Restoring Old Pastures with Holistic Grazing Planning at Arriola Sunshine Farm
impact on our small acreage. With carefully planned grazing and use of animal impact, we have doubled our productivity and continue to see improvement. We avoid over grazing by not allowing the sheep to stay too long or come back too soon. We plan our
impact. All manure is returned to the field where it is incorporated into the soil by the micro- and macro-organisms. This happens in as little as two weeks during the growing season. We have realized improved economic returns through increased carrying capacity,
BY CINDY DVERGSTEN AND MIKE RICH
A
t Arriola Sunshine Farm (near Dolores, Colorado) we aim to create healthy land, healthy animals and healthy people. We generate real wealth by capturing solar energy with green growing plants. Our farm contributes to building a strong vibrant community and economy that is sustainable. We have engaged in several farm enterprises over the years including hay, small scale fruit and vegetable produce, heritage turkeys, chicken eggs, and grass-fed beef. We began practicing Holistic Management in the mid-1990s during which time Cindy became a Certified Educator with HMI. Today our focus is on livestock breed conservation with Navajo Churro Sheep, producing wool, registered breeding stock and grass-fed lamb. Our land has not been plowed or reseeded in over 40 years. Prior to purchasing our 5-acre farm, the fields were used primarily for hay. We continued with this for several years during which time we witnessed a slow decline in productivity. Typically, old hay fields are plowed out and replanted, however this type of action did not pass holistic testing guidelines for us, and thus would not honor our holistic goal. Instead we shifted to pasture and used grazing animals to restore productivity to our land. We started with raising a couple steers and then switched to Navajo-Churro sheep in 2003 which provided us greater ability to manage animal
Improved grazing management has led to highly productive grasses including five-feet tall brome and orchard grass. grazing periods to be 3–7 days and provide 35 to 60 days of recovery. We never repeat that same grazing pattern, doing our best to mimic nature. When we feed hay, we do it out in the field where we maximize the tool of animal
The two photos show the difference in how the land looks after grazing between our neighbor’s land and ours. The neighbor’s pasture (on the left) shows much more bare soil due to lower plant density and less volume of forage. Our pasture (on the right) shows plenty of residue and green grass left after grazing to protect the soil surface. We allow ample time for recovery. We are able to pass through our pastures 2–3 times during the growing season and 1–2 times during the non-growing season (unless it snows).
drought resilience, improved forage quality, better animal performance, and fewer inputs. Improved grazing management has added only a minimal amount of labor. Forage production on our fields in 1998 was 1.5 tons to the acre whereas in 2018 it averaged 3.5 tons to the acre enabling us to carry twice the number of animal units for a longer grazing season. Monitoring is essential to maximizing productivity. We observe on a daily or weekly basis what is happening with the rate of grass growth and animal performance. This includes clipping and weighing forage samples before and after grazing so we may train our eyes to what is happening and tweak our grazing plan as necessary to stay in tune with nature as the season progresses. We make improvements to our fencing when it makes sense economically. As forage productivity increases so does the need to manage it more intensively. Wise additions to our permanent fencing allow us to better utilize forage while reducing labor that otherwise would CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
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Land & Livestock 7
