Saturday, July 5, 2025

Yearly Archives: 2019

What’s the Key to Grazing Success? Rest!

We first ran this article in September of 2017. As I reviewed it before sharing it again this week, I was struck by how...

Data to Help You Make Good Choices

OK - I'm not sure this is actual data, but still, it makes you think!     Have you sent in your support to keep On Pasture...

Here’s What Could Happen to Forages in the Future and What It Means For Our Management

Could warming temperatures and elevated atmospheric CO2 levels affect the quantity and quality of forage used to raise livestock? That's the question that David...

Calving Ease, Growth, Marbling – What Do You Need For Your Winning Team?

Once the tallest player in the NBA, Yao Ming measures at an astounding 7 feet, 6 inches tall. His height and athletic ability led...

Is There a Way to Maximize the Value of Your Cull Cows?

Cull cows - every operation has them. They're the cows that are not pregnant at weaning time. The typical strategy for many spring-calving cow-calf...

Low-Stress Management Improves Post-Weaning Calf Health

Thanks to Dawn Hnatow for co-authoring this article! A few weeks ago we discussed fenceline weaning as one low-stress way to wean calves. The next...

We Know Honey Bees Are Dying, But Where Are They Doing Well?

Noah Wilson-Rich starts his June 2018 Ted Talk with some startling statistics: in 2017 we lost 40% of our beehives in the United States,...

Be Careful What You Wish For

As the Rolling Stones sing, "You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometime you find you get what you need!"   Only...

Comparing the Cost of Amending Soil With Fed Hay to Buying and Spreading Compost

I wrote this piece three years ago and never published it because...oh my gosh the math is daunting! And what if I got it...

When High Density Hurts: Remediating Overgrazed Land

I am a complete believer in mob (high-density rotational) grazing. I have seen marginal land explode with productivity and vigor after a properly orchestrated...

Tips for Squeezing Every Drop of Profit From Your Small Ruminant Herd

There used to be a time when keeping a respectable flock of sheep or herd of goats offered an acceptable return by simply sending ...

Soil Health Isn’t Free – Incorporating Livestock Can Reduce Economic Risk

Keeping soils covered is one of the keys to soil health, and cover crops are often promoted as a good way to prevent erosion...

Ranching By Number

  On more than one occasion I have made disparaging comments about the tendency of our ranching industry to waste time gathering data. We keep...

A Profile In Soil Health – A Rancher Feeds the Above- and Below-Ground Livestock

“All the different bugs of the soil...are disassembling a complex item that the cow put on the ground, and they’re taking that back...

What Happens If We Don’t Kill Predators?

Thanks to Randy Comeleo, Program Advisor for the Agriculture and Wildlife Protection Program, Benton County, Oregon, for helping with this article. Last week's article, "Coyotes...

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