Conservation Grazing Success
Pheasants Forever Grazing Specialist Brady Blasher examines a portion of a Wetland Reserve Program easement currently under a 10-year grazing plan near Morris, Minnesota. (Photo by Dave Schwarz, Minnesota Pheasants Forever Outreach Coordinator)
Prescribed grazing program sees success in Minnesota
NRCS partnership benefits landowners, improves grass and forb diversity
A few miles north of Morris, Minnesota, lies one of the most bucolic pieces of land you’ll find.
Small wetlands are nestled between gently rolling hills. Sunlight glints from the surface of a nearby lake. A small group of cattle wanders through tall grass, munching contentedly while a bright red barn on a distant hillside provides the perfect backdrop.
Pheasants Forever Grazing Specialist Brady Blasher looks over the scene with pride. In partnership with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), it’s the type of success he sees more and more often in western Minnesota.
The 160-acre Wetland Reserve Program (WRP) easement owned by the Hufford family is divided into three paddocks, with each containing just over 50 acres. Cattle are grazed on one paddock each year for 45 days. Land that is grazed has two years to rest before the cattle return.
Cattle graze on a portion of a Wetland Reserve Program easement currently under a 10-year grazing plan near Morris, Minnesota. The parcel is divided into three paddocks, and cattle graze on one each year in rotation. (Photo by Dave Schwarz, Minnesota Phea
“All grasslands need disruption. We value grazing as one of those management tools,” Blasher said. “Through grazing we can create a mosaic of many different habitat types. We can target different species at different times to maintain the native forbs and grasses. Grazing gives us a lot of flexibility.”
The Hufford family farmed the land for several years but the rolling nature of the landscape and several wetland areas made it difficult. In the 1980s they made the decision to enroll the land in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and subsequently into a WRP easement. The land is bordered on one side by a Waterfowl Production Area and a lake on the other. It is currently managed under a 10-year grazing plan.
Minnesota Pheasants Forever Grazing Specialist Brady Blasher talks with producers Kirby and Jeff Huffed on their 160-acre Wetland Reserve Program easement near Morris, Minnesota. The land is currently managed through a 10-year conservation grazing plan. (
Kirby Hufford says the results of the grazing program are easy to see. “If you come out in the spring and see the paddock that was grazed the year prior, it greens up a lot faster because it doesn’t have to grow through all that dead material. It really makes an incredible difference.”
- Dave Schwarz is the Minnesota Outreach Coordinator for Pheasants Forever.
