They include more total pasture production, more uniform utilization, less forage waste, improved and more uniform nutrition for livestock and better control of the amount of residue left to maintain healthy water and nutrient cycles. Perennials can only become established if the land is managed as though they are already present. Shortening the graze period reduced overgrazing, but it was the increase in stock density that resulted in more even utilization. Overgrazing is a function of time. Uniformity of utilization is a function of stock density.
Some ranchers mow pastures to keep vegetation uniform and palatable.
Others use fire to remove old, stemmy, ungrazed material. What they usually really need is higher stock density. High stock density increases the uniformity of utilization and maintains forage in a more palatable, nutritious, digestible condition. Stock density increases as the number of animals in a paddock increase or as paddock size decreases. Twenty head per acre is the minimum stock density needed to uniformly graze irrigated pasture.