Benefits Of Diversity In Perennial Pastures For Soil Health And Forage Production

Aug 04, 2016

By Sjoerd Willem Duiker

A long-term grazing study shows the advantage of a diversified mix of pasture plant species.

A study performed by the USDA Pasture Lab in State College on a Hagerstown silt loam soil compared a two-way mix of ‘Tekapo’ orchardgrass/ ‘Will’ white clover with a five-way mix of ‘Puna’ chicory/’Tekapo’ orchardgrass/’Bronson’ tall fescue/’Will’ white clover/’Amerigraze’ alfalfa.

The forages were seeded in a field that had been in alfalfa. The alfalfa was killed in October 2003, seeded to rye in November, and disked and planted to oat in April. This was terminated in July and forage mixes were no-till planted. Besides lime, 10 lbs/A N, 50 lbs/A P2O5, and 210 lbs/A K2O in 2004 no further fertilization occurred.

Paddocks were grazed by beef cattle when their average height was 10 inches, to 4 inches height, usually 5 times per year. Dry matter grazing yield (what the animals consumed) is shown in the following figure (to convert kg/ha to lbs/A multiply by 0.9).

Yearly Forage Yield of a Five and Two Species Pasture Mix

Key lessons learned from this study:

The 5-species mix produced 31% more forage than the 2-species mix over the 9 years of this trial.
The diverse mix produced more in wet and dry years, but the difference was greater in wet years.
Diverse mixture was typically 2 inches taller when grazed
Post-grazing forage density was 35% greater in the diverse mix
At the end of 8 yrs, the diverse mix was dominated by tall fescue (50%) and orchard grass and white clover (each 20%). The rest was weeds (esp. Kentucky bluegrass).

Source: psu.edu

Video: From Conventional to Regenerative: Will Groeneveld’s Journey Back to the Land

"You realize you've got a pretty finite number of years to do this. If you ever want to try something new, you better do it."

That mindset helped Will Groeneveld take a bold turn on his Alberta grain farm. A lifelong farmer, Will had never heard of regenerative agriculture until 2018, when he attended a seminar by Kevin Elmy that shifted his worldview. What began as curiosity quickly turned into a deep exploration of how biology—not just chemistry—shapes the health of our soils, crops and ecosystems.

In this video, Will candidly reflects on his family’s farming history, how the operation evolved from a traditional mixed farm to grain-only, and how the desire to improve the land pushed him to invite livestock back into the rotation—without owning a single cow.

Today, through creative partnerships and a commitment to the five principles of regenerative agriculture, Will is reintroducing diversity, building soil health and extending living roots in the ground for as much of the year as possible. Whether it’s through intercropping, zero tillage (which he’s practiced since the 1980s) or managing forage for visiting cattle, Will’s approach is a testament to continuous learning and a willingness to challenge old norms.

Will is a participant in the Regenerative Agriculture Lab (RAL), a social innovation process bringing together producers, researchers, retailers and others to co-create a resilient regenerative agriculture system in Alberta. His story highlights both the potential and humility required to farm with nature, not against it.