Is Holistic Planned Grazing Relevant to You?

Developed by ecologist Allan Savory to heal particular grassland environments, holistic planned grazing is a method of raising livestock that improves the health of the landscape instead of depleting it. To achieve this, holistic managers graze their animals in patterns that mimic the behaviour of wild herd animals. These patterns, which are characterized by densely packed groups of animals moving constantly, leave grasslands better fertilized, better able to absorb water, and better able to grow back quickly.

Farmers who practice this kind of management pack their livestock together much more densely than conventional farmers, but they also shift them onto new grass much more frequently. A common, economical way to do this is with easily-moved electric fencing.

I first learned about holistic planned grazing from The Soil Will Save Us: How Scientists, Farmers, and Foodies Are Healing the Soil to Save the Planet by Kristin Ohlson. As the subtitle suggests, the book introduces readers to scientists and farmers around the world who have found ways to rethink conventional practices and achieve economic results by focusing first and foremost on the health of their soil—specifically, on the amount of carbon, or fertility, in their soil.

And while healing the earth and sequestering carbon are admirable aims on their own, the farmers are not sacrificing their economic interests for a noble cause. The whole system is a practical, sustainable method for producing healthy livestock. 

Having struggled with despair since the age of twelve over climate change (which was then barely talked about) and worsening environmental disasters, I found that Ohlson’s book was a turning point for me. I was electrified by the idea that solutions are in our grasp—and under our feet. I have devoured books and media on soil science ever since.

After my initial excitement, I realized Savory’s technique wasn’t designed for my temperate-climate home. However, understanding the science of Savory’s system has revolutionized the way I think about livestock farming and how it interacts with the land. Others have felt the same, and farmers and ranchers in regions like mine use some aspects of it to great effect.

Why does Holistic Planned Grazing Work?

The central tenet of holistic grazing is that soil depletion and desertification are caused not by the number of animals that graze a landscape, but by the amount of time the animals spend in one place. This was first asserted by French biochemist and farmer André Voisin, who lectured on grazing practices in the 1950s and 1960s. Voisin’s work heavily influenced Allan Savory, who pioneered holistic planned grazing after studying desertification in his home region of southern Africa.

Before Voisin and Savory’s research, it was universally accepted that grazing animals were responsible for desertification. Yet the earth has historically hosted vast herds of grazing animals on every grassland. What is more, Savory and his colleagues discovered that desertification increased when the number of elephants in the region they were studying was depleted. (Tragically, it was Savory’s own early judgment that led to this cull—a mistake he continues to grieve for) 

Savory’s breakthrough in understanding the matter came when he realized that the behaviour of wild animals is different than that of animals that are being managed by humans. In the wild, without a shepherd or ranger to defend them from predators, herd animals stick close together for protection. This leads to several important results:

1. In the area covered by the dense herd, thousands of footsteps create dimples in the earth. These catch and hold rainwater, which means more water has a chance to soak into the soil instead of running downhill or evaporating.
2. The animals step in and spread each other’s manure, which nourishes soil life forms and creates more fertile ground.
3. Since the animals are, naturally, not keen to eat each other’s waste, the herd moves constantly toward fresh grass. This means that the grass is never eaten past the point where it can easily regenerate itself.
4. The grass that is not eaten is trampled down. In landscapes that experience dry seasons (called “brittle” landscapes), this is extremely important. In those places, decomposition and nutrient recycling of dead grasses can only happen when plants are forced into contact with the soil. 

How do Farmers Use Holistic Planned Grazing?

Allan Savory encourages farmers to revise the way they think about agriculture to one simple aim: “creating a landscape and harvesting sunlight.” Harvesting sunlight means growing grass, which converts the sun to calories, which are consumed by livestock. The production of sunlight-consuming plants is paramount, so decision-making focuses on the long-term health of the landscape. Every other goal of generating products for market becomes a side-effect of that central aim. 

To begin implementing this methodology, farmers create a map of their land and divide it into sections. The divisions between the sections might be permanent, or they might be made as needed by temporary electrical fencing, or more probably a combination of the two. The farmers consider what their goals for the landscape are—these might be creating sustainable pastures; preparing future cropland, managed woodland, or a healthy wild space; or stabilizing the banks of a watercourse, among others.

Taking into account many factors including the condition of their land, the availability of forage, the amount of time the forage will require to recover after being grazed, and the changing of the seasons, the farmer then creates a chart to plan the movement of the animals. 

To maximize the results of holistic grazing, most farmers will run a single large herd so that only one section of their land is being grazed at any one time. This allows for the longest possible recovery times. They also keep them much closer to each other than in conventional grazing practices, which permits the benefits to the soil described above. They avoid returning their animals to pastures that have not yet recovered from being grazed or from a seasonal dormancy. Most importantly, they time the movement of their animals based on the recovery needs of their particular forage.

Common Misconceptions

Here are a few commonly confused points to keep in mind about holistic planned grazing:

• It was designed to prevent and reverse desertification in brittle environments (places that have humid seasons and dry seasons). In the third of the earth that has humidity year-round, it is still useful for managing landscapes; however, livestock grazing does not create deserts in such environments. 
• The phrase “mob grazing” is commonly conflated with holistic planned grazing, but Savory himself does not accept it as an equivalent since it lacks the careful planning needed for brittle environments. It’s still a great practice in the regions where it’s suitable.
• Rotational grazing, rational grazing, and any number of other systems are likewise not the same as holistic grazing, though any system that moves tightly-bunched animals in organized ways is probably sufficient for a humid environment.

Where to Learn More

For more reading on holistic grazing, you can get it straight from the original source on Allan Savory’s blog: https://www.savory.global/what-does-properly-managed-livestock-mean/

If you are interested in further reading on how to use animals to restore ecosystems, here are some of the books I devoured after reading The Soil Will Save Us twice in a row:

• Cows Save the Planet: And Other Improbable Ways of Restoring Soil to Heal the Earth by Judith D. Schwartz—a very accessible read about soil science written for non-scientists
• Gaining Ground: A Story of Farmer’s Markets, Local Food, and Saving the Family Farm by Forrest Pritchard. This one has a much more narrow, personal scope—but the perspective of an individual farmer is compelling and valuable. 
• The Third Plate: Field Notes on the future of food by Dan Barber. This was a bit of a tangential read since it doesn’t focus specifically on soil science, but it explores a variety of other agricultural systems that create food while maintaining ecological balance.

Bibliography

• Savory, Allan. “How to Green the World’s Deserts and Reverse Climate Change | Allan Savory.” YouTube, TedTalks, 4 Mar. 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpTHi7O66pI.
•  Savory Institute. What Is Holistic Planned Grazing? PDF file. 2015. www.savory.global/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/about-holistic-planned-grazing.pdf
• Ohlson, Kristin. The Soil Will Save Us: How Scientists, Farmers, and Foodies Are Healing the Soil to Save the Planet. Penguin Random House, 2014.