The Nature Conservancy magazine had a story recently by Julian Smith on Patagonian sheep farmers who are learning to improve the grasslands where the sheep graze.
“One promising option, called holistic management,” writes Smith, “was first developed in the 1960s by Zimbabwean biologist Allan Savory. Healthy grasslands, like those formerly found in Patagonia, need herbivores, grasslands expert [Pablo] Borrelli says. The animals’ grazing and trampling encourage plant growth and help return nutrients to the soil. Sheep may have replaced wild horses and guanacos as the dominant grazers in Patagonia, but they can still play the role of the animals they replaced. This runs counter to the traditional practice of trying to help grasslands recover by simply grazing fewer and fewer animals.
“Under holistic management, stocking rates can actually increase. Periods of heavier grazing, with longer intervals in between for the land to recover, can mimic the movement of native herds in the past. The key is the timing of the grazing and the length of the rest periods.
“Getting that balance right isn’t easy, and finding it requires a few years of training with an accredited [Grassland Regeneration and Sustainability Standard] educator. Ranchers, Borrelli says, ‘need to learn how to see the land, to recognize the indicators of good and bad trends, to learn how to move their sheep.’
“To cover the up-front costs of implementing the standards, which run about 30 cents per acre for measures like new fencing, Patagonia and the Conservancy have donated more than $80,000. That kind of investment can quickly pay off. …
“ ‘They were impressive results,’ Borrelli says. ‘Things we hadn’t seen in 30 years.’ The prospect of being able to graze more sheep has brought new hope to struggling ranch owners, he adds. More than 30 ranches in Argentina and Chile are now trying holistic management in some form.”
More here, where you also can enjoy Nick Hall’s beautiful photos.
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