Field rotation?

So I currently don't have any livestock, but it is something that I am interested in down the road.
I was wondering, let's say you have 8 acres, divided into 4 sections. Could you rotate pastures each year? Ex. Pasture#1 (P1) grow crops Y1, hay Y2, livestock Y3, and farrow Y4? Likewise P2: hay Y1, livestock Y2, farrow Y3, and crops Y4.
Each year, you'd have 2 acres working as crop, 2 as hay, 2 as pasture land, and 2 farrowing.
I feel like this would allow for healthier soil and less additives.  
Thoughts?

Hi John and welcome to Permies!

The short answer to your question is "Yes", you can certainly divide your land up into parcels for added fertility.  Many on this site might actually advise against having a fallow year as the animals, used correctly, can really improve the overall vitality of your land.  One approach is to take a pasture and divide it up into sections and move the livestock every day or two.  They really graze down close to the ground but they dung and urinate the field in the process and by removing them for a few days, the land/plants can nicely recover.  There are many different approaches to this concept but it certainly can be done.

But I do have one slight caveat--You are actually describing "Crop Rotation."  "Field Rotation" is actually a much older practice that is pretty much at odds with Permies culture today--I will explain.

Prior to American settlement, English farmers perfected the now well-known use of Crop Rotation where their rather small plots of land were divided up into sections, 4 typically.  Assuming the land was bare grass to begin, the first crop was a root crop.  These were called clearing crops because the constant cultivation tended to clear the land of weeds.  The second crop was typically wheat which was the cash crop.  The third crop was commonly Oats or Barely, both grains needing fewer nutrients than wheat and were mostly consumed on the farm as opposed to selling.  The final crop was to make a 1-year pasture.  During the Pasture year, the animals added in fertility that had been lost over the other 3.  Crop Rotation enabled farmers to maximize their ag production on small plots where there was no hope of expanding ones land claims.  Crop Rotation actually helped spur the Industrial Revolution as fewer people could grow more food with less effort thereby allowing more people to move and work off-farm jobs.

But when the English moved to America (and leaving aside the natives), they saw VAST amounts of untouched land, most of it wooded.  In those days (1600s) land was very cheap.  Once a person had a land claim, the first task was to clear the trees, most of which were burned.  That ash did add a dose of fertility to the ground.  After the land was cleared, the farmer typically planted tobacco, a very nutrient intensive crop (in fact, one of the harshest for the ground).  After that first year, the farmer planted--tobacco!  And again on the 3rd year, and the forth and so on for up to 5-7 years by which time the land was absolutely spent.  The farmer then went and cleared more trees and left the old fields fallow for up to 20 or so years by which time the field had regained much of its original fertility.  

This was "Field Rotation."  In Field Rotation, the field was farmed to exhaustion after which it was left fallow until it regained its fertility.  But 20 years is a long time to wait when life expectancy was in the 40s.  More often than not, the farmer pulled up the stakes and moved West to start the process over again.  Field Rotation was largely responsible for cutting down the old growth Eastern forests.  It also started the first land rushes West and even contributed to the Civil War.  Field Rotation make a certain economical (but certainly not ecological) logic when land is very cheap.

Field rotation died out a long time ago--there just isn't any new land one can just claim.  It has been replaced by Crop Rotation, which is the very concept you articulated and again to answer your question, yes, you can certainly use the basic approach you mentioned.  The fallow step may not be necessary but there are many variations on this basic theme.

John I know that I threw a lot of information at you all at once, but again, welcome to Permies and again to answer your question, your basic idea (though the term may have been off but never mind that) is entirely feasible.

I hope this helps,

Eric

That definitely answered my question, though my definition of crop rotation is only rotating the crops, I'd never heard of rotating the livestock. So yea, this did answer my question. Thank you.

Sounds good John.  And to be completely truthful, not a lot of people have heard/known of field rotation.

Yea, I've been doing it for a few years, and I still struggle with it. Honestly, I find it easiest to just grow it like a small garden. I use a 60'x60' area for my money crops, of which, I basically sell enough to cover my cost of seed for the year and use or give away the rest. I have something like 14 varieties spread across 56 50' rows, and I rotate them around because of our growing season length. Then I do root crops in the fall and peas in the winter, most of which I feed to the chickens.
I would probably be classified as a hobby farmer, I'm 28 and retired. I do it because I enjoy it and it keeps me outside so my wife is happy too.

Hello John and welcome to Permies! I think Eric has given you some excellent information. The paddock shift forum may have some other useful threads for you. I must admit it's not something I understand but there is always not one right answer and will depend on your land also. If you put some details about your location (climate zone or region) in your profile it helps put your questions in context - it sounds like you have a good place there! I would count chickens as livestock too!

I have to say it sounds a terrible amount of work, And if you live somewhere with wireworm you're never going to get a potato or a carrot without a hole.  Clearing land of weeds every year will take almost all your time.