Grazing Animals - Including Ponies - Doing Good
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As you are likely aware, there is a debate raging about whether we humans should all be vegetarians, with the related opinion that livestock raised for meat should be removed from landscapes. Like anything in life that’s important, it’s a complex topic. Grazing animals such as cattle, sheep and goats can do damage to landscapes, a truth that fuels the pro-vegetarian/anti-livestock camp. However, it is also the case that grazing animals can benefit landscapes when their grazing is managed with that goal in mind. In a large swath of North America, grazing animals were an important part of healthy ecosystems prior to the arrival of Europeans to the continent, and around the world there are increasing numbers of farmers and ranchers who are successfully using livestock to improve landscapes and soil health. In England, Fell Ponies are being used for this sort of beneficial grazing in their home region (click here to for more information).
In a recent paper in the journal animals, famed professor and livestock handling expert Temple Grandin laid out the current research that supports the title “Grazing Cattle, Sheep, and Goats Are Important Parts of a Sustainable Agricultural Future.” She concludes the article with “Well-managed grazing systems can be truly sustainable and improve soil health, help sequester carbon, and maintain plant biodiversity. The grazing animals are part of the cycle of life and the natural grass ecosystem. They are a natural part of the land.” (1) I have an ongoing assignment for Rural Heritage magazine to write articles on this and similar topics.
Usually, the discussions about the benefits of managed grazing involve the species that Grandin includes in her paper: cattle, sheep, and goats. A new book crossed my desk, however, that gives equine owners guidance on how to feed their animals with the same goals in mind: improving landscapes and soil health. Called Species-rich Grassland: The Secret Key to Equine Health, the book is written by a German scientist who lays out in both an informative and entertaining way the science of managing forage and choosing forage products for the benefit of equines and their landscapes. The book was published in 2019 and translated from German in 2021. The author is a PhD ecophysiologist specializing in equine pastures, and she has copiously referenced current and historical research from around the world in this volume.
Things that we regularly take for granted when we have equines are called into question in the book. For instance, Vanselow considers mowing hay to be ecologically damaging in most cases because it reduces species diversity, both in forage plants and in the numerous other animal species that call pastures home. Any hay meadow that has to be resown every few years also should be cause for reconsideration. Fortunately, numerous case studies are given to show how to manage grassland more holistically, opening the reader’s mind to how our own landscape or the landscape from which we purchase forage products can be managed better for the health of our equines and other community members.
The book is available from the publishers of Rural Heritage magazine. I highly recommend it for its thought-provoking and inspiring content.
Grandin, Temple. “Grazing Cattle, Sheep and Goats are Important Parts of a Sustainable Agricultural Future, animals, 2002.12.2092, https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12162092, 8/16/22.
© Jenifer Morrissey, 2022
