As we approach summer I think one of the largest, if not the largest concern to many producers is… you guessed it. Water.

We tend to think in terms of not having enough water, especially during these droughts, and to a degree that can be particularly true for rangeland. But, what if we are looking at this wrong? What if we have more than enough water? What if we only need 10″ of precipitation?

In a recent agricultural forum put on by the Colorado State Land board, Alejandro Carrillo of Grasslands Regeneration Project stated, “Don’t tell me how much rain you get, tell me how much rain you can keep.” It is my understanding that in reality we are only absorbing a fraction of the moisture readily available.

With compacted fields, sod-bound monocultures, overgrazed landscape, shallow root systems, etc., we actually tend to have more water run off our land than infiltrated.

I think this is such an encouragement because we can directly make an impact with our management to improve soil health and create more porous soils. Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge advocate for improving our efficiency regarding irrigation infrastructure. With the majority of irrigation ditches in the county being 100+ years old, keeping up with improvements and maintenance is a never-ending task.

When we look particularly at non-irrigated pastures I think it is important to understand what can make soil healthy? Glad you asked.

It is as simple or as complex as you want it to be but my preferred method is utilizing livestock. Properly managing livestock in high density, adaptive style grazing, can build organic matter while putting money in your pocket.

If we manage with soil health and animal health at the forefront, I truly believe there will be significant improvements to our landscapes, our yields, and our pocketbooks. All that said, let’s try to think about improving our soil health and infiltration capacity rather than cursing bad weather and markets.

Davey Baron is a first generation ranch in North Routt. His cattle operation, Elk River Livestock focuses on holistic management with intensive grazing and land stewardship at its core.