Adaptive multi-paddock grazing

Adaptive multi-paddock grazing

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
Directly from the publication GreenBiz: For more than four years, McDonald’s has been traversing a long and arduous path to produce "sustainable beef" in its sprawling global supply chain.

Now, it’s looking for solutions right under its feet.

The fast-food giant is embarking on a small but potentially significant project to measure and analyze the ability of cattle farming to sequester carbon in soil, using a style of grazing called adaptive multi-paddock — AMP, for short. If it works, it could transform the way McDonald’s ranchers raise cattle and produce beef — while avoiding the release of millions or even billions of tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Adaptive multi-paddock grazing is a more effective form of rotational grazing in which one paddock is grazed at a time while other paddocks recover and livestock numbers are adjusted as needed to match available forage as conditions change. Adaptive multi-paddock grazing’s potential is as critical to farming as it is to the climate.

 

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