We probably have as many or more herding grazers on the landscape now as ever…..Just a matter of how they’re being used. Like I said, I think you could change the game over the course of time if some of these quail plantations started becoming demonstration properties…..All it would take is for them to show how much more productive they can be using a different style of management and it would create a snowball effect where other landowners started wanting to implement it as well…..Once you have all the recreational property owners wanting to manage their land with “herbivory” then maybe it spills over into what your typical cattle farmer is currently doing…..Maybe instead of feeding hay all winter you start having guys move their herd into recreational properties and so on….I could see it potentially modifying the typical way we raise cattle, especially in areas like the blackbelt where quail type land sits right next door to cattle farms.

As far as fire goes, this method still uses fire…….I think fire was is naturally supposed to be a little different than what we do now…..I think its supposed to be low intensity growing season burns for the most part without so much grass fuel…..Folks typically are looking to completely burn off the duff layer and I don’t think that’s what you really want to have happen. Fire is just supposed to burn off a bit of the excess that doesn’t get consumed by your grazers and browsers and help control woody vegetation. I think many of the natural burns occurred during periods of rainfall that dampened the duff layer and probably resulted in what many would think of as not being a good burn. That preserved your soil system from scorching though……Your herding grazers are what came around and stimulated the seed bank and duff layer like you’re wanting to have happen to get the plant response.