Abstract The seasonal imbalance between forage supply and livestock demand remains a fundamental constraint on sustainable grassland animal husbandry. Addressing this challenge, this study proposed the novel “Grass–Animal Energy Pump (GEP)” framework to elucidate the mechanism of energy flow evolution during the smart transformation of pastures. Rooted in grassland ecosystem dynamics, the GEP converts solar energy into biological energy through plant-animal-microbe synergy, governed by soil carbon sequestration, primary productivity, animal conversion efficiency, and environmental regulation. Tracing the developmental trajectory of ranching, we identified three distinct evolutionary stages: traditional rotational grazing (GEP–A), mechanized and informatized coupling systems (GEP–B), and AI-driven intelligent ranches (GEP–C). Each stage represents a progressive enhancement in energy pump efficiency, facilitating the regulation of grass-livestock balance. Furthermore, we expanded the GEP concept to the “Soil–Grass–Animal–Environment Energy Pump (SEP)” framework, which integrates soil health, environmental dynamics, and market forces to holistically restructure the system. Our results demonstrated that intelligentization optimizes the speed, direction, and efficiency of energy flow through technological and institutional innovations, thereby resolving seasonal imbalances and bolstering ecological sustainability. Future efforts must transcend the paradigms of the industrial era to establish a “Digital Nomadism” model that merges technological empowerment with traditional ecological wisdom. By prioritizing multi-element synergy, the SEP ensures that technology serves ecosystem restoration while maintaining the natural equilibrium of grasslands. This approach provides a global blueprint for pasture intelligence, balancing productivity with ecological resilience, and offers a theoretical foundation for sustainable livestock systems worldwide.
Zhang et al. (Wed,) studied this question.