Holistic Planned Grazing in South African grasslands: Soil, vegetation and cattle responses. Zander Venter PhD candidate University of Cape Town

Take home question: Can changing grazing management practices do this?.... Consider the question of how a landscape goes from this to this? From low ground cover to high ground cover and large biomass with healthy livestock production. Many factors that could be considered The key focus of my thesis is trying to discern to what extent grassland agroecosystem production can be increased through manipulating livestock management – particularly grazing intensity with HPM.

Why is this important to consider? 69% land-base suitable for extensive grazing Livestock largest agricultural sector Opportunities for commercial and communal red meat producers So why?.... 69%....This map shows grazing capacity over SA – all the light brown to green areas show high grazing capacity and this is most of our country. Liestock sector largest in SA But this is a map of land degradation in SA – organge and red areas moderate to severe degradation and these align with areas of high grazing potential. Reversing this degragation through livestock management provides opportunities… This is sustainable in that it strikes a balance beteen 3 pillars of sustainability. www.environment.gov.za

HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT Holistic context & goal Adaptive management framework Ecosystem processes & Tools HM is a tool proposed to address this problem. What is HM? Making land management decisions within a holistic context with a holisitic goal. Within this, adaptive management takes place And this management involved altering ecosystem processes (nutrient ccle, water cycle, community dynamics energy flow) and tools – fire, grazing, rest, animal impact. This is HPG – the testable component of HM – in what way do these tools influence the ecosystem processes.

HOLISTIC PLANNED GRAZING HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT Holistic context & goal Adaptive management framework HOLISTIC PLANNED GRAZING Ecosystem processes & Tools

Holistic Planned Grazing – ecosystem processes and tools www.tracrep.com www.gettyimages.com Allan Savory that the ecosystem processes and tools that are beneficial for grasslands are typified in the behaviour of large herds of wild herbivores. – tight herds with high impact on soil and vegetation. Compare this to the average livestock farm – licture very different – a few cattle standing here and there grazing a bit and lying down. BUT, this assumption can be questioned – because wild herbivores also move in low density herds at times. So here we are trying to understand if the first picture is actually a desirable state for grassland productivity.

How to mimic this on the farm? Animal density Recovery period So how do we mimic…? Key factors that are manipulated are animal densities - number of animals in a given grazing area. And recovery period – how long a given grazing area is allowed to rest from grazing. On the farm it looks something like this – on left farm only has 4 camps with low animal densities, while on right farm has 16 camps with high animal densities. As cattle rotate around the grass recovers slowly behind them.

Holistic Planned Grazing – ecosystem processes and tools Soil nutrient cycling Vegetation quantity Hoof impact HPG Soil water infiltration Animal density Balanced species composition Non-selectivity The aim of my thesis is to understand the two coponents of HPG Hypothesised that increasing animal density will increase the amount of footsteps taken and thus hoof impact on soil and veg. This will then increase the incorporation of dung and urine and plant litter into the soil. Break soil surface crusts and increase water infiltration and these two combined will increase vegetation production. Animal density will also influence animal behaviour so as to reduce their ability to select for palatable species only – this will create a balanced vegetation species composition and promote vegetation biodiversity. Then recovery period will allow for leaves to recover and sustaine plant growth reserves – this will then optimise the plants anbility to compensate for grazing – ultimately optimize total biomass production over the growing season. Vegetation quality Increase plant reserves Recovery period Optimize growth

How do we test these claims? Farm-scale experimental trial Greenhouse clipping experiments National farm grazing management survey You can get involved!

Farm trial: Experimental farm: Merino Walk, Matatiele, EC Flats Slopes So how are we going to test these hypotheses? Experimental farm called Merino Walk near Matatiele, EC. Three treatments of different management practices – first is the one in question, HPG – see many grazing strips/camps. Second more conventional one used in the area – 4-camp rotation in blue where cattle rotated between 4 camps Third is continuous grazing where cattle left to graze freely. The important variables again are mean stock density and recovery period – you can see how these are very different for HPG compared to other two treatments.

Preliminary results so far…

Anecdotes - behaviour Holistic herd Conventional herd Photograph by Gerbrand Nel Conventional herd Photograph by Gerbrand Nel

Anecdotes – soil & plant impact Photograph by Gerbrand Nel

Vegetation greenness (growth)

Cattle performance Average weight (kg)

Grazing management survey Grazing management practices across SA Stocking rates Animal densities Fire Assess how they influence: Vegetation production (satellite imagery)

Get involved and complete/share the online national survey: Thank you to CSA, GreenMatter, Oppenheimer Memorial Trust, UCT for supporting this PhD. Get involved and complete/share the online national survey: Email: grazingresearch.uct@gmail.com