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looking at the livestock, and the grass that I could see—rather than soil health and the root systems and biology of the soil,” Chad says. During the prior decade, their region suffered many drought years. “We had to start moving our cattle more often. Before that, I moved the BY HEATHER SMITH THOMAS cattle every five to ten days, based on looking at the plants above the had and Amanda Njos and their three children are ranching ground and not thinking about recovery time and soil health. After we holistically near Bowman, North Dakota. Chad is no newcomer started moving the cattle more often because of the shortage of grass and to Holistic Management; he was introduced to these concepts worrying about dust pneumonia, I started seeing a response in the plants. on his father’s ranch. His father John Lee Njos went to a Holistic I realized we needed to take this a little more seriously,” he says. Management course in 1986, when He and Amanda took more Chad was still in high school. courses in Holistic Management and “When I left home, I went to then in 2011 they initiated a more college and basically told my dad that intensive grazing system with the I wanted to be as close to farming and cattle. “We run about 200 cow/calf ranching as possible without actually pairs. We have a lot of land here doing it because it was too much that was farmed at one time and in work! I got an engineering degree the Conservation Reserve Program and worked as an intern as a design (CRP), so we have a lot of tame engineer for nine months. This made grasses with early season growth. We me realize that I wanted to go back started moving our cow herd twice and ranch again,” Chad says. a day, giving the cattle just enough After he graduated from college forage for half a day,” he explains. there was a small ranch for sale about “We started seeing a response 20 miles from his parents’ ranch. “I after leaving more cover and a longer decided that a ranch was the best rest period. We began to do more place to raise a family, so I bought monitoring, and putting together better that ranch in 1993, and moved back,” grazing plans, marketing plans and he says. financial plans,” he says. He calls his place the Cow Chip There are also abundant game Ranch because to him cow chips animals on the ranch with grazing represent fertility (a lot of cow chips management supporting improved mean lots of cows or healthy soil). The wildlife habitat. “The thing about operation at first consisted of mainly Holistic Management is that we take a cow/calf herd and a small heifer everything into account. We not only The Njos Family (left to right): Amanda, Molly Mae, development program, where genetics manage for our livestock, but also for Zakai, Tobias, and Chad. and nutrition were the main focus. wildlife. Our animals are stuck here, At the time Chad bought his ranch, he was using Holistic Management on this ranch and have to live and survive here, but the wildlife come as he knew it, which was mainly just in terms of managing the land and and go. If I can provide a habitat that wildlife want to live in, I am doing cattle. “I tried to use the principles I was taught by my father and by some something right,” he says. of my other education, but I didn’t really totally understand the principles of it until about 2010 when Amanda and I went to a Holistic Management Breeding for Efficient Smaller Frames school together. After that, we started focusing on the whole rather than The Njos’ 200 cows are mostly Angus. Nearly all the heifers are just parts,” he says. They also focused more at improving soil health and retained and bred AI in the summer. “We then keep just what we need and ranch profitability with use of intensive grazing and winter bale grazing. sell the rest as bred heifers or open heifers. We’ve had serious drought “Up until then, I think my own thought process was in the way. I was the last two years so a lot more of the heifers were open. This past year
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