Planning

OK, I know I’m going to get smacked around just for mentioning feeding corn. But hear me out. Drought has hit a lot of places this summer resulting in poorer pastures heading into winter, and as usual, the cost of hay goes up when precipitation goes down. Alternatives for folks in this situation are to […]

There are two different ways to feed your livestock with stockpiled forage over the winter. One way is to make hay or silage and then feed it to livestock over the winter. This can be quite expensive. The other option, which is much more economical, is to leave the forage in pasture where it stands, […]

  Yes, there is green grass. Yes, both you and the livestock are more than eager to utilize it. Yes, you both should wait before grazing it. It is one of the hardest times of the season for some people, me included. We are tired of mud and tired of feeding hay. There is an […]

Thanks for this article go to Ben Beckman, Nebraska Extension Educator, and Mitch Stephenson, UNL Range Management Specialist. They give us an excellent example of what to consider when managing grazing to target cheatgrass. We’ve added some notes on how you can adapt this to other grasses and weeds. Enjoy! While Mother Nature has been […]

This article comes to us from Jim Weber, DVM, PhD, Associate Professor of Animal and Veterinary Sciences Attending Veterinarian, University of Maine. I searched for and added links to additional examples of Standard Operating Procedures to give you a head start on anything you might need to write. Successful farmers, whether they raise cattle, sheep, […]

Do you want more quality grazing days? Are you ready to make more money? Are you dealing with weather events proactively? Do you want to limit stress points in your operation? Would you like to get away for a vacation this summer? If you need help with any of these things, then check out the […]

John Fant, Colonel, US Army (Ret), returned to southwest Virginia in 2013 to resume daily operations and management of the family farm. In this 6:52 video, John describes how he assessed the farm’s resources and then developed and implemented a plan that would improve water quality, and soil and animal health. What he found was […]

In November I shared thoughts on the economic importance of stockpiling grass. In that article, I made the case for building internal fence on a new property because of the economic value of the grass. Well, we did build the fences even though we were sick of fencing by November! This article covers what happened […]

I want to discuss the steps that we focus on when designing a new grazing operation on a new farm, starting with this saying: “If you have a lot of money, act like you don’t.” (If you don’t have a bunch of money ignore this.) The point is, being successful in a previous career is […]

It finally happened; a scream so loud, it echoed throughout the over-grazed hills and valleys of Central New York. Poised on a grassy knoll in “Braveheart” fashion, the Grass Whisperer yells out M-A-N-A-G-E. . . Call it a grazier’s meltdown, or a public service life purge; the agency-sponsored grazing professional and farmer who vehemently tries […]

In most livestock operations, the largest expense is winter feed. As a grazier, it has been my goal to plan a grazing rotation so there is high quality, high volume forage available in the fall and winter. This fall has tested my flexibility once again and has once again shown me the importance of having […]

We all make grazing management mistakes. The key to improving is to acknowledge what they are, why they happened, and then what we might do differently next time. Here, Troy Bishopp shares a mistake from his grazing past, as an example of these steps to improvement.

The Old Farmer’s Almanac has released their forecast for this winter. “Mild, with soakers” is how Indiana is labeled. I don’t put a lot of weight on these forecasts, but they often line up with other forecasts and occasionally are completely correct. If this forecast holds true, I think we all need to prepare for […]

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 high-density kick in the rear. But like any tool, misuse can turn animal impact into a powerful force for destruction. There are some situations in grazing when you should not use […]

  On more than one occasion I have made disparaging comments about the tendency of our ranching industry to waste time gathering data. We keep spiral-bound notebooks full of all kinds of information, most of which is fairly useless. Folks who are in the business of producing purebred breeding stock may be compelled to gather […]