Rotational Grazing
Rotational grazing is a big part of life here at Nightfall Farm. We want to take a little space to explain what it's all about. The text here is an excerpt of two columns we wrote for FarmIN, a great monthly publication that you may have seen in southern Indiana newspapers.
Strap in. This is long.
Why Rotational Grazing Matters: Animals and Land
Our lambs have figured out rotational grazing. Every day and a half, we “rotate” or move the lambs to a new part of our pasture and they’ve caught on to the pattern. When Nate and I get busy setting up fence next door to their current, eaten-down paddock, it’s almost time to move. Nate opens the gate and they walk through without any herding or commotion. They get right to work grazing the lush green pasture.
We like our lambs, but I must admit that their IQ is average for sheep. This system doesn’t work because we have exceptional lambs. Instead, rotational grazing works because it’s good for the animals, it’s good for the land, it’s good for the farmers and it’s good for the customers.
Rotational grazing is a key part of what we do at Nightfall Farm, so we’re taking two months to really explain what this idea is all about. This month, we’ll tackle the benefits for our animals and the land.
Good for the Land and Our Animals
Rotational grazing is based on how buffalo graze. Despite their size, they are prey animals and they know it. They protect themselves by grazing in large groups and keeping on the move. Their impact on an area is heavy but short-lived: they trample grass, push seeds into the dirt, and leave manure – but then they may not revisit the area for months or longer. They reseed their pasture as they graze and leaving it plenty of time to regrow.
Rotational grazing works much the same way here at Nightfall. Our chickens are a great example.
We raise batches of 200 chickens at a time. Over their lifespan, they use about an acre of pasture (a little less than a football field). We could give the chickens that whole area at once, never moving their food, water, or shelter. This would take less labor and reduce our costs.
The result, though, would be negative because the chickens wouldn’t ever touch most of the pasture – and they would destroy the area they did use. The grass by the feed and water would be trampled into mud. The chickens would get dirty and develop sores on their feet from standing in their own manure. Some of the pasture would be killed from too much manure. Other parts would never receive any nutrients and weeds would prosper.
Instead, we use “chicken tractors” to rotationally graze the chickens and create a positive effect.
The tractors are 12’ x 10’ structures of wood, chicken wire, and tarp with open bottoms (the chickens are on grass at all times). Their food and water hang from the tractors and move along with them. The tractors protect our chickens from predators while giving them continuous access to pasture and plenty of room to socialize and forage.
We rotate the chickens to fresh pasture twice each day. The chickens move to the new grass and quickly fill their beaks with bugs, grass, and seed heads. They are clean, active, and they forage for a diverse diet. Instead of tearing the grass into mud, they leave behind an even layer of fertilizer. Months later, you can still see the positive impact of the chickens: 12’ x 10’ rectangles of dark, green growth.
The difference between a negative impact and a positive impact is how the animals are managed. Rotational grazing lets us improve our family land as we farm.
Why Rotational Grazing Matters: Farmers and Our Customers
Each day that our chicks spend in the barn, they produce more manure. By the time they’re big enough to go out onto pasture, we’ve created a sweaty, dirty job for ourselves. If we raised the chickens inside for their entire lives…well, let’s just say that that’s a lot of manure.
Last month, we told you about rotational grazing, where we move animals from one part of the pasture to the next every 12-48 hours, and why it’s good for our animals and the land. This month, we want to tell you about why rotational grazing is good for us, as farmers, and our customers.
Good for the Farmers
Raising our animals on pasture means less time mucking dirty stalls, less time spreading fertilizer (they spread it for us) and less time putting up hay (they harvest the grass themselves for much of the year).
I’ll be the first to admit it: rotational grazing does mean other hard work. We spend a lot of time hauling heavy things around our pasture by hand. We move feeders, water tubs, shelters, fences, and feed daily. On a hot summer day, rotational grazing can be a recipe for two tired farmers.
But for us, the work is also pleasant and fulfilling. We’re outside in the fresh air. We catch every sunrise and sunset. We save money on gym memberships. We spend time together. We’re near our animals, observing them and learning from them. We can see that our animals are happy and healthy, which is satisfying.
Good for Our Customers
A woman stopped by market recently and said, “We bought a Thanksgiving turkey from you last year. It was so good. We’re still talking about it.” One of our CSA members told us she had bought some of our bacon and was delighted. She said, “It tasted like I remember my dad’s bacon tasting, when he made us Saturday morning breakfasts.” These are major compliments.
We are aiming to raise good food, and rotational grazing is a big part of why our food tastes good.
Simply put, animals that eat a diverse diet taste excellent.
It’s the fat-soluble compounds in meat that create much of the flavor. If an animal eats a few types of food its whole life, the flavor can be bland. But when an animal eats many different types of foods, their meat tastes more complex and rich.
Our pigs are a good example. We use a GMO-free feed with corn, soybeans, oats, and minerals. Since we rotate the pigs to fresh pasture every two days, they also forage for a diversity of roots, leaves, and seed heads, plus worms, grasshoppers, and other insects. Rotational grazing means that the pigs have a low-stress life and a continuous supply of fresh, diverse food - and that translates into delicious pork for our customers.
Rotational grazing is the keystone of our farm. Moving our animals in a dance around the field keeps us happy and our animals happy, keeps us healthy and our animals healthy, and as best as we can tell our customers are happy, too.
Strap in. This is long.
Why Rotational Grazing Matters: Animals and Land
Our lambs have figured out rotational grazing. Every day and a half, we “rotate” or move the lambs to a new part of our pasture and they’ve caught on to the pattern. When Nate and I get busy setting up fence next door to their current, eaten-down paddock, it’s almost time to move. Nate opens the gate and they walk through without any herding or commotion. They get right to work grazing the lush green pasture.
We like our lambs, but I must admit that their IQ is average for sheep. This system doesn’t work because we have exceptional lambs. Instead, rotational grazing works because it’s good for the animals, it’s good for the land, it’s good for the farmers and it’s good for the customers.
Rotational grazing is a key part of what we do at Nightfall Farm, so we’re taking two months to really explain what this idea is all about. This month, we’ll tackle the benefits for our animals and the land.
Good for the Land and Our Animals
Rotational grazing is based on how buffalo graze. Despite their size, they are prey animals and they know it. They protect themselves by grazing in large groups and keeping on the move. Their impact on an area is heavy but short-lived: they trample grass, push seeds into the dirt, and leave manure – but then they may not revisit the area for months or longer. They reseed their pasture as they graze and leaving it plenty of time to regrow.
Rotational grazing works much the same way here at Nightfall. Our chickens are a great example.
We raise batches of 200 chickens at a time. Over their lifespan, they use about an acre of pasture (a little less than a football field). We could give the chickens that whole area at once, never moving their food, water, or shelter. This would take less labor and reduce our costs.
The result, though, would be negative because the chickens wouldn’t ever touch most of the pasture – and they would destroy the area they did use. The grass by the feed and water would be trampled into mud. The chickens would get dirty and develop sores on their feet from standing in their own manure. Some of the pasture would be killed from too much manure. Other parts would never receive any nutrients and weeds would prosper.
Instead, we use “chicken tractors” to rotationally graze the chickens and create a positive effect.
The tractors are 12’ x 10’ structures of wood, chicken wire, and tarp with open bottoms (the chickens are on grass at all times). Their food and water hang from the tractors and move along with them. The tractors protect our chickens from predators while giving them continuous access to pasture and plenty of room to socialize and forage.
We rotate the chickens to fresh pasture twice each day. The chickens move to the new grass and quickly fill their beaks with bugs, grass, and seed heads. They are clean, active, and they forage for a diverse diet. Instead of tearing the grass into mud, they leave behind an even layer of fertilizer. Months later, you can still see the positive impact of the chickens: 12’ x 10’ rectangles of dark, green growth.
The difference between a negative impact and a positive impact is how the animals are managed. Rotational grazing lets us improve our family land as we farm.
Why Rotational Grazing Matters: Farmers and Our Customers
Each day that our chicks spend in the barn, they produce more manure. By the time they’re big enough to go out onto pasture, we’ve created a sweaty, dirty job for ourselves. If we raised the chickens inside for their entire lives…well, let’s just say that that’s a lot of manure.
Last month, we told you about rotational grazing, where we move animals from one part of the pasture to the next every 12-48 hours, and why it’s good for our animals and the land. This month, we want to tell you about why rotational grazing is good for us, as farmers, and our customers.
Good for the Farmers
Raising our animals on pasture means less time mucking dirty stalls, less time spreading fertilizer (they spread it for us) and less time putting up hay (they harvest the grass themselves for much of the year).
I’ll be the first to admit it: rotational grazing does mean other hard work. We spend a lot of time hauling heavy things around our pasture by hand. We move feeders, water tubs, shelters, fences, and feed daily. On a hot summer day, rotational grazing can be a recipe for two tired farmers.
But for us, the work is also pleasant and fulfilling. We’re outside in the fresh air. We catch every sunrise and sunset. We save money on gym memberships. We spend time together. We’re near our animals, observing them and learning from them. We can see that our animals are happy and healthy, which is satisfying.
Good for Our Customers
A woman stopped by market recently and said, “We bought a Thanksgiving turkey from you last year. It was so good. We’re still talking about it.” One of our CSA members told us she had bought some of our bacon and was delighted. She said, “It tasted like I remember my dad’s bacon tasting, when he made us Saturday morning breakfasts.” These are major compliments.
We are aiming to raise good food, and rotational grazing is a big part of why our food tastes good.
Simply put, animals that eat a diverse diet taste excellent.
It’s the fat-soluble compounds in meat that create much of the flavor. If an animal eats a few types of food its whole life, the flavor can be bland. But when an animal eats many different types of foods, their meat tastes more complex and rich.
Our pigs are a good example. We use a GMO-free feed with corn, soybeans, oats, and minerals. Since we rotate the pigs to fresh pasture every two days, they also forage for a diversity of roots, leaves, and seed heads, plus worms, grasshoppers, and other insects. Rotational grazing means that the pigs have a low-stress life and a continuous supply of fresh, diverse food - and that translates into delicious pork for our customers.
Rotational grazing is the keystone of our farm. Moving our animals in a dance around the field keeps us happy and our animals happy, keeps us healthy and our animals healthy, and as best as we can tell our customers are happy, too.