Make calving more fun and less work

This week we share some of the economic reasons for moving calving time to May. But John Marble has noticed that talking about economics – a discussion of costs, inputs, margins, and all that other stuff that either: 1) Puts people to sleep, or 2) Makes them mad as hell. So he’s come up with […]
Read More →Practical Advice For Growing a Parasite Resistant Herd

Some time back, I wrote about grazing management to reduce parasites, and in particular liver flukes. These modest management changes appears to be a simple way to reduce parasite populations and help us when parasites have developed resistance to the wormers we relied on in the past. To refresh your memory, here are the practices […]
Read More →Is Increased Production Worth the Cost of the Fertilizer?

I recently had the pleasure of hosting a pasture walk for a group of University students, young people who wanted to chat about plants, animals, grazing, fencing, water…in other words, all the things I am constantly talking about. Our conversation included bits of philosophy too, and some thoughts about the direction of our industry. Somewhere […]
Read More →How to Graze During the Dormant Season (Summer or Fall)

Whether it’s fair or not, people seem to believe that northwest corner of America is a fairly unique place. Folks like to rave about the extraordinary degree of “greenness” in this country, while also whining and moaning about our soggy winters. I always find this entertaining. The truth is, we do have a long, gray […]
Read More →When the Fire Came – A Rancher Works Through Oregon’s Holiday Farm Fire

On September 9, John Marble’s short voice mail on my home phone said, “We have fire on three sides and we’re evacuating cattle.” He was running from the Holiday Farm fire that had been whipped into a frenzy by gale force winds two days earlier. By the next day, his part of the Calapooia Valley […]
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