Managing Miracles: Regenerative Farming with Greg Brann

Greg Brann’s dedicated pursuit of regenerative farming reveals a decades-long commitment to sustainable land management and the miracles of nature.

Getting the best out of the land has been a core principle in Greg Brann’s upbringing ever since his father bought a plot on the Tennessee-Kentucky line in the 1960s.

Before ‘rotational grazing’ was a buzzword, Greg’s father was figuring out how to optimize his pasture growth by strategically restricting cattle grazing.

“Back then, we didn’t know exactly how to do it,” Greg recalls. “We didn’t know how important the grazing height and the duration of stay was.”

When Greg took over the family farm, he began to discover the power of grazing height and recovery time. The growth, without the use of fertilizer, was significant, prompting a curiosity for regenerative practices and a career in soil science.

Soil Scientist

From daily rotations to ‘flerd’-fencing (where the whole farm is fenced for sheep, goats, and cattle together), Greg has consistently experimented to discover the most effective sustainable practices on his 675-acre, Big Spring Farm in Allen County, Kentucky.

He's kept a combination of beef cattle, dairy cows, sheep, goats, chickens, pigs and at separate times, tobacco and Christmas trees, with the goal of creating long term profit that the land can sustain.

Greg earned a Bachelor of Science in Plant and Soil Science and began his 40-year career as a grazing lands consultant with the USDA in 1978. His expertise has been widely sought after, advising conservation groups, and speaking at field days and conferences.

Now in retirement, Greg is still highly active in the sector.

In addition to his private consulting practice, Synergistic Grazing Management, Greg works alongside the Organic Association of Kentucky (OAK) to develop grazing plans for Climate Smart Grant participants; provides mentorship to beginning farmers through the National Grazing Lands Coalition (Nat GLC); consults with the National Division of Soil Health, NRCS, as a grazing specialist; writes regularly for Gallagher as our go-to grazing expert; and continues to host the Annual Pasture Walk for the wider agriculture community.  

26 years of the Annual Pasture Walk

Now in its 26th year, the Annual Pasture Walk is an interactive field discussion that attracts land managers from all over the region.

From new to experienced farmers managing a plot anywhere from ten to 3,000 acres, each year they flock to the event to learn, swap stories and see regenerative techniques in action.

Half of the attendees are under the age of forty, showing that newer farm owners are keen to establish regenerative practices from the outset.

With the price of acreage increasing, most attendees of these informative fieldtrips are looking to make the most of the land they have, learning to intensively manage a smaller farm and stacking multiple enterprises.

When the Pasture Walk first started out most of the interest was around infrastructure, whereas now the conversation has changed to managing the plant and the animal.

“We’re sharing different techniques that are not commonly done", says Greg.

Some of these techniques include zigzagging polywire to quickly change sectioned areas within a rotational pasture; the practice of silvopasture, to provide the perfect level of shade on the paddock; hay unrolling, to strategically place hay for an even spread of manure nutrients; and finding the optimum animal density per acre to gain the quickest results for these techniques, without overdoing it.

Improving Soil Fertility

Overdoing it, when it comes to production, is one of the causes of a common issue among the landowners Greg advises: reduced soil fertility.

“[Avoid] thinking that you must have the animal eat off every bit of blade every time it comes out, because that weakens the plant. If you delay the harvest some, you'll get rewarded... there’s a time for everything.”

When the soil is low in phosphorus, an essential nutrient for cell division and development, plant growth is stunted. Recovery without the use of fertilizers is critical for the long term, but it’s a slow process.

Clients will use regenerative techniques for at least six months before differences are noticeable, and up to three years before the land sees significant returns.

Greg points out that changes in the landscape come quicker with higher animal density.

“If your stocking rate is at 10,000 pounds per acre, that’s OK, it’s pretty good,” he explains. “But if you go to 40,000 pounds, you’ll start seeing magic appear, and if you go to 70,000, you’ll see it a lot faster.”

This isn’t a short cut for inexperienced players, he warns. This approach requires intensive management to get the recovery times right and avoid overgrazing. However, with continuous adjustments and measurements, farmers can make significant progress quickly.

Where to Start

To learn more about regenerative farming practices, the first thing to understand are the cycles and flows of the ecosystem.

Explore the cycles of the nutrients in the manure, the water cycle, and the community dynamics or ‘biological cycle’ of how the varied species of plants and animals interact with each other.

By understanding how energy is flowing through the farm, land managers can capture and convert that energy to turn it into organic matter and provide energy for the animal.

“Unless we capture it [the energy], it will just turn into heat. If sunlight hits soil, it gets hot and is lost.”

Research is key, but patience and persistence are critical to avoiding plateaus, Greg advises.

“You’ve got to keep managing it or it will go backwards. It needs disruptions, a management change, to get to a new level. If you just keep doing the same thing, you are going to level out.”

Managing Miracles

Greg Brann’s approach to farming is not just about new techniques; there’s a deeper philosophy.

He proudly recites a new motto he and his wife, Debbie, had developed together to encapsulate the mission.

'Managing Miracles to Create a Magical Environment' emphasizes working with nature to address the root causes of land management challenges.

“We think there are no miracles anymore, but there are. A seed is a capsule of life and just that right there, to me, is a miracle. Then if you manage that leaf area, you’re going to turn sunlight into forage for livestock, then into a healthy product for humans,” he muses. “It’s magical.”