This morning I got a call from Don Ashford, my adopted Louisiana Dad. Naturally, our conversation started with the weather. He told me they are suffering from way too much rain. Meanwhile, here in Tucson, Arizona, we have the opposite problem – only five inches of precipitation in the last 18 months. So, when we got about five minutes of rain last Tuesday night, it was an event! As we stood on the back porch enjoying it, we could hear people in the neighborhood cheering.
After we finished with the weather, Don and I moved on to consider how difficult it can be to tell someone how to manage their grazing when our landscapes and climates are so different. His rain problem compared with my drought was a prime example. Our solution came down to two things:
1. Provide the basics – the principles that govern grass growth and soil health and animal nutrition. With principles as a foundation, you can observe what’s happening and make good decisions no matter where you live or what the weather is.
2. Encourage people to think, observe and adjust based on what is happening around them. “They have to learn to manage on their own place,” Don said. We can give you examples of what works on other places, but you have to adjust it to work where you live. Knowing principles will help you make those adjustments.
Basic principles and practices and good examples are what we specialize in here at On Pasture. You can find LOTS of articles on principles of grazing and soil health right here. If you’re interested in a particular practice – mob grazing for example – you can find examples here. With over 2,800 articles in our library, you can find answers to just about any question using the site’s search tool (over on the right hand side of the page). If all that is helpful to you, consider becoming a subscriber, if you’re not already.
Finally, if you’re new to grazing, or would like to brush up on some of the basics, check out our free Grazing 101 ebook. Don was instrumental in helping me focus on what is most important, and he shared freely from his decades of grazing experience. I think you’ll really enjoy it, plus it comes with a coupon for 25% off your subscription so you can read all that stuff I linked to above!
Now, head off into a great July! I hope you get just the amount of rain you want!
Thanks for reading!
Kathy
