Goal Setting

Focusing on to two basic concepts is the best way to become a successful grazier: Graze Period and Recovery Period. The Graze Period is the time animals are left in a paddock. The proper graze period ensures you get the most out of your forage without allowing your animals to re-graze new growth. The Recovery […]

Thanks to the Beef Cattle Research Council for this great article! Does it feel like grazing management information is shrouded in acronyms and terms that boggle the mind on first glance? Do you struggle to decipher terms like animal unit equivalents? And how does one go about calculating AUMs and then applying those numbers? Be […]

Part of planning for the grazing season is getting a good handle on how much forage you’ll need for your livestock. This, along with your forage estimate, tells you how many animals you can sustainably raise. It also helps you plan paddock sizes, when to move animals and what your rotation will look like over […]

This month we’re focused on planning for the upcoming grazing season. Last week, we gave you free, downloadable grazing charts along with a list of questions you can ask yourself to get started adding information to the chart. This week, we’re giving you some more background to help you answer those questions. In this one […]

On Pasture’s New Year’s Resolution is to help you develop a grazing business based on a vision and goals that ensure a happy, healthy life, and a grazing operation that gets you there. We started the year with examples from fellow graziers and some resources to help you figure out where you are and where […]

Every year about this time, Troy Bishopp starts getting requests for grazing charts from folks all across the Northeast. Calls come in from well outside the area served by the Madison County Soil and Water Conservation District where Troy works. And, because he’s such an advocate, Troy is usually happy to help. But he can’t […]

John Marble and Troy Bishopp have something in common with many On Pasture readers. They expanded their grazing operations by renting pastures and grazing more cattle. John owned only two of the 11 properties where he grazed cattle. Troy rented 5 properties plus his home farm where he grazed cattle for his custom grazing business. […]

On Pasture’s New Year’s Resolution is to help you move into this grazing season in a way that ensures a happy, healthy life, and a grazing operation that gets you there. Step 1 is all about developing a vision and goals so you know where you are and what’s important to you. This is the […]

There isn’t one single recipe for a profitable ranch. Not every profitable ranch calves in May and June. Not every profitable ranch has sold all their hay equipment. Not every profitable ranch uses some form of intensive grazing. It’s time to start looking beyond the production practices of some ranches and start looking deeper at […]

On Pasture’s New Year’s Resolution is to help you develop a business vision and goals that ensure a happy, healthy life, and a grazing operation that gets you there. Creating a vision and goals, isn’t something that’s natural for most of us. So, to make the process easier, we’ll be providing lots of examples, like […]

Thanks to Jenn Colby for this week’s “Notes from Kathy.” Maybe everything on your farm is going perfectly. The animals are productive, grass growth is great, and you’re feeding minimal hay and making money. Terrific! But is that your whole life? How is your family—do you see them enough? Do you have time for things […]

My grazing posse is tired of writing about fences – where to put them, how to set them up. They don’t want to write about how grass grows, and even soil health is a tired topic. Why? Because it doesn’t seem to be leading to the success they’d like to see in their community of […]

In December On Pasture featured two graziers who are making changes to their grazing operations to create more time and better lives for themselves and their families. With the death of his brother as a catalyst, Troy Bishopp began managing for growing more grass and using it to have more “grandchildren days.” John Marble is […]

This piece is part of our discussion of moving toward a better life with grazing. Last week, Troy Bishopp share how he’s creating a more fulfilling life by building in time in his grazing management for family, friends and fun. This week, John Marble provides another perspective. Several decades back (well shoot, let’s be honest […]

Because this topic is so important, I’ve made this article free to everyone. I remember it well: sitting on the veranda with my wife and two bottles of wine from our favorite winery, contemplating our future life and goals as we prepared for my brother’s funeral in 2017. This was a decision day for the […]