recommendations
D. Revitalize animal husbandry in concord • Increase the local animal product supply—meat, poultry, dairy, and eggs—through ecologically-sound animal husbandry practices. • Encourage multi-species rotational grazing for most efficient use of pasture resources (see Figure 10.3). • Recycle nutrients on farms and gardens; livestock can eat crop and food waste, while their manure fertilizes the fields. • Deliver institutional food waste to animal operations for use as feed, reducing waste going to the landfill. • Re-establish local and regional animal and dairy processing facilities to increase infrastructure that reduces transportation distances and costs, increases transparency, and provides local jobs. • Investigate ways to make mobile poultry processing units (MPPUs) more economically viable to encourage more local chicken operations. • Streamline the regulatory environment to reduce the licensing fees and paperwork required by livestock farmers. • Get permit from the Board of Health to raise chickens and other small animals to provide for local food and fertilizer needs (i.e., chickens, rabbits, sheep, goats).
rotational grazing
When given free range of a pasture, herbivores preferentially select vegetation, and over time, these pastures generally become recolonized by woodier species. Even with chainsaws and weed-wackers today, pastures can be difficult to manage; pre-oil, nineteenth century farmers grew tired of fighting forest succession. A simple twenty-first-century technology— electric fencing—has made pasture management more feasible. Livestock are trained to avoid low-voltage electric fences, and can therefore be kept in smaller paddocks where they graze all the grasses, forbs, and browse woody plants. Fencing options include permanent or semipermanent designs that can be easily moved to allow livestock access to a fresh paddock (see photo to the right).
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Concord, Massachusetts
Figure 10.3: Multi-species rotational grazing is an efficient way to manage pasture resources, improve pasture fertility and yield, and reduce the need for supplemental feed.
how multi-species grazing works
Multi-species grazing is an efficient way to manage pasture resources. Different species prefer different kinds of vegetation: cows and horses prefer grass, while sheep will eat grass, forbs (any herbaceous, broad-leaf plant), and some browse (usually woody plants). Goats prefer browse over grasses and forbs. Chickens will peck at grass and bugs, helping to manage parasites (Core). In addition, different species prefer different lengths of vegetation due to the anatomical structure of their mouths. Cows prefer grass at 12-14 inches, while sheep prefer 4-6 inches, and goats prefer reaching for vegetation above their necks. This system helps to preserve plant diversity, increase pasture capacity while reducing cost, increasing meat production, and increasing net income (Core).
Fencing options for rotational grazing include permanent or semi-permanent designs, enabling livestock to access fresh paddocks.