Production

US, Aussie regen ag cattle producers find common ground

Beef Central 23/01/2025

NEAR Bismarck, North Dakota, the Brown family’s ‘Browns Ranch’ is almost at the centre of North America, just 200km south of the Canadian border.

The 2430ha property, characterised by rolling, rocky terrain experiences long, cold winters and dry summers, is home to renowned regenerative agriculture practitioner Gabe Brown and his family, who have been on the property since the 1980s.

Gabe and his wife Shelly purchased the ranch from Shelly’s parents in 1991 and handed over the reins to their son seven years ago when Gabe started his consulting business, Understanding Ag.

The property, dominated by perennial pastures, produces a variety of crops and pasture-raised cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry, which are all marketed directly to consumers.

On the other side of the world, near Bathurst in New South Wales, 170km northwest of Sydney lies Goonamurrah, home to Ross and Dimity Thompson and their children.

Ross and Dimity run a seedstock cattle operation, Millah Murrah Angus, on 951ha of undulating granite country with native and improved pastures and some fodder crops. They also have a 280ha holding on the edge of Bathurst and lease another 600ha located between the two properties.

While Bismarck may seem a world away from Bathurst, the land management principles used on both properties have a lot in common, as visitors to the upcoming annual Wilmot field day will learn.

Adaptive grazing

For Gabe, the limited growing season in his region makes adaptive grazing practices critically important.

“We have a very limited growing season – we only have about 110 frost free days each year,” Gabe says.

“We receive about 80 percent of our moisture in a six to eight week window, in May and June. That moisture has to grow enough forage to last the whole year.

“To be able to graze our animals year-round means that we have to be very good at adaptive grazing, moving the animals frequently for ample rest and recovery periods for the forage.

“During the growing season the animals are moved every day. They’re moved according to the conditions, how much forage we have, what resource concerns are, and what we’re trying to improve. And that changes all the time, which is why we call it adaptive grazing,” he says.

Ross and Dimity Thompson

At Goonamurrah, the Thompsons have refined their grazing management practices significantly over the last five years.

Operating a stud, it’s not easy to destock and restock when conditions get dry, so the Thompsons have invested in substantial wire and water infrastructure to allow for implementation of time-controlled grazing (TCG) principles.

Under this system, livestock are moved regularly between paddocks. This allows for intensive grazing for short periods, with long periods of rest for seeds to germinate and pastures to recover. Paddocks are fenced according to land capabilities, which gives the option to reduce the grazing pressure on sensitive areas.

The preservation of groundcover through this strategy is important for the soil stability, soil health, water holding capacity and overall resilience of these areas.

A silver lining

Gabe took his first steps into regenerative agriculture in 1993 when he moved to a no-till cropping system. Shortly afterwards, Gabe and Shelly experienced four consecutive years of crop failure due to hailstorms and dry conditions.

What might have been the final straw for some was just the beginning for the Browns, who noticed the benefits of changing management strategies.

With little cashflow and no choice but to limit his inputs during this time, Gabe added legumes to the crop rotation to reduce nitrogen requirements. To diversify his business, he also integrated livestock onto the cropland, grazing the cover crops to turn losses into dollars.

Gabe’s learnings, shared through his book Dirt to Soil, have been an inspiration to Ross in the way he manages his property.

“It’s not something we can change overnight, but Gabe’s approach is pragmatic, that’s what I like about it,” Ross says.

Ross, too, is trialling multi-species pastures and crops, controlling weeds, reducing inputs (where possible) and using rest periods (or, in highly sensitive areas, stock exclusion) to restore landscape health.

It all starts with the soil

For Gabe, who has been refining these grazing practices for more than 35 years, observations of the landscape that help to inform the cropping or grazing rotations have become second nature.

“Every time I walk into an arable field or a paddock, I’m running through the principles in my mind,” he says.

“First thing, we have a shovel, and we check soil aggregation. Then, how much bare soil is there? If we see bare soil, we’re behind the game already. Is water infiltrating the soil or is it running off?

“Then, how much diversity do we have? Do we need more diversity? We can stimulate the latent seedbank by using animals as a tool.

“It’s all based on observation and what we’re seeing,” he says.

Over time, the combination of management and ecological changes has resulted in significant improvements to soil organic matter, soil structure and water infiltration.

“My paddocks, which in 1991 could only infiltrate a half an inch per hour because of the loss of soil aggregates due to tillage, can now infiltrate over 32 inches per hour because they are well aggregated,” Gabe said.

“By regenerating the health of our soil, which is the foundation of all terrestrial life, we can sequester more carbon, improve water and air quality, improve biodiversity and restore key ecosystem functions,” he said.

Landing Downunder

Gabe will be coming to Australia to share his insights as part of the 2025 Wilmot Field Day next month.

For Gabe, it doesn’t matter what system is run or where a business is located, the principles of regenerative agriculture are the same. In his consulting business he works with primary producers from Ireland to Mexico who have been able to improve farm productivity by focusing on the health of the landscape.

“Nature is going to bat last every time. Why fight it. That’s what I learned from years of hail and drought – we need to work with nature rather than against it,” he says.

“Regenerative agriculture is common ground for common good.”

 

Wilmot field day

Wilmot Cattle Co hosts the annual Wilmot Field Day on its New England property near Ebor NSW, on 26-27 February.

Wilmot Field Day is presented by Macdoch Australia and Impact Ag Australia, and sponsored by Atlas Carbon, Meat & Livestock Australia, and Farm Lab.

The field day is one of Australia’s most recognised events exploring the relationship between agriculture and environmental sustainability.

Wilmot Cattle Co is widely recognised as a forerunner in regenerative agriculture, environmental stewardship and livestock production practices.

Under the event theme “Embracing the Change – Food, Fibre and Nature” the 2025 program will highlight climate-smart agricultural practices, using natural capital to build resilient businesses and the importance of people in the agricultural industry.

Click here for program and event details.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Comments

  1. Gra Brown, 25/01/2025

    After 5+ generations of grazing hill country south of Orange nsw Aus.
    Farm sold however regenerative agr has been practiced by those 5 generations with modifications by each successive generation.
    Whilst never quite going to time controlled grazing , a strong emphasis was always on rotational grazing to accomadate the breeding cycle of sheep an cattle with an early march( autumn ) breeding system. Whilst this put pressure on winter feed gap, supplementary feeding from carry over hay storage and grain purchases late spring to be used in next winter, saw that feed gap managed.
    Over the generations pastures were modified from native to perennial and for a period fertilise was used until it was recognised that a balance of nutrient could be had by pasture manipulation in the grazing phase.
    Acidification has been managed by use of light topdressing of lime and gypsum, every 5 yrs this has enhanced the biota in the soil and dug beetles do the rest along with some deep rooted perennials .
    Stocking rates stable unless a clear long dry spell is identified months ahead of when it actually lands .
    Weed management is consistently done so nothing gets a foot hold .
    Hand spot spray of weeds with nodules, otherwise the hoe works well .
    That was until property sold to mining Co, weeds and management now gone out the window .

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