Friendly Flock

In this article I wanted to explain one of the 4 key insights of holistic management; the predator prey relationship. So the interaction grazing animals have with their predators.
In nature nothing is independent, everything is interdependent and acts as one big whole.
Just as the relationship between the grazing animals and their predators (Lions, Wolfs, Humans etc..).

Before the domestication of livestock

Wildebeest migration across the Serengeti. (Image credit: WCS.)

To better understand the importance of this relationship in grazing management, let’s look at how grazing animals were “managed” before domestication.
Before domestication, herbivores roamed in very large herds through the landscape. But they did not do that unmanaged. They were constantly moving, because of pack hunting predators hunting them from place to place. To protect themselves the herd also kept bunched up as one big herd.
The effect of that was that plants got trampled down and that there was a huge amount of dung distributed evenly. This process stimulated biological breakdown of the dead plant material and increase soil carbon.
Because of the constant moving, the herbivores did not have to time to overgraze. They did not stay stationed on one area for to long and did not come back to soon.

Taking predators out of the picture

After the domestication, humans started to protect their livestock from those predators and confined them to certain areas.
So we started to manage most of the grazing animals and their behavior.
Now most of the animals were free to do what they wanted. Herbivores, just like humans, love their habits. They tend to do always the same things. This lead to selectively overgrazing plants and eventually loss of biodiversity.

Mimicking nature

But with our management we can also mimic this predator prey relationship. With herding dogs or temporary fencing, we can keep them bunched up and moving. And with planned grazing we can make sure, the plants get adequate rest periods to fully recover.
This makes sure, litter is trampled, the soil is fertilized, animals stay healthy and the plants as well.