Synopsis
This in-depth, multi-authored work originally published in France takes readers deep into traditional world of shepherds. Far from a nostalgic glimpse into a romanticized lifestyle, this book teaches how this sophisticated art and set of tangible skills has application in modern, North American range/livestock management. Through academic study and analysis and in-depth interviews with master shepherds readers will be amazed by the deep connection between the nutritional need for animals to feed, the powers of observation used by the shepherds to effectively care for and manage large herds, and how the traditional moving of the animals is more fitting to many landscapes than even the most progressive rotational grazing and movable fencing systems. The compilation carries enough weight to dazzle the most ardent student and enough real-world know-how to equip the 21st-century herdsman with new insights and philosophies.
About the Author
Michel Meuret obtained degrees in agronomy and ecology from Brussels University in 1983. The French National Institute for Agricultural Research, INRA, was interested in his innovative scientific approach and methodological developments for measuring food intake on forested rangeland and proposed that he join a research staff in southern France that was studying the use of livestock grazing to prevent wildfires in Mediterranean forests and scrublands. Michel got his PhD in animal ecology sciences in 1989 and was immediately recruited by INRA as permanent researcher to study grazing practices and animal nutrition on rangelands. He has since led several interdisciplinary research projects on the implementation of European policies, in particular the value of livestock grazing for improving wildlife habitat and biodiversity conservation. In 2012 he joined Sup Agro agronomy school at Montpellier as consultant professor. From the beginning, Michel's research has been conducted in communities with family farmers and herders. Working also with social scientists, he focused on the experiential know-how and practices that positively impact feeding motivation in domestic herbivores on rangeland. Michel is regularly asked by farmers, herders, and nature conservationists to teach and promote debates on herding techniques. On several occasions, Michel has been invited to present his experience in the United States and other countries that are intrigued by the unique French experiences of nature-friendly shepherding. Michel now serves as a director of research at INRA. Fred Provenza is from Colorado, where he worked on a ranch near Salida while earning a bachelor of science in wildlife biology from Colorado State University. Upon receiving his degree in 1973, he became ranch manager. He and his wife Sue left the ranch in 1975 so he could work as a research assistant and technician at Utah State University, where he earned MS and PhD degrees. He was a professor in the Department of Wildland Resources at Utah State University from 1982 to 2009. He is now professor emeritus, and he and his wife are living once again in the mountains of Colorado. For the past forty years, his group's work has inspired researchers and managers in disciplines including nutrition and foraging behavior of wild and domestic animals and humans, phytochemical ecology, pasture and rangeland science and management, and restoration ecology and targeted grazing, among others. Along with colleagues and students, he has authored or coauthored over 250 publications in scientific journals and books. He has been an invited speaker at over 350 conferences. Fred's efforts led to the formation in 2001 of an international network of scientists and land managers from five continents. That consortium, known as BEHAVE (www.behave.net), integrates behavioral principles and processes with local knowledge to foster healthy relationships among soil, plants, herbivores, and people as social, economic, and ecological environments ever transform. We no longer view organisms, including ourselves, as machines and genes as destiny but learn to work with behavioral relationships to create opportunities as environments ever transform. Fred has received numerous awards for research, teaching, and mentoring. These awards represent the productivity that flowed from warm personal and professional relationships with over seventy-five graduate students, post-doctoral students, visiting scientists, and colleagues he worked with during the past thirty-five years.
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