#186 The Most Common Grazing Mistake Ranchers Make Every Spring (and How to Avoid It)

Welcome to another episode of your Fat Wallets podcast. I am your host, Jim Elizondo from Real Wealth Ranching.

Every spring… I see the same thing happen.

Good ranchers.
Hard-working people.
People who genuinely care about their land and their livestock.
And year after year…
They make the same mistake.

Not because they’re careless.
Not because they’re lazy.
And not because they don’t know better.
They make it because it feels right.
And that’s what makes it so costly.

What I want to talk about today is the most common grazing mistake ranchers make every single spring…
and how to avoid it — without adding more rules, more stress, or more work.

Once you see this mistake clearly,
You can’t unsee it.
And more importantly…
Once you stop making it,
Everything else in the grazing year gets easier.

The Mistake

The most common grazing mistake ranchers make every spring is this:

They turn cattle out too early…
And then they graze too lightly.

Most people think the danger in spring is grazing too hard.
But in reality…
The bigger problem is top grazing.

Why this happens every year

And I want to be clear about something.
This mistake isn’t due to bad intentions.
It comes from good ones.
Spring brings relief.
Winter is finally over.

Hay piles are shrinking. Mud is drying up.

And there’s this feeling of… finally getting ahead.

Then you see green grass.
And your instinct says:
“I don’t want to hurt it.”

So cattle go out early…
and they’re allowed to skim…
to cherry-pick…
to take the best bites.
And from the gate, it looks responsible.

But biologically, it’s the most damaging combination of the year.

What grass is actually doing in early spring

Here’s the part that most grazing advice never really explains.

In early spring…
Grass is not strong. It’s a baby just starting to grow. It’s surviving on stored energy.

That green leaf you see?
It’s being powered by reserves stored in the roots and crown from last year.

At that stage:

• The roots are shallow
  
• Recovery ability is limited
  
• And regrowth depends entirely on what energy is left underground
  

So when cattle selectively graze those first leaves… The plant loses its solar panels.

Root growth slows. Recovery slows. And the plant gets weaker — not stronger.

Why light grazing is worse than hard grazing

This is where things get counterintuitive.
Light grazing feels safe. But biologically… It’s often worse than hard grazing.

Why?
Because selectivity is the real enemy. 

When cattle are allowed to:

• Take the best bites
• come back to the same plants
• and avoid the tougher ones

they punish the same individuals over and over… right when those plants are most vulnerable.

And the pasture still looks green.
Which is why this mistake is so hard to spot.

The Mental Trap

One of the most damaging beliefs in grazing is this:
“If grass is growing, I need to use it.”

Nature doesn’t operate on urgency.
It operates on readiness.

Just because grass is green…
doesn’t mean it’s ready.

What successful grazers do differently

The most successful graziers I work with do something that looks risky to outsiders.

They wait longer…
And then they graze with purpose.

Instead of early turnout and light pressure…
They focus on:

• adequate plant recovery
  
• short grazing periods
  
• enough pressure to reduce selectivity 
  
• and a longer recovery afterward
  

And paradoxically… They usually end up with more grazing days, not fewer.

"Taking the top off" Myth

You’ll hear this phrase everywhere:
“I’m just taking the top off.”

Plants don’t recognize “the top” the way we do.

What matters is where the energy for the regrowth is coming from.

And early in the season…
The baby plant is using all its energy to fuel the first green leaves.

So light grazing can still become the most critical tissue.

Spring is about setting the system

Spring grazing is not about harvest.

It’s about system setup.
You’re deciding:

• root strength and depth

• recovery speed

• summer resilience

•  

  fall stockpile volume

• and winter costs

Every decision you make in spring echoes for months.

Simplicity vs Complexity

A lot of ranchers try to fix spring problems with:

• more rotations
• more moves
• more monitoring

But complexity doesn’t fix biological timing.

Clear rules do.
Rules like:

• “I won’t graze until plants are ready.”

• “When I graze, I’ll graze decisively.”

•  

  “Recovery matters more than convenience.”

Going back to basics

This is exactly why we created Ranching Made Simple.

Not to add another system.
Not to overwhelm people with information.

But to help ranchers:

• See the real bottlenecks
• Stop reacting to short-term pressure
• and make fewer, better decisions

Spring grazing mistakes aren’t knowledge problems.
They’re sequencing problems.

Simple Spring Checklist

Ask yourself:

• Are cattle grazing uniformly… or cherry-picking?
• Are plants recovering faster… or slower?
• Does the pasture look more even each week… or more patchy?

Those answers tell you everything.

Why this Mistake Persists

This mistake sticks around because it feels safe.
But safety in grazing doesn’t come from being gentle.
It stems from alignment with biology.

Spring is emotional.

There’s pressure.
From neighbors.
From tradition.
From the calendar.

But grass doesn’t read calendars.

And cattle don’t care what month it is.

They respond to pressure… timing… and recovery.

If there’s one thing I want you to take from today, it’s this:

Spring is not the time to be early and hurried.
It’s time to be patient and decisive.

Waiting a little longer — and grazing with purpose — often produces more grass, not less.

If this way of thinking resonates with you…
focusing on biology, simplicity, and long-term profit…

That’s exactly what we teach inside Ranching Made Simple.

It’s not about doing more.
It’s about doing the right things, in the right order…
and then getting out of the way.

You can learn more at
https://www.rwranching.com/ranchingmadesimple

No pressure.
Use what you can.
And let your land tell you the rest.

May God bless you and your family!