Grazing is the primary management tool used to harvest...and benefit watershed plant communities. Deseret Land & Livestock (DLL) believes that, in order to maintain long term profitability, the ranches resources must be managed in a way that promotes sustainable production and land health. Grazing practices are the result of monitoring of the effects of different grazing practices on resource health and native species that depend on the ranch for a home.

Plant communities on rangelands world-wide have evolved under the influence of grazing animals; such as bison or antelope. These migratory herds tend to graze the available forage quickly; then move on. Generally, a substantial period of rest and recovery occurs before the herd returns.

The essence of the grazing management at DLL is to balance the effects of use with an appropriate recovery period, which protects both plant and watershed health. This is achieved by managing the length of the time the herds graze an area, and the time of the year in which they graze. Grazing pastures with large herds for a very brief period provides for longer rest, re-growth, and recovery for the plants”. At any given day, during rapid growth, less than 10% of the ranch vegetation is exposed to livestock grazing while the other 90% is either recovering from grazing or growing forage for future use. These long rest periods provide quality opportunity for many species of wildlife that call DLL home.

The result of this grazing method has been an increase in plant density and diversity and a decrease in bare ground. Increasing plant cover enhances water infiltration into the ground, which in turn increases forage diversity and production, reduces runoff, and minimizes soil erosion. This enhances the watershed’s ability to store, purify, and then slowly deliver the water into the system.