Ember Cattle Company: A Soil for Water Case Study

This publication is available in a video file format only.

Becky Szarzynski is the owner and operator of Ember Cattle Company in Fairfield in Rockbridge County, Virginia. Becky as a grazier has honed her grazing management skills over the past 15 years in working with her father, attending conferences, being mentored by other farmers, and serving in a coordinator role of the farmer-to-farmer mentoring network with the Virginia Forage and Grassland Council. Becky raises South Poll cattle as a cow-calf operation, breeds replacement heifers, and sells seed stock on 160-acres of land. Becky practices rotational grazing with a diverse forage base that includes native warm season grasses, summer annuals, and cool season perennials. Becky tends to prefer the term adaptive grazing versus rotational grazing because conditions are constantly changing and you must be very observant of the interactions between soil health, plant diversity, livestock, pollinators, the weather, stocking density, and overall system. Becky shares her motivations, lessons learned, aspirations, and ongoing research and study of grazing and of course her fascination with dung beetles.