Examples of Grassland Restoration - Excerpt from Talk by Allan Savory at Tufts University 

Wow. Really fascinating. I'm imagining that it also protects any remaining tree's & shrubs.

One thing that factors in to help this method is that seeds may be viable for many, many years. So an area that appears bare may still have viable seeds, as well as such seeds as the ungulates may bring lodged in their hooves.

@@scottkane1959 Or any seeds that remain undigested in the excrement.

Not seen in this video, but mentioned in some others. Allan proposed, with success, the use of those overnight enclosed areas. Where cattle deposited dung and urine on the soil, in rather large quantities. For usage as gardens by local communities, that's another "small" success story sometimes forgotten in the overall description. But worth enough as an additional "bonus" when local communities economics are quite challenged. :-) Cheers all

Yes, I can repeat what another poster said, the herd in one spot for a week also was used by Allan’s methods to create fertile crop area for human consumption, and the crops grow very well indeed over twice as large than other methods as I’ve found in some videos. Whole communities bounce back. Such a profoundly brilliant idea. No need to buy food for cattle, no need to import food for humans and no need to buy expensive fertiliser with many unintended consequences. I wouldn’t mind, but dung and urine, ala organic mulch, every gardener would tell you is the fastest way to improve soil for plants and growth. The tools the farmer needs are already there.

How's that been going since everything is either flood, fire, or dry now?

Beavers are ecological engineers, same as wolves and monkies. By the very nature of their natural behaviors, they beneficially alter the land because their very survival depends on a functional ecosystem.

Or if not able to introduce Beavers, they create BDA's, Beaver Dam Analogs. The premise is it slows the water down preventing high flow stripping the river bed creating gorges and dead zones. It tempers floods and droughts by soaking water into the ground reducing the effects of both

how does introducing cattle cause non native grasses?

People are learning about this, farmers are actually doing this now. It's catching on at last. It's going to have to or the earth will die.

There is something known as zero-cost natural farming introduced by Fukuoka. There are many many many successful stories. Natural farming can build 4 inches of top soil in 30 years. Allan Savory will kill 20 inches of top soil in 30 years!

Hi +stevenscwartz I'm just interested about places that are meant to be quite arid such as certain parts of the Karoo? It has been like that for over a century, should it not be left to be quite arid and not turned into more of a grassland?

Arthur Hau it's pretty obvious that you don't actually understand the function of holistic management by your statement. I use both Fukuoka's and Savory's techniques. It just depends in the contexts. Holistically managed planned grazing builds soil much faster than a non tilled cover crop because it's perennial based. Fukuoka uses lots of annual plants and that takes much more input so is difficult to scale up. There is zero reason why we couldn't do holistically planned grazing and on the same land pasture cropping grains. This is being done very successfully in Australia and is championed by Colin Seis. He has videos on RU-vid if you wish to look.

tsimahei do you mean Gabe Brown?

tsimahei look up Darren Doherty, Graeme Hand and Colin Seis. Us aussies are all over it.

I think that they bring good and water for the animals, just enough that they need for a day.

Allan said the only time they ever had to bring in food was when doing this on mining land that was virtually completely sandy soil. Can’t remember how he explained it but I believe they bunch the cattle really close if there is no vegetation to get the process started when there’s little or no growth.

I guess you pick the season/time to start. Group and march them through good growing. Cycle them back to broken/fertilized ground during the dry season. Continue to edge out into the bad ground assuming the land owners buy in, hence the holistic/thoughtful/co-op buy in. (edit: I suppose globally, the problem is whether the short term possible methane increase required is acceptable versus the long term gain of greening considering other activities - fracking, etc)

There is very little, but enough if you move the animals far enough. That's why they migrated to begin with, in nature. They migratory behaviour is what they are mimicking.

I think it's why they start with sheep when the land is really degraded. Cattle eat a great deal. Sheep are smaller, eat less but they will literally eat everything. While cattle are choosier and eat only the plant, sheep and goats will totally pull out the plant and eat the roots and everything. They would totally denude the area of everything but then the seeds in their dung will "replant" the natural flora, and the urine and dung will provide the moist growing medium. The seed will grow in the moist manure which gives it the nutrients and liquid it needs to grow strong fast and then it roots into the original soil, breaking the hard soil and taking the manure nutrients down into the soil with it. It they had planted grass and then watered it it wouldn't have worked as the soil is so depleted. Grasses also grow incredibly fast so it may only take a few weeks for it to start to reclaim. The trick is to let the grass actually grow to a good size before letting the animals in again. With free roaming, if there is the smallest of greenery popping through the soil after rain it is just immediately eaten before establishing to a good size. The thick regrowth also shades the plants and roots so there is less water evaporation from the sun. That's why this works so well. The plants all protect each other from the merciless sun.

They feed them

Greg Judy has some good videos he rolls out hay on the land

Things like firebreaks is something you can add into you grazing plan when making it every half year. The Holistic Management framework contains a planning process call Holistic Planned Grazing that works very well when followed.

Same question

Theyeat only the little bits that are there and savory said in another video that in those situations they bunch the animals even more closely to kickstart the process. The hooves help to break up the soil and get the process initiated.

If I understand correctly when needed they will feed them on good ground then herd them together on bad so they break up the ground and fertilize it by using the bathroom. Or if theirs maybe enough food for 1 day they in a spot they move the herd each day. I find the concept interesting. Like how some places are using goats to manage land and prevent wildfires.

He always says people ask that but I haven't heard him answer .... yet.

You can start 'em off on hay which is expensive but the seeds in the mulch+dung then grow as the cattle move on. Haven't seen that with such a large herd though.

If you keep a herd moving it will consume what little there is left and as long as you have enough room to keep it moving long enough for the plants behind the herd to grow back up before you get back to your start point, your away and laughing.....otherwise you have to supplement feed to get the cycle started.

zvczvcvzxcv good question. Maybe they put feed their at first

Henry and Khloe's Channel SQUANCE And concentrates of cattle for brief period naturally churns the soil and provides the dung and urine as an organic mulch.

In Iraq too

Would this work in iraq?

Saudi arabia too

@@Gustav4 yes see Jeoff Lawton in Jorden

Gustav Why wouldn’t it work if Iraq when works in mid and southern Africa?

+guloguloguy You can ask this question by going to Allan Savory on Facebook or on the www.savoryinstitute.org website contact form.

Also by the use of his book, Holistic Resource Management. Basically using the crowd of animals as a big mower and trampler, so the vegetation is kept young and juicy instead of allowing it to stand and dry out, thus reducing fire. California's chaparral is good goat feed and can be kept green this way.

Semi wild grazing is largely employed in Portugal where wild fires are a huge concern every year. Some of the obvious advantages: Keep the soils "clean", reducing potential fire hazard. Keep grasses healthier and moist on the soil. Keep the flocks healthy and fed for really low cost. At the same time preserve some native sheep dog breeds that were rapidly disappearing. Because they're big, costly to maintain and otherwise without use if not to protect the flocks. Surprisingly those same dogs also serve to indirectly "protect" the Iberian wolf! While they keep the wolf away. Farmers don't feel the need to kill them, either by hunting or poisoning. Win win situation for all involved. And I have yet to mention the meat/cheese/milk... ;-)

+Gustav they are in much smaller densities, so inpact on the land is much smaller

+Filip Cakl Sorry bad english, smaller densities?

He said they have to preserve bare ground on their farms so they can show people how it works. The method works so well that they lose bare ground unless they preserve it

@@thecurrentmoment 4 year old old comment hehe

@@thecurrentmoment i know all about it today

Anywhere there is any rainfall it can be done.

All good questions. The herds would be from interested herdsmen/ranchers interested in using their cattle to participate in the restoration effort put into practice on these degraded lands. These lands need to be grazed periodically for many years to come, but the animals aren't on the lands all year-round, rather they are herded in large densities--"mobbed up" if you will--and kept on one spot for a day to get as much manure and urine on the ground as possible before being quickly moved to the next area. Each area that gets trampled and eaten is rested for a year or so--maybe shorter in less brittle areas--before being grazed in high densities again. These herds are never a permanent fixture on the land, they are grouped up and moved around as already mentioned, but yes they are needed to come back year after year--not necessarily at the same time of year either--to keep stimulating plant growth, increase biodiversity, increase organic matter, improve water infiltration, etc. Water access may be brought in via large stock tank that is mobile, or gravity-fed through piping from a spring to a trough, or from pumped ground water in a trough. It depends what is easiest and cost-effective to do and bring in. Water systems need to be mobile to accommodate for the herding of the animals every day. As mentioned, these animals are moved and herded around throughout the season, and may be needed for other areas if that is the plan for them. They may go back to the ranch where they came from, and grazed and/or fed there. Depends on the area, the owner of the animals, climate, and the need from other locations for the critters. Often the areas that these animals are needed are large enough to keep them grazing in different locations throughout the entire year. So it depends.

For most of human history they were moved by migratory herding communities -- up the mountain in the summer and down the valley in the winter. This was a Stone Age technology. Many of the stone age civilisations that practiced this were wiped out. Some were mistaken for hunter gatherers -- like the American Plains Indians who weren't hunter gatherers at all but herdsmen like the Qashqai or Suomi. As the land was enclosed by fences and crisscrossed by roads and towns were built intheir migratory paths, most of these magration patterns stopped. Somelike the Native Americans were eradicated to take their land. Some scattered due to war, like the Bakhtiari.

fortunately cows breed and can almost double every herd in one year. and fortunately eating ruminant meat is incredibly healthy for humans.

You said it, Kim!

Robert Yi he's written books and has been at this for like 30 or more years. Tons of data and proof to support his work. It makes sense especially when one considers the US that used to be covered with tens of millions of herding buffalo that kept a large part of the country as grassland. I live in southwest Texas and a huge issue down here for decades has been the slow changing of the land to shrubland filled with mesquite and greasewood when it used to be grasslands. The buffalo used to make their way here until their numbers were obliterated by overzealous hunting.

Also research the project of SLM Partners in Australia outback with Tony Lovell as CEO for the company, based on holistic management.

Well he is supporting his claims with photos of the places he is describing. Aside from all the data he has elsewhere, in this presentation he is simply showing what happened to the places he managed. That is the data for that place

The USA military carbon footprint is bigger than that of most countries

@@imoneixusa9742 the question is the MIC's CF WORLDWIDE. It's not a competition... The problem is when the economy relies on such products...

@@lorenzoblum868 well the US Military has a bigger carbon footprint than the next ten or twenty militaries combined

@@lorenzoblum868 www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2019/06/13/report-the-u-s-military-emits-more-co2-than-many-industrialized-nations-infographic/amp/

@@imoneixusa9742 thanks. I read the article from Forbes magazine. To me it greatly underestimates the MIC FP... did you read the original report from Brown U?

Simon Delaney - With that in mind you or anybody else is absolutely invited to take the course or buy the book. It's crucial the guy deserve some payment for all the work. Even then there's plenty of info online. But one of the above methods would close the circle of information much better. ;-)

Simon Delaney I’m sure it depends on the landscape, the soil, etc. there’s no one size fits all for this. You have to research the land and figure what makes most sense.

Long enough to take one bite but not two. Then leave long enough to grow to full height. Repeat

+Narayanan Venkat They could use sheep instead.

Any herding animal can be used, even horses theoretically. Does India have any herding animals in it's history? (stupid question I know)

India is actually one of the world's biggest exporters of beef (third I think)

Also is there something special about domestic livestock or could we use native wildlife?

Exactly right. Until then, cattle sheep and goats. Wildlife numbers increase beautifully with this technique, and some ranchers are actually working with purchased wild-type animals, like the Greater Kudu (majestic) grown on ranches in Texas.

Not necessarily, Donnie! Stockmanship practices that teach both the herders and the cattle to "settle" in one location and only eat there, only venturing out to go for water but quickly going back to that one location that they feel safe in, eliminates the need for fences. I have seen and heard about this method before, and it's such a way that the stockman acts as the leader to those animals, and by settling those animals down in that one area for a day or even two, those animals are made to feel safe--literally--and comfortable in that spot that they were placed. They don't even move off, the whole group I'm talking about, when the stockman moves off--even if he or she has to go miles away to do something else--until that stockman comes back, and drives them to a new spot before settling them again. It's an interesting practice that is taught by the old cowboys way, way back when cattle drives were still a real thing, and cattle liners weren't around to haul them from one place to another. It's a method called "Proper Stockmanship" which has been taught by the likes of Steve Cote and Bud Williams (who is no longer with us, but his teachings and legacy continues on with his daughter, Tina Williams and husband Richard McConnell), with a lot of success by those who have learned from them. So, with that kind of knowledge, that makes moving cattle easier, and lives easier on wildlife from pronghorn to deer with the lack of fences. And of course when a cattleman really hates fixing fence all the time, but loves moving cows and managing pastures, well, it's obvious that they'd be learning and practicing proper stockmanship principles in addition with HM practices to manage the pastures and rangelands the way they like and need to in order to make a living, and to enjoy seeing some wildlife every time the go out to move the cows. :)

Donnie, that's not what I was getting at. When I said "eliminate the need for fences" I was not referring to perimeter fencing, but rather the multitude of internal paddock fencing that is normally needed for management-intensive, mob-grazing livestock. So I too am speaking about reality, because proper stockmanship principles are certainly reality, just not as commonly utilized as what I'd ideally like to see. And no, I'm not getting every rancher to take their fences at once, that was never my point. I'm talking about the better possibilities that exist and are logical--because they've been tried and tested and actually work--to use to, yes, possibly eliminate the need for much in the way of fencing. But as I said, stockmanship is not a well-known nor commonly understood practice.

Wild grazing animals are more difficult and dangerous to handle for routine tasks like vaccination and hoof trimming, etc. They are harder to contain, and runaway, taking the profits with them. And they are generally not as good to eat as their domesticated equivalents. There is a reason that Cattle and sheep were domesticated -- They produce more and better quality meat more quickly, on less feet, without attacking the herders or smashing up the fences.

calc15 I was thinking of ranches in Texas raising trophies for fat weak (wealthy!) hunters who pay thousands for one animals. Those animals aren't so hard to ranch when you have a thousand acres.

right...this was a back patting party and no one knows why

Anyone can attend the courses taught on Holistic Management practices. Or simply buy the book. This was an EXCERT of Mr. Savory's talk. It was not intended as a school on the topic - How many present actually own land or livestock?

Aaron Bruce Allan Savory was not giving a workshop on Holistic Management nor a livestock grazing management seminar; this was an excerpt of a presentation that was only part of Mr. Savory's visit to Tufts. How many of the audience members own land, or livestock? Excepting horses, probably none. Information on the Holistic approach to management, and to grazing is readily available. You can attend a course, or buy the book. How well the Holistic approach works is difficult to believe until you actually see it - and relaize that what is being done is the restoration of the natural relationships and intereactions within the portion of the bio-sphere being managed. The large herbivores, the plants, the soil, and the millions of macro and microscopic life forms on and under the surface of the soil co-evolved. They need each other. When they are allowed to 'do their thing' their millions of years of R&D kicks in, and a broken system begins to regenerate itself. Check it out for yourself. There is probably a HM practitioner near you. (The HM approach applies to any human endeavor, but few human endeavors allow or stimulate the ecio-system to restore itself.)

Jefferdaughter Yes! I live in Mexico and simply bought his book!

Just shit

The first bit of getting started is always the toughest, and where yes some feed like pellets or salt blocks will need to be supplied to get animals interested and to get them to move into the areas that need their hooves and manure. The important thing is making sure that they're bunched up in a herd, and being herded as a group, not spreading out like with conventional practices, and being moved frequently to new areas every day, or even every few hours, depending on the land and how much forage material there actually is for animals to eat. Thing is, this is just an excerpt of a longer presentation. But, even the longer presentation doesn't explain all the "how to's" that you're quite keen on reading more about. Totally understandable. Here's a summary commented by another user below I'll copy here: "... it "mimics nature" like the million animal herds of the Serengeti but with livestock. Because of the amount of manure & trampling in such big herds, the animals keep moving. This system moves the animals daily, but keeps them in as small an area as possible while giving enough food for the day. That means as much manure as possible & as much liquid as possible in the form of livestock urine. "After one day's grazing, the fertiliser is allowed to do it's thing & stimulate plant growth. The animals only return to that ground once the plants are fully grown & therefore at maximum nutritional value - imagine eating wheatgrass v fully grown wheat plants, complete with wheat grain. Most farms let the animals graze at will, creating a wheatgrass situation, this system allows the plants to grow beyond baby stage & produce heavy duty food! (and root length matches plant height, which means an end to erosion & water run off too). "On ground with NOTHING growing, they lock the animals onto that ground each night, as tightly backed as possible for a week or so, then move them out to better land for food each morning. The nightly urine & manure means a thick slurry of microbial life, breaking of the surface crust & lots of moisture to stimulate any seeds in the ground & manure into germinating. That new grass is allowed to fully mature before the animals return to eat it & refertilise."

Thanks for taking the time to do that

No, no, sorry Grayson but I believe you're getting a little ahead of yourself. That doubling the amount of livestock only happens AFTER there is the doubling of productivity of the land. When you start restoring and regenerating an area, you must start small, start with as small a herd of animals that the land can currently support, via its current carrying capacity. Except that instead of allowing those animals to peruse, say, 100 acres, you divided those 100 acres down until you're only allowing enough acreage for that group of animals to access for one day, before moving on to the next paddock the next day, and the next and so on. And it may not even be for one day, it may only be for just an hour or two, before quickly moving on to the next piece, allowing each of those pieces sufficient rest for plants that are there, or for the new plants that are found to have emerged, to recover. That recovery period may be as long as a full year, depending on the location. Those animals are going to be acting as the hoof action and four-legged organic fertilizer depositors and soil disturbers/compactors that are needed to get dormant seeds to germinate, to break down dead plant material in toil soil-protecting moisture-reserving mulch, kick-start the dying plants to gain new vigor after getting old material that had been suffocating them for so long trampled down and some of the still-green (and even some dead) blades grazed, and break soil crusts to encourage water to get down into the soil instead of just running off and causing more erosion. The putting hay down solution of yours isn't exactly correct nor feasible, especially in brittle environments where rainfall is very sporadic, with long periods of no rain at, often for months at a time. That hay will just oxidize and blow away, contributing absolutely nothing to any restoration efforts. It won't decompose all that much. The only time hay will decompose is if it's in a non-brittle to a mildly-brittle environment where there's enough regular rainfall that encourages soil biota to be active enough to break down the way. But even then, when soil is lacking nutrients that can be brought in with the aid of livestock, those animals with their rumens full of plant-matter fermenting mcirobes (sort of like a compost pile with legs) are very, VERY good at turning those imported nutrients (hay) into fertilizer. Yes, some hay may be needed for the first couple years, but that really depends just how seriously degraded that area is, and how low its carrying capacity is. Water certainly will need to be supplied from a water truck or other mobile source, if needed. But you have to realize that you gotta start somewhere, and in order to restore degraded lands, starting from the bottom and going up may/will mean (again, "It Depends" is very strong here) to supply extra feed for the first couple years or so of getting the system going again. There's nothing wrong with doing that.

That also works. If you search for "Back to Eden" you will find many videos about this practice. There is also a third and very interesting system -- No-Till planting of Alfalfa, or Alfalfa and Maize, or othjer Green manure crops. THese crops when standing can be grazed and trampled by livestock, so what they don't return to the land as dung they trample and leave on the ground as cover to protect it from erosion and drying out and allow native plants to grow through next season.

"Holy poop." & holy urine... ;-)

Maybe if we left wild herbivore macrofauna alone we wouldn't need to do this. Also, this planned gracing method is best used in places where herbacous plants can't grow and retain water. The ultimate objective is water retention, and planned gracing is good at this, helping to recover the first stages of ecological evolution, but after that, herbivores prevent further developments towards having a green canopy, which is the last stage of the evolution of landscapes, and the one that we should be looking towards. This has nothing to do with veganism, don't conflate issues.

Pretty dull joke(im not a vegan)

I’m a vegan but still plan on having a goat herd for land restoration. It’s not mandatory to eat them. We just have to mimic nature

@@alvarobernatmuller5576the land has to be cleared to plant vegan food

C. J. -With that in mind would be more fruitful to watch the longer videos. That are NOT simple presentations. There's a lot of online information. But most important for all the details and fine print, simply take the course or at minimum get the book. ;-)

Hi Maurice Your interpretation of the process loses some very important aspects: - The support for soil life that the bovine manure provides is the first. Plants in most environments need the cooperation of fungi, bacteria, etc., to get enough nutrients and water to survive. This is so important that plants spend a considerable part of the sugars they produce (photosynthesis) by offering it to the living soil community. - Plants root and soil life web also promote stabilization of the soil by building a structure that creates paths for water infiltration and prevents erosion. This promotes water and nutrient havesting. On the other and: -Digging promotes erosion (the nex heavy rain will wash it all) -Artificial fertilizers tend to kill the soil life.

And then there are the beetles and worms that carry the dung down into the soil, the roots of the grasses and other plants that are addning organic material to the soil, and pulling water up, and ultimately the rstored ability of the soil to retain moisture instead of it running off.

@@PedroReisR Artificial fertilisers dont kill the soil, its a fallacy. Lack of fertilisers kill soil. Over applications can damage soil but because of the cost no one over applies in my experience. Unless from equipment faults

@@calc15 facts. if you are grazing land and you are selling the cattle you have to apply fertiliser to replace the Lost nutrients. Just the cattles own manure is not enough to replace nutrients taken away off property. The big problem with most of these arid dry countries is over-grazing via uncontrolled grazing and lack of manure to replace lost nutrients and of course lack of water 💧. Farmers practised water havesting techniques the grasses would grow back much faster too. Comes down to poor land management creates desertification.

@@mauriceupton1474synthetic fertilizers and pesticides do have a negative effect on the soil micro biome. This begins first with the destruction of soil biodiversity by suppressing nitrogen fixing bacteria, this enhances other communities which feed on nitrogen, these feeders accelerate the decomposition of soil organic matter, this negatively effects other soil microorganisms and changes the physical structure of the soil, this effects water retention, nutrient cycling, and can cause erosion. Everything is connected here. Applying synthetic fertilizers and pesticides negatively impacts soil health, leading to a soil that cannot sustain production over time.

alexandre cesar - Pode usar as legendas em CC (closed caption). Tecla no lado direito do ecrã. Ao lado tem a tecla de "settings", nessa pode escolher diversos parâmetros das legendas. Inclusive a lingua, com traducção automática para Português e outras linguas. Outros parâmetros que podem ser úteis seriam a cor, densidade, etc. das letras. Espero ter ajudado, abraço de Portugal.

He's said in several places he considers that his biggest regret in life. He screwed up, admitted it, is attempting to fix things.

The elephant fiasco, surprisingly is perfectly in line with what the vast majority of specialists advocate, in fact ALL of them! All specialists in the area one of the first things they cry for is to remove animals from degraded land, be it wild or domesticated. Strangely or not Allan stepped in, as a lonely voice, on a world that strongly opposed him. So what you're saying is that he should have known, what nobody else knew within the same time frame. In fact even right now this message still faces a huge amount of skepticism in spite the results. It's easy to point fingers when the prognostic is made after the end of the game. Isn't it? ;-)

This video is titled Examples of restoration. Not a how to. Go learn more from one of his books, or take a class. How to do it is complex and would be specific to each situation.

You may have had useful information to present, but you lost me at the start. Also: Fuck you.

But, for real, the country has a name. How hard is it to use their fucking name?

I believe it was Rhodesia when he was doing his work. I didn't see where it said Rhodesia, was it Allan Savory speaking or in the video title/description?

@@thecurrentmoment He called it Rhodesia in the first 10 seconds of the video. It hasn't been called Rhodesia for 40 years. Pretty disrespectful.

He didn't take a part of Zimbabwe. THICK HEAD. IT WAS Rhodesia then. HOW could he talk about somewhere the didn't even exist before he was talking about it?

You are missing the point, Mr. Nelson. Careful management of animals actually increases the food the land can produce. You would be right except for the people who are putting large numbers of animals onto the land where before there were few. And except for the millions of acres that are now grassland supporting families and communities of herdspeople where before there was bare earth and few people. Go to savory.global/ and see the growing number of Hubs where holistic planned grazing is being practiced. I know this sounds counter-intuitive - put animals on the land to heal the land. But the lessons are there. I personally know of at least a dozen farmers and ranchers who are increasing the numbers of animals while at the same time seeing large increases in the amount of forage in response to carefully managed animal impact. Remember the millions of bison on the Great Plains and Shenandoah Valleys before Europeans killed first the predators, then the bison and herbivores themselves? We now can mimic that cycle using movable electric fencing. Grasses and herbivores evolved together and we now know how to revive the natural systems that kept gases out of the air, produced bountiful food, and supported a healthy lifestyle.

I believe you're missing my point, Mr. Schwartz. I did not dispute the method (whatever it may be) and do not dispute any of your remarks above. I merely pointed out that the presentation excerpt did not provide enough information to deduce what the method involves. Take a barren section of the Great Plains devoid of forage and water and confine a lot of herbivores on it, and you will shortly see a lot of dying herbivores. If the method involves feeding and watering them with human hands for a short or a long term, Mr. Savory's exposition betrays not a hint of this.

No, I get your point. This is an excerpt from a longer presentation, in which you would also find lacking specific directions on how to restore grassland with animal management. The techniques are actually quite complex, and what is needed is a way to manage such a complex system as a piece of land - a place teeming with life, with soils, vegetation, weather, water and rainfall, manmade structures, etc. This is where Holistic Decision Making comes in and you can read about it in Allan Savory's books. Putting aside whether you will be using cattle, sheep, goats, or wildlife, a simple answer to your question is, you manage animals by starting with a small number and slowly over time, by moving them frequently, encourage the grasses to build up and restore the natural balance that prevailed before man destroyed it. Here's a highly simplified example to answer your question. We're obviously not talking about true desert, but about the millions of acres of degraded (desertified) grasslands around the world. Say you have a piece of land that is 100 acres. The small amount of forage, bushes and scrub can support 10 cows for a year. Typical grazing would be to put all 10 cows on the 100 acres and allow them to graze at will. This is what you see nearly everywhere all over the world. Cows are expert judges of when to eat the tenderest, most energy-filled grass, and they will range over the entire area, eating those prime shoots as they emerge. The problem is that this management approach means the grasses never get a chance to mature so the entire piece of land stays degraded and the total carrying capacity of the 100 acres will always be only 10 cows. Now let's apply holistic planning and start dividing the 100 acres into smaller paddocks using portable electric fencing. If the 100 acres will support 10 cows for a year, then by subdividing into two paddocks, 10 cows can subsist for 6 months. Divide again and 10 cows can maintain for 3 months, and again for 1.5 months, and finally until the cattle can survive for a single day and are only allowed to consume 30% of the vegetation, leaving over half to be stomped down into the ground by their hoof action enabling the soil organisms to consume the green and brown matter. Same acreage, same amount of forage, but now you are moving your 10 cattle every day, and you only return to that same piece of ground weeks later. Do you see how the grasses have the time to reach full maturity this way? Now your 10 cows are not sufficient to eat the increasing abundance of forage and you lack the number of hooves you need to stomp enough vegetation into the soil so you need to slowly start increasing the number of cows. This is called holistic planned grazing. I've seen farms where the stocking density of cattle per acre reaches hundreds of thousands of pounds after several years of careful management. More animals on the same acreage translates into more profit for the farmer and more high-quality, nutrient dense food, more water purification by active, biologically diverse soil, more sequestering of carbon out of the air into storage in the ground. In other words, grazing animals managed this way just might save the world. So, Mr. Nelson, the complex problem of land destroyed by man can be solved and remediated by careful management by man using animals, by understanding how nature works to restore degraded natural systems. THis is what Allan Savory is promoting, parts of the technology are his discoveries, and we all owe him a great deal of gratitude for what you've called his "pure hocus-pocus."

OK, thanks for providing a more detailed outline. I repeat: "hocus-pocus" referred not to Savory's reported discoveries (about which my ignorance is clear), but to the dependence of this presentation excerpt on before-and-after shots of paddock without any explanation of how before got to after, unless we count "trebling the number of stock" as an explanation! That said, I shall keep an open mind about HM until learning more about it.

Jim he does give one bit of info on how it's done in the presentation, he says it's "mimicking nature". So you look at the Serengeti today & what is known of other areas with large herds in the past & you can see their behaviour & he simply copies it. Wild herds stick together so predators don't eat them & so soil their food & so are constantly moving. He does the same thing, either with herders or electric fencing to achieve what Steven described, move the animals everyday, keep them tightly bunched so the soil gets a good dose of fertiliser, then move them off the land until the grass is mature & seeding & at it's maximum energy value - like happens in the year long Serengeti mega herd migration

It makes sense to me. When you look atSouthern Iran that is now flooding during the rain season and blowing dust storms during the dry season, it becomes clear -- the nomadic herdsmen stopped migrating as a result of the Iran Iraq War and the whole thing went to desert.

lots of proof out there that this works. Open your eyes and your mind.

So where did the trees in the photos come from if there isn't enough rain for them?

Since people keep doing and it's been done time and time again you're clearly wrong. What makes you think that cattle needs so much water? If there's cattle on the land they break up the ground to let the rainwater in, instead of leaving in to run off into streams. When land is rock hard and dry water just disappears within hours of rainfall, it needs to be broken up and when it is, it can grow grass very fast. Animals will eat anything that grows as long as it's pretty green or used to be. Then they can continue to water and feed the soil as they go.

Many examples of how removing livestock from the land lead to desertification and putting livestock back on the land with proper management that mimics nature restored it. Not much nonsense here.