Grasslands on your land

Grasslands, including prairie, pasture, and savanna, provide critical benefits for water quality, pollinators and birds, and grass-fed meat and milk. Many people and programs help landowners with their grasslands and savannas. Where should you start?

Whatever your plans for grasslands, connect with resources and support to:

• Preserve native grasslands to support local wildlife and plant species.
• Implement rotational grazing to maintain healthy pastures & promote soil health.
• Control invasive species to protect grassland ecosystems.
• Restore degraded grasslands through management.
• Utilize grasslands for recreational activities and educational purposes.

Set Goals

Whether you want to restore prairie or savanna with wildflowers or pasture raise grass-fed livestock, communicate your vision and set a goal with family or partners. Goals often evolve after talking to others and learning more about the land and the resources available. Setting clear goals for your grasslands is crucial because it helps you prioritize actions that enhance biodiversity and soil health. By defining your objectives, you can create a roadmap that ensures your efforts lead to a thriving ecosystem, benefiting both wildlife and your land’s productivity.

Learn

Grasslands have deep roots that enrich soil health and improve water quality. Very little remains of the native prairies, savannas, and grassland birds of the Midwest, so many people are working to restore them. Learn about the special characteristics of your site and actions you can take to steward grasslands, like planting pasture or prairie, cutting invasive shrubs, stopping tillage to save carbon and water quality, rotational grazing, planting diverse flowers and grasses, and prescribed burns.  

If you are converting cropland to pasture, prairie, or savanna, the first year is very important, so make sure to have the equipment and seed you need. It takes several years to establish a grassland. 

One way to learn more is to become a Master Naturalist in a course that includes information about grasslands.

Connect

Restoring grasslands and prairie
Pheasants Forever works with many farmers, hunters, and other landowners to restore grasslands for multiple benefits – contact one of their biologists to get started with habitat conservation. 

Working with a group like the Prairie Enthusiasts or hiring a restoration consultant can be a great way to get support for stewarding a prairie. 

Grazing pasture
Management-intensive rotational grazing keeps a living root in the soil and returns livestock to the land. GrassWorks has great information and connections with local grazing networks, organic grazing, funding for graziers, fencing, and soil health. If you want to rent your land to a grazer, you can look for a farmer through the Midwest Grazing Exchange. Also, the Wisconsin Women in Conservation (WiWiC) is a welcoming community for conservation and sustainable agriculture including grazing.

Savanna
Bringing trees into pastures and prairies can be beneficial for livestock shade and carbon storage, though trees and shrubs may not be compatible with high quality grassland bird habitat. The Savanna Institute has many resources to help landowners both restore savannah and do agroforestry.

Plan & Act

To effectively steward your grasslands, start by setting clear, achievable goals. Whether you’re aiming to restore native prairie, enhance pasture for grazing, or create a savanna, it’s crucial to outline your vision and communicate it with family or partners. Begin by assessing the unique characteristics of your land and identifying the resources you’ll need. Implement sustainable practices such as: rotational grazing, planting diverse native species, and conducting prescribed burns. These actions not only improve soil health and water quality but also support local wildlife and pollinators. Remember, successful grassland management is a long-term commitment, so plan for ongoing maintenance and adapt your strategies as needed.

Find Funding & Resources

Find cost share
Sometimes it’s helpful to have money to restore or create prairie, provide fencing or water for livestock, or plant forbs, grasses and trees in savannahs. 

• The primary federal agency that can provide technical and financial assistance for installing conservation practices for conservation projects such as improving pasture management or planting native prairie on agricultural land (cropland and pasture) is USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) . NRCS offers voluntary Programs and Initiatives to provide financial and technical assistance to help manage natural resources to eligible landowners and agricultural producers A Prescribed Grazing Plan is required prior to implementing conservation practices in a pasture landscape.
• Many organizations can help landowners access this, such as the Savanna Institute’s Technical Service Program, Pheasants Forever, and other grazing planners.
• Grasslands are critical habitat for rare and threatened plants and animals, and funds from Partners for Fish and Wildlife program through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service can help restore them. 

Property taxes
Prairie is less supported in the state tax code than forests and agricultural lands, but land that is regularly hayed or grazed would qualify for agricultural use value property tax reductions.

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