Amazing Grazing

I am totally on a Cris Peterson kick right now. She is a dairy farmer and a childrens’ book author. And, as you may have guessed, she writes about farming.

The latest book by Cris that I read was Amazing Grazing.

Amazing Grazing starts with a very brief history of ranching in the west – how ranchers came in and grazed the same lands the bison were already on, how the streambeds and grasslands were damaged from overgrazing, and how the drought in the 1930s affected the land.

She then spotlights three Montana ranch families who have developed systems that keep their cattle fed and improve the land at the same time.

The family on the Lee Ranch closely monitors how the grass is growing in each of their 24 pastures before they move cattle off one pasture and onto another.

The family on the Matador Ranch have 3 larger pastures (instead of 24 smaller ones like the Lee family), but also practice pasture rotation. The cattle on the Matador Ranch are moved to different pastures so the normal movement of the cattle through the pastures will help to re-seed the pastures. This also helps to improve the wildlife habitat on this ranch.

The family on the Milesnick ranch focus on maintaining the streams and waterways on their ranch. When cattle walk down a stream bank to get to water, they can cause a lot of erosion of the bank, which can damage the stream and the surrounding land. By using pasture rotation, the Milesnicks help to reduce this effect. They also monitor gradual changes in the land by documenting with photographs every year. They change their pasture rotation based on very small changes in the waterways and land.

In a time when some people think farmers and ranchers are overusing and abusing our natural resources, this book was a breath of fresh air for me (so to speak). Farmers and ranchers are trying to do what is right – for their animals, for their families, and for the environment.

Check out Amazing Grazing to read more of the details of how these three ranching families are managing their cattle and improving the environment at the same time.

{All photos are from the book Amazing Grazing. Affiliate links were used in this post.}