New Release: Andre Voisin's Grass Productivity

SIMPLE questions often help us to understand problems better; and I think it indispensable, at the beginning of this work, to ask a question which appears simple in the extreme:

“What is grazing?”

The answer is generally as follows:

“Causing grass to be eaten by an animal.”

That is correct! But here is another answer which, to my mind, is more realistic:

“Causing the grass and the animal to meet.”

Since this book is almost exclusively concerned with grazing by cattle, I propose the following definition to the reader, requesting him to allow it to become well impressed upon his mind:

Grazing is the meeting of cow and grass.

It is a meeting of this nature, or at least the first steps towards such an end, that I want to attempt in this book.

We will not study the grass and the cow separately. We will always consider them simultaneously and together, in such a manner as best to satisfy the demands of each.

When we think of the cow, we will not forget the demands of the grass. When we examine the grass, we will always bear in mind the demands of the cow.

It is by satisfying as far as possible the demands of both parties that we will arrive at a rational grazing, which will provide us with maximum productivity on the part of the grass while at the same time allowing the cow to give optimum performance.

[From the Introduction]

This is the original text, which showed how what is known today as "rotational", "management intensive", or"mob grazing" can triple the output of any given pasture - which means more than triple profits for a grass fed beef or dairy farmer. This text has been recovered from the original 1959 edition and republished for your use in a modern format - perfect for a digital reference library or a print-based one (or both!)

502 pages.

eBook now available: