Impacts of mob grazing on soil health

Mob grazing is an increasingly popular concept amongst famers. There are many instances in which farmers report the benefits of mob grazing with regards to animal health through improved quality forage. There are also claims that mob grazing is beneficial to soil health, and thereby the wider environment. However, there are no rigourous scientific studies reporting the impacts of mob grazing on soil properties as applied on UK soils.

Project Aims and Objectives

The project would:

(1) develop a system to characterise and describe the range of farming practices referred to as mob grazing, and to compare them with conventional grazing practices, with particular reference to: i) the length of grazing period ii) the length of rest periods between grazing iii) typical grazing intensity whilst grazing which will allow comparisons of the impacts of different grazing systems on soil health in UK agriculture.