Grass Productivity: Rational Grazing

Voisin's classic is still in great demand, nearly three-quarters of a century after it was first written and published.

The main point of it, that grass is more productive when shorn and given time to re-grow, is the core base of all the current popular works on rotational and "mob" grazing.

A regular re-study of Voison's work brings new understanding and simplicity to anyone's grazing operation.

The underlying basic to this work is that through managed grazing, the cows can be more productive and help the soil regenerate through the interaction of the cow and grass, very similar to how the vast roaming herds of grazing and browsing animals across the Western plains developed and maintained the prairies. The sheer size of these herds proved the land was capable of supporting massive tonnage of livestock through grazing – and following natural patterns.

That the same land a few decades later both developed a massive Dust Bowl, and then recovered from it – says a lot about our own human arrogance, and our ability to use humility ot learn from our mistakes.

First, we work make our farming more sustainable and pay its own way, then we encourage it to save our futures by restoring the land, and producing higher quality beef and forage than it has in centuries.

If we study and apply now...

Excerpt:

Since this book is almost exclusively concerned with grazing by cattle, I propose the following definition to the reader, requesting him to allow it to become well impressed upon his mind:
Grazing is the meeting of cow and grass.
It is a meeting of this nature, or at least the first steps towards such an end, that I want to attempt in this book.
We will not study the grass and the cow separately. We will always consider them simultaneously and together, in such a manner as best to satisfy the demands of each.
When we think of the cow, we will not forget the demands of the grass. When we examine the grass, we will always bear in mind the demands of the cow.
It is by satisfying as far as possible the demands of both parties that we will arrive at a rational grazing, which will provide us with maximum productivity on the part of the grass while at the same time allowing the cow to give optimum performance.

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This is the original text, which showed how what is known today as "rotational", "management intensive", or"mob grazing" can as much as triple the output of any given pasture - which means more than triple profits for a grass fed beef or dairy farmer. This text has been recovered from the original 1959 edition and republished for your use in a modern format - perfect for a digital reference library or a print-based one (or both!)

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