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SARE 2000 Highlights
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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