Welcome to Regenerative Wisdom—the podcast from The Stockman Grass Farmer, where we bring you the voices, insights, and tools driving the grass-fed revolution. In today’s episode, we’re diving deep into The Three Rules of Adaptive Stewardship with Dr. Allen Williams—one of the most respected thinkers in regenerative agriculture. From the Rule of Compounding, to the Rule of Diversity, and the powerful Rule of Disruption, Dr. Williams unpacks how intentional grazing practices can unlock exponential improvements in soil health, plant vitality, and livestock performance. You'll learn how to break out of rigid grazing formulas, make intuitive decisions, and introduce planned disruptions that breathe new life into your pastures. If you’re looking to level up your grazing game with science-backed, field-proven principles—this episode is for you. Let’s get into it.
Before we begin. want more from Allen Williams? Dive into the Grass & Genetics School, available on DVD or streaming. Learn how to align your grazing with genetic potential. Check out the show notes to find the discounted link to get started today.
Better Grazing With the Three Rules of Adaptive Stewardship
By Allen R Williams, Ph.D.
STARKVILLE, Mississippi:
The Three Rules of Adaptive Stewardship are:
1. Rule of Compounding.
2. Rule of Diversity.
3. Rule of Disruption.
The Rule of Compounding follows the concept that every management decision or practice applied creates a series of compounding and cascading effects that are either positive or negative in nature. Astute daily observation allows the practitioner to determine the compounding effects that are occurring and adjustments that need to be made relative to adaptive management. Careful observation on a routine basis allows the practitioner to develop a keen sense of intuition. That intuition facilitates better management decisions that will create positive compounding effects.
Epigenetics, or the ability of environmental influences to affect the degree of gene expression in an individual organism (soil microbes, plants, cattle), are an integral part of compounding and cascading effects. Positive compounding effects result in positive epigenetic effects.
The Rule of Diversity follows the trend of nature to foster high- ly diverse ecosystems rather than monoculture or near-monoculture systems. Diversity refers to diversity in soil microbial species, in soil macro-organisms, plant species, beneficial insects, pollinators, birds and other wildlife, and cattle/crops. Monoculture practices, whether in crop or pasture production, perennial or annual, negatively impact ecosystem diversity and encourage negative compounding and epigenetic effects.
Highly diverse fields, whether annual or perennial, will have at least three major plant functional groups found in a grassland environment. These include grasses, legumes, forbs, and woody species. Many of the forbs that grow in perennial pastures are often referred to as “weeds”. These forbs are a very important part of a complete ecosystem as they supply an abundant array of secondary and tertiary chemical compounds (phytochemicals) that are medicinal in nature and have natural anti-parasitic properties. In addition, they produce a distinct array of root exudates that attract a wider and more varied microbial population.
The work of Dr. Fred Provenza shows that animals provided with a broader array of plant species from which to forage are considerably healthier and perform better than cattle restricted to a more limited selection of plants.
The Rule of Disruption refers to the fact that nature is extremely resilient and can recover from insults - that is challenges- quite well. Often, after insults, soil health parameters are improved, productivity increases, and diversity is enhanced. Adaptive grazing, by definition, is not a rigid system, prescription, recipe, or formula. It is a flexible practice that allows for almost constant adjustment to fit conditions, goals, and objectives. Grazing practices that try to fit a rigid system will inevitably fail because they stymie both diversity and disruption and therefore create negative compounding effects over time.
NOTE: Do not make any grazing strategy prescriptive or formulaic in nature. The moment you become prescriptive you are no longer adaptive or regenerative.
It is important to note that every living cell and organism has a memory and responds to prior experiences accordingly. So, soil microbes have a memory and respond to prior grazing or other management practices. Plant cells have a memory. Animal cells have a memory. If similar practices are employed year after year, then the memory in the cells of all these organisms responds by telling the organism that it does not have to gain resilience. It becomes accustomed to the practice and basically stagnates.
PLANNED, PURPOSEFUL DISRUPTIONS
The question becomes, how can we introduce planned disruptions on a routine basis? There are numerous disruptions that can be implemented in any given pasture or paddock on an annual basis to prevent stagnation of soil health parameters and the ecosystem itself. These planned disruptions include:
1. Altering stock densities on a routine basis.
To do this properly requires some record keeping so that prior stock density in any given paddock is known. To elicit a positive response from nature, the stock density alteration must be of magnitude. For example, if the stock density in a paddock at the past grazing or grazing season was 20,000 lbs per acre, then increase to 50,000 lbs per acre or more with the next grazing. If it was 100,000 lbs per acre last grazing or grazing season, reduce the stock density to 50,000 lbs per acre or less with the next grazing, or increase it to 200,000 lbs per acre or more.
2. Alter paddock configuration.
The configuration of a paddock determines the way animals move through the paddock during a grazing event. By altering the configuration of the paddock periodically you influence a disruption. For example, to maximize trample impact and fertility distribution, a long and narrow paddock is best. You can have the same stock density and acreage with a square-shaped paddock and not have near the same impact.
3. Alter paddock direction.
If your paddocks have been oriented in one direction with every grazing event in a pasture alter their direction the next time you graze that same pasture. For example, if your temporary paddocks have been oriented from North to South, change their direction to East to West. Even a slight change in direction makes a significant difference.
4. Alter time of rotations through paddocks.
If you routinely have started grazing each spring in paddock A, then moved to paddock B, C, D, and E, start instead next spring with paddock D and move through in that pattern for a year.
5. Alter season or month of the year for first or last grazing in each paddock.
For example, if you normally graze paddock C in May and July of each year, graze in April and June. Simply altering the time of year a paddock is first grazed or last grazed can profoundly impact the response of both the soil microbial population and the latent seed bank.
6. Alter grazing forage height on and off a paddock. If you routinely place cattle on a paddock when the forage has an average height of 14 inches and graze down to six inches, alter the grazing height on or off. For example, start grazing at eight to ten inches and take down to six inches. Or, start grazing at 18-20 inches and take down to 8-12 inches.
7. Alter livestock species order when grazing a paddock. If you graze or forage multiple livestock species, then occasionally alter the order that you move the individual species through the paddocks.
8. Alter rest-rotation periods in each paddock. If you normally use a rest-rotation period of 30 to 40 days between paddocks, periodically give paddocks an extra-long rest period. Again, do this at a magnitude difference. That means providing a rest period of 80+ days in any given grazing season. Our experience has been that in the hot, humid South we can see profoundly positive results with extra long rest periods of 150 days to an entire year. In more arid regions, rest periods of a year or longer are beneficial.
9. Planned burns. Prescribed burns are a valid disruption. Burning can produce significant stimulus to soil biology and the latent seed bank. Incorporating this strategy from time to time in any area or pasture can produce profound results. However, be careful that burns are not implemented too often within any given area. We recommend burns only every five to eight years in any specific pasture, and only if needed.
10. Bale grazing. Purposeful bale grazing can be a significant and positive disruption that stimulates soil microbial populations and applies a lot of fertility in a short period of time. Bale grazing can be done in the winter or at any time of the year. It is especially helpful where you have soils that are bare and exposed or where you have concentrated patches of undesirable plants you want to control (i.e., blackberry, thistle, cogon grass, buckbrush, ash, etc.).
11. Combinations of single disruptions. Combining disruptions can produce exponential results and allows for more than 100 possible disruption iterations over a period of time. As an example, you can alter stock density while altering paddock configuration and direction, then provide a longer than normal rest period.
IMPORTANCE OF OBSERVATION
These three rules have been proven to work in every region of North America and in many other parts of the world. Results are similar relative to differences in soil type, precipitation, temperature, and other environmental differences. The KEY to successful adaptive grazing is KEEN OBSERVATION. Since adaptive grazing is not a recipe, formula, or rigid system, success depends greatly on using all the powers of observation available to us. These include sight, sound, touch, smell, and even taste.
Observe carefully how the cattle graze when turned into a new paddock. What are they eating? What are they avoiding? How do they move around the paddock as they graze? How much do they consume in the first hour or two compared to the rest of the time period within the paddock? Observe what the paddock looks like AFTER grazing impact.
Did you achieve the desired impact? If not, why? What are you noticing relative to earthworm activity and numbers? What does the soil smell like? Are you developing deeply and highly aggregated soils? What type of beneficial insect population are you observing? Do you see Lady Beetles? Dung Beetles? Pollinators? What about your bird populations? Are they increasing? Do you see more species of birds? Are you attracting more ground nesting birds?
Observation will answer these questions. Keen daily observation allows the practitioner to develop a sharp sense of intuition. When intuition is developed, then better management decisions are made.
Allen Williams is president of Grass Fed Insights, LLC and one of the founding partners in Soil Health Consulting, LLC, Understanding Ag, LLC, and a partner in Joyce Farms, Inc. He is also a 6th generation family farmer. He can be reached at allenwilliams@joyce dash farms.com or 662-312-6826.
Thanks for tuning in to Regenerative Wisdom from The Stockman Grass Farmer. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast app so you never miss an insight. To dive deeper into the principles shared today, we encourage you to find Allen’s books in the show notes—and if you’re hungry for more regenerative knowledge, check out our magazine, courses, and upcoming events. Until next time, remember: great grazing is not about sticking to a script—it’s about listening, observing, and adapting with wisdom from the land. Stay regenerative.
