Sheep Industry News March 2023

PERC Puts Spotlight On Targeted Grazing

W ith a new targeted grazing manual in the works at ASI, it made sense for the Production, Education and Research Council to convene a panel of targeted graz ers to discuss the various avenues for success in an ever-expanding aspect of the American sheep industry. Municipal lands, private lands and solar arrays have all proven to be reliable income sources for targeted grazers in recent years as government agencies and the general public look for natural ways to control weeds and reduce fuel load in the face of growing fire risks. The concept isn’t completely foreign given that Western ranchers have been grazing on U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Man agement permits for decades. But the ability to turn that concept into free feed and a revenue source is changing the business model for some longtime producers. Third-generation rancher Ryan Indart of California might be targeted grazing’s biggest proponent after the addition of solar grazing dramatically changed the fortunes of his sheep operation. “We lost money seven of the first 10 years,” Indart said of pur chasing his family’s sheep and farming operations. “And 2018 was the worst year I’ve had professionally. I looked at my wife and said, ‘We’ve got to do something different.’” That same year he got a phone call from a solar operator inter ested in having his flock graze the company’s solar array. “I took all of my chips and went all in,” Indart said. “I was able to turn the business into a service provider. I’m both a rancher and a service provider. We’re doing all the same things that other ranchers do on a commercial scale, but we’ve added this separate enterprise. For seven to eight months out of the year, I don’t have to pay for that feed. That’s why I’m able to stay in California and continue to ranch in California.” That enterprise provides free feed for the flock’s 3,500 ewes in addition to the money solar operators pay Indart to have his sheep graze the site. As solar arrays pop up on a daily basis all across the country, the sheep industry is uniquely situated to benefit from the United States’ push toward clean energy. “They have to mitigate the fuel load under those panels to fulfill their insurance contracts,” Indart said. “They have to hire someone to mitigate that danger. It’s either me or a mowing company. But they aren’t environmentally friendly. We’re the green alternative, so we’re selling that. And it works.” But solar operators aren’t the only ones turning to sheep produc ers. State, city and local governments are seeing the value, as well. California has long been a leader in using sheep and goats for tar

geted grazing of open space, parks and suburban neighborhoods, and it’s a trend that is catching on. The Helle family of Montana is well known for fine wool and the Duckworth clothing line they developed. Grazing in the mountains is a age-old tradition for their flock, but they’ve branched out in recent years to work with the city of Missoula, Mont. “Last year was one of the first times we’ve ever been paid to graze,” said fourth-generation rancher Weston Helle. “They own a bunch of open space that was just covered in weeds. Being in the city is something new for us. It started with leafy spurge control and now we’re more into fire fuel reduction.” While goats aren’t welcome in solar arrays, they make great grazing animals in open space. Hailey Gosnell of Goatscaping in Texas runs both sheep and goats while grazing both public and private lands around the Lone Star State. “Our animals are handled so often now that they are used to the job and all of the loading and unloading,” she said. She uses electric net fencing to corral the animals at a grazing site, while Indart said his operation tends to use three or four strand electric wire fences. Given the Western range nature of his family’s operation, Helle said he uses a “Peruvian fence,” that is made up of Peruvian sheepherders, herding dogs and horses. It just goes to show that there are a variety of opportunities in targeted grazing and countless ways to operate within that realm. The council also heard an update on ASI’s electronic identifica tion pilot program with the Delta (Colo.) Sales Yard (see the Janu ary Sheep Industry News for details). In addition, California’s Rosie Busch, DVM, and producer Ryan Mahoney discussed the upcom ing changes to antibiotic use in food animals. For more on those changes, turn to page 38 of this issue.

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