Grazing for Conservation Pleasure to be here this morning to talk about MDC’s interest in well managed grazing. We have learned a lot about the value of grazing to the health of our grassland ecosystems over the past decade. This morning I plan to talk about why and how we graze to implement specific habitat benefits. I will briefly cover how we graze our public conservation areas, but I will focus mostly on how we work with landowners to improve grassland and grazing management in ways that make financial sense and still benefit wildlife. I hope you saw this 2016 article in the Conservationist magazine, which provided more details than I will be able to cover this morning.

Missouri Bird Group Trends 1966 - 2009 I’ll start by noting that the birds that depend on open grassland have been in steep decline for a half century. This slide shows Breeding Bird Survey population trends for Missouri from 1966 through 2009 for groups of birds by their principle habitats. These trends mirror overall trends in land cover type.

One type of grassland can’t meet the needs of all these declining birds. We have to manage our grasslands to maintain patchiness – we need all cover types and heights represented in the landscape - - - we work really hard to avoid uniformity

Most Missouri grasslands provide only the habitat extremes All or nothing Public Land & CRP Fescue Pasture

Essential Habitat in the Middle is Missing We are learning that nothing creates the ‘missing middle habitat like grazing

Most private grazing land does not provide the residual cover needed to support good numbers of declining grassland birds. Whether your focus includes wildlife or not, pasture grazed like this has shallow, weak roots that don’t make efficient use of rainfall.

Wildlife managers would also say that we have too much of this Rank, undisturbed grass-dominated CRP plantings or protected prairies are not much better for birds than chronically overgrazed pasture. Although sites like this protect soil and water resources, they are little better than a tangle of uniformly tall vegetation.

We would like to see more of this on the landscape; a mix of native bunchgrasses and broadleaved plants with a little bare ground scattered throughout.

Most Practices Produce Uniformity Unfortunately, most of our grassland management practices create more uniformity, at least in the short term

Grazing is a Better Approach Gradually removes & structures cover Normally pays for itself

This is the reason I’ve talked so much about patchiness and structural diversity. . . Lacking brood cover - which provides overhead cover and some bare ground that allows chicks easy movement and access to insects – is probably the main limiting factor to quail on Missouri’s grasslands. Without grazing, it is extremely difficult to create and maintain good brood habitat.

What do I mean when I say, ‘patchy cover’? Seasonally, disturbed patches like this are useful habitat elements. However, we would hope sites like would get rest and time to recover from year to year. Ideally, disturbed patches move across the landscape as a result of intensive grazing from year to year.

Soft Edge

We use patch-burn grazing on our public grasslands to create this variation across the landscape. Patch-burning is basically a rotational grazing system without cross fences. Briefly describe PBG.

Rotation and Rest are Key to Maintaining Patchy Habitat Most producers won’t adopt patch-burn grazing on their land, but we can accomplish the same patch-effect with a rotational grazing system that provides periods of rest and recovery for forage plants.

Timely grazing maintains brooding habitat that young birds need. Rotational grazing strategies benefit birds by staggering grazing impact across the farm. Delaying grazing gives ground nesting birds a chance to nest.

Simple, Open-Gate Rotation Rotational grazing can be approached really simply – the idea being to increase stock density on some pastures while others rest. A 4-pasture open gate rotation system is a pretty good place to start if having quail and grasslands birds is an objective.

More complex grazing systems apply the same principles – intensive grazing impact followed by ample rest. I see a lot of good habitat created at the farm scale with these approaches, of course labor, infrastructure and grazing management experience need to be considered before diving-in.

A Diverse Forage Base Reduces the Need to Hay and Adds Habitat Potential In addition to rotation and rest, staggering the availability of good-quality forage across seasons can benefit livestock and wildlife.

The addition of native forages can help beat the summer slump and keep cattle performing well during summer months. In this example, USDA EQIP funds were used to add fence and water to support rotational grazing, and a mix of native warm season grasses was established over two years to replace some of the tall fescue pasture.

Resulting Benefits Initially: 15 cow/calf pairs After cross-fencing: 25 cow/calf pairs After NWSG establishment: 30 cow/calf pairs ADG > 2 lb./day during summer NWSG added structure for quail and grassland birds

Annual Cover Crop Mixes In addition to adding diversity with native forages, grazing annual cover crop mixes can provide excellent high-energy forage and give perennial pastures time to fully recover. Both cool and warm season mixes are available, and in addition to providing exceptional forage, these plantings can provide good brooding habitat and draw a diversity of pollinators and other insects that benefit birds.

Take Home Points The birds in greatest need don't nest in trees; The habitat those birds need is mostly privately owned and managed for beef production; When stocking rate is matched to carrying capacity, it is entirely possible to produce beef and excellent bird habitat on the same acres; Rotational grazing efficient cows on a diverse forage base can help birds and the bottom-line; Producers who have the financial freedom to plan for the long-term are the best bet for conservation; market-based conservation may prove helpful. In closing, I want to offer a few points for further your consideration. . .

Thank you for your time this morning Thank you for your time this morning. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.