There is an excellent book titled management intensive grazing by jim gerrish. Many of you have implemented some form of intensive grazing management intensive grazing mig, rotational grazing, mob grazing or. Sound grazing management includes four basic factors. Management intensive grazing kerr center the kerr center for. Rotational grazing systems provide producers with the ability to match available forage to daily livestock forage demand, resulting in increased productivity and the maintenance of resilient pastures.
Objectives include measurement of animal performance, pasture productivity and quality, species composition of the plant community, impact of grazing treatments on the soil bulk density and. Management of intensive livestock grazing pastures. This approach to farming is called management intensive grazing mig, and at rock creek farm, a fiftyacre plot at the kerr center for sustainable agriculture, a mig system was put in place during the summer of 2012. Animals are used as tools to influence change or to maintain diversity for the. The quiz includes questions on both the video and the 6 presentations.
In managementintensive grazing, the grassroots of grass farming, he uses vivid. But native plant communities are not always the most productive under intensive livestock grazing. Rotational grazing is therefore a clearly indicated method of pasture management. Management intensive grazingthe grass roots of grass farmingby jim gerrishthe person who coined the phrase management intensive grazing, jim gerris. The person who coined the phrase managementintensive grazing, jim gerrish. Some producers have commented on liking a narrative style. This approach to farming is called managementintensive grazing mig, and at rock creek farm, a fiftyacre plot at the kerr center for sustainable agriculture, a mig system was put in place during the summer of 2012. Management intensive grazing is a goaldriven approach to foragelivestock management. Check out the new look and enjoy easier access to your favorite features.
In improved pastures and managementintensive grazing situations, interseeding with nitrogenfixing legumes, and managing pastures to maintain that diversity of. Management intensive grazing this is a report on the kerr centers experience with management intensive grazing mig. Management and economic implications of intensive grazing. The animals are merely harvesters, like lawnmowers. Daily intake of forage and supplemental feed is more efficiently rationed. Intensive grazing is actually an old management practice. Management and economic implications of intensive grazing on dairy farms in the northeastern states w. The book is suitable for advanced students and research workers concerned with plant science especially grasslands, animal science especially ruminants, and natural and.
N2 intensive grazing management igm represents a new approach for managing the range and animal resources of the ranch firm in order to maximize profitability and maintain and improve the range. These factors will be the basis of a total system approach. Oct 14, 2015 jim gerrish discusses how implementing the correct grazing system and properly managing solar energy, water and soil nutrients are the keys to effective grazing management. Although milk yields are often lower in rotational systems, net farm income per cow is often greater as compared to confinement operations. Apr 02, 2019 management intensive grazing mig is a system of grazing where the management is intensive, but the grazing is not.
This does not imply that proper grazing is destructive. Historically, these rangelands experienced prolonged rest periods that allowed the vegetation to fully recover and grow. This is a report on the kerr centers experience with management intensive grazing mig. Management intensive grazing hoof hearted farm llc.
Introduction to grazing management global rangelands. Managementintensive grazing by jim gerrish, 9780972159708, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. Ranchers sing the praises of mob grazing of cattle beef. Using vivid images and detailed explanations, jim gerrish takes graziers stepby step through the mig system. Some native plant communities evolved over thousands of years with grazing use by native animals. Controlled grazing also known as rotational or management intensive grazing is the process of moving a herd of livestock from one pasture to.
Keeping in mind that for every 1,100 pounds of mature horseflesh you will need to have two acres of pasture, you can do he math and subdivide your pasture with fencing and rotate the animals ever two to three weeks to permit the healthy and desirable plants to re. In improved pastures and management intensive grazing situations, interseeding with nitrogenfixing legumes, and managing pastures to maintain that diversity of plants can improve both productivity and soil health. Fencing systems for intensive grazing management the cattle. Its not intensive labor or intensive animal movement. Intensive grazing can be defined as applying better management practices to pasture so that cattle or sheep can obtain the majority of their warm month feed needs from grazing. Several factors have been identified as contributing to the resurgence in interest in pasturebased production systems. Grazing management is when you control the grazing habits of animals on pasture. Productivity of pastures in much of the upper midwest is limited to april through october, so promoting high quality forage production during the grazing season and for winter storage is critical to. Each paddock must provide all the needs of the livestock, such as food, water and sometimes shade and shelter. The higher the density, with shorter grazing periods, the more uniform the urinemanure distribution will be.
Grazing mig, putting the emphasis on management of the growth of the grass. It defines mig, explains and demonstrates how to calculate grazing period, rest period, and stock density, and summarizes two kerr center. Managementintensive grazing chelsea green publishing. Nomadic herdsmen practiced intensive grazing by moving livestock from one range to another or by following seasonal forage supplies. Does managementintensive grazing grow more, better quality. Typically, a sixinch residual was left after grazing. Animals are used as tools to influence change or to maintain diversity for the betterment of that ecosystem, and in order to use those. What is managementintensive grazing mig and what can it. These include more stable production during poor growing conditions especially drought, greater yield potential, higher quality forage available. The information here should be applicable to any hoosier grazier of any livestock species.
Getting started with intensive grazing province of manitoba. Using vivid images and detailed explanations, gerrish takes graziers step by step through the mig system. Managementintensive grazing 3 key findings mig thus far has primarily been applied under conditions where there is normally adequate growing season moisture i. Case studymig grazing beef,south central ohio 1202. Management intensive rotational grazing mirg the 25 cowcalf pairs from the continuous grazing treatment grazed a 1. The second example is a bullet type format but still contains most of the information needed to carry out the grazing plan without referring to a large amount of. Planning fencing systems for intensive grazing management l. Grazing animals need to be managed in order to accommodate desired results in terms of animal, plant, land and economic responses. Management intensive grazing mig is a system of grazing where the management is intensive, but the grazing is not. Intensive management promotes forage recovery after grazing and timing the grazing before the plant becomes too mature by adjusting the grazing and rest periods. Fencing systems for intensive grazing management 10 october 2009 making the most of your forage with rotational grazing, will allow stocking rates to be increased resulting in increased beef production per acre, write extension officers, l. Managementintensive grazing systems, of which there are many variations, can increase the yield of animal products per acre and, in most cases, net profit per farm.
The person who coined the phrase managementintensive grazing, jim gerrish, answers that question in the new book managementintensive grazing, the grassroots of grass farming. In agriculture, rotational grazing, as opposed to continuous grazing, describes many systems of pasturing, whereby livestock are moved to portions of the pasture, called paddocks, while the other portions rest. Chapters on the management of grazing systems cover both intensive and extensive systems including rangelands from all major agroecological zones of the world. T1 intensive grazing management in arid and semiarid regions. Case study managed intensive grazing mig beef cowcalf. Grazing management entails managing how grazing animals, forage plants, and soils interact to meet specific ecological and economic objectives.
Management intensive grazing systems, of which there are many variations, can increase the yield of animal products per acre and, in most cases, net profit per farm. Management cant happen unless there is a goal or objective. Dec 14, 2011 management intensive grazing is the process of moving animals to fresh pastures based on pasture condition. The ecology and management of grazing systems in searchworks. Most folks dont fully understand what the word intensive refers to when used with grazing. In management intensive grazing, the grassroots of grass farming, he uses vivid images and detailed explanations to take graziers stepbystep through the mig system. Hw missouri rancher greg judy spent 14 years using management intensive grazing mig on his ranch but four years ago he made the switch to mob or high stock density grazing.
The social implications of management intensive grazing. What is managementintensive grazing mig and what can it do. The person who coined the phrase management intensive grazing, jim gerrish, answers that question in the new book management intensive grazing, the grassroots of grass farming. Simply put, mig is a systems approach to keeping grazing animals of all kinds. To obtain a current version of this standard contact the natural resources conservation service or the nrcs web site. However, more intensive grazing was also correlated with higher debt loads and negative cash flows, suggesting they may have been the motivating factors to increase grazing intensity. Plan plant recovery times before you plan grazing times. Oct 01, 20 management intensive grazing mig is difficult to define because of its flexibility. Managementintensive rotational grazing is used by many farmers seeking to balance profitability, environmental stewardship, and quality of life. A few of these include rotational grazing, managed grazing, intensive grazing, rational grazing, controlled grazing, and rotational stocking. Gerrish coined the phrase managementintensive grazing mig, putting the. Management intensive rotational grazing will be emphasized because it offers a number of advantages over both continuous grazing and less intensive rotational systems. He has also served as a parttime consultant in managementintensive grazing, helping ranchers design and implement grazing systems that increased their stocking rates and net profits. Currently, dave and his wife, jenny, operate montana highland lamb, a 200ewe enterprise that markets over 50% of their grassbased natural lamb directly to the.
A successful grazing manager needs to know how plants grow and reproduce if he wants to understand how grazing animals affect plants by the amount of plant material removed, hoof action, and other. I have read jim gerrishs book over mig, and wanted to know what people that were currently doing it, thought about it. Understanding the intensive in intensive grazing unl beef. However, mig is a preferred description because it places emphasis on the management aspects of improved grazing systems. Extensive grazing systems for sheep management and. A method of utilizing the forage resource to maximize return, while maintaining long term productivity of the resource base aims at managing the soil, water, plants and animals together as a whole in a systems approach you the manager are in control of time and space. Setting up an intensive grazing system that works pasture. Written for those new to mig grazing, gerrishs insights and personal experience can help experienced graziers fine tune their grazing operations for added income. Grazing systems management is a combination of art and science. Also the stockman grassfarmer magazine focuses on mig.
Impact of stocking rate and grazing management system on. Gerrish coined the phrase managementintensive grazing mig, putting the emphasis on management of the growth of the grass. Grazing management, second edition integrates principles and management techniques that apply to all grazing lands and to all grazing animals. Management intensive grazing stockman grass farmer. Intensive grazing management in arid and semiarid regions. The approach often produces lower outputs than more intensive animal. Management intensive grazing is the process of moving animals to fresh pastures based on pasture condition. How to manage pastures using rotational or management.
Sometimes this requires livestock to be moved multiple times per day. Apr 19, 2010 management intensive rotational grazing is used by many farmers seeking to balance profitability, environmental stewardship, and quality of life. Managementintensive grazing by jim gerrish chelsea green. Managementintensive grazingthe grass roots of grass farmingby jim gerrishthe person. Judy says he made the switch because with the mig system he didnt feel. The optimum mig system provides the following major advantages. Ecosystems and the effects of grazing the 1st module includes a minidocumentary video to introduce the issues, followed by 6 narrated powerpoint presentations.
It is multiple moves per day and the highstock density that differentiate mob grazing from other management intensive grazing mig forms, he says. Mig takes into consideration not just the animals, but the whole system. Managementintensive grazing by jim gerrish american. It also refers to a nutrient management plan or cnmp for detailed spreading of winter accumulated manure for the livestock.
Managementintensive grazing mig is difficult to define because of its flexibility. Does managementintensive grazing grow more, better. This is due to the additional costs associated with herd health and purchased feeds are greatly reduced in management intensive rotational grazing systems. Management of intensive livestock grazing pastures, grazing.
He has also served as a parttime consultant in management intensive grazing, helping ranchers design and implement grazing systems that increased their stocking rates and net profits. Producer interest in management intensive grazing mig has increased steadily over the last decade throughout the us. In managementintensive grazing, the grassroots of grass farming, he uses vivid images and detailed explanations to take graziers stepbystep through the mig system. Where grazing rotations are normally planned on grazing periods, and planned forward in the sense that from a certain grazing division, or paddock, the animals will go to another and then another most commonly in a clockwise rotation this planning is very different. An essential feature of intensive grazing management consists of the rotation of cattle through numerous small paddocks, each with a water source, instead of. Management intensive grazing this approach emphasizes management rather than the system or its components. It starts with goals environmental, economic, and lifestyle and progresses to a grazing plan that takes your unique circumstances into account. Planning fencing systems for intensive grazing management. This research has compared continuous grazing to a flexible 12paddock managementintensive system across four stocking rates for each system. Managementintensive grazing in indiana ay328 4 getting started w elcome to managementintensive grazing. Some knowledge of range land nutrition, including toxicities and deficiencies common to the area, feed costs, labor problems, and markets, in addition to knowledge of sheep diseases, is very helpful when giving advice and providing preventive programs and management changes to. A practical guide to yeararound grazingby jim gerrish what. More intensive grazing showed a 3% drop in milk yields but a 9% increase in profit per cow, relative to less intensive grazing. Management intensive grazing the grassroots of grass farming.
Intensive grazing on irrigated pastures adapted from attras new publication, why intensive grazing on irrigated pastures. Managing a grazing system to reach its full potential should be the goal for all farms. I will still use much of the information in this book but also look at greg judy. What animals, how, when, and for how long they graze a pasture determines the species makeup of the pasture and its long term viability, how much forage it yields, and how well the animals perform. Controlled grazing also known as rotational or management intensive grazing is the process of moving a herd of livestock from one pasture to another and allowing each pasture a.
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