Self Herding This Months topic Nov 29, 2021
Self Herding is a behaviour-based livestock management approach, which provides livestock managers with strategies and tools to positively influence grazing distribution, and help livestock adapt to new surroundings. It has particular relevance and value in rangeland production systems, but can be used in farming situations as well. The selfherding principles and practices outlined in this publication draw on a large body of research, from Australia and overseas, on behavioural science, grazing management and nutrition. Applying self-herding principles allows you to influence the decisions animals make about how they interact with: each other, you and the landscape. The self-herding approach helps shape livestock grazing habitats and diet selection. By encouraging animals to make grazing decisions through positive experiences, you can establish long-lasting behaviours that benefit your business and your landscape
DIVERSE APPLICATIONS Self Herding can be tightly focussed around a particular issue, such as encouraging animals to graze a new area to allow another area to rest and recover, or to encourage animals to start using a new water point before turning off the previous water point. Self Herding can also be used to help animals adapt to relocation, whether from one paddock to another, from one pastoral property to another, or across regions
CONSCIOUS LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT As a concept, Self Herding also encourages you to think and act more broadly, to shape how livestock, wildlife, plants and people interact over time and space — when you start changing the behaviour of livestock, you influence the behaviour of other animals and plants across the landscape. Everything is connected.
Link below to Self Herding digital manual pdf :
https://srpa.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Self-Herding_Booklet.pdf
The production of this publication was supported by Rangelands NRM through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Programme and the WA Government’s State NRM Program, supported by Royalties for Regions.
the evolution of Self Herding
The principles, approaches and tools of Self Herding and Self Shepherding came about as a result of more than seven years of collaboration between researcher Dr Dean Revell and livestock producer Bruce Maynard. The fortunate opportunities that arose out of the combined research work from Dean and the applied on-farm actions of Bruce led to a large body of innovation that show huge potential to affect issues and challenges, unsolvable via conventional means.
Link below to MLA Final Report - Grazing with Self Herding 2019
https://www.mla.com.au/contentassets/61fb5c1c59234c96bf303595b4a3c7fe/b.gbp.0025_final_report.pdf
Report Abstract
Managing the positive and negative impacts of grazing over time and space is enhanced with the use of Self Herding. Self Herding draws on evidence-based principles of animal behaviour and nutrition to create opportunities for producers to influence paddock use by livestock. Important implications for industry are that managing grazing and utilisation patterns no longer need to rely on fences and water points. This project was designed as a proof-of-concept to test the effectiveness of Self Herding under three practical scenarios: (i) to re-direct grazing from a scaled area to previously unused areas of a paddock; (ii) in a combination with fire management and Self Herding; and (iii) introduction of animals into a new paddock after a wet season. The application of Self Herding tools directly and markedly affected the spatial use of the paddock. The local livestock managers were able to attract cattle into areas that had previously never been used by cattle, spreading grazing pressure, improving feed quality by removing dry, rank grasses and reducing fire risk. Fire and Self Herding were identified as potentially complementary tools for land management. Self Herding created an opportunity to manage biomass without reliance on fire. Attracting cattle to use a wider range of locations creates an opportunity to improve productivity and land management outcomes
