A holistic approach to rotational grazing: optimized grazing schedule, small-scale applications, and incorporating carbon credits

Abstract

This paper explores the financial incentives for large- and small-scale cattle producers in Colorado to incorporate rotational grazing into their operation. The financial benefit to rotational grazing is to provide feed for cattle for a longer period of time without purchasing hay by optimizing the rotation schedule according to weather, forage growth, and the changing nutrient requirements of beef cattle during the reproductive cycle. The social and political push towards sustainable practices has resulted in the growth of the carbon credit market, which can act as a secondary source of revenue for large scale cattle producers that are willing to make the switch to rotational grazing. For small acreage producers, the benefit to rotational grazing relies on the ability to stretch pastures and decrease supplemental forage costs. Often times, small acreage operations are raising cattle for their personal beef supply, so every dollar saved from forage costs directly relates to lower beef costs. Longer lasting pastures could offer a producer the option to market calves at a later date for a potentially higher price and carbon credit production diversifies an enterprise, both providing financial incentives for rotational grazing.