#151 Unlocking the Power of Ruminant Nutrition for Better Grazing

Hello, fellow cattlemen! If you're like me, you take pride in raising quality cattle while ensuring your land stays healthy and productive. But let me ask: Are your cattle genuinely getting the most from your pastures?

When grazing, we should focus first on cattle health, then on animal performance, and lastly on conversión efficiency.

Conversión efficiency is essential, even though most people grazing cattle do not consider it. Conversión efficiency means how many pounds of beef or weaned calves we get per ton of grass we produce. Many times, this is the weak link that keeps us in the red.

Did you know that cows can overconsume up to 60% more grass daily than they need? Without extra production, this extra grass is wasted and can be caused by not grazing correctly.

Many of us have been conditioned to believe that supplements, expensive feed, and constant monitoring are the only ways to ensure our cattle get the nutrition they need. But what if I told you there’s a smarter way that allows your cattle to thrive naturally while cutting your feed costs and doubling your herd size?

That’s precisely what my Effortless Planned Grazing short course is all about.

Today, I’m inviting you to a free Q&A session to dive deep into the science of ruminant nutrition when grazing—a topic that will change how you look at feeding your cattle forever. The link is www.rwranching.com/grazingcourse 

If you're tired of spending too much on feed and supplements and want a low-input, high-output system for raising cattle, this is for you.

Let’s explore the truth about ruminant nutrition and how grazing the right way can increase stocking rates, improve herd health, and keep more money in your pocket.

The Problem: Why Conventional Cattle Feeding Strategies Are Holding You Back

Most cattlemen today believe that to raise healthy, productive cattle, they need to:

❌ Feed expensive supplements to compensate for "poor" forage quality.
❌ Rotate cattle frequently to ensure they only eat “high-quality” forage.
❌ Feed hay several months a year because winter grazing isn't “nutritious enough.”
❌ Overfeed grain-based rations to improve body condition.

But here’s the hard truth: None of these strategies are sustainable.

Why? Because they force you to spend more money and work harder instead of letting nature do the work for you.

Think about it—how did ruminants survive and thrive for thousands of years before humans fed them supplements and grain?

The answer lies in cattle's natural digestive design and how we can manage grazing to work with their ruminant system instead of against it.

Do not forget that we want our cattle to perform well while they improve the land on which they graze!

Ruminant Nutrition 101: How Cattle Were Meant to Eat

Cattle are ruminants, which means their digestive systems are designed to ferment fiber and extract nutrients from forage.

Here’s how their system works when appropriately managed:

✅ Microbial Fermentation - Cattle rely on microbes in their rumen to break down cellulose and turn it into usable energy.
✅ Continuous Forage Intake - Unlike monogastric animals, cattle need a steady intake of fiber-rich feed in their 8-hour grazing period.
✅ Protein and Energy Balance - They don't need high-energy grains; they need forage that promotes a healthy microbial population.
✅ Efficient Nutrient Cycling - Proper grazing ensures cattle recycle nutrients into the soil, which grows better-quality forage.

Here’s the biggest mistake ranchers make: Interrupting this natural cycle with artificial supplements and grain-based rations.

Feeding grain or high molasses supplements disrupt the delicate microbial balance, reducing rumen efficiency and making cattle more dependent on external inputs rather than optimizing forage use.

Effortless Planned Grazing: Letting Nature Do the Work

The secret to doubling your herd size while keeping them healthy isn’t feeding more—it’s grazing smarter.

Effortless Planned Grazing is a system I’ve developed based on decades of experience, designed to:

🔹 Maximize forage digestion by allowing cattle to graze the entire plant, not just the tops.
🔹 Improve rumen function by ensuring cattle consume a balanced mix of grasses, stems, and legumes.
🔹 Ensure optimal livestock health. Reduce hay and supplement costs by extending the grazing season year-round.
🔹 Create healthier soil by optimizing long-lived soil carbon building and natural nutrient cycling.

An important consideration: When moving cattle to a new pasture, rumen microbes take 10 to 14 days to adjust to the new paddock's forage abundance and quality. If daily movement isn’t possible, moving cattle every 2 to 4 weeks rather than every few days is better. Why? This gives their rumen microbes time to adapt to the change in diet, ensuring better digestion, more efficient forage use, better performance, and healthier cattle overall.

This isn’t theory—it’s a proven method that has helped ranchers worldwide increase stocking rates, improve soil health, and dramatically cut input costs.

And here’s the best part: It’s easy to implement, and I’ll show you how.

We must have cattle with nutritional adaptation to keep our costs low, and we need to have our Optimal Calving Season in place to keep those costs down.

Switching to a grazing-based nutrition plan might sound different from what you’ve been taught, but trust me, it works.

That’s why I’m hosting a free Q&A session where you can ask me anything about:

✔ How to optimize cattle nutrition through grazing. ✔ How to cut back on expensive supplements and still have thriving cattle. ✔ How to increase your stocking rate without buying more land. ✔ How to improve soil fertility through natural grazing methods. ✔ How to harness nutritional adaptation to lower costs, by the way: Nutritional adaptation is the trait that allows some cows to maintain productivity while other cows in the same herd are losing body condition. Nutritional adaptation comes from genetics, and we can select for it.

To sign up, to www.rwranching.com/grazingcourse  and register for the Q&A session. It’s free, and you’ll leave with real, practical knowledge that you can use immediately.

Final Thoughts: It’s Time to Ranch Smarter, Not Harder

If you’re tired of:

• Watching your best pastures decline.
• Baby-sitting your cattle
• Spending thousands on hay and supplements.
• Seeing your cattle depend on grain-based feeds.
• Feeling stuck with conventional methods that don’t seem to work anymore...

Then, it’s time to rethink how you’re managing your herd.

Effortless Planned Grazing is the key to letting nature do the heavy lifting while you reap the rewards.

So, if you’re serious about:

✔ Doubling your herd size.

✔ Slashing your feed costs.

✔ Grazing cattle the way nature intended.

✔ Building healthier soil and higher, more sustainable profits...

Sign up now at and join me for this FREE Q&A session!

I look forward to helping you transform your ranching operation. See you there!

May God bless you, your cattle, and your land!