Friday, June 19, 2009

Mob Grazing To Healthy Land

Tell me if this sounds like a good plan to you. I was talking to a gentleman about some land he has that has gone wild. He was wondering how it might be cleaned up without all the usual, expensive inputs. The following is what I suggested, though, I am no expert.

First, brush hog it. Knocking it down and leaving the cut vegetation will only enhance the microbial action of the soil. It would also create dead plants for decomposition to add to the soil and encourage the spread of earth worms and other insects while increasing the carbon count.

Then, after a bit of re-growth, strip graze it in mob fashion, leaving mass amounts of manure in a concentrated area. The manure would fertilize, obviously, but the high concentration of it would help retain moisture, which, the soil needs. The cattle would also trample a certain amount of the plant life (about 20% is optimal) accomplishing the same things stated above with the brush hogging.

Let it grow again until seed heads are prominent, then mob graze it again, achieving the same results. Only this time, the cattle would ingest the seeds and spread them a bit through the manure, plus, knock a bunch down and, thus, plant them through trampling.

I believe this would go a long way to major improvements. What do you think? Sound off on this, I want to know. Thanks for stopping by.

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