The Monitoring Tool Box
Monitoring the Success of Managed Grazing, from Pasture to Stream
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| Field days throughout Minnesota put reality behind the goals of the Monitoring Tool Box, which guides producers who want to monitor the impact of their management on their land, finances and family. |
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| The Minnesota monitoring project homed in on six dairy and beef cattle operations converting to management-intensive grazing. Photos by Brian DeVore |
To measure the myriad benefits of management-intensive grazing (MIG) on beef cattle and dairy farms, a SARE-funded team led by the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture and the Land Stewardship Project created a guide to monitor the system's impact on farm family finances, soil, wildlife and communities. The Monitoring Tool Box contains units on pasture, streams, pests, economics and quality of life, among other topics, to suggest ways to quantify changes. The hefty notebook helps farmers monitor progress toward their goals, including a profitability analysis that weighs the creation of jobs in the community as well as input costs. In developing the tool box, the diversified, multi-professional team of farmers, researchers and agency representatives examined the biological, financial and social changes on six farms that recently converted from conventional to pasture-based systems. Economic data indicates that participating graziers lowered veterinary and herd health expenses without sacrificing yield. Team members also gained a new appreciation for the other benefits of MIG systems, including better water quality in streams and greater biodiversity. 'I observe everything between the barn and the gate,' says farmer Art Thicke, who has seen close to 30 species of birds in his pastures. 'I used to take my four-wheeler, but now I walk because there are so many things I'm scared I'll miss.' Project leaders have distributed 300 copies of the tool box; another 560 people learned about the project at workshops and fields days. For more information, go to www.sare.org/projects/ and search for LNC94-075
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