Following Dirt Rich's previous episode, 57: Fundamentals of Adaptive Grazing with Jonathan Kilpatrick, we thought it would be a great time to revisit our conversation on Adaptive Multi-Paddock grazing with Jared Luhman and Doug Voss.
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Over the years of establishing and fine-tuning their management systems, grazing has become absolutely key in both Luhman’s and Voss’ cattle and dairy operations. Beyond rotational grazing, Adaptive Multi-Paddock grazing (or AMP) has improved the ecology of their farms--not to mention saved the time, energy, and expense of hauling around feed and other off-farm inputs--by modeling their grazing systems after the natural movement of wildlife across landscapes. “There’s no substitute for what comes out the back of a cow or small ruminant,” Doug jokes.
Doug hasn’t used any off-farm inputs for years, and yet his yields continue to increase. The adaptive part of AMP is quintessential: not only is a successful grazing plan going to be unique and flexible to the context of a piece of land, but to the conditions that may come to pass during the season, be it a change in rainfall or a family wedding you need a couple days to travel to.
The number of variables to consider may be daunting, but as Doug reminds us, creating an adaptive grazing plan is more of a journey than a destination. In the interview, he shares some advice for those looking to start to graze as well as those looking to improve their management, covering fencing, watering systems, rest periods, and examples from Voss Farms.
The payoff is worth it. AMP grazing has brought Doug great peace of mind and more predictable income: “I have far fewer challenges where I’m not going to be productive or profitable on an acre of ground than I’ve ever had before.”
Whether you own a herd or land, there are a lot of good resources to help you get livestock applied appropriately to your land:
Doug Voss, Grazing Lead, Sustainable Farming Association, doug@sfa-mn.org
Jared Luhman, Soil Health Lead, Sustainable Farming Association, jared@sfa-mn.org
Originally released March 17, 2021
The viewpoints of the speakers expressed within or outside of this episode do not necessarily reflect the goals and mission of SFA.
Dirt Rich is produced by the Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota.
72: Farm Marketing & Mindset with Charlotte Smith
71: Shifting Agriculture with Dan Kittredge
70: Building Your Dream Team and Farm with Derek Schmitz
69: Grazing Management, Drought, & the NRCS
68: Dealing with Drought Roundtable
67: What is Farm Profitability?
66: From Farm to SFA and Back
65: The Emerging Farmers Office
64: Grazing Tech - PaddockTrac
63: Business Management at Cedar Crate Farm
62: From Planting to Pack Shed at Cedar Crate Farm
61: What’s on your mind?
60: Consults & Conferences
Revisited: Wintering Cattle Roundtable
59: Enchanted Meadows - In Transition
58: Old Farm, New Visions
57: Fundamentals of Adaptive Grazing
56: Get to Know Jonathan Kilpatrick
Revisited: Planting Minnesota Garlic
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