The Namibian livestock industry is in decline. There is a large-scale loss of palatable perennial grasses, widely spread bush encroachment, and Namibia is regarded as a country that will be severely affected by climate change.

To counter this trend, the Department of Agriculture, Water and Forestry (MAWF), together with industry partners such as the Namibian Farmers’ Union, initiated and developed an innovative rangeland policy that can annually add N$4 billion to the GDP if fully implemented.

ProAgri BNZ will publish extracts from the policy document to make sure that all farmers understand this plan that can help them to survive the next drought. The best practices presented in this section are intended to give an idea of methods available and how they have been applied.

Case study 4: Holistic management

a) Multi-camp with high density, high utilisation and long recovery (few herds), in Namibia.

Judith Knye shared her farming experience of combining large and small livestock on Farm Springbockvley in the Kalahari Sandveld near Leonardville. The stocking rate on Springbockvley is 24 to 45 kg/ha with 1 000 head of cattle and 3 800 sheep. Judith decided to change from Simmentaler to Nguni cattle and from Karakul to Damara sheep because they are better adapted to the area’s climate conditions. Originally there were five big herds, which she has now organised into three herds of oxen, cows and sheep.

She supplements the cattle and sheep with a saltphosphate- sulphur lick. Since 2011 she has no longer been supplementing with urea because she aims to obtain organic certification. Instead the animals are given milled camel-thorn pods, and in years of very low rainfall, additional oil cake is given for extra energy.

Grazing plan

Three herds/flocks follow each other through all camps according to a detailed grazing plan that flows from a forage assessment at the end of the growing season (see illustration). The grazing plan provides for meeting the needs of animals, people, soil and plants. It also ensures that at no point in time do two herds/flocks drink at the same water system. Each camp is allowed between 90 and 140 days to recover. The advantage is that every camp gets exposed to small and large livestock, which seems to make a difference in terms of utilisation of the available bush and grass.

Animal health and selection

Judith deals with internal and external parasites by knowing the natural cycle of these parasites and breaking their life cycle by applying planned grazing. This greatly reduces veterinary costs. She further adjusts the sizes of the herds according to the availability of water. As mentioned, the breeds are chosen for their adaptability to the conditions of the farm. Initially, Judith was very strict with animal selection criteria and marketed cows that did not conceive immediately after reaching 18 months.

This was relaxed somewhat as she wanted to increase the size of the herd to consume all the grass. She runs a closed herd with bulls from her own herd occasionally supplemented by fresh blood from purchased bulls. With the sheep, the rams are in the herd the whole year round and no castration takes place because it is simply too much work.

Lessons from Springbockvley

According to Judith, forage mass is not forage nutrition, and this is especially important for animal fertility. Another factor to consider is stocking rate, because if you grow more forage, it needs to become more nutritious. Sometimes it is critical for the wellbeing of the farm if the animal condition and animal performance are put before the needs of rangeland – assisting females to reproduce is then priority. Judith firmly believes that multi-species grazing increases total production per hectare and helps to reduce over-all risk in uncertain climate conditions.

b) Multi-camp with high density, but low selective utilisation, with short recovery periods (few herds)

At the National Rangeland Forum in 2018, Ian Mitchell-Innes said: “The closer we farm to nature, the more chance we have of making it a success and being profitable. If you do not make money from farming, then there is no point in continuing.”

Ian has been practising holistic management for twenty years on his ranch in South Africa. The grazing plan ensures adequate recovery periods, and this, combined with animals at high density, increases grass productivity and quality over time.

Ian suggests that all the grasslands of the world were developed under a predator/prey relationship. He promotes using animals at high stock density, with high selection during the growing season, to ensure that only the plant tops are eaten. This is where all the energy is – the key driver of animal performance.

He explained that the low utilisation levels during each grazing event enables a short recovery period, and animals can return to the same paddock relatively soon (for example, after 40 days in rainfall areas of 400 mm and after good rain). During the short stay in camps, other plants are trodden onto and into the ground, where they serve as litter, providing soil nutrients and protecting the soil from sun and erosion. Animal performance, and not animal impact, is the overriding factor in determining the grazing plan.

By grazing forage lightly and only taking the top one-third of the plant, the plant grows more leaves and harvests solar energy using the leaves that are left. This is achieved when the correct stock density and recovery period have been established for a particular area, which vary between low and high rainfall areas as well as within seasons.

Plants grow via photosynthesis. If livestock graze the entire grass plant, it is forced to use energy reserved in its roots to form new growth instead of the sun’s free and abundant energy. In order to return to its former glory, the grass plant that has been defoliated more than one-third needs much longer to recover.

Ian says: “A plant should never stop growing during the growing season.” He did not focus on plant diversity, but rather on harvesting energy: “Energy is money and money is energy. Time is money and water is money. It is all about the money. If you make a living off the land, by default you are in the energy business. In harvesting energy, we need to feed the whole ecosystem, which is fed by light grazing, high density and short recovery periods. Using this technique, farmers can start with what they have and make improvements as capital is earned by growing more high-quality grass and other species.”

According to him, farmers should observe animals: “Even with brown grass, the animal will first take a bite off the top of the grass because they instinctively know where the energy is and will naturally eat the grass with the best available energy first.”

Managing animals in the paddock increases the density over time. If grass is grazed right down to the root, it takes longer to grow back than if grazed lightly: “I believe in grazing grass in a vegetative state. The short recovery periods can keep the grass  plant in a highly productive vegetative state, which is good for grass production and animal performance. It is like growing roses that grow back thicker after they have been pruned.”

Ian also indicated that once a grass plant has seeded, the energy from the plant goes into seed formation but is also transferred into the plant below the ground for the next season. During the remainder of the growing season, this plant no longer grows actively, and plant quality and animal performance are reduced. Therefore, one can say that properly managed animals will grow more grass, and if moved correctly will have good animal performance. Animals also plant grass. Harvesting the energy of the plant is important to achieve animal performance, which is why he promotes light grazing and short recovery periods.

Soil health

With regard to taking care of the soil, Ian said that the soil should ideally be covered at all times to prevent sun, wind and rain from compacting and drying it out. “The land is like a solar panel. Grazing the energy off the solar panel is like wiping it to increase the effectiveness of the panel.” He added that “God knew we were going to mess up, so all the seeds of the plants that used to be here are still here. Grazing should be done in such a way as to change the environment and soil surface conditions to bring those plants back.”

The secret is to manage grass correctly and to allow adequate recovery periods.” Ian added: “What grows on the soil is a mirror image of what is below the soil surface.” Big, bare areas with unpalatable plants can be turned into lush pasture over time by animal impact and planned grazing. This should not cost anything other than understanding and management. Making investments to enable the grazing plan to be implemented need to be done, but these should be able to be paid off quickly.

“Feed the soil, which in turn feeds the grass, and ultimately the animal. This is the way to get optimal animal performance and ultimately to make a profit.”

By using livestock, the fungal/ bacterial relationship in the soil can be manipulated. Ian believes that a 1:1 fungal and bacterial ratio is the optimum for grass. Highly encroached areas are dominated by fungus. This ratio can be changed through animal impact, dung and urine being more conducive to grass production. Putting litter on the soil covers it, thereby controlling extreme temperatures. Carbon in the soil is critical to hold moisture, which ensures longer growing periods and increased production.

He stressed that the type of grass species is not that important, but that the harvesting of energy is crucial. Another important element in keeping the soil covered is to promote Azotobacter – bacteria that live on the soil surface and fix nitrogen into the soil. These bacteria need moisture, a constant temperature and food. If the Azotobacter is fed, it will contribute to grass growth, productivity and animal performance.

The holistic approach

Ian’s formula for managing rangeland holistically is to build a ‘stockpile’ through the growing season to gradually graze through the non-growing season: “This is grazed two to three times, depending on what suits us in the non-growing season, to maintain animal performance throughout the year. More grass can be grown if grazed in a vegetative state. Everything which is stressed breeds, and the same applies to plants. The more stressed a plant is, the more seeds it produces. This is nature’s way to sustain species for the future.”

The rest of the Case study 4:Holistic Management will be discussed in our next edition.

*The National Rangeland Management Policy (NRMP) was approved in 2012. In 2014, the NRMPS Project was commissioned in support of this policy under the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry (MAWF), to address the declining natural resource base in Namibia.

Extract from Reviving Namibia’s Livestock Industry, Regenerative Livestock Production Trends, Key Profit Drivers, Case Studies and Recommendations, NRMP Best Practice Strategy Document (Revised edition from 2012 NRMPS), based on Namibia Rangeland Management Policy (NRMP): A