Grazing Planning

Overview

Adaptive grazing is a flexible system, but a good grazing plan can help farmers reach their goals. This module provides an overview of the grazing planning process. Farmers, graziers, and landowners will learn about setting goals, inventorying resources, and developing maps—the foundations for a solid grazing plan. Next, the module reviews how to critically assess resources and create actionable grazing plan options that can evolve and grow over time.

This course integrates written material and grazing planning tools and an on-farm video tutorial series called Grazing Planners Speak.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this module, participants will be able to:

• List at least five examples of goals for grazing operations.
• Explain how maps are used in the grazing plan process.
• Provide at least one benefit and one drawback of soil testing.
• Describe two things you can learn about your farm by using the NRCS online soil survey tool.
• Define “forage suitability group.”
• Explain how soil map units and forage suitability groups can help farmers determine which forages to seed in pasture.
• Explain at least one way to estimate forage production per acre per inch.
• Explain why it’s important to estimate dry matter production and intake on a monthly basis.
• Describe how a grazing plan map reflects the activities in the written plan.