Migratory Grazing

[JustinM]

A number of years ago I came across a new approach to grazing management that really intrigued me. Bob Kinford from West Texas has been focusing on re-instilling the herding instinct in domestic livestock so the animals stay huddled together at higher stock densities (>100,000 pounds live weight per acre) even when in a very large field. From the articles I've read and visiting with Bob by phone, animals will graze as a tightly-bunched group, go back to water and then come right back to where they left off. This is being done in desert and semi-desert country without the installation or movement of a bunch of electric fencing or virtual fencing for that matter. Has anyone in this group seen or heard more about this. I'd be very interested in getting more insight on this intriguing approach. You can learn more about this on Bob's website at: https://migratorygrazing.com/.

 

[Erik tucker]

I like Bob call him a friend even. I do have some other friends and they have worked with him and he makes a good presentation and can show people how to get it done. Several yrs back Bob stayed with us for a few days and we talked about that and we did have a bunch of back and forth on "not needing a fence" before he left us we could both see that we could do what we were wanting to get done and how are own limits could be worked around. I know herding cattle has great value, and at the end of a day a fence could be a good thing too. Looking forward to a bigger country place to work with some time. I think it would be really valuable.

 

[JustinM]

Thanks Erik for sharing your experience with Bob and his methods. I've been very intrigued about re-igniting the herding instinct in our livestock. I hope I'll have the opportunity someday to try his methods out myself as that could be a real game changer when it comes to grazing large, open landscapes that have minimal fencing while getting some of the benefits of higher stock density grazing.