Reading the Land: Understanding your pasture and adapting your animal management

This workshop will be led by Greg Brann, who owns and operates Big Springs Farm in Kentucky and runs a mixed species "flerd" (flock+herd) of goats, sheep, cattle, guard dogs, and a donkey. You can read more about him below. The workshop will be at the pastures of the USA Regenerative Agriculture Alliance in Greeneville. We will be doing a pasture species identification walk (we were there last week and identified over 40 species), seeing what the various plant tell us about the pastures and how many of the "weeds" can actually be a benefit in the pasture mix. We will also talk about the various types of animal management (continuous, rotational, adaptive), and how that can affect the health and species composition of a pasture and a flerd. Greg will also be available to answer any questions you all have about your own pastures, flocks, herds, or farming aspirations.

Greg received a BS degree in Plant and Soil Science from the University of TN, Knoxville with special emphasis on animal science and landscape design. He worked as the State Grazing Land Soil Health Specialist for 23 of his 40-year tenure with NRCS. Greg is a featured speaker at many conferences and grazing schools around the country. His private consulting practice, Synergistic Grazing Management, provides land management planning to farmers, ranchers, land preservation organizations, and public land managers. Greg has served as the Technical Advisor to BEHAVE, Tennessee Forage and Grassland Council, and the American Sheep Industry. He has developed land management plans as varied as the 100,000 acres at Fort Campbell Military Base to diversified farms of 25 acres. Looking past symptoms to discover and resolve root issues, his plans provide practical ideas to help in reaching aspired goals. Learn more about Greg at https://gregbrann.com/