
Ten Resources to Help You Start Grazing
This post was produced in collaboration with Grassland 2.0.Β
Well-managed grazing practices can be profitable, enjoyable, and good for the land. As you get started grazing, nothing will be more valuable to you than talking with other graziers, and grazing specialists, in your area. This list is intended to help you find answers to your questions as well as connect with local networks that can support you as you’re getting started.

1. Ask a grazier
Chat directly with some of the Midwest’s most experienced graziers in theΒ Ask-A-Grazier Facebook group.
2. Don’t miss this grazing conference
The annualΒ GrassWorks Grazing Conference brings together graziers from across Wisconsin and the Driftless area each winter. It is truly a conference “of graziers, by graziers, for graziers”.
3. Find your network
Check out the new Midwest Grazing Exchange to find landowners or graziers interested in custom grazing partnerships.Β
4. Financial planning
Grazing has to make sense for you financially. Production levels are less important for the future of your farm than your profitability. If you have been managing livestock for a while, the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systemβs Livestock Compass developed by Grassland 2.0 collaborators can help you make sense of your numbers and look for ways to improve profitability. Grassland 2.0 is also working to develop “GrazeScape”, a new tool for planning on-farm grazing management.
5. Fundamental videos
The Pasture ProjectβsΒ Grazing Fundamentals Video SeriesΒ provides an excellent farmβs-eye-view of important grazing concepts and equipment. They also have a video tutorial onΒ fencing systemsΒ andΒ wateringΒ you can check out.

6. Try this cash flow calculator
The Pasture ProjectβsΒ Pasture-Raised Beef Calculator provides five-year cash flow projections and a value calculator for purchase and sales decisions (it is designed for beef but can be modified to be appropriate for any pasture-based animal production).
7. Yield calculator
Are you thinking about direct marketing meats? You can use theΒ Cornell Meat Price & Yield Calculator to help you set prices for your products.

8. Extension guides
Pastures for Profit: A Guide to Rotational GrazingΒ is a free UW-Madison Extension guide providing an overview of every aspect of managed grazing. The University of Minnesota Extension also have aΒ Grazing Systems Planning GuideΒ which can be a great resource.


Food safety in silvopasture systems
Download the guide developed by Savanna Institute and Farm Commons.

9. Online classes
DGAβs Managed Grazing Innovation Center (MGIC)Β offers six online classes that are open to the public.
10. Add these manuals to your reading list
Books like theΒ GrassWorks Grazing GuideΒ or Jim GerrishβsΒ Missouri Grazing ManualΒ provide a good foundation for folks looking for additional information. Also, ATTRA, also known as the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service, has aΒ Grazing Planning Manual and WorkbookΒ with checklist and templates to get you started.
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