The Disruptive Art of a Flourishing Field

Image from four-part documentary series, Roots So Deep, highlighting the temporary, irregularly-shaped paddocks that can help fields from becoming stagnant.

Our past posts have examined the fundamental principles of growing and maintaining flourishing fields. Science and careful planning are the backbone of effective pasture management—but it's the creative, adaptive application of those plans that truly brings landscapes to life. Sometimes, this means challenging conventional wisdom about rotational grazing—not arbitrarily, but through intentional, well-timed disruptions designed to enhance ecological resilience. As Picasso once said, “Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”

Long before humans managed them, fields adapted naturally to massive herds of grazers, fires, droughts, floods, and other disturbances—each challenge ultimately contributing to their resilience. To maintain that same vitality today, our grazing strategies must evolve beyond rigid prescriptions. Over the past 40 years, terms like “prescribed grazing” have faded, giving way to labels like Adaptive Multi-Paddock (AMP) grazing. As the name implies, adaptation is key—and future concepts and terms will no doubt emerge as our understanding continues to grow.

So, what options do farmers have for deliberately introducing disruptions that can help our fields exercise different adaptations? Soil, climate, and management history can vary even within a single field, so there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. Success depends on continuous monitoring, learning, and adapting. To turn disturbances into opportunities, we must make thoughtful, intentional decisions.

Altering our planned grazing rotation is a strong first step toward revitalizing pasture health. For example, switching which fields are grazed first each spring or changing the usual direction of rotation introduces variability, especially timing, prompting different grasses to respond in new ways. Thinking outside the box can disrupt ingrained patterns that may have led us slowly down a path to stagnation.

Disruptions to the grazing plan can include simply not grazing a field—at least not predictably. If we usually allow 20–60 days of recovery, consider occasionally letting a field rest for several months or longer. Changing when animals graze can affect both pasture plant seed production and how the hidden seed bank responds. 

Increased plant and seed diversity along with insect and fauna diversity are all enhanced by alternating forage height at grazing time. If always grazed dogmatically at 8” of growth and rested when 3-4” remain, we are selecting for the plant species that perform best under those rigid conditions. Introducing variability allows a greater diversity of species an opportunity to thrive. When you lower plant species diversity, you also decrease soil microbial, insect and bird species diversity.

If you always start in field A, consider starting in another field or splitting A up and switching which side you start in. Let field C, or a portion of C, rest longer. Split field E up into long narrow paddocks. Change the order of your field rotation. There are endless possibilities.

Other options for such intentional disruption include modifying paddock sizes and shapes. While daily moves are generally ideal, occasionally leaving animals in a paddock for 3–4 days can shift plant responses, introducing a low-stress challenge that helps pastures adapt to future, unplanned challenges. Adjusting paddock shape also influences both management strategies and animal behavior. Long, narrow paddocks that are strip grazed promote more trampling and uniformly deposited manure and urine. So if the goal is to boost fertility, stimulate the seed bank, and increase plant diversity, this shape may offer the greatest impact.

One of our most powerful tools for maximizing positive impact is regularly adjusting stocking densities to a great extent, either lower or higher. Dramatically increasing stocking density, what has been termed mob grazing, enhances trampling of standing dead material, improving seed-to-soil contact and making dead leaves and stalks part of the protective litter while also becoming more readily accessible to soil microorganisms. High-density grazing also ensures more uniform distribution of manure and urine. Historically, massive herds of bison moving shoulder-to-shoulder across the Great Plains created intense disturbances—grazing, defecating, and trampling in uniformity. This disruption brought a kind of productive chaos, pushing plants to adapt and grow stronger. With sufficient recovery time, these ecosystems became more resilient and ready for the next challenge.

Regardless of the number of animals we’re stewarding, we can achieve high stocking densities of greater than 100,000 pounds of animal per acre. Bunching animals into smaller paddocks to achieve high densities will require more frequent moves but when done timely, the results will prove their worth. That said, we have to be cautious when employing these more disruptive strategies. If increasing stocking density, still plan to graze half the available forage, leaving the remainder. And if the soil is too wet, we could tip the impact from being a positive to a negative. The grazier as scientist knows the principles and as artist, determines when is the right time to become creative with the rules.

Running potential strategies by colleagues can open up fresh perspectives, allowing more creativity. Please reach out if you think your pasture management has become stagnant. Whether to lend an ear, offer an alternative outlook or share some resources, we’re here to help both learn the rules and how to creatively create those flourishing fields. While it’s helpful to talk with others, the key is to proceed thoughtfully and monitor the impacts of any strategy. More about that in our next post. 

Find more posts and grazing resources here: https://www.northjerseyrcd.org/grazing-resources

Craig Haney

Chaney@northjerseyrcd.org