The Scoop View All →
Better Than Kissing A Pig.
We’ve been working hard to make On Pasture something you’ll enjoy and something we can be proud of. Here’s what you’re telling us.
Read More →Do you believe in Santa?
Santa can help us figure out if we want to believe, or if seeing is believing. When it comes to information you’ll see in On Pasture, here’s where we stand.
Read More →Who Is On Pasture?
We know a little bit more about you now. Tell us more and we’ll send you a free On Pasture Bumper Sticker!
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Just add compost: How to turn your grassland ranch into a carbon sink
Here’s the scoop. John Wick and his wife Peggy Rathmann, the owners of Nicasio Native Grass Ranch, and the folks behind this study, are Kathy’s good friends. She met them when they invited her to California to teach their cattle to eat weeds and she’s so excited about the work they’re doing to make the world a better place!
Read More →Welcome to Ben & Jerry’s Path to Enlightenment
Here’s a scoop on Ben & Jerry’s. It’s delicious and supports cone karma! And to give you some inside scoop, Rachel works with their Caring Dairy program when she’s not writing and editing for On Pasture
Read More →Invest In Yourself
You can never go wrong investing in yourself. Orie Voth That’s what my Dad told me a long time when I was trying to decide if I should take out a student loan and go to graduate school. It was good advice then, and I’ve used it often in my life when I’m trying to […]
Read More →To the 7 of You Who Click on This – Sausage Recipe Inside
There is a school of thought that none of us really wants to know how the sausage is made because apparently it’s not a very appetizing process. But in this case we think that knowing how we make the sausage that is the 7 weekly On Pasture articles gives you a better measure of what […]
Read More →Grazing Management View All →
Cattle Without Legs?!
Meg Grzeskiewicz is back with a two part series on genetics and forage for raising great beef. Here’s Part I – Animal Genetics and Management. (Meg’s own legless cattle will be born this coming June!)
Read More →How We Turned the Cattle Industry Into an Unsustainable, Artificial World
Trying to beat mother nature with technology is an expensive proposition. Sometimes it’s better to work with her than against her.
Read More →Need a New Watering System?
Getting water to livestock in pasture can be a challenge and farmers and ranchers have come up with all kinds of systems to get the job done. Since two (or more) heads are better than one, we thought we’d share some solutions from your fellow graziers over the next few months. Please feel free to […]
Read More →Winter Feeding Tips to Get You Through
Help us welcome a new author: Victor Shelton, NRCS State Agronomist and Grazing Specialist in Indiana.
Read More →Where’s the Poop?
Everyone says that one of the benefits of management intensive grazing is that the cows put the fertilizer right on the ground where it belongs. But how well are they doing their jobs? Are they spreading the love? Or are the concentrating in particular places? Most importantly, who’s going to do the ground surveys to […]
Read More →Portable Panels for Inexpensive Livestock Handling
Professionally made handling equipment is sure nice to have, but the reality is not everyone can afford it, especially when first getting started. These simple ideas will not only save you money, but help keep you and your livestock safe during the handling process.
Read More →The Cows Are Out – On the Lawn!
Are you using all your available forage? This dairy farmer is! And here’s the economics of it too.
Read More →Orchestrating Diversified Livestock
Managing multiple species and the pasture that support them is like a complex symphony with you as the conductor. Here’s how to make beautiful music
Read More →Pasture Health View All →
Get Your Free 2014 Grazing Charts Now!
No matter when your grazing season starts, there’s no time like now to download your 2014 version and start thinking about how you want to manage your pastures and paddocks this year.
Read More →Forages That Can Improve Grazing on Endophyte-Infected Tall Fescue
Researchers have recently discovered that when animals graze plants containing tannins and sapponins, they eat more endophyte-infected tall fescue. That means that including plants like birdsfoot trefoil and alfalfa in pastures of endophyte-infected tall fescue will make your livestock healthier and more productive.
Read More →Finding a Cost Effective, Persistent Legume for Pastures
Is there a legume that establishes and yields well, persists in pasture, and is cost-effective for the producer? That’s the question that Jim Munsch, owner of Deer Run Farm in Wisconsin, set out to answer with a 3-year on-farm research project followed by two more years of observation. As he notes in the video below, […]
Read More →What Can You Do When the Weather Won’t Cooperate?
You are not alone when it comes to frustrations with weather, and with actual changes in the climate. In the Midwest, growing seasons have lengthened by almost two weeks since 1950. The fire season is now 60 days longer than it was 30 years ago. With these changes, farmers, ranchers and forest landowners across the country are […]
Read More →Got Shade? Grow Shiitakes!
Plenty of graziers have forested lands that they may graze to some degree. But there are other ways that you can get more out of those spaces. Here’s one idea.
Read More →Organizing Pasture Walks
One of our readers wrote in and asked for an article on how to plan a pasture walk. Thanks, Carol. We hope this helps you and all the other folks who want to learn from their fellow graziers.
Read More →Soil Saves Lives
Most of us are unaware that a fungus isolated from a Missouri soil sample became an antibiotic that has saved thousands of lives, and that it was discovered by a 76 year old botanist who had come back from retirement to do something significant. It’s a story we should know because it gives us another reason to take good care of our soil.
Read More →Planning Summer Pasture
Winter is a good time to think about where you want to go this coming grazing season. Here’s a short video that might give you some new ideas about diversifying pasture mixes AND your operation.
Read More →Livestock View All →
Don’t Burn Down Your Barn!
More instructions for making your own, inexpensive equipment! Keep your kids and lambs warm and your barn safe with Sandy’s unpatented warming barrels.
Read More →Cattle Without Legs?!
Meg Grzeskiewicz is back with a two part series on genetics and forage for raising great beef. Here’s Part I – Animal Genetics and Management. (Meg’s own legless cattle will be born this coming June!)
Read More →The Most Valuable Tool On My Farm — Livestock Guardian Dogs
While I have been quite handy with a shotgun complete with MagLite duct taped to the barrel, dashing after [insert predator here] has sent the poultry into a full-blown panicked frenzy in the wee hours of the night, it’s not something I particularly enjoy. I’ve battled coyote, bears, bobcats, skunks, raccoons, rats and stray […]
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Genetic Parasite Control in Cattle
Once again we have to go back in time. Cattle in the wild would have had as much parasite resistance as present day wild animals, which made their existence possible. What we have done in the modern world is ignore natural capabilities and we unwittingly began diminishing them to insignificance. Chemicals will never win the […]
Read More →Can Cows Eat Snow?
When winter hits and temperatures drop below freezing, it becomes harder to keep a fresh water supply for cattle grazing on range. It can be difficult to access areas to cut ice and open reservoirs or to haul tanks of water. Many wonder if cows can eat snow in the winter to supply all their […]
Read More →Best Darn Pig Farrowing Video Ever
It’s that time of year when we’re getting ready to welcome lots of new creatures onto the planet. So here’s a video (self-described as the best ever) and some other resources to make your pig farrowing a success.
Read More →Portable Panels for Inexpensive Livestock Handling
Professionally made handling equipment is sure nice to have, but the reality is not everyone can afford it, especially when first getting started. These simple ideas will not only save you money, but help keep you and your livestock safe during the handling process.
Read More →Money Matters View All →
Risk Sharing Implications for Today’s CSA Farm
Considering a CSA? Here, Mark shares different CSA options and how they distribute risk among the farmer and the consumer so you can figure out what could work for you.
Read More →Finding New Markets – the Imperial Ranch Story
You asked for more farmer profiles and examples of how other producers make things work. So here you go! This is a really great example of how to look at what you’re raising in a new way so that you can find and serve new markets. Regardless of what you produce, you can use their example to think of new ways to improve your own success.
Read More →How to Build a Walk-In Freezer
Sure, you’ve got all the cold you can handle right now. But when the weather warms, you might be hoping for a place you can store things for your upcoming customers. Forrest shows you how to get going!
Read More →Risk Management – Here’s a Tool to Make It Easier
Talking about risks means accepting that there are things we can’t control, and some of us have a kind of superstition that says “If I don’t talk about it, it can’t happen.” Unfortunately, that’s not true. So here’s a tool to help you get your head around potential risks, and even better, to get some control over some of them.
Read More →Portable Panels for Inexpensive Livestock Handling
Professionally made handling equipment is sure nice to have, but the reality is not everyone can afford it, especially when first getting started. These simple ideas will not only save you money, but help keep you and your livestock safe during the handling process.
Read More →Are You Covered Enough? We Weren’t
Bruce and Beth are good farmers and smart business people. They’re the last people you would expect to face the situation they’re facing after fire destroyed two farm buildings. They share their experience being under-insured to make sure it doesn’t happen to you, and to ask for something they rarely ask for: Help.
Read More →Plan Ahead for Broiler Profits
Last week Kathy shared the budget for a backyard broiler operation. Now, here’s a budgeting tool for doing it on a larger scale to tell you what kind of profit you might expect from your own operation. Does it pay to do this? Tell us!
Read More →The Real Cost of Raising Meat Chickens – Year 1
It seems so easy: 1) buy chicks, 2) feed chicks, 3) harvest and package, 4) EAT. So backyard farmers decide they can do it too, and avoid the high price of Farmers Markets or Whole Foods. They could spend their spare time becoming “self-sufficient!” But here’s how much that can cost, when done by a couple of home producers. Share this with folks who think you charge too much!
Read More →Consider This View All →
How to Use a Paper Towel
We’re all interested in saving money AND our natural resources, so here’s a really good, and easy to do change we can make.
Read More →“Cows Save The Planet” by Judith Schwartz: Science or Storytelling?
Just the title made me want to like this book. When I got into it deeper, there wasn’t much about cows or how they might be able to save the planet. But the author’s basic premise, that healthy soil is critical to our health and damage to it is tied to climate change, still made […]
Read More →No Ordinary Mittens
Is it the wool in the mittens or the love that was knit into them by the people who made them that keeps us warm in the winter?
Read More →Want to Grow Grain? Make a cup of tea and sit down with Jack!
Over the years, we’ve lost a lot of the knowledge that our farming ancestors had. With his new book, Jack Lazor gathers hundreds of years of grain-growing knowledge, adds his decades of experience to it, and shares it all as easily as if he were telling a story.
Read More →Kale, Kale Everywhere, But Only Cheetos To Eat
Two recent articles, one with the title above in the in the Atlantic and another from Modern Farmer (Why Many Farmers Eat Like Crap) have us wondering: ”What’s your daily diet, and while you’re raising all this great food for others to eat, are you eating your share of it?” The articles point out that, like many busy, […]
Read More →Three Stents for Christmas
Lots of you have been concerned and asking about Troy Bishopp after his heart attack on December 3, 2013. Here’s the Grass Whisperer in his own great words to let you know what happened.
Read More →Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics: GM Corn, Roundup, and Tumors
This is the second in a series looking at the science and controversy surrounding a study that found an increase in liver and kidney disease and tumors in rats fed GM Corn and Roundup-laced water. Our purpose here isn’t to discuss the use or banning of Genetically Modified Organisms, but rather to focus on understanding the scientific process so we can be more informed consumers of information.
Read More →The Funnies View All →
Free Range Strauss From the Pitch Perfect Poultry
Bet you’ll sing this for the rest of the day! Here’s the link for those of you on tablets.
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Just Add Kittens
We’ve all heard how people like things with cats in them…so here you go! Broody Hen Watches Over Kittens And here’s the video link for folks using tablets.
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Carl Sagan’s Apple Pie
A little something to go with the “Scoop” of Ben & Jerry’s we gave you this week!
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