Multi-Species Grazing & More
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Goats—they are not something you see every day when driving through the Flint Hills of Kansas. In fact, it is still a sight that I am getting used to, and I have raised them for thirteen years. As a cattleman by birth, talking about goats is almost shameful. It has taken these past thirteen years to be proud of the goats in that pasture.
My whole life, our operation has been a little different than most. My dad graduated from K-State with an animal science degree. He then worked for a couple of different feed companies, providing him with an opportunity to see many different operations. When he began putting ours together, all of the best pieces which he gathered from his feed company days were incorporated. During a mild drought when I was young, he decided to put all of the cows together and rotate them through the four pastures, giving each pasture a long rest period. At the end of the summer, he still had as much grass as any normal year. He knew rotational grazing was a must on our ranch.
Rotational Grazing
We now run all of our cattle in 45 day rotation systems, even on land that our family does not own. Our landlords have seen the benefits and have allowed us the freedom to run our cattle through rotational systems, even adding a fence here or a pond there to help even the grazing. This has really allowed our system to work, and we are so blessed by it. It has made it possible to cut our feed expenses and our fuel expenses as well! Now when we go to feed or check cattle, we only have to go to three pastures instead of twelve.
When we figure a rotation, we take the total acres of all pastures in the rotation and divide each pasture by the total acreage to find each pasture’s percent of the total. We then multiply each pasture's percentage by 45 days, and that is how many days the cows stay in each pasture. We evaluate each pasture throughout the year to make sure that the pasture is adequately handling the grazing pressure. If we need to, we can take a day or two off one pasture and spread it to a stronger pasture.
Calculation Example
Step one: Find the total acres.
Pasture 1=250 acres Pasture 2=300 acres Pasture 3=345 acres Pasture 4=285 acres
Total = 1,180 acres
Step two: Divide each pasture by the total acreage to find the pasture’s percent of the total.
Pasture 1: 250/1,180=21.2%
Pasture 2: 300/1,180=25.4%
Pasture 3: 345/1,180=29.2%
Pasture 4: 285/1,180=24.2%
Step three: Multiply each pasture’s % by 45 (or however many days you want for your rotation).
Pasture 1 (250 acres): 21.2% x 45 days = 9.54 days
Pasture 2 (300 acres): 25.4% x 45 days = 11.4 days
Pasture 3 (345 acres): 29.2% x 45 days = 13.1 days
Pasture 4 (285 acres): 24.2% x 45 days = 10.9 days
Total days: 44.94 days
*Use your own discretion on which way to round the days. If one pasture is not as fertile, take a day off and add it to a more fertile pasture.
The results have been amazing! Our pastures look great, and we always have plenty of forage to last through the winter. That is extremely important for us since we do not feed hay through the winter. We prefer to let our cattle graze on the stockpiled forage and supplement them to meet their nutritional needs. The rotation allows the pastures to have a long rest period, and therefore the cattle graze more evenly instead of staying in the same grazed area, eating the tender new growth. This eliminates the need to burn to “even off” the pastures.
Prescribed Burning
We very rarely burn our pastures, pretty much only when a neighbor’s fire gets away...which, of course, is very annoying! We do not see the need to burn because our pastures are very healthy, and we cannot bring ourselves to burn off our safety net that would get us through a drought and the winter. It is proven that yearling cattle gain better on burned pasture, but for cows and calves it provides no benefit in terms of gain. We have actually found that yearlings who were rotated through our system gain comparable, or equal to those grazing burnt pasture. The only reason left to burn would be for brush control, but we’ll get to that.
Basically, my opinion is that fire is a tool in our toolbox, not a rule, and should be used accordingly. We have other tools that I prefer to use and have seen work with great results. Burning just because it is what everyone in the Flint Hills does is not good enough for me. I have seen no benefit in productivity or forage health, in fact almost the opposite, as it gives the forbs and invasives a head start. When a pasture is unburned, there is a layer of last year’s growth that acts as insulation to keep in moisture and prevent invasive species from taking over. Obviously my opinion on burning is not widely held, but I would encourage some thought before you just jump into it. Every year, smoke from the Flint Hills drifts into major cities, and it is only a matter of time before legislation gets passed that will remove that tool from our toolbox.
Brush & Weed Control With Goats
So if we are managing our forage with grazing, how are we managing the brush and weeds? Let’s take a look in our toolbox and see what options we have.
Burning? I would prefer not to.
Chemical? Again, I would prefer not to, although like fire, there are some circumstances that may warrant it.
So what’s left? There is one tool at the bottom that most people do not see or know about. It’s goats! I have been running goats for thirteen years now, and am constantly amazed by them.
The goats have become our main method of dealing with invasive brush and weeds. They love to graze on hedge, locust, and cedar trees. They go right after buckbrush, sumac, sericea lespedeza, sandplum, blackberry, multiflora rose, and pretty much any other woody invasive. Our goal for our whole operation is to be sustainable, with as few inputs as possible. The goats allow us to actually harvest the invasives that we used to have to pay to get rid of, turning what used to be an expense into a well-paying profit center!
The thing to remember when considering how to deal with invasives is that they are never actually gone. They have a seed bank in the soil that will outlive us all. Management of them is never over, meaning the pastures will have to be sprayed or burnt at least every three years to keep the invasives in check. With the goats, we find a management level stocking rate and then let them do the work. We want a stocking rate that takes care of the invasives but does not impact our grass or cattle stocking rate. By achieving this, we have diversified and expanded our income, eliminated an expense (chemical), and maintained a healthy plant and microbe ecosystem.
More About Goats
Another thing that goats are really good at is fertilizing the soil. They take undesirables and use them as nourishment. Their waste then comes out as pellets that get scattered all over the pasture as the goat grazes. The goat’s hooves then break up the pellets and aerate the soil as they graze, making it possible for the nutrients from the waste to be incorporated into the soil and used by the plants. So, in essence, the goats are taking undesirable plants and turning them into fertilizer!
We have found our unburned, rotated, multi-species grazed pastures to be extremely healthy and productive. As profit margins decrease, input costs get higher, and public scrutiny gets hotter, it is imperative that we are open to new ideas while making sure that we understand and have an informed reason for each of the management practices we utilize. What works for one operation may not be necessary or work for another. We must keep moving forward and challenging the status quo!
I have come to appreciate, and find a pasture full of goats to be a beautiful thing. It took a while, but I have seen the benefit and added income that they bring. They are what allows my family to continue this way of life together, and for that I will not be ashamed, even if it means being a cattle rancher with a pasture full of goats!
-Nathan Marker
Facebook: @pcrlivestock
*Partially funded by USDA-NRCS agreement with National Grazing Lands Coalition https://www.grazinglands.org/.