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Let Go of the Goat and No One Gets Hurt

Our livestock could be one of the biggest dangers to our safety.

By Kathy Voth 2 weeks ago

I was supposed to be in Wisconsin this past week, enjoying the -20 degree temperatures, and speaking at the 2019 Grassworks conference. I didn’t make it. My first flight out was cancelled, and rescheduled for later in the afternoon. So I checked my bag and went home for a few hours. When I returned, my […]

By Kathy Voth 3 weeks ago

When I was working for the Bureau of Land Management and stationed at Utah State University, a friend and I started an internship program called “Tehabi.” It gave students the background and experience they needed to work for land management agencies like the National Park Service, the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, and helped […]

By Kathy Voth 4 weeks ago

From time to time readers complain about the research coming out of our land grant colleges. “It headed us in the wrong direction.” “It only serves the big corporations.” “It doesn’t consider what farmers and ranchers need.” These are comments I’ve heard over the years. So why is that? Well one reason is funding. As […]

By Kathy Voth 1 month ago

Your ideas could make a difference! One of the organizations On Pasture works with to bring you articles every week is the Western Landowners Alliance. WLA recognizes that economic vitality and conservation go hand-in-hand, and they promote policies and practices that sustain private landowners in their work. To do that best, they need to know […]

By Don Ashford 1 month ago

This first “Scoop” of the new year comes to us from Don Ashford. Thanks, Don! Another year has come and gone and now comes the time for all of the resolutions to be made for the New Year. Folks resolve to lose weight, quit smoking or dipping, cut back on their drinking, exercise more – […]

By Kathy Voth 2 months ago

It’s an On Pasture tradition that we take time off at the end of every year to spend some time with our families. This year we’re off December 24 – January 7. We’ll be back on January 8 with lots more great articles for you! But we never leave you without something good to read! […]

By Kathy Voth 2 months ago

It’s that time of year, when we report back to you what the On Pasture community has accomplished together. This year that includes a total of 325 new articles with readership at a solid 100,000 folks a month and some months bumping up to 110,000. According to Alexa.com statistics, that makes us the most read […]

Is More Soil Organic Matter Always Better?

By Kathy Voth 4 days ago

Here’s a press release from Yale’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies sharing some new information about soil organic matter’s contribution to crop yields. While increasing soil organic matter provides numerous benefits (like carbon sequestration, improved water-holding capacity and reduced run-off and erosion), it turns out that some of the science about increases in production […]

By Victor Shelton 4 weeks ago

By this time of year, any seeding of forages would be considered a dormant seeding. Seeds planted now will lay there until the right conditions present themselves closer to spring. Most producers with pasture or hay ground understand the concept of “frost-seeding.” Frost-seeding is taking advantage of the freeze-thaw process of the soil during winter […]

By Beth Burritt 1 month ago

Last week we looked at why Medusahead Rye is so dangerous. This week Beth shares how we can prevent its spread. These tips are important for preventing the spread of all kinds of weedy species, so check them out and use them, even if you don’t have Medusahead. Preventing medusahead from establishing in new areas […]

By Beth Burritt 1 month ago

A team of genetic engineers couldn’t have devised a more ecologically lethal and effective invasive weed than Medusahead Rye. Beth Burritt is one of the researchers working on ways to stop it in it’s march across the U.S. from west to east. In this series of articles she shares what we need to know about the plant, and about a treatment that a rancher discovered that just may be a solution.

By Kathy Voth 2 months ago

Greg Judy was part of the original On Pasture think tank. As one of On Pasture’s Writers in Residence, he’s written plenty of articles over the almost six years we’ve been publishing, sharing his wealth of experience. You can read all of his articles, starting with the most recent, by clicking here. Two Search Tips […]

By Don Ashford 2 months ago

Even if you’re not a candidate for planting ryegrass, you’ll want to check out the principles of grazing management that Don describes in this piece about working with your local climate, understanding forages, and making grazing pay.

By Beth Burritt 2 months ago

The authors start with four pieces of information that put the role of carbohydrate reserves into question. Then they share ideas for good grazing to work well with plant physiology.

By John Marble 3 months ago

Although I was trained in science, I never really made much of a scientist. All that sitting around in the lab, mucking out petri dishes and gathering data, well, I just really couldn’t stand it. What I wanted was to be out in the field, observing nature. And perhaps that’s why I wound up here […]

Driving Your Herd – Better Techniques to Get Where You’re Going

By Whit Hibbard 4 days ago

Last week Tom Krawiec wrote about how much money he saved simply by using low-stress handling to drive his cattle. Since folks wanted to learn more, Whit is sharing this article on the low-stress handling techniques that made Tom’s cattle drive possible. Just about everything we do with our cattle comes down to driving them […]

By Jim Gerrish 2 weeks ago

Not so long ago, I visited Mike Roberts, the ranch manager at Waldron Ranch in Alberta, Canada. Mike is definitely one of those outside-the-box thinkers. As a great example, he is teaching his cattle to be goats to control woody species invasion on native rangelands. On part of the ranch, he has developed about 50 […]

By Tom Krawiec 2 weeks ago

Low-Stress Livestock handling is more than just being kind to your animals and the people working with you. As Tom points out, the money it saves you can be very significant!

By Kathy Voth 3 weeks ago

In this video from Oklahoma State University Extension and SunUp TV, Glenn Selk, OSU Extension Cattle Specialist, talks about the key to your replacement heifers have a successful first calving: it’s good body condition. This means that on a one to nine scale, they should be at least at the mid-point of 5, and even […]

By Whit Hibbard 1 month ago

For the past few years, Whit Hibbard has been sharing a series of articles on Low-Stress Livestock Handling (LSLH). We’ve gathered these articles as one of our Special Collections so you can see them all. Stay tuned as we’ll be sharing a number of new articles in upcoming issues of On Pasture. Driving—the active process […]

By Aaron Berger 1 month ago

Most of these tips apply to any kind of livestock that will be giving birth. So check it out!

By Kathy Voth 2 months ago

I met Don and Betty Ashford in September of 2014 when I went to Louisiana to talk about how to train cows to eat weeds. Betty made Monkey Bread for me, I fed her and all the pasture walk participants cricket brownies and fried larvae, and the cows learned to eat horse nettle, teaweed/prickly sida, […]

By James Matthew Craighead 2 months ago

While Matthew focuses on cattle in his look at the basics, the questions he poses and what they need are right on for all classes of livestock.

Jumping In With Both Feet – How One Young Rancher Got Started in the 21st Century

By John Marble 4 days ago

Last month John described what successful ranching might look like in the future, and what steps young ranchers might consider. This article is another look at that subject, sharing the example of a young entrepreneur finding success with a diverse, forward-thinking business model. My young friend Cody Wood is a nut; anyone can see that. […]

By Tom Krawiec 2 weeks ago

Low-Stress Livestock handling is more than just being kind to your animals and the people working with you. As Tom points out, the money it saves you can be very significant!

By Meg Grzeskiewicz 3 weeks ago

I spent my first four years in the grazing business running custom cow-calf pairs. It wasn’t profitable for me and I determined that it wasn’t the best use of my resources (as I discussed in some of my On Pasture articles in 2018). In spring 2018, I switched to being a seasonal operation. I bought […]

By Don Ashford 4 weeks ago

We all prefer trusting and being trustworthy, but sometimes things just don’t work out without a contract of some sort to clarify expectations. Here are some examples of problems that could have been prevented by having more than a handshake.

By John Marble 1 month ago

I recently received a note from a young friend (let’s call her Peggy Sue) who desperately wants to be a rancher. Since her childhood she has dreamed of working with animals. She has learned about marketing and economics. She’s studied hard and become a competent grazier. She’s done some hard work. But she’s getting a […]

By Kathy Voth 2 months ago

Meg Grzeskiewicz has always wanted to be a rancher. But getting there without a family farm to start from means she’s facing challenges that many new farmers and ranchers face: how to develop the skills and how to find a land base to work from. She’s taken these challenges head on, starting first with getting […]

By Kathy Voth 2 months ago

This article comes to us from Bob Hoppe of the USDA Economic Research Service. It was originally published to announce the findings of the 2016 edition of the report on America’s Diverse Family Farms. The data he provides are still relevant. I’ve updated it with the most recent report link. Family farms remain an essential […]

By Aaron Berger 3 months ago

The fall of the year is often a convenient time for those involved in cow-calf share and cash leases of spring calving cows to revisit the terms of the agreement. Market values of cattle, interest rates, pasture rental rates and feed costs can change significantly from year to year. Discussing how the share or […]

Grab the Bull by the Horns – What to Consider When Buying a Bull

By Aaron Berger 4 days ago

Are you looking for a new bull? This January 2018 article has some suggestions as you search. The purchase of a bull is a significant investment and represents the genetic future of the calves and in many cases replacement heifers that will go into the cowherd. The following are thoughts on a process that producers […]

By Kathy Voth 2 weeks ago

In February of 2017 we took readers on a summer visit to South Dakota with this article and video. Since so many of you just made it through the Polar Vortex, we thought another summer trip was in order in 2019. We hope it helps you look forward to warmer times! Charlie and his wife […]

By John Marble 3 weeks ago

This week James Matthew Craighead points out that we don’t have to move our cows every day. John Marble adds to that idea with a look at the lifestyle and economic choices involved in our grazing management. This brought up quite a discussion when we first ran this in January of 2018! I’ve added those […]

By Steve Freeman 4 weeks ago

Steve shared this information with us back in back in January of 2015. They’re ideas that will still work today. And if you’ve got ideas, do share! Your On Pasture community would love to have your help. Dan Divine, a former NRCS agent based in Wright County Missouri, was telling me about his water gap […]

By Bill Fosher 1 month ago

Bill Fosher first shared this with us in January of 2014. Here it is again to help our winter lambing readers. In winter lambing flocks, hypothermia and starvation of newborn lambs can account for nearly all of the pre-weaning death loss of lambs. It’s a serious problem that can often be minimized through careful management […]

By Kathy Voth 1 month ago

With almost 12,000 reads, this is the most read post for December 2018. I can see why too! It’s an easy way to make your upcoming calving, lambing and kidding season a little less stressful. Feed your pregnant stock every evening, right around dusk. They’ll spend the night ruminating and wait to give birth until […]

By Kathy Voth 2 months ago

It’s that time of year when we think about what’s been going well, and give thanks for that, and then what we could do to make the new year even better. From December of 2015, Here is Chris Blanchard’s list of things he’s going to clear off his plate so he can start fresh in […]

By Kathy Voth 2 months ago

From January of 2017, this Classic by NatGLC links to articles that help us consider how best to spend our money when it comes to livestock handling facilities. On Pasture started out the first two weeks of 2017 with two articles we thought were especially important. They were a continuation of Whit Hibbard’s myth-busting series […]

Sojourn in the Snow

By Troy Bishopp 4 days ago

Have you been having any fun lately? Troy reminds us to be kids once in awhile.

By Don Ashford 3 weeks ago

We were over at John Seal’s one day looking to buy some of those big Holstein heifers from Wisconsin that he would go up there and get about twice a year. We were trying to grow our outfit and our heifer production, in our mind, was going too slow. We had bought heifers from John […]

By Greg Judy 1 month ago

Back in 1999 when we first started leasing idle land for grazing that needed serious fertility, I designed my first bale unroller. We had all these old farms that had been stripped of their fertility by folks continuously haying them every year without putting back any nutrients. We did not have any money to fertilize […]

By Kathy Voth 2 months ago

John Marble, another of On Pasture’s Writers in Residence, has been writing for On Pasture for a little over two years. He focuses on helping us take a new look at things we might take for granted. Examples include his thoughts on paddock design and moving livestock, and his article “From Minimal To Mob – […]

By Troy Bishopp 2 months ago

In 1971, I was a confused eight year old who cried in horror as men lashed my grandfather William’s fourteen, beloved Guernsey cows in an attempt to make them walk up the steep ramp into a cattle truck destined for the auction barn. The sober event was dictated by the decision not to spend money […]

By Kathy Voth 2 months ago

Are you stressed? Or are you feeling anxiety? Turns out that there are specific definitions for these two terms. Understanding the difference, and labeling what we’re experiencing lets us adjust our mindset. And that can help us manage the level of stress in our lives and improve our businesses and our health. Thanks to Charlotte […]

By Don Ashford 3 months ago

This is a quote from Eric Hoffer who was known as the longshoreman philosopher. Mr. Hoffer has been dead since 1983 but these words are more applicable today than when he wrote them. Those of us, who a few years ago began to realize that the “learned” were being no help to us at all, […]

By Kathy Voth 3 months ago

Have you ever wondered how we arrived at our current dairy regulations? Well here’s part of the story. From Deborah Blum and Undark.org, here’s how an obscure Indiana public health official pioneered a campaign against tainted dairy products at the turn of the 20th century. At the turn of the 20th century, Indiana was widely […]

Our Move to Year-Round Grazing

By Dean Schneider 2 weeks ago

Dean Schneider, a rancher in Oklahoma, is moving to year round grazing after decades of making and feeding hay. Here’s how he’s managing the change.

By James Matthew Craighead 3 weeks ago

You do not have to move cows every day to build soil health. You don’t always have to stretch polywire to implement rotational grazing. Sometimes you will have to feed hay, and this can be as constructive as it is destructive. There is a growing trend that I am seeing in “regenerative” agriculture to push […]

By Jim Gerrish 4 weeks ago

When we graze cover-crops we always need to be considering both meeting the livestock needs as well as soil building objectives. The more cover-crop yield you can produce, the more biomass you can afford to leave behind. Here is an example of grazing BMR sorghum yielding over 180 AUD/acre while leaving well over one ton […]

By Kathy Voth 1 month ago

Last week Troy Bishopp described how he met the challenge of grazing with wet weather and late freezing temperatures. (Of course the best prevention is some snow – which many of you are getting this week.) Here are some more suggestions from Victor Shelton for managing your grazing to prevent damage to your forage. Plus […]

By Troy Bishopp 1 month ago

Troy has been sharing how he extends his grazing season every year thanks to charting his management. But this fall Mother Nature threw him a big curve with rain 28 days out of 40 and a killing frost that came a month late. Here’s how he made it through.

By Kathy Voth 2 months ago

While On Pasture is on winter break, we’re sharing resources that you might find helpful. Recently we’ve made some handouts that you can download for free and then copy and share at workshops, conferences and other events. This one covers the ins and outs of using a grazing chart to plan your grazing so that […]

By Kathy Voth 2 months ago

“This is so much more than just stewardship of the land. It’s about modeling the behaviors that we all should have, whether we’re a homeowner in town, a 10-acre ranchette, or a 10,000 acre ranch.” – Tanse Herrmann, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service When Gary and Amy Cammack purchased 927 acres of rangeland in 1984, it […]

By Victor Shelton 2 months ago

I’m not really sure where this year went. At least for me, it seems like it should still be October, but the weather outside indicates a different message. Grazing activity for a lot of producers starts slowing down this time of year. If you are still grazing, and I hope you are, then you are […]