BDNow! 029 Sarah Flack "The Art and Science of Grazing"

Biodynamics Now! Investigative Farming and Restorative Nutrition Podcast

Sarah Flack is the author of the Chelsea Green book Organic Dairy Production (2011) and, more recently, The Art and Science of Grazing: How Grass Farmers Can Create Sustainable Systems for Healthy Animals and Farm Ecosystems (2016). She is a nationally known consultant on grazing and organic livestock management.

Sarah Flack is uniquely qualified as a teacher in the grazing movement in that she has both scientific training and intensive hands on experience with livestock, not only on her family's farm but, because of her long time work as a certifier and consultant, on many grazing enterprises, both small and large. She grew up on a Vermont family farm that used management-intensive grazing and mob stocking. She later studied Holistic Planned Grazing and pursued graduate studies on pasture management at the University of Vermont. She has written extensively about grass farming and is known for teaching workshops that take a practical approach to applying the science of grazing. Sarah has successfully helped many farmers create positive change in their pastures, soils, livestock, finances, and farm-family quality of life.

The Art and Science of Grazing: How Grass Farmers Can Create Sustainable Systems for Healthy Animals and Farm Ecosystems

By Sarah Flack

Foreword by Hubert J. Karreman, VMD

New techniques for managing grazing animals are producing dramatic results that empower farmers to grazing systems that are truly effective at meeting their farm and quality-of-life goals.

In this comprehensive book, nationally known grazing consultant Sarah Flack builds on a solid foundation of the key principles of grazing management to help farmers design and manage successful grazing systems. Flack’s lifelong experience with grazing began when her family employed mob grazing techniques on the family farm to transform a brushy, overgrown series of fields into high-quality pasture.

Farmers and their farms will benefit greatly from Flack’s message that, in partnership with their animals, they can create profound change in pasture quality and productivity and the performance of the livestock. The book’s unique approach presents information first from the perspective of pasture plants, and then from the livestock perspective—helping farmers understand both plant and animal needs before setting up a grazing system.

Flack includes descriptions of real grazing systems working well on dairy, beef, goat, and sheep farms in different regions of North America. The book covers pasture requirements specific to organic farming but will be of use to both organic and non-organic farms.