Integration of Grazing and No-Tillage to Improve Soil Health and Farm Productivity.

Well-managed perennial pasture is one of the best land management systems to protect land from erosion, build soil organic matter content, and improve soil structure. Similarly, no-tillage systems have been shown to provide erosion protection and improve soil health. Integration of no-till systems with grazing has many potential benefits. In this paper we will report the results of a 3-yr project where we studied three farms in Pennsylvania where grazing and no-tillage was integrated. We observed that by using no-tillage farmers were able to maintain soil health benefits of perennial sod when establishing annuals, which helped increase soil resilience against soil erosion and soil compaction. Annuals provided a great opportunity to control a worn-out sod and unwanted vegetation before establishing a new perennial pasture. Winter annuals provided forage for grazing before perennial cool season grass in the spring. Summer annuals provided forage to alleviate the summer slump in production of cool season perennials. Warm and cool season annuals could be stockpiled for winter grazing. Warm season perennials and annuals could meet summer forage needs so cool season perenials could be rested for winter stockpiling. By combining cool and warm season annuals and cool season and warm season perennials, both grasses and forbs, farmers were able to greatly extend the grazing season, reduce costs, and improve profits.