MANAGEMENT INTENSIVE ROTATIONAL GRAZING

   With management intensive rotational grazing we can sequester carbon, build soil fertility, produce meat that has an ideal omega 3: omega 6 ratio, and improve ecosystem health and habitat for wild species. Perennial plant ecosystems are where it's at.  Food forests, perennial plant-species pasture, aquaculture... these are some of the most sustainable forms of agriculture.  Much of the earth's surface will try and revert to forest through the process of succession.  The relationship between ruminant animals and the pastures, prairies, & savanna's of the world is one that prevents many ecosystems from reverting into forest.  This relationship has evolved for millions of years. Think of when the American Bison migrated from Canada to Texas and back or the great wildebeest migration in the Serengeti of Africa.  What ecosystem has evolved to be in a perpetual state of annual plant species?

   To practice sustainable annual vegetable production, you need to return the biomass (in some form) that you are removing. Peoples poop, pee, food-scraps, & dead bodies (usually,in the first world, strangely, locked up in formaldehyde & coffins) are typically not returned to fertilize the lands that sustained their growth.  If a business is producing annual plant-produce (i.e. annual veggies, tubers, grains) in such a way that they do not lose soil fertility, what is their "energy audit"?  Are they reliant on fossil fuels & "fossil-water" aquifers?  How would this fare in a post fossil fuel world?

   Much of the soil life dies off when it is exposed to the suns' direct heat once or twice a year in between crop plantings and it is common knowledge that soil, mineral, & nutrient losses are brought on at a rapid rate by annual tillage.   In addition, anytime the soil loses it's vegetative canopy, the sun bakes off carbon in the surface-soil layers. Carbon is the building block of life, without it we cannot expect to have life in the soil.  The less humus (organic components of soil) there is in the soil, the less buffer the soil has to extremes in temperature and moisture (or lack-of/drought). Without this buffer there is less suitable soil-habitat for microorganisms.  The most sustainable methods of producing annuals likely incorporate no-till techniques and periodic animal disturbance followed by seeding,planting, mulching, & irrigating (or timing before rain)  with rain water & rain water storage rather than taxing or depleting aquifers.

  

The idea is to bunch up these ruminant animals and move them frequently. We're trying to mimic their behavior in the wild.

The Wildebeest here are bunched up in a heard, eating what's in front of them, & not returning for a long enough time to allow the pasture to recover. That's what we are trying to mimic.

  When Greg Judy started management intensive rotational grazing (MIRG) of livestock, his land could carry one cow-calf pair on 4 acres. Now, he can carry one cow-calf pair on only 2 acres. This is due to the increased growth rates of the plants in his pastures. He anticipates getting close to an acre to one cow-calf pair someday.  He has seen a return of wildlife such as eagles, wild turkeys, deer, and migratory birds.  What a testament to the the ability to regenerate ecosystems while providing healthy food for humans!

   I am inspired by people like Greg Judy , Joel Salatin, Ian Michell-innes, Will Harris, & Allan Savory  (to name just a few) who are building soil fertility and enriching ecosystem-habitat with management intensive grazing techniques. These people are practicing major solutions to our world problems.  You don't have to feel guilty about eating meat! Seek meat products from people that are practicing this type of grazing and you will be supporting the health of the earth and it's inhabitants (including you!).

My first post! Parkinsonia Spp.

  My name is Ryan. I am a registered nurse who is a permaculture enthusiast.  The theme I will be focusing on in this blog will be health (be it people or earth).
One definition of Permaculture:  The conscious design of agriculturally productive ecosystems which has the diversity, stability, & resilience of natural ecosystems.

  I have been in Ventura County, CA since mid-July, 2016.  This arid landscape is in a drought. One thing you'll likely recognize, once you become keenly aware of the watershed, is how our governments tend to lack a common-sense approach to watershed stewardship.  I am speaking of our tendency to put in concrete culverts and canals that rush water down & off the landscape.

                                              (2 concrete canals diverting rainwater off of the land)

(This canal was plugged up with silt from all the erosion coming down from poorly managed bike trails.)

Here, in Ventura county, we are in a landscape so dry that residents are not permitted to have a fire and yet we completely disregard the value of the water that falls from the sky.  The aim should be to slow down, spread out, and sink this water into the earth.
  Two approaches to managing this rainfall include the use of earthworks & plants.

(Parkinsonia Spp., 34.193685, -118.903704)
 Pictured above are the seeds of PaloVerde, a species in the genus Parkinsonia.  PaloVerde is a very drought tolerant plant that should do well with a little assistance in getting established.  Hopefully I can get these seeds to germinate! On the top of my wish list is either Prosopis glandulosa torreyana or Prosopis pubescens. These are California native "mesquite" trees and can survive with only a few inches of rain a year. Prosopis glandulosa can send it's roots down at least 50' to access water (Reference).