Properly managed grazing is one of the most energy-efficient ways of producing food and fiber. The benefits of grazing include:
*Low fossil fuel expenditure per pound of livestock weight gain. This due to little fossil fuel energy is used in range, pasture, and grazed forest forage production.
*Reduction or elimination of need for commercial fertilizers
*The production of red meat and fiber for export with improved balance of trade
*Improving the efficiency of grazing land production can increase the landowners’ income
*Grazing animals eat plants that cannot be digested by humans and many other animals. Therefore it will release feed grains for human consumption
*Provision for the utilization of otherwise mostly idle or nonproductive land
*Producing animal protein for meeting the nutritional needs of people around the world.
Grazing lands are essential ecosystems containing 10 to 30% of the world’s soil organic carbon. They are a bridge between natural ecosystems and agro-systems.
The meaning of grazing
