Ideas for Mob Grazing Paddock Design

This article is part of a series we published in 2015 - 2016 about Jay and Krista Reiser's answers to the question: Is it possible to adapt mob grazing to work on large scales and native rangelands like their 2700 acre ranch in North Dakota? Their observations about paddock design and how it impacts what happens on the ground are helpful no matter the size of your operation. When Jay and Krista Reiser couldn't find the answers they needed about the possibilities of mob grazing on large landscapes like their 2700 North Dakota ranch, they decided to try it for themselves and share the information with the rest of us.  In addition to figuring out fencing solutions that worked for them, they also had to figure out "When is it time to move the cows?" What they learned over the course of their 2 year North Central SARE funded project is that it depends on your goals, the weather, and what the cows need. Adjusting the Trample to Graze Ratio One of their goals was to improve soil health. They thought that a mob grazing strategy with rotation, rest, and better distribution of manure and urine could reinvigorate the soil, improve forage quantity and quality and provide drought resistance. They hoped to use the trampling effect we've all heard and read about as part of this process. As they watched their cattle and how they responded to different fencing systems, they learned that how they fenced changed the ways that animals moved as well as the trample to graze ratio.  In