Open access publications in the SLU publication database

Abstract

Holistic grazing builds on the concept of rotational grazing. The underlying assumption is that herbivorous animals can rehabilitate degraded land through grazing and that the world’s grasslands and wild herbivores evolved in parallel and thus are interdependent. Further, it is assumed that grazing livestock (e.g., cattle, goats, sheep and camels) can
serve as substitutes for wild herbivorous animals, provided that they are managed in a way that mimics ‘natural grazing’ of wild herbivores. Natural grazing is characterized by large animal flocks moving across large areas as they try to escape predators. To simulate this function in holistic grazing, livestock are packed in large herds and frequently moved between different areas. Holistic grazing is claimed to increase plant production and the soil’s ability to infiltrate and retain water, stop land degradation and improve living
and profitability for the herders. Increased pasture plant growth in turn leads to more carbon from the atmosphere being sequestered into the soil.

Improved grazing management on grasslands can store on average approximately 0.35 tonnes of C per ha and year – a rate seven times lower than the rate used by the Savory Institute to support the claim that holistic grazing can reverse climate change. The total carbon storage potential in pastures does not exceed 0.8 tonnes of C per ha and year, or 27 billion tonnes of C globally, according to an estimate in this report based on very optimistic assumptions. 27 billion tonnes of C corresponds to less than 5% of the missions of carbon since the beginning of the industrial revolution. Holistic grazing can thus not reverse climate change.