To overgraze means to let animals eat so much grass and plants in one area that the land becomes damaged and can no longer support healthy growth. When cattle, sheep, or other livestock overgraze a pasture, they nibble the grass down to its roots and trample the soil, leaving bare dirt where green fields once stood.

Imagine a classroom hamster that eats all the food in its cage before you can refill it. Overgrazing is similar, except the “food” is an entire meadow or rangeland, and the animals don't give the plants time to grow back. The grass gets shorter and shorter, then disappears completely, and without plant roots to hold the soil together, wind and rain can wash it away.

Farmers and ranchers work hard to prevent overgrazing by moving their herds to fresh pastures regularly, a practice called rotational grazing. This gives each field time to recover and regrow. In the American West during the 1800s, overgrazing damaged millions of acres of prairie because too many cattle grazed the same land for too long. Today, careful land management helps prevent this problem, ensuring that grasslands stay healthy and productive for both animals and the environment.