Rotational grazing/Holistic management

[andybob]

The thread on native grasses brought to mind the use of rotational grazing as a management tool, has anyone done the Holistic management courses, if so, with what results?
When I was using rotational grazing in Zimbabwe, there was a noticeable reversal in the encroachment of Acacia scrub, has anyone found this to be the case with Mesquite and similar invasive trees and scrub here in the States?

 

[Herefordcross]

It helps with the weeds some although we don't have the weeds that Zimbabwe does,

 

[Hippie Rancher]

I have done some of the courses and read the first edition of the book several times.

HRM is NOT just about rotational grazing - and that is why "it" tends to fail when tested by university/proffessional Range science types.

Having said that, the work Alan Savory did is useful and insightful. Unfortunately, the organization seems to have succumbed to the kind of rigidity that most organizations do after time, even to the point that the term Holistic Resource Management is now trademarked. :roll:

The principles of herd behavior, timing, disturbance, and other concepts he articulated are all valid. I think the decision making model is even useful if you can stick with it, the observations that the monitoring causes you to make are EXCELLENT. (I have at least one long term full monitoring point in every pasture and over 200 photo points on this place)

There is a lot of good that has come from Savory and HRM, unfortunately a lot of people made HUGE mistakes and he gets all the blame for it.

It is interesting to see how some of the things he espoused early on (and was thought of as being extremely radical) are now pretty mainstream.