I am about to close on a new 30 acre property in the Eastern Utah high desert and am beginning to plan the path towards making it a productive homestead focusing on rotationally grazing stock. The plan is to ultimately graze cattle, sheep, and horses with poultry thrown in the mix. My question is regarding the building of the pasture.
First order of business is clearing most of the trees, not all of course but a vast vast majority of the junipers, and then installing swales to capture the minimal rainfall (area averages 14-16” a year). And then getting to fencing.
My experience with traditional pasture creation involves preparing the soil, planting, and then waiting an entire year to start grazing so roots can establish. I wonder how that plays into the regenerative approach though as the animal impact is important for breaking the soil up and allowing water to penetrate as well as fertilizing the soil. Does it make sense to follow the traditional path, or is it better to immediately start grazing and rotating the stock across the land and feed mainly hay rolled out across the, largely bare, ground to start incorporating more organic matter into the soil?
Any guidance from folks who’ve started from scratch in high desert would be greatly appreciated!
submitted by /u/Hardwayallday
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