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Fenceless grazing
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Author
Kentish, N
Publisher
XII International Rangeland Congress
Publication Year
2025
Body

Whilst it should be a given that livestock handling and instinctive behavior is a primary skill taught to every apprentice stock-handler, the fact remains that many animals never achieve their full production potential due to poor juvenile imprinting and mishandling by humans. This human/animal interaction and primary contact that carries throughout the lives of both can strongly influence animal impact on rangelands. Roaming livestock that are contained by random fences, or limited by their walking distance to water, can have a significant impact on soil structure, surface water quality, perennial plant root survival and leaf regeneration. These and other degradations do little to endear livestock to ecologists and with little to no management of grazing practices in vast areas of the planet's grasslands, may see the forced disappearance of introduced livestock from our ecosystems. Yet, what if we could accurately manage productive, carbon-sequestering grasslands through training humans to teach livestock to graze better? This remains my quest as a teacher of farmers.

Language
English
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Additional Information
This paper is part of the larger XII International Rangelands Congress Proceedings. Page Numbers: 1661-1663. Theme: Theme 6 / Grazing management-system perspectives
ISSN
978-0-646-72121-7
Conference Name
International Rangeland Congress
Collection
International Rangelands Congress
Keywords
Livestock
Grazing
Regenerating Agriculture