Where the livestock and the grass meet, a grazing community takes root
- Feb 28
- 3 min read
Twenty four graziers from across central and northern New Jersey—collectively managing 1,645 acres—stepped away from their busy farms to gather for two wintry February days of Grazing School led by North Jersey RC&D. Hosted at Duke Farms, the group had a welcoming place to gather, learn, and plan for the season ahead. Each farmer arrived with plans, questions, and ideas for the upcoming grazing season.
The program is an outgrowth of North Jersey RC&D’s Regenerative Farm Network (RFN-NJ). This cohort brings a strong commitment to adaptive multi-paddock (AMP) grazing and a shared drive to keep learning, refining their management, and improving their pastures.
The farmers bring a wide range of experience, as diverse as the farms they steward. By design, the cohort blends fresh perspectives with time-tested knowledge, creating space for both to be shared, challenged, and strengthened.
Nearly a third of participants have more than 10 years of grazing experience, another third have 3–5 years, and the remaining third are in their first few years.
The goal is not only to build technical skill, but to cultivate relationships—a connected community of graziers who support one another through shared learning, practical insight, and lived experience in the field.
The word “cohort” itself traces back to Latin roots meaning “enclosure” or “barnyard,” an apt reflection of the spirit of this group. These graziers are “in it” together—sharing knowledge, asking difficult questions, and navigating the realities of grazing in New Jersey side by side.
Farming in New Jersey comes with both inherent blessings and real challenges—one of the most significant being the cost of land. For graziers, who depend on adequate acreage to frequently rotate their livestock, this constraint can feel especially limiting. However, by implementing sound adaptive multi-paddock (AMP) grazing practices and thoughtful pasture management, producers can often double the quantity of forage produced on the same acreage, while also increasing its quality.
Adaptive Multi-Paddock grazing represents the latest evolution of rotational grazing systems, building on principles first introduced by French biochemist André Voisin in the late 1940s. In homage, NJRCD’s Grazing School was organized around his well-known description of grazing as “the meeting of the cow and the grass,” while broadening the lens to include the soil—the foundation that both sustains forage growth and is, in turn, regenerated by it.
Over the two days, participants explored a wide range of topics, including the physical and biological properties of soil, an introduction to Web Soil Survey, calculating farm stocking rates, flexible infrastructure, pasture recovery and rest, animal nutritional needs, adaptive grazing strategies, group-based troubleshooting and more. Just as importantly, the agenda made space for ample conversation and connection—still one of the most effective ways to learn.
Grazing School will continue this March with two webinars, followed by field days later during the grazing season. The first webinar will explore soil chemistry with Sarah Crooke of Crooke Ag Consulting, taking a closer look at how soil properties influence pasture performance. The second will feature experienced graziers sharing how they prepare for the grazing season ahead, offering practical, time-tested insights from the field.
The first field day, planned for mid-May, will focus on all things forage—from identification, growth and quality to management strategies. The second, scheduled for early fall, will highlight manure, dung beetles, and their essential role in building healthy, resilient pastures.
As pastures begin to green up, graziers will start evaluating their fields using the Pasture Condition Score, an assessment tool developed by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to provide a more objective measure of pasture health. By “managing what’s monitored,” farmers can track changes over time, with the goal of steadily improving their scores and, in turn, building more productive, resilient pastures year after year.
Just as importantly, we hope that as the pastures grow, so too does the group—maturing into a long-term cohort that fosters a strong, engaged community of graziers and helps make good grazing common across the Garden State.
If you missed applying for the 2026 Grazing School, keep an eye out for 2027 and for upcoming events in our newsletters. Any questions or to stay up-to-date about upcoming field days and the 2027 Grazing School, please reach out to Craig at chaney@northjerseyrcd.org.
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