Developing Grazing Goals for Success
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- 3 min read
On February 13, 2026 Holistic Management Certified Educator Elizabeth Marks and Educator Trainee Anne Phillips presented a half-day Holistic Planned Grazing Workshop at the Ohio Ecological Farm and Food Association winter conference in Newark, Ohio.
There were 11 participants who ranged from aspirational graziers with 4 acres to a dairy farmer with 350 head of milkers. Livestock included cows (beef and dairy), sheep, goats, and horses. All the participants were excited to learn how to improve their grazing.
One of the first steps of the workshop was to help participants develop their holistic goals, which helped participants think about their core values and future vision. One farmer had been so busy on the farm that he had not time to think about what he wanted. Getting people thinking about their core values was an important foundation for the course.
The exercise of determining stocking rate was also an eye opener for several in the group. In Ohio, a successful stocking rate to prevent overgrazing ranges from 1.5-3 acres per animal unit. No one had done the exercise before, and one farmer realized very quickly that he was overstocked by about 30%. This left him with a dilemma on how to approach the topic with other family members. The Holistic Goal exercise provided a framework to approach the discussion.
One woman was really excited because she had no idea how to improve her continuously grazed pastures before the workshop. But, this workshop gave her the knowledge and inspiration to start dividing her land up into paddocks and plan her moves.
Here's what some of the participants had to say about the workshop:
“The concept of slow growth equals slow moves is a new one for me and I’m thinking of how to apply that to my farm and the farmers I work with. I appreciate these gatherings (especially in winter) to inspire me to do a better job with pasture management for the upcoming season.”
“This workshop helped me create a vision of what we want. We want to go from continuous grazing and horribly torn up, muddy ground, to rotating among paddocks. We are thinking of combining our goats and cattle into one herd so we can provide more rest and recovery to grasses and prevent the uneven utilization of forage we get now (super short areas mixed with super long areas.”
“I appreciated the goal setting and visioning. I like how it makes decision making easier.”
“We need to de-stock our herd however first we need to meet with the important members of our farm to talk about our common goals and vision so that everyone is on board with the decisions we make.”
“I learned how important goals and vision are. I appreciated the emphasis on animal units and stocking rate.
Participant evaluations showed that 100% of the participants were satisfied with the program and would recommend it to others. 100% increased their knowledge about grazing planning and intend to modify or create a written grazing plan. They also all expanded their network to learn more about grazing planning.
Thank you to the L&L Nippert Foundation for their support of this program.
To learn how to better plan your grazing, sign up for HMI's Online Grazing Planning Course today! Learn from anywhere as webinars are recorded and you get individual support to help you build out your grazing plan and meet your grazing goals.
