forages, including a plant’s response to graz- ing, and soil health that is infl uenced by the nutrient (carbon and nitrogen primarily) and water cycles, and the importance of monitoring responses and to adapt and change management as needed. APG dictates that a pasture is grazed when the for-
ages in that pasture are prepared to endure the stress of grazing, and then the plants are allowed adequate rest after grazing to recover fully before being grazed again. APG monitors progress to ensure the grazing plan is having the intended result, and when things aren’t going as planned, changes are made to ensure success. The saying “you manage what you measure”
66 The Cattleman January 2017
applies nowhere better then to grazing management. The single greatest thing the beef industry can do to
increase sustainability is to improve grazing manage- ment. From the smallest farmer grazing a handful of cows to the largest ranch grazing thousands of cattle, the beef industry will be no more sustainable than the collective average health of the land that supports it. Land health is the singular thing that allows the beef industry to subsist. When beef value chain participants who support beef sustainability efforts realize this and focus resources on such things as supporting grazing schools, range schools, ranching practicums that teach grazing management and monitoring, grassland and grazing coalitions, etc., the sustainability of the beef industry as a whole will increase tremendously, at a much quicker pace than otherwise possible. The entire industry should have land stewardship
(grazing) as a key focal area if they want to infl uence continuous improvement of beef sustainability — from
thecattlemanmagazine.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116