🧲 Quotable Quotes

“You can’t graze a landscape unless you understand what that landscape wants to be.” — Dave Ollila

“We’ve got a chance to tell a story—to show that red meat can come from stewardship, not just consumption.” — Dave Ollila

“The biology in the rumen is the same biology in the soil. That’s no accident. That’s design.” — Dave Ollila

👩‍🌾 About our Guest

Dave Ollila is a seasoned rancher and agricultural educator in Butte County, South Dakota. With a career spanning over 25 years, he has made significant contributions to sustainable livestock management, particularly in multi-species grazing and soil health.​

Dave’s great-grandfather immigrated from Finland and homesteaded in Butte County in 1916. Dave and his wife, Holly, continue this legacy by raising sheep and cattle on the same land, emphasizing practices that align with the region's semi-arid conditions (South Dakota Magazine.)​

Professionally, Ollila served as the South Dakota State University (SDSU) Extension Sheep Field Specialist until his retirement in February 2020. He then joined the South Dakota Soil Health Coalition (SDSHC) as a Soil Health Technician, focusing on assisting producers in western South Dakota with soil health consultations (South Dakota Soil Health Coalition).

🌾 In this Episode

In this deeply engaging conversation, Dave Ollila shares hard-won wisdom from decades of grazing and ranching in western South Dakota. We dive into the ecology of the prairie, how sheep and cattle mimic native herbivores, and how integrating multiple species—and technologies—can regenerate landscapes, boost ranch income, and reconnect producers to the land’s natural rhythms.

🐑 Topics Covered

• Why context matters in livestock integration
  • Eastern SD = tallgrass prairie; Western SD = shortgrass prairie
  • Matching livestock species (e.g., sheep vs. cattle) to land, rainfall, and forage type
• Multi-species grazing as ecological mimicry
  • Cattle as analogs to bison: bulk grazers of coarse grass
  • Sheep and goats as browsers akin to deer and elk
  • Better soil biology and insect/bird diversity through livestock diversity
• Virtual fencing in practice
  • Using “No Fence” GPS collars to control small ruminants
  • How virtual fences help manage weed outbreaks and reduce fencing costs
  • Current limitations: signal strength, battery life, and training
• Training livestock to graze invasive species
  • How sheep learn to consume Dalmatian toadflax through experience
  • Lessons from Dave's cooperative research with BLM and insights from the Targeted Grazing Manual
• Benefits of sheep in dry country
  • Sheep’s ability to thrive on snow as a water source
  • Their lower infrastructure needs and suitability for women and youth
  • Income diversity through meat and wool (up to 200% lambing rates)
• Why we need to educate our "city cousins"
  • Comparing prairie biodiversity to the Amazon
  • Urban lawns, golf courses, and parks can also sequester carbon
  • “We’re not enemies—we’re partners with nature.”

📚 Resources Mentioned

1. Targeted Grazing 101: Starting and Sustaining a Grazing Service Enterprise

• A new handbook from the American Sheep Industry Association (ASI) is available for download from SheepUSA.org
• Also supported by the Society for Range Management

2. 2006 "Targeted Grazing" Manual

• Comes included with the new supplement (PDF or USB)
• Research-backed chapters on targeted grazing practices

3. Dave Ollila’s 2024 Soil Health Conference Talk

• Covers virtual fencing with visuals [Watch it on YouTube]

4. WWF’s Case Study on Grazing Innovations

• Features Dave’s work with virtual fencing and multispecies grazing (Read the WWF Vlog here)