Conservation grazing does a great deal for wildlife. But can it also be economically valuable, not just a nice-to-have? That is the question behind my Nuffield Farming Scholarship and my report, Grazing as a Service: Hooves, Habitats and Hard Economics. As one of the 24 scholars in the 2025 Nuffield cohort, I spent two years travelling to seven countries across four continents to study best practices in conservation grazing.
Land managers around the world face increasingly expensive problems. Reducing the risk of wildfires and floods, managing vegetation on solar farms, and caring for scheduled ancient monuments all mean managing vegetation in an ecologically sensitive way. And that is before we consider biodiversity and the long-term commitments that come with agri-environment schemes and Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG).
What I saw repeatedly was the real cost of managing sites. Where professional, service-focused graziers were contracted, they helped land managers achieve their aims.
Wildfire firebreaks (California and France): Graziers worked with fire services to reduce the fuel load in strategic zones in a more ecologically sensitive way than machinery. It was a paid service, comparable in cost to mechanical clearance.
Natural flood management (the Netherlands): Rewilding-style grazing animals keep floodplains clear so that river surges can be diverted and cities protected. The animals provide a professional, paid service on low-quality, boggy grassland that would otherwise need expensive machinery.
Rangeland restoration (Kenya): Large cattle herds mimic wildebeest migrations to help restore rangelands for a variety of wildlife.
Solar farm vegetation management (East Coast USA): Professional graziers were contracted to manage vegetation, with the price benchmarked against the cost of mechanically clearing around panels, struts, and cables.
Scheduled ancient monuments (Netherlands): Grazing was used as a professional service to manage scheduled ancient monuments, reducing machinery and fossil fuel use.
We have the same pressures at home.
Flooding: Flood prevention increasingly relies on natural flood management. Well-managed vegetation helps reduce flooding and downstream costs to towns and cities.
Wildfire: Wildfires are an increasing risk in the UK, and not just in the uplands. Hotter, drier summers mean more fires at the rural-urban interface, so managing firebreaks matters more and more.
Nature commitments: Our commitment to protect 30% of land for nature by 2030, together with Biodiversity Net Gain and agri-environment schemes, means more land will be managed for nature. When large sums are committed for decades, liability matters. Making sure the result being paid for is delivered professionally becomes even more important.
Conservation grazing works best when it is specified, delivered, and paid for as a professional service. If you manage land facing these challenges, get in touch with us to talk about your site.
For more information about Alex’s Nuffield Scholarship research:
Nuffield Farming Scholarships Trust: 2025 Scholar Alex Crawley
Listen: Tales of a Nuffield Scholar with Awal Fuseini, Alex Crawley, and Laura Eden — R2Kast
