Keep Moving – Integrate and Move Livestock to Enhance Soil Health

The fifth agricultural principle we discuss in this series focuses on how integrating and moving livestock can enhance soil health. Animals are key part of natural ecosystems, but they were never motionless. Naturally occurring wild roaming herds would move continuously and leave sufficient time for grazed areas to recover before they returned. Moreover, the manure they left behind would fertilise the soil, while their hoofs would help the soil absorb this natural fertiliser. This is why the fifth regenerative agricultural principle relies on integrated and rotational livestock to enhance soil health.

What is integrated and rotational livestock management

Regenerative grazing practices are inspired by naturally occurring wild roaming herds. These herds would move continuously so they left sufficient time for grazed areas to recover before they return (White 2020). Similarly, rotational stock management moves cattle frequently and systemically, potentially integrated with crop rotation, to leave time between grazing periods for the land to recover (White 2020; Kharunga et al. 2023). Additionally, selecting livestock breeds compatible with the natural environment and climate helps to reduce pressure on the ecosystem and stock and optimise stock productivity (Gosnell et al. 2019).

Why it matters in a nutshell

Intensive grazing puts a lot of pressure on soil. Cattle’s hoofs fracture the soil while overgrazing removes the soil cover, which both causes soil erosion. However, if stocks are rotated, they can optimise the benefits of the natural symbiotic relationship between moving cattle and plants (White 2020). If stock rotates, cattle only forages on what they need, after which they move on to allow the vegetation to recover. In addition, they leave manure behind, which enhances soil fertility and consequentially plant growth. Moreover, if they only spend a short period of time on the land, the soil fractures caused by their hoofs introduce the fertile manure into the soil, before it can be washed off or blown away when dried. Lastly, grazing removes plant foliage, which can stimulate root activity and hence the exchange of carbon between plants and soil microbes. As such integrating and moving livestock enhances soil health by moving soil nutrients while expanding the recovery time.

The co-benefits in detail

Firstly, integrating and moving livestock can enhance soil health by enhancing its fertility. The manure left behind functions as natural fertiliser (White 2020), which has additional benefits as described above, including reduced need for synthetic fertilisers which reduced greenhouse gas emissions significantly. Secondly, the grazing behavior can contribute to weed control (White 2020).

Thirdly, optimal resource use. Different breeds interact and use the local environment differently; some will forage and drink in higher elevations of different areas of the land than others. Choosing livestock breeds compatible with the local environment can optimise resource use while reducing the costs of extra water, feed, and/or shelter (Gosnell et al. 2019).

These three co-benefits reduce the input-output ratio on the farm. This efficiency is most noticeable in the usage of synthetic inputs. Reduced chemical inputs reduce costs while enhancing all the co-benefits under ‘minimising synthetic inputs’.

Lastly compared to traditional grazing, integrating and moving livestock can contribute to soil building, improve soil organic carbon and soil health while reducing soil erosion (Kharunga et al. 2023; Teague et al. 2016; in Gosnell et al. 2019).

Measure to manage

While specific effects depend on environmental, climate, management and soil variables, integrating and moving livestock can enhance soil health. Together with the other co-benefits such as increased weed control and soil fertility, this can increase efficiencies and reduce the cost of chemical inputs.

To work with the soil, understand soil at the deepest level and validate and inform existing and new practices, start by measuring, analysing and mapping the soil by using our soil data intelligence solutions. Let’s integrate and move livestock to move soil nutrients!