The Stockman Grassfarmer Podcast

In this episode of Regenerative Wisdom, Steve Kenyon challenges an idea he was taught years ago in college—that it takes 100 years to grow an inch of topsoil.

After more than 25 years of working with livestock, plants, and soil health, Steve has come to a very different conclusion: with the right management, we can grow soil much faster.

In “Growing Soil,” Steve takes us below the surface to explain how carbon sequestration, living roots, soil biology, and grazing management work together to build soil. He also shares results from his own Alberta ranch that demonstrate just how dramatically soil can change under advanced grazing management.

At the heart of Steve's approach is a simple shift in thinking: instead of focusing only on growing plants from the soil, what if we focused on growing soil from the plants?

🔑 Key Points Covered

Why Steve challenges the idea that it takes 100 years to grow an inch of topsoil.

The difference between leaving plant residue on the surface and building soil through living plants and roots.

Why carbon sequestration is central to Steve's approach to growing soil.

The three processes Steve identifies as essential: photosynthesis, exudation, and biological conversion.

How plants capture carbon from the atmosphere and convert it into glucose.

Why root exudates are important for feeding soil biology.

How the relationship between plants and soil organisms helps cycle nutrients and build stable soil carbon.

Why increasing soil carbon can improve water-holding capacity, fertility, and soil structure.

The role of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi and glomalin in Steve's explanation of long-term soil carbon.

How plant roots and soil biology help turn sand, silt, and clay into functioning soil.

Why capturing more sunlight with a full canopy of living plants can increase carbon sequestration.

The importance of keeping living roots in the soil for as many days of the year as possible.

Why Steve believes graziers should strive to keep pastures in a growing, vegetative stage.

How improving the water cycle becomes especially important in dry environments.

The results Steve has observed after years of advanced grazing management on his Alberta ranch.

How his Five G.R.A.S.S. Concepts provide the management framework behind those changes.

Why regenerative agriculture should be viewed as a whole system rather than a recipe.

🌱 Three Steps to Growing Soil

Steve breaks carbon sequestration into three basic processes:

1. Photosynthesis
Plants capture carbon from the atmosphere and use sunlight to turn it into glucose.

2. Exudation
Plants send a portion of those sugars through their roots and into the soil, providing food for soil biology.

3. Biological Conversion
Soil organisms use those root exudates, with some ultimately contributing to longer-term stable soil carbon.

For the grazier, Steve says the job is to manage the tops of the plants so the roots can continue doing their work underground.

☀️ Capture More Sunlight for More Days

If the goal is to grow soil faster, Steve says producers need to sequester more carbon each day—and do it for more days of the year.

That means maximizing the amount of sunlight captured by green, growing plants rather than allowing it to hit bare soil or be reflected away.

It also means extending the growing season whenever possible.

Can you maintain living roots in early spring? Late fall? Can your pasture remain vegetative longer? Can you capture sunlight and feed soil biology for 200 days? Or even 300?

Steve's goal is to keep living roots working and feeding the underground system for as much of the year as the environment allows.

📊 The Proof Is in the Puddin'

Steve shares two examples from his Alberta ranch to demonstrate what he says can happen under advanced grazing management.

In a research project with the University of Alberta, two pastures with similar histories, topography, and soil types were compared. Steve's pasture had been under regenerative grazing management for 15 years, while the other had been continuously grazed.

Steve reports that his pasture averaged 11% soil organic carbon, compared with 5.2% in the continuously grazed pasture. His side also had a distinct dark soil horizon averaging 10.8 inches deep.

A second pasture demonstration compared soil samples taken in 2006 and 2023. Steve reports that soil organic matter increased from 2.6% to 7.1% over those 17 years, along with the development of approximately 6 to 12 inches of dark topsoil.

For Steve, these results demonstrate that management can dramatically influence the rate at which soil develops.

🌾 The Five G.R.A.S.S. Concepts

Steve credits much of the change on his ranch to managing a perennial polyculture using his Five G.R.A.S.S. Concepts:

Graze Period — Manage how long livestock remain in a grazing area.

Rest Period — Give plants adequate time to recover before being grazed again.

Animal Impact — Use livestock as a tool to influence plants and the soil surface.

Stock Density — Manage the concentration of animals at a given point in time.

Soil Armor — Keep the soil protected with living plants and plant residue.

Together, these concepts help Steve manage the plants above ground while encouraging roots and soil biology to do their work below ground.

👨‍🌾 About Steve Kenyon

Steve Kenyon ranches in Busby, Alberta, Canada, where he has spent decades developing and teaching practical grazing strategies through Greener Pastures Ranching.

His book, The Calendar of the Year-Round Grazier, is available through the Stockman Grass Farmer Bookshelf.

📅 Learn From Steve Kenyon In Person

Want to take these principles beyond the podcast?

Steve will be teaching the Year-Round Grazing School in Omaha, Nebraska, November 6–7, 2026.

Join Steve for two full days of practical, field-tested, profit-focused grazing education designed to help you improve your grazing management and build a stronger operation.

Seats are limited, so early registration is encouraged.

Learn more and reserve your seat at stockmangrassfarmer.com.

🎧 Listen, Learn & Subscribe

If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to Regenerative Wisdom for more practical lessons and timeless insights from the farmers, ranchers, and grazing experts featured in Stockman Grass Farmer.

📌 Be sure to check out our monthly magazine, live events, books, online schools, and the latest specials for even more resources to help you build healthier soil and a more profitable grazing operation.

In this episode of Regenerative Wisdom, Steve Kenyon challenges one of agriculture's most familiar concepts: the weed.

Steve doesn't believe there is such a thing as a weed. Instead, he prefers the term “pioneer species”—tough, aggressive plants that often appear because conditions favor them. Rather than simply being a problem to eliminate, these plants can protect bare ground, reduce erosion, cycle nutrients, build organic matter, improve water infiltration, and help damaged soil begin to heal.

The real question, Steve argues, isn't “How do I kill the weeds?” It's “Why are these plants here in the first place?”

Using Canada thistle as an example, Steve explains how undesirable plants can reveal weaknesses in a grazing system and how management can shift conditions back in favor of more desirable forage species.

At the heart of his approach are his Five G.R.A.S.S. Concepts—a practical framework for managing healthy, competitive pastures without constantly fighting nature.

🔑 Key Points Covered

Why Steve prefers the term “pioneer species” instead of weeds.

How pioneer species act like a scab, protecting and helping heal disturbed soil.

Why simply spraying or tilling weeds may address the symptom rather than the underlying problem.

How deep-rooted plants can access moisture and nutrients unavailable to shallower-rooted species.

The role pioneer species can play in reducing erosion, building soil armor, and attracting beneficial insects.

What Canada thistle can tell you about conditions in your pasture.

Why selective grazing can give undesirable plants a competitive advantage.

How healthy desirable species can eventually outcompete pioneer species when conditions improve.

Why managing the roots of forage plants is just as important as managing what you see above ground.

How grazing management can encourage a new generation of healthy forage plants.

Why patience is essential when trying to change pasture composition.

🌱 Steve Kenyon's Five G.R.A.S.S. Concepts

Graze Period: Keep the grazing period short enough to prevent animals from taking a second bite from recovering plants. Steve emphasizes that overgrazing is about time, not simply animal numbers or acreage.

Rest Period: Give plants enough recovery time to rebuild leaves and replenish energy reserves in their roots. Strong roots help desirable plants compete.

Animal Impact: Hoof action can stimulate the soil surface and encourage new seedlings, helping rejuvenate aging forage stands.

Stock Density: Higher stock densities can reduce selective grazing by increasing utilization across the paddock. Instead of repeatedly grazing only the most desirable plants, livestock graze, trample, or impact more of the available vegetation.

Soil Armor: Maintaining a protective layer of plant material over the soil helps reduce evaporation and runoff, regulate soil temperature, and create better conditions for soil life and desirable forage plants.

🌾 Manage the Conditions, Not Just the Symptom

Steve's central message is that weeds—or pioneer species—are often symptoms of the conditions within the grazing system.

If desirable plants are repeatedly grazed before they have recovered, while undesirable plants are left untouched, management is effectively giving those undesirable plants an advantage.

Instead of continually attacking them, Steve recommends changing the conditions.

Strengthen desirable plants. Protect the soil. Manage grazing periods and recovery. Increase stock density where appropriate. And give the system time to respond.

As Steve points out, this isn't necessarily a quick fix. Changing pasture composition can take several years, and different growing seasons may favor different species. The goal isn't necessarily to eliminate every undesirable plant, but to maintain a diverse, healthy forage stand where those plants don't dominate.

👨‍🌾 About Steve Kenyon

Steve Kenyon ranches in Busby, Alberta, Canada, and operates Greener Pastures Ranching. He has been writing for Stockman Grass Farmer since 2008, when he sent his first article—also about weeds—to longtime SGF editor Allan Nation.

Steve's book, The Calendar of the Year-Round Grazier, is available through the Stockman Grass Farmer Bookshelf.

📅 Learn From Steve Kenyon In Person

Steve will also be teaching a two-day Year-Round Grazing School on November 6–7, 2026, in Omaha, Nebraska.

The school will feature two full days of practical, field-tested, profit-focused grazing education designed to help producers improve their grazing management for years to come.

Seats are limited, so early registration is encouraged.

Learn more about Steve's upcoming school, his book, and other grazing resources at stockmangrassfarmer.com.

🎧 Listen, Learn & Subscribe

If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to Regenerative Wisdom for more practical lessons and timeless insights from the farmers, ranchers, and grazing experts featured in Stockman Grass Farmer.

Be sure to check out our monthly magazine, live events, books, and the latest specials for even more resources to help you build a healthier, more profitable grazing operation.

In this episode of Regenerative Wisdom, we travel to Fitzgerald, Georgia, where cattle breeder and soil cowboy Dan Glenn shares how matching forage resources with the nutritional needs of cattle can create a more profitable and efficient grazing system.

Dan explains why understanding your operation's forage resources throughout the year is essential for making decisions about when to calve, when to wean, and when to market cattle. Rather than forcing the cattle program to fit a calendar, he builds his grazing system around the forage resources his farm can produce.

His experience with earlier weaning provides a practical example. By moving calves off their dams at seven to eight months and onto stockpiled summer annuals, Dan was able to improve calf performance, increase cow condition, delay hay feeding, and get winter annuals established on time.

The result was a forage chain that kept cattle growing through periods that had previously been challenging.

🔑 Key Points Covered

Why successful grazing operations should rely on the cow to harvest her own high-quality forage.

How understanding yearly forage surpluses and deficits can guide profitable management decisions.

Matching the calving season to the period of highest forage quality.

Why Dan calves in February and March in South Georgia.

The challenges of managing cattle alongside a row-crop operation during peanut harvest.

Why Dan moved from late weaning to weaning calves at seven to eight months.

Using stockpiled sorghum-Sudan, sunn hemp, cowpea, pearl millet, and crabgrass for post-weaning nutrition.

How early weaning improved both calf performance and cow body condition.

Using dry cows to take advantage of stockpiled Bermudagrass.

Delaying hay feeding by making better use of stockpiled forage.

Transitioning calves from summer annuals into winter annuals.

The role of spring oats, hybrid turnip, cereal rye, spring pea, crimson clover, hairy vetch, ryegrass, oats, and triticale in Dan's forage chain.

Matching cattle genetics to the challenging South Georgia climate.

The advantages of heat-adapted composites such as Senepol × Angus and Beefmaster × Angus.

How changing the calving season helped Dan reduce losses from black vulture predation.

How earlier pregnancy checking and culling fit into the overall system.

The economic value of adding an estimated 30–60 pounds of weaning weight through better forage utilization.

Why every grazing operation needs to identify its own weak links and build a forage program around its unique resources.

🌱 The Forage Chain

Dan's system demonstrates an important grazing principle: the goal isn't simply to grow more forage, but to connect the forage you grow with the nutritional needs of your livestock at the right time.

On his South Georgia operation, winter annuals provide a major portion of the grazing program from January through May. As forage quality declines later in the year, Dan uses stockpiled summer annuals to keep calves gaining while allowing dry cows to utilize lower-quality stockpiled Bermudagrass.

That timing allows the farm to make better use of its resources while reducing reliance on purchased feed and hay.

📈 Turning Forage Into Profit

Dan estimates that using stockpiled summer annuals and transitioning calves sooner to winter annuals likely added 30–60 pounds of weaning weight.

While producing stockpiled annuals comes with an expense, the additional forage keeps calves growing during one of the year's poorest grazing periods and fits with Dan's value-added grass-fed beef program.

The larger lesson is that profitability comes from understanding where the weak links are in your forage chain and finding ways to keep both cows and calves grazing and growing.

👨‍🌾 About Dan Glenn

Dan Glenn is a cattle breeder and soil cowboy from southern Georgia. He raises environmentally adapted cattle in a low-input system.

Learn more about Dan and his farm at deepgrassgraziers.com.

🎧 Listen, Learn & Subscribe

If you enjoyed this episode of Regenerative Wisdom, subscribe so you don't miss future conversations and timeless lessons from the farmers, ranchers, and grazing experts featured by Stockman Grass Farmer.

📌 For more insights and resources, be sure to check out our monthly magazine, books, live events, and online courses here:

www.stockmangrassfarmer.com

Chapter 1: How Do Grazing Cultural Biases Hold You Back from Success?

By Allan Nation

For decades, Allan Nation's "Al's Obs" challenged graziers to question conventional wisdom and think differently about agriculture. In this opening chapter from Al's Obs: 20 Questions & Their Answers, Allan argues that many of the decisions producers make aren't truly economic—they're cultural. The most successful graziers learn to recognize these biases, question them, and build businesses around economic reality instead of tradition.

From the value of quality pasture and grass silage to grass-finished beef, agroforestry, regional specialization, and niche marketing, Allan explores ten opportunities that reward independent thinking. While originally written years ago, these ideas remain remarkably relevant for today's regenerative farmers and ranchers seeking greater profitability and resilience.

🔑 Key Points Covered

Why cultural biases often influence farm decisions more than economics.

How independent thinking creates an "unfair advantage."

The overlooked value of investing in high-quality pasture.

Why energy—not simply forage quantity—is the key to livestock performance.

Building productive pastures through legumes, fertility, and grazing management.

The economic advantages of grass silage over traditional hay systems.

Using regional specialization to improve livestock profitability.

Matching genetics to grass-finished production systems.

Opportunities in organic and niche grass-fed markets.

How pasture-crop rotations build soil health and increase long-term productivity.

Reintegrating grazing with timber production through agroforestry.

Why sheep and goats can become valuable management tools.

Looking beyond conventional thinking to discover new grazing opportunities.

📚 Featured Resource

This episode is taken from Al's Obs: 20 Questions & Their Answers, a collection of Allan Nation's most influential columns from Stockman Grass Farmer.

Spanning articles originally published between 1997 and 2012, this timeless collection explores grazing management, regenerative agriculture, business strategy, economics, and the philosophy behind successful grass farming. Allan's unique ability to connect ideas from agriculture, business, and history continues to inspire producers to think beyond conventional practices.

📖 Learn more or purchase the book using the by clicking here.

🌱 About Regenerative Wisdom

Regenerative Wisdom brings the timeless writings and teachings of agriculture's leading voices to a new generation of graziers. Through classic articles, books, and presentations from the Stockman Grass Farmer library, each episode delivers practical ideas that remain as valuable today as when they were first shared.

🎧 Listen, Learn & Subscribe

If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to The Stockman Grassfarmer Podcast for more timeless lessons from Allan Nation and other pioneers of regenerative grazing.

📌 For more insights and resources, be sure to check out our monthly magazine, books, live events, and online courses here

In this episode of Insights from the Pasture, Carolyn Nation sits down with longtime Stockman Grass Farmer columnist Jim Gerrish to discuss what it truly means to be a grass farmer in today's agricultural landscape.

Drawing on more than 40 years of research, ranching, consulting, and practical experience, Jim shares timeless lessons on restoring worn-out land, building profitable grazing systems, managing weeds without herbicides, and working with nature instead of against it. Whether you're just getting started or have decades of experience, Jim explains why understanding the relationship between soil, plants, animals, and time remains the foundation of profitable grazing.

Jim also shares insights from his upcoming educational workshops and discusses why today's producers have more tools than ever—from grazing management principles to digital mapping technologies—to make better decisions on the land.

🔑 Key Topics Covered

Jim Gerrish's journey from a small Illinois crop farm to becoming one of the world's leading grazing educators.

Practical steps for restoring degraded cropland into productive pasture.

Why soil health begins with proper fertility, legumes, and biological recovery.

How livestock can become your most effective weed management tool.

The differences—and surprising similarities—between grazing in Missouri and irrigated ranching in Idaho.

Why patience is one of the most valuable grazing management skills.

The plant-soil-animal relationship that drives every successful grazing system.

The importance of observing livestock behavior directly in the pasture.

Modern digital tools every grazier should know, including:

Google Earth

Web Soil Survey

AgriWebb

MaiaGrazing

ONX Maps

Smartphone mapping apps

Using forage inventories and grazing data to avoid costly stocking mistakes.

Why economic decision-making is just as important as grazing management.

📚 Featured Resource

Jim's newest book,

Grassroots of Grazing: Grazing Management, Land Improvement and Profitability

brings together 85 of his most valuable Stockman Grass Farmer columns, carefully selected from nearly three decades of writing for today's grass farmers.

Inside you'll learn about:

Growing the next generation of graziers

Improving soil health and land productivity

Assessing profitability using Animal Unit Days

Enterprise and pasture diversity

Birthing livestock in sync with nature

Drought planning

Estimating pasture inventory

Practical grazing strategies that improve both profitability and quality of life

Whether you raise cattle, sheep, goats, or poultry, this collection provides practical, field-tested advice that can be applied to nearly every grazing operation.

📖 Order your copy here:
https://www.stockmangrassfarmer.digital/gog-book

🌱 About Grassroots of Grazing

For nearly three decades, Jim Gerrish has authored the Grassroots of Grazing column in Stockman Grass Farmer, sharing practical, research-backed insights that continue to help producers improve their land, livestock, and profitability.

🎧 Listen, Learn & Subscribe

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe to Insights from the Pasture for conversations with leading voices in regenerative grazing, livestock production, and profitable grass farming.

For more educational resources, courses, books, and podcast episodes, visit:

https://www.stockmangrassfarmer.digital/profile