Doug is building a ranch in Zambia and trying to develop a cow herd adapted to his harsh climate! He shares all the traditional paradigms he's pushing back against and where he's finding success. He also shares the story of how and why he left the family farm to build…
Everybody talking about #soilhealth talks about planting green. We are trying our 3rd year in a row of planting corn directly into standing, living green rye. We've been happy with the results and are excited about the soil building we're doing!
Integrating livestock on cropland is talked about a lot these days as one of the principles of soil health! I'm going to walk through one example of how we are doing that by grazing rye in the spring and cornstalks after corn harvest on this 30 acre field. That means…
Getting some last minute fencing done before we turn everything out on grass in the next few days and a little more seeding.
We got our latest delivery of Pharo Cattle Company bulls and discuss ways to reduce breeding expenses by co-owning bulls with people in other calving windows, and by using bulls you can turn out with more cows for longer! #PCC #PharoCattleCompany #bulls
After the angus cows came up from Colorado we ran them separate while the angus adapted and the reds were on cornstalks. But now it's time to combine groups and simplify things!
On our tillable land we try to integrate livestock in a cropping rotation using annual cover crops. Some fields will be warm season annuals for late summer, fall or winter grazing but these fields are cool season annuals for full season grazing!
In 2024 we tried bale grazing cornstalks for the first time to save money on our cows winter feed costs! It went well so we tried it again this winter! It leaves a lot of residue which definitely reduces forage growth but is building soil!
Laura won't do a deal if she doesn't predict 20% or higher return on investment!
Every spring we need to check fences to make sure winter hasn't pulled wires of fences or broken posts. We've been really happy using these fiberglass fence posts for the past few years! Much cheaper, lighter and easier to install than railroad ties!
Casey's family increased organic matter from 1% to 8% through management!
"I was one of those guys who thought, at the scale we were at, the only way to make it was to do direct to the consumer. I had blinders on." - George Walker episode 218 of Ranching Returns Podcast
Bale grazing is a method of feeding that does result in more feed wasted than if it was fed in tmr or bunk, but it requires almost no equipment or infrastructure to feed and is very labor efficient. Plus wasted feed just ends up fertilizing the soil! I'm pretty excited…
Just got home from Texas and needed to give the angus cows a couple more bales of hay. This is one way we bale graze and is probably my favorite if we have enough dry hay to do it. No tractors or equipment needed other then a few posts and…
