NRCS CPSPG
(code 528 AC)
Definition
Utilizing grazing animal and or browsing animals to achieve the quality of life statement which has described socially, economically and environmentally the desired outcomes for a particular piece of land by the land managers and local community.
Purpose
To achieve the long term goals socially, economically and environmentally for the community which depends on this piece of land under management.
It is believed that in most of the United states there is a desire when describing the environmental side of land under management that there would be a desire to at a minimum maintain desired species composition structure and or vigor of plant communities and or to increase the biodiversity of species above and below ground as well as increase the biomass above and below ground.
Improve or maintain surface and or subsurface water quality and or quantity.
Improve or maintain riparian and or watershed function particularly with regards to taking non effective water cycles and having them become effective water cycles both on the micro and macro scales.
Significantly reduce soil erosion, across the lands of the United States and in the process improve soil health, understanding that soil is a living organism and as any such complex living organism health is measured through the quantity and quality of life forms in soils.
Significantly improve the quantity, quality or connectivity of food and or habitat cover available for wildlife at the correct times of year to assist the life cycles of numerous different species both above and below ground by providing, cover, protection, or removal of cover as various times of year depending on the needs of multiple different levels of management considerations. Monitor to ensure desired results are achieved both short and long term as a result of management decisions made regarding cover and change management decisions if negative unintended results are observed.
Manage fire fuel loads in such a way as to remove fuel loads from the chemical oxidization process and convert them into biological cycled carbon through the studious use of grazing animals grazing, dunging and trampling forage flat onto the ground, and fungi and bacteria continuing the process of cycling the nutrients, and minerals, in brittle and non brittle environments. Plant materials must be in contact with the soil to break down and biologically cycle.
Conditions where practices applies.
These practices will apply to all lands where grazing and or browsing animals are managed.
Criteria
General criteria applicable to all purposes
Using the quality of life statement (QOL) for the community which relies on the grazing lands, livestock and wildlife grazing needs, will need to be assessed and measured to ensure that stocking rates of both wildlife and livestock are jointly considered. Wildlife to include birds, mammals, reptiles, fish, feral equines and commercial livestock will all need to be managed to improve the biomass and biodiversity of all life forms, both above and below ground, this will include fungi, grasses, legumes, broadleaf forbes, shrubs and trees.
When calculating stocking rates and timing of forage removal wildlife and livestock’s nutritional and breeding needs must be considered. The plants life cycles must also be considered within the entirety of a grazing plan to ensure that in some different locations each year the entire breeding life cycle is allowed to be completed so ensuring reseeding occurs intermittently for all plant and fungi species and some wildlife habitat is completely untouched each year. This only needs to be a small percentage less than 5% annually set aside and not necessarily as a 5% or less contiguous block of land, many smaller pieces within the grazing planning area will have the desired outcomes, as long as they are not repeated used annually. The goal being to increase the edge effect of untouched land.
Growing season grazing planning
Recovery time after grazing being paramount for the future well-being of the land under management it may be decided that longer recovery periods are needed in specific circumstances, and as such a grazing deferments of up to 2 years may be needed and granted to allow for full recovery of plants, or seedlings to develop deep enough root systems for maximum health and strength. Certain areas shall require two grazing plans one growing season grazing plan and one dormant non growing season grazing plan, the dormant season grazing plans may or may not include livestock and may be designed just for wildlife. The considerations made in planning for a dormant season and a growing season grazing plan will often be and often take into consideration very different considerations. The growing season plans will often be around having livestock gain as much condition as is possible, whilst the dormant season grazing plans will often be centered on decisions to prepare the land for the next growing season.
Dormant season grazing planning
Manage livestock and wildlife movements based on rate of plant growth, rate of plant regrowth after grazing available forage biomass and nutrition levels of forage. Once plants have gone dormant due to either coldness or dryness then a new grazing plan will be created and grazing will be planned based on removal of biomass in preparation for the next seasons growing season, this will include decisions to increase and improve ground cover and to effectively get plant seeds under the soil and compacted against the soil to increase the germination rates of the next generation of forage. Decisions made during the dormant season will have an impact on the plants future growing season health. During the dormant season preparation for the next growing season and for wildlife and livestock nutritional and habitat needs must all be made within a single grazing plan which will lay out where animals will be moved to when they will be moved how long they will be in a specific area and at what density they will be grazed at. Densities of grazing animals for recording data purposes shall be measured at pounds per acre per time unit I.E. 1,000,000 million # per acre per 10 minutes, or 250,000# per acre per one hour. 250,000#/acre/30 minutes being the weight of the herd being managed on a particular day and the area which the herd as a unit was in. This would equate to 500 x 500 pound steers on an acre for 30 minutes of grazing before being moved as a herd forward to fresh grazing based on the biomass of forage available to the herd. Now in many situations the decision may be made to graze 33%, trample 33% and leave 33% in which case the initial biological monitoring would have shown that the biomass available on this acre grazed was 3 times more than the herd required for sustenance and the density required to trample all the forage needed may have been a density of 750,000# per acre for complete trampling in 30 minutes.
Due to the sensitive nature of many riparian areas wetland areas Karst areas, It will be important to plan impacts carefully. In many scenarios a single high impact very short duration event can positively change the topography of for example sheer steep river banks which after plants re-establishment will significantly reduce future soil erosion however continuous access to riparian areas in the same location may have the exact opposite effect and may in fact increase soil erosion and the negative impacts. Trampling in riparian areas can have a positive impact however over trampling can have a negative impact, over trampling is based on time and number of days trampling occurs over and not from the number of animals involved, which can take years to recover from. According to the local communities experience based on soil type and vegetation types these decisions will need to be taken at a local level. In many areas where the land is mostly flooded or swampy for long periods of the year the correct livestock species may be livestock like the Asian water Buffalo and the same rules of planning the grazing will apply to them. Many riparian areas will significantly benefit from strategic high to ultra high density grazing for short periods of each year.
It will be important to provide adequate quantity and quality drinking water during periods of occupancy. Numerous livestock parasites live in and come off the vegetation growing on the edge of ponds, much of what can be done to improve livestock health without relying on dewormers which kill the biodiversity needed in a healthy environment can come through the grazing planning. Ensuring that after livestock have had access to water a period of up to a year expires before livestock reuse the same water points will significantly reduce parasite loads for livestock. If there are ponds or rivers in some locations where having a full year without livestock may be difficult it may be better to pump water from those water sources into troughs away from the riparian areas for the purpose of watering livestock if the livestock water source would require animals to be in the location for longer than one week. Time at each individual water point is a crucial management decision, this is especially important for wildlife and feral equines which may become habituated to man-made water points and will also require management.
Develop contingency plans to deal with expected episodic disturbance events for example droughts wildfire, insect infestations, avalanches, flooding, tornado, or hurricanes etc. And develop drought reserve plans for if rainfall is late or the rainfall is significantly below average in a particular year. These plans will either be prepared in advance if it’s a regular occurrence or shortly after an event has happened that would not allow the regular following of the already prepared plans.
Develop monitoring plans or ecological outcome verification to support the adaptive management decisions based upon early warning signs that were previously identified in the initial creation of the quality of life statement (QOL) and initial grazing and land planning. The monitoring should include social monitoring to ensure the community affected by the grazing management are involved and content with the results that the entity undertaking the grazing management are achieving. To ensure that they and those benefiting from increased wildlife, forestry or other uses of the land are not being detrimentally affected economically and finally that the biomass, biodiversity both above and below ground are continuing to increase year on year with the soil health and effective water cycle improving as measured by carbon cycling, nutrient flows and solar energy flows. Of particular importance in the monitoring is to ensure that the weak link in the life cycles of plant, fungi or animal species which are endangered or threatened are being strengthened and supported through the management plan.
Furthermore should any of the monitoring show that some species are becoming detrimentally predominant/to numerous over other species then measures must be made within management to weaken that species by studying the weak link in its life cycle and putting in place measures to hinder the species at that point. All species when being monitored should be analyzed using a bell shaped curve to verify the healthiness of the subject species. The bell shaped curve should either be based on age of population or numbers of population compared to other numbers of species depending on the type of species and habitat. A healthy population having few young, many adult and few very old.
This monitoring should then be used to analyze confirmation of all applicable Federal, State, Tribal and local laws and can be used to seek measures to avoid adverse effects to endangered, threatened and candidate species and their habitats.
Additional criteria to improve or maintain the health and vigor of desired plant communities
As overgrazing is a factor of time not of animal numbers or species it is important to base calculations on the intensity, frequency, timing and duration of grazing or browsing on desired plant health expected productivity and composition of key species to meet management objectives.
Plan for and allow periodic deferment from grazing and browsing for up to two full growing seasons. To allow for the full recovery of plants after a seeding event, using livestock or mechanical means, a fire event or a severe drought event or in areas with very erratic and low rainfall.
Where appropriate test soil periodically for nutrient status and soil reaction and apply fertilizer, biofert, and or soil amendments according to the soil test results to improve or maintain plant vigor. Soil tests need to be broken down into chemical analysis and life analysis in the soil. Chromatography being the cheapest and most versatile method which any land managers can quickly learn and easily keep records of improvements over time with.
Additional criteria to improve or maintain quantity and quality of forage for animal health and all productivity
Plan the grazing and/or browsing plus the recovery periods, utilizing the tools of herd effect and animal density to achieve the quality of life (QOL) goals socially, economically and environmentally for the livestock manager and land under management.
Utilize the grazing planning process combined with the weak link analysis to ensure livestock are not negatively stressed, or poisoned or sickened from being forced to consume too much, or stay in a location for too long, hence encouraging any toxic or poisonous plants, fungi, pests or predators to cause harm to said livestock. Our treatment of our livestock reflects on us as a Nation as such we require the humane treatment of our animals whilst caring for and growing them, whilst respecting our intergenerational heritage of standard traditional animal husbandry practices.
Provide supplemental feed and/or minerals as needed to balance with forage consumption to meet the desired nutritional level of the kind and class of grazing and or browsing livestock. It is understood that grazing animals are expected to gain weight during the growing summer seasons and to lose weight in the dormant or winter periods.
Base the dietary needs of livestock on the National Research council’s nutrient requirements of domestic animals or similar scientific sources with appropriate adjustments made for the increased energy demand required by browsing or grazing animals foraging for food including travel to and from grazing/ browsing area. When appropriate free choice minerals should be utilized to not poison equines or wildlife.
Additional criteria to improve or maintain surface and/or subsurface water quality and/or quantity
Minimize the amount of time that livestock are concentrated in any one particular area to enhance distribution of nutrients and improve or maintain ground cover.
Manage herd effect behavior, density, intensity, frequency, timing, and duration of grazing browsing and or supplemental feeding to minimize deposition or flow of animal waste into water bodies, by controlling time and access to watering areas.
Minimize animal impacts on stream banks or shoreline stability by controlling for increased density and herd effect and minimizing time of impact whilst maximizing recovery time after impact alongside water bodies.
Maintain or improve hydrological function including infiltration and\ or filtering capacity and soil surface stability to reduce runoff by providing adequate ground cover, plant spacing, and plant density.
Additional criteria to improve or maintain riparian and\ or watershed function
Is important that riparian areas management and planning is different to upland grazing areas both with regards to ponded/lake areas and to flowing stream areas.
Riparian streams and rivers need to be managed so that the period of the year that has the maximum chance of flooding the maximum amount of grass and/or willow type biomass must be available when the flooding event occurs. After flooding events have subsided then is the preferred time to plan to graze those stream banks to allow fresh regrowth to occur, to then be living or dormant biomass, come the next cycle of flooding. This is to allow the long leaves and or branches to lay down flat on top of the soil surface and prevent scouring and erosion by the floodwaters. In most areas this is the spring snow melt flooding in other areas it is summer storm flooding. However, in the California Mediterranean climate it will likely be winter rain-storm flooding or winter melt flooding.
Another consideration to increase water holding capacity of soils is to utilize grazing herds to create hoof prints in wet soils on hillsides during precipitation events. This will create a fill and spill effect, holding the moisture on steep slopes allowing for it to sink in and further holding water in the higher areas, creating a seed germinating and root holding position on hill slopes. By planning grazing at density in uplands away from riparian areas during heavy precipitation events it further protects the lowlands from bogging and pugging and protects livestock from being washed away in flood events and improves habitat on slopes ability to retain and hold moisture in the soils. This will then increase plant density and improving filtration capacity and reduce runoff whilst creating strong root mass of fibrous soil holding roots on slopes preventing mud slides and soil erosion and holding water in the soils above the water tables reach.
In areas where there are ponds wetlands and lakes it is important to remember that historically animals wallowing in the prairies is what created the ponds, by carrying mud out on their bodies to guard against insects, as such the management of ponds and the disturbance desired is very different to the disturbance on flowing stream banks.
Ponds therefore need to be managed and considered differently. One consideration is as sources of clean drinking water for livestock, wildlife and duck and amphibian species breeding grounds, the other consideration is to keep the ponds from silting up by allowing for severe disturbance mudding up to carry silt out of the ponds and back into the grassland.
The grazing planning should identify the best strategies and timing for the different management needs of the ponds. Often, pumping water out of a pond into troughs away from the ponds will be in the livestock’s best interest to prevent flukes and other parasites infecting the livestock.
Some livestock for example Asian water Buffalo will require completely different riparian area grazing planning management which would be highly beneficial for the swampy areas of the United States Keeping the waterways open and the flow continuing without damming up and causing additional flooding.
Understanding that many amphibious species and ducks and ducklings require the breakdown of vegetation in a symbiotic relationship with livestock and wildlife to bring insect life to the riparian areas for the amphibious species to prey on or the ducklings to feed on keeping livestock completely away from riparian areas is not in the best interest of the numerous species of that which rely on having animals being part of their life cycle. Livestock must be in riparian areas, however they must only be in these areas for short periods of time each year.
Additional criteria to reduce soil erosion and maintain or improve soil health
The number one cause of bare soil, compacted soil, and overgrazed plants is animals in a location for too much time. As such the goal is to minimize the time of concentrated livestock in any one area. The goal is to minimize the time that animals trail from one location to another and back again to reduce trailing. The goal is to minimize the time that animals are in one location trampling the ground and compacting the soil. If we manage the time that animals are in any one location in a paddock we can expect the health of the soil to improve we can expect excess runoff and erosion to decrease and we can expect to increase the amount of soil organic matter and ground cover on our soils. Our goal is to be more concerned with the time animals are exposed to any piece of land and to be less concerned with the number of animals on any piece of land. The more animals in a herd the less time the animals will be in a location, due to the fact that more animals eat more forage quicker and therefore will need to move to a fresh location quicker. After initial grazing we desire herds to move to new areas before herds are forced to eat any plant litter which was initially trampled to the ground, it is better for the plant litter to remain on top of the ground to protect the soil from the harmful effects of ultraviolet light than to be picked up and consumed by hungry livestock.
The next criteria is that animals must be used as much as possible in the place of fire to create fire breaks as an animal created firebreak is less costly to create, more effective, safer for humans and a biologically sound decision which do not kill millions of animals annually. These fire breaks must be planned well in advance and strategically should be grazed across the line of predominant dormant season winds when possible. Fire being one of the largest causes of soil erosion, siltation of rivers, air pollution and the death of thousands of animals per acre burnt (research supports a figure of 6,000 animals killed by fire per acre burnt). Fire also caps and seals the soil surface so preventing water getting below ground where it can replenish the aquifers. Fire kills the seeds of plants waiting to germinate and removes the armor that protects the soil microorganisms from harmful ultraviolet light.
In many locations after there have been fires the subsequent rains will have mud slides associated with them, this is another reason why animals and hoof prints on hillsides should be considered in grazing planning to prevent droughts, floods and mud slides.
Where old moribund forbs, shrubs or trees are established if livestock owners can be encouraged to use herd effect at ultra high density with supplemental feed to trample and reinvigorate plants and by so doing reduce the extreme fire risk this labor intensive program should be looked upon highly favorably
Additional criteria to improve or maintain food and\ or cover for fish and\ or wildlife species of concern
When creating the quality of life statement (QOL) in the environmental part where a description of what the plants, fungi and animals should look like it is important to identify any species of concern so that they can be specifically considered as part of any grazing plan.
Any species under consideration should have its life cycle examined and wherever that particular species is weakest this is where the grazing plan should be modified to concentrate on creating conditions more favorable to supporting the species at the weakest point in its life cycle.
The types of management decisions that may be made to support a species could be more density or less density more animals or less animals or animals grazing a particular meadow/area a month earlier or a month later depending on nesting or spawning, however, these decisions will only be made after looking at the life cycle to find where the support needs to be given. The bell-shaped population curve shall be used in deciding when the species of concern is back in balance with its ecosystem and no longer needs additional support. Some species will definitely be hurt with less ground cover and some will be hurt with more ground cover so there is not one answer to all situations it will be species specific and location specific. With regards to wildlife or plants that are becoming a nuisance or are upsetting the balance due to becoming plagues or completely outcompeting all other plants, fungi or animals then the weak point in the life cycle must be used as the point in which two make management decisions to hurt or hinder that particular species only until the bell-shaped population curve shows that the plant or animal is back in balance with the rest of the ecosystem.
Additional criteria for management of fine fuel load
As stated earlier animals should be, when at all possible, used for the creation of fire breaks and for the management of fuel loads. Grazing animals turn standing dry biomass into biomass flattened on the ground which has significantly less burning risk. When at all possible grazing planning should be done well in advance of potential fire seasons and if there are known prevailing winds then grazing should replanned to be perpendicular to the wind direction when the fire season predominates. By planning the grazing to remove fuel loads in grasslands and savannah forests the negative effects of fire will be greatly reduce.
Fires are easiest to be stopped at the top of hills and at the bottom of hills or where there are rivers so when planning to graze fire breaks these areas should be concentrated on first.
If a prescribed burn is absolutely necessary it is preferable to plan the burn up against any area which has already been pre grazed to further reduce risks of a run away fire.
Considerations
Protect soil, water, air, plant, fungi and animal resources when locating livestock feeding, supplementation, handling, and watering facilities.
Design and install livestock feeding, handling, and watering facilities in a manner to improve and/or maintain animal distribution. Design and install facilities to minimize stress, the spread of disease, parasites, contact with harmful organisms, and toxic plants and fungi.
Utilization, stubble height, and other target levels are tools that can be used in conjunction with monitoring to help ensure that resource conservation and producers objectives are met however, no grazing animal has a tape measure attached to it as such these are guidance’s for humans not for the animals that humans manage. Performing weekly plant growth measurements and plotting on graphs to monitor exponential growth during the growing season is important to know when to speed up and slow down herds as they cross the landscape. These measurement can also help planning regrazing recovery periods.
It has been found to be practical and beneficial to start grazing plans in different locations each growing season this allows for different plants in different paddocks to complete their life cycles and go to seed.
Any perceived weed problems should be managed utilizing the bell-shaped population curve and the weak links however all plants animals and fungi are respected as being part of the biodiversity which is required for a healthy functioning soil and ecosystem as long as their population falls within the range a healthy bell-shaped population curve.
The grazing plan should always be cognizant of the social part of the quality of life (QOL) aspects of the grazing plan for the surrounding community and community of citizens utilizing the space for recreation in the forms of hunting, fishing and general wildlife viewing, hiking, horseback riding, mountain biking, 4 wheeler driving, mining and forestry to name a few. All of the complexity of the different use stakeholders should be included in the grazing plan to maximize the benefits to everyone.
As much as possible alternatives that minimize additional grazing management infrastructure while still achieving planned objectives for the desired fish and wildlife species of concern as well as other recreational users should be considered utilized and funded by grants where applicable for example herding of livestock, or temporary portable fencing, versus permanent fencing of livestock whether the herding be virtual in nature or physical are prime examples of alternatives to permanent fencing.
Provide deferment or rest from grazing or browsing as necessary to ensure the success of prescribed fire, brush management, seeding or other conservation practices to prevent stress or damage to key plants, fungi or wildlife.
Use drought forecasting tools and soil water forecasts were available, to promote the accuracy of forage production, production projections, improved carbon sequestration in biomass and soils through management of grazing and/ all browsing to produce the desired results of the quality of life statement (QOL).
Plan bio-security safeguards to prevent the spread of disease between on farm or ranch classes of livestock and between livestock farm or ranch units.
Provide shelter in the form of windbreaks, shades shade structures and other protective features where conditions warrant to protect livestock from severe weather intense heat/ humidity and predators.
If nutrients are being applied, CPS nutrient management (code 590) will be applied.
Maintain conservative stocking rates as a drought contingency strategy to minimize detrimental consequences during drought on economic and ecological state sustainability, use biological monitoring to gauge whether to destock early to allow for carrying the maximum number of animals through a drought, in a healthy condition.
Plans and specifications
Prepare a prescribed grazing plan for all planned conservation management units where grazing and/ or browsing will occur according to state standards and specifications.
Prescribed grazing plan will include-
Goals and objectives clearly stated to include the quality of life statement (QOL) which stated socially, economically and environmentally the long term desired descriptions of how people many years into the future desired their lives to be.
Resource inventory that identifies-
Existing resource conditions and concerns
Ecological site or forage suitability group
Opportunities to enhance resource conditions
Location and condition of structural improvements such as fences, water developments etc. including seasonal availability and quality of watering sites
Forage inventory of the expected forage quality, quantity and species in each management unit based on biannual biological monitoring
Forage-animal balance developed for the grazing plan that ensures forage produced or available meets forage demand of livestock and/ or wildlife and/ or feral horses.
Grazing plan developed for livestock that identifies periods of grazing and/ or browsing, deferment, rest, and/ or other treatment activities for each management unit that accommodates the flexibility needed for adaptive management decisions as supported by the contingency plan and monitoring plan in order to meet goals and objectives.