Plug in your numbers. See how much you can save.
Plan your conversion to heifers on pasture
Plan your conversion to beef cattle on pasture
What are the Compasses?
Free Excel-based planning tools for anyone considering raising livestock on pasture. They help users predict and understand cash flow and long-term financial outcomes associated with transitioning to a grass-based system.
Who are the Compasses for?
For those wondering:
- Can my land support the dry matter demand of my herd?
- Is the new feeding plan sufficient for my animals’ healthy development?
- What are the establishment costs of a pasture system?
- What is the operating expense and labor expense during the grazing season?
- What are the financial implications of my current livestock-raising strategy?
- How do the financial outcomes of the proposed pasture system compare to my existing strategy?
Learn how you can significantly reduce feed costs for livestock production
The Compasses demonstrate that raising livestock using managed grazing results in savings of between 25 percent and 50 percent per head per day during the grazing season as opposed to confinement. Grazing can also result in labor savings of 50 percent to 75 percent during grazing season
The Compasses were conceived and designed by Brad Barham, John Hendrickson, Connor Mulholland, and Jim Munsch for the University of Wisconsin as part of Grassland 2.0 and the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems (CIAS). Questions or comments can be addressed to John Hendrickson at jhendric@wisc.edu or Jim Munsch at jmunsch@mwt.net.
Explore the Possibilities Without the Risk
What is it?
GrazeScape is a free, web-based tool that can be used to evaluate the results of a potential change in management practices on one’s own land. It can be used to compare outcomes such as yield, erosion, nutrient loss, and costs between current practices and proposed practices. This customizable “what if” tool is designed to make timely and accurate predictions using information specific to the farmer’s land and the way it is managed.
Interested in trying a new management practice?
Compare environmental and economic consequences on your farm without the risk.
What kinds of questions does GrazeScape answer?
Questions about how a change in management might affect yield, erosion, nutrient loss, runoff, impact on insect populations, and production costs for a field or farm. For example:
- How would soil erosion be affected if we added cover crops to this field of corn and beans? What if we tried no-till?
- What kind of crop rotation and management is necessary to reduce the nitrate leaching on this particular field by at least 50%?
- If we converted this field from a dairy rotation to pasture, would it produce enough forage to graze our replacement heifers?
- How does the frequency of rotating my heifers through a pasture affect grass yield?
- How many feet of fencing would I need to surround this field and graze my heifers? What would that infrastructure cost?
Who might use it?
- A farmer interested in changing the management of a field to reduce environmental impact
- A new grazier putting together a pasture plan
- A service provider helping a farmer explore their options and determining environmental impact
- Someone trying to estimate grass yield to enter into the Heifer Grazing Compass
How does it work?
Uses data from SnapPlus, Web Soil Survey, and newly developed applications to produce results specific to your operation.