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New Publications Showcase Success Stories of Regenerative Grazing in the South

Regenerative grazing that builds soil health and improves water infiltration and storage holds great promise for livestock producers coping with unpredictable climatic conditions, but it has been slow to catch on in the southern United States.

In four states, though, this practice is gaining traction. The National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) recently concluded a three-year project through its Soil for Water program, funded by Southern SARE, whose goal was to identify practical and regionally appropriate methods of regenerative grazing and accelerate the adoption of those methods in Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas, and Virginia.

Focusing on the needs of small, underserved, and limited-resource farmers, the project team created working groups in each state to learn how families in these states are implementing regenerative grazing and how they are supporting each other through peer-to-peer learning and mentorship.

Together, these case studies provide a snapshot of the real-world experience of producers, the obstacles they face, the successes they’ve enjoyed, and how the ideas and methods of regenerative grazing are spreading in the south.

Read more in our new publication series, Regenerative Grazing in the South.

Regenerative Grazing in the South: Case Studies from Arkansas
Four Arkansas farm families prioritize stewardship of their land while seeking profit, quality of life, and community.

Regenerative Grazing in the South: Case Studies from Mississippi
Four Mississippi farmers implement new practices that enhance soil function and increase the soil’s ability to catch and hold water.

Regenerative Grazing in the South: Case Studies from Texas
Four Texas ranchers overcome historical barriers by experimenting with new methods to regenerate their land and sustain their lifestyles.

Regenerative Grazing in the South: Case Studies from Virginia
Five Virginia livestock producers work to regenerate their land and strengthen their communities in the face of uncertain weather, predatory land acquisition, and lack of support for local markets.

For more inspiration, check out the new video series that tells the stories of 11 producers in Virginia, who share their experiences and insights about regenerative grazing.

This project was based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under award number 2020-38640-31521 through the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program under subaward number LS21-345. USDA is an equal opportunity employer and service provider. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

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Regenerative Grazing in the South: Changing Attitudes and Gaining Ground

By Mike Morris, NCAT Agriculture Specialist

“When I was in college, I was taught that you fed hay and grain, and the pasture was just something you put the animals out on to look pretty, or just to get a little bit of supplement. I had to really change the way that I think to make that switch. It was tough to wrap my head around all of that, but once I did, I would never go back to doing it any other way.”

That’s how one producer described the intellectual and emotional journey that led him to adopt regenerative grazing: raising livestock in ways that improve soil health and increase biodiversity and productivity. For the past three years, NCAT has been talking to producers, listening to their stories, and leading a project funded by Southern SARE whose purpose was to “identify practical and regionally appropriate methods of regenerative grazing and accelerate the adoption of those methods in Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas, and Virginia.”

We told Southern SARE that we wanted to expand the work NCAT’s Soil for Water program was already doing in Texas, California, Colorado, and New Mexico. We also wanted to give special attention to the needs of small, underserved, and limited-resource farmers—not just for reasons of fairness but also to learn if regenerative grazing can be done affordably at a small scale. I had the pleasure of leading an interdisciplinary team that included four of NCAT’s best livestock specialists, researchers at four universities, thought leaders from several nonprofit organizations, and dozens of farmer cooperators.

What we learned is that regenerative grazing, while still far from mainstream, is gaining traction throughout the South. In focus groups at the end of our project, producers in all four states named many new organizations that were invisible to them three years earlier but now “leading the way.” Participants also noted greater support and sympathetic interest from universities, some of which had previously been skeptical or hostile.

Arkansas Grazing School. Photo: Nina Prater, NCAT

Folks told us the hardest barriers to overcome were not technical but social and psychological, requiring a mindset shift and willingness to put up with negative peer pressure from neighbors. Many found that their initial fears about up-front cost and labor were exaggerated. After periods of trial and error, they saw economic gains as they reduced purchases of fertilizer and hay and saw labor decreasing as livestock became familiar with rotations.

The best ways we found to encourage adoption were variations on the theme of peer-to-peer learning. We hosted informal pasture walks, launched new mentoring programs; encouraged low-risk, do-it-yourself, on-farm experiments; and gave scholarships enabling limited-resource producers to attend Understanding Ag’s renowned Soil Health Academy. We created new supportive working relationships between agency staff, nonprofits, and producers. Over and over again, we saw that a little emotional support and encouragement goes a long way.

Besides healing overgrazed and damaged grazing lands, regenerative grazing can increase forage production, drought resilience, and profitability. It facilitates local food systems offering healthy meat products to consumers. It’s giving producers access to emerging payment programs for carbon sequestration, clean water, and other public benefits. All of these things are already happening across the South, and we need them to happen faster.

We’ve just released a new series of ATTRA publications, titled Regenerative Grazing in the South, sharing many of our key findings. Please check them out:

Our friends at Virginia Tech have also completed a fantastic series of video case studies, where producers talk about how they discovered regenerative grazing, how they overcame barriers, and how they’re making it work. You can find all 12 video case studies here.

For sharing their wisdom, experience, and personal stories, I’d like to give special thanks to:

    • Farmer cooperators Gary Armstrong, James Burch, Lauri Celella, Lucille Contreras, Juanita Daniels, Jeremiah Eubank, Matt Flynt, Adam Isaacs, Emily Jost, Servando Leal, Deydra Steans, Becky Szarzynski, Tony and Levonna Uekmann, and Guille Yearwood
    • Co-Principal Investigators Dr. Dirk Philipp (University of Arkansas), Dr. Rocky Lemus (Mississippi State University), and Dr. Eric Bendfeldt (Virginia Tech University)
    • State working group leaders Felicia Bell (Mississippi), Linda Coffey (Arkansas), Darron Gaus (Texas), Peggy Sechrist (Texas), and Lee Rinehart (Virginia)
    • Science advisors Dr. Kelly Lyons (Trinity University), Dr. Barbara Bellows, and Ann Wells, DVM
    • Wayne Knight (Holistic Management International), Brent Wills (Virginia Association for Biological Farming), and Allen Williams (Understanding Ag).
    • Our external evaluators, Erika Berglund and Kristal Jones (JG Research & Evaluation)

This project was based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under award number 2020-38640-31521 through the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program under subaward number LS21-345. USDA is an equal opportunity employer and service provider. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

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Improving Profitability: Sheep, Goats, and Cattle

By Linda Coffey, NCAT Agriculture Specialist

As I write this, it’s the last week of 2022. I am thinking about upcoming tax information to file and looking at the barn to see if our hay is going to last longer than winter. I’m looking at our pregnant ewes and wondering: “Was this a good year? Will 2023 be better?”

Last year, the weather was a big factor for us. A cold, wet spring was followed by sudden and intense heat, and cool-season grasses didn’t do well. Then rainfall was sporadic and finally stopped for weeks. The fall was hot and dry and again, and cool-season grasses didn’t do well. We were not able to stockpile fescue because our animals needed the feed. Winter came early, with three snows before Thanksgiving (in Arkansas!), and December brought more snow and brutal cold, so we are going through our hay stash at an alarming pace.

The weather is not in our control and not in yours, either. But we are not helpless. Let’s think about some of the ways we can be sure that 2023 is a better year.

Match the number and kind of animals with your farm resources. This was well discussed on a recent ATTRA podcast by agriculture specialists Lee Rinehart and Nina Prater. Having animals that can thrive in your environment and with your management means better health, fewer problems, and lower cost of production. On our farm, our Gulf Coast sheep certainly thrive and are trouble-free, if you don’t count their disrespect for the electric fence this year. In hindsight, though, when the weather turned hot and dry, it would have been smart to cull the least productive ewes so that the farm could easily support the better ones. Why didn’t we? We are optimists! In 2023, I plan to adjust more quickly to the weather patterns.

Watch body condition on the livestock, especially going into winter, before giving birth, and before breeding. Research has shown that animals kept in moderate body condition have a stronger immune system, get through the winter with less feed and in better shape, have more twins (for small ruminants), breed back more easily, and are better mothers. For beef cattle, body condition score (BCS) has been linked with profitability, as shown in the South Dakota State University article (link). See “Influence of Body Condition on Reproductive Performance of Beef Cows” from October 2020 SDSU Animal Science Department article (Walker, et al.) and pay special attention to Table 2. There, the connection between BCS, pregnancy rate, calving interval, calf gains, weaning weights, calf prices, and finally “$/Cow Exposed” are listed. A BCS of 6 more than doubled the income compared to a BCS of 3. In 2023, I plan to monitor body condition and improve the amount and quality of feed offered at the critical times to boost twinning and milk production, resulting in more productive ewes.

Manage the grazing to improve soil health and forage production. While we cannot make it rain, our management affects how much rain we keep on our farm and how much goes to a creek. Only the water we keep is growing our grass. The great news is that the management needed for soil health also is good for keeping plants healthy and growing, and it’s a continuously improving loop, as Lee and Nina discussed in their podcast. Check out NCAT’s Soil for Water program to learn more about increasing soil health on your farm, and please join the network and the conversation to share your knowledge and your questions. In 2022, our weak link was the aforementioned disrespect for the electric fence. Sheep are not the smartest grass managers; they like the forage short and sweet. Clipping forage too short exposes sheep to parasite larvae, hurts pasture regrowth, doesn’t allow enough energy in the diet thus causing weight loss, hurts soil health by exposing bare ground, leaves us vulnerable to weeds due to the bare ground, and can eventually kill out palatable plants, leaving only the tough, unpalatable ones. These are the cascading effects of grazing too short. Instead, I want to make the decisions about where they are grazing, moving them off before the grass is 4 inches tall and not letting them back until it is fully recovered. I want short grazing periods so that they have less chance of picking up internal parasites and less chance of grazing regrowth. By controlling the grazing, I can influence the total productivity of our farm—plants, soil, and livestock. By providing better nutrition, I can improve gains on lambs and productivity on the ewes, leading to better BCS. In 2023, I plan to work on our electric fence, testing it often and keeping it around 9,000 volts or higher. If I see a rogue animal in the wrong pasture, I will bring it in for retraining in a small lot with hot wire. Repeat offenders belong in our freezer or on a truck headed to a sale.

There is lots more I could decide to do to improve profitability; these ideas really deal with nutrition and caring for the pastures. Of course, recordkeeping, marketing, and planning are vital, and there are useful resources listed below to help with those aspects. Please listen to the podcast Episode 281 about improving profitability and then share your ideas and comments. We all learn best from other farmers, and I look forward to hearing from you. Post your questions and comments on the ATTRA Forum. Best wishes to you and your farm in 2023!

References:

Walker, Julie, George Perry, Warren Rusche, and Olivia Amundson. 2020. Influence of Body Condition on Reproductive Performance of Beef Cows. South Dakota State University Extension.

Fernandez, David. Body Condition Scoring of Sheep. University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. FSA 9610.

Related ATTRA Resources:

Episode 281. Improving Profitability on Livestock Operations 

Episode 261. Summer Grazing for Winter Stockpile

Managed Grazing Tutorial

Demystifying Regenerative Grazing and Soil Health with Dr. Allen Williams

Small Ruminant Sustainability Checksheet

Beef Farm Sustainability Checksheet (EZ)

Other Resources:

Ranching for Profit 

Holistic Management International

Understanding Ag

This blog is produced by the National Center for Appropriate Technology through the ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture program, under a cooperative agreement with USDA Rural Development. ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.