"Improving Our Lot" - Planned Holistic Grazing, for starters..

[onesiedale]

Yes I would think so. I read an article written by a vet a good few years ago now about ram breeders ruining certain sheep breeds by doing just that. But they were going as far as never turning them out of a shed and having adlib concentrate their entire lives. Then the commercial farmers that are buying those rams couldn't understand why they wouldn't work on their systems (they probably didn't know they were housed their whole lives or what they were fed on, I didn't know that happened till I started looking and asking round more) that would be the extreme but it's bound to filter down to the commercial sheep farm eventually if these types are what are used to breed rams that breed the rams. Embryo transfer is, or will be, the same. Pedigree sheep that never give birth themselves so no one knows how easy to lamb/calve they are. But they breed a lot of offspring and when the genetics filter down to commercial farmers or breeders that don't do ET then they get all kinds of problems birthing them. But that's a different argument to what we were on about I'm just rambling now
But we should be a lot more particular about who we buy our rams and bulls from. And make sure they are reared in a commercial setting.

Been happening since the 1980's in the dairy sector, sadly the Holstein influence pretty much affected all dairy populations throughout the world. Only now are the genetics starting to rein back and give us breeding stock that can convert grass into money.

 

[BobTheSmallholder]

Evening, I've just had a fun catch-up of everything posted since December

I've been a busy boy, been on annual leave since Dec 30th so been at the farm 6-7 days a week and have learnt a huge amount. I've also done loads of filming for my YouTube channel although I've only managed to upload and edit 3 videos so far.

My pasture species knowledge is pretty poor, do any of you have any recommendations for a resource that has good photos and descriptors of the main pasture species and all different varieties of clover etc?

 

[Kiwi Pete]

What's in your mix? Apologies if you've listed it previously.

I did, but the mix changed a little as we couldn't source a couple of things at the right price and time.
So this one is slightly modified...
Oats, ryecorn, millet, buckwheat, sunflower
Beans, peas, lupins, vetch
Radish, leafy turnip, globe turnip

and I'm adding clover to the areas I didn't throw clovers on last year.

I think you're dead right, in a "drought" yes dry-sowing grass works ok, but that grass needs a check and is very resilient under our type of grazing anyway - hence the salt&vinegar used

 

[Farmer Roy]

You’d all be familiar with Nicole

what “defines” regen Ag ?
it is a lot more than just “winding the clock back”

 

[Kiwi Pete]

"Your attitude"

 

[Poorbuthappy]

sorghum needs a SOIL temp of at least 12 C & rising ( measured in the morning, so effectively a minimum of 12 ), to germinate successfully
It IS a tropical species . . .

Yes, I appreciate that. It was a bit of an experiment. And it was late May. We don't normally get mid June temps in the single figures!

 

[onesiedale]

Evening, I've just had a fun catch-up of everything posted since December

I've been a busy boy, been on annual leave since Dec 30th so been at the farm 6-7 days a week and have learnt a huge amount. I've also done loads of filming for my YouTube channel although I've only managed to upload and edit 3 videos so far.

My pasture species knowledge is pretty poor, do any of you have any recommendations for a resource that has good photos and descriptors of the main pasture species and all different varieties of clover etc?

Haven't really tried it on grasses much, but the free app 'Plantnet' seems to be pretty good at identifying.
Take a photo on your phone submit the image and hey presto plant is identified.?

 

[Farmer Roy]

Once you’ve digested Nicole’s video, have a read of this

https://www.facebook.com/213489422116575/posts/1684764054989097

I will copy & paste, as some of these articles don’t seem to work in UK / EU areas


Building biology
From the Ground Up with Steve Kenyon
By Steve Kenyon
Contributor
Reading Time: 4 minutes
Published: January 22, 2020
Features, Livestock

0

‘It is not about adding fertility, it is about building biology.’ – Steve Kenyon. Photo: Thinkstock
I was asked to speak at a nutrient management conference last month and once again, I was the odd man out. It was not unexpected, I usually am. Regenerative agriculture has a long way to go in our big business world of industrial agriculture. The majority of the speakers there had letters behind their names and spoke of how to store, transport and apply nutrients to the land. They are all respected professionals in our industry, who are also trained by our industry. Some spoke of manure applications, and others spoke about fertilizer systems, but it was all about adding fertility.
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My message had a completely different perspective; it is not about adding fertility, it is about building biology.

My presentation mostly consisted of pictures of my employees working. I don’t need to add any fertility to my soil because I have great employees. I will give them full credit for all the great work they do. It’s just my job to manage them. They are great little workers and all they need from me in return is room and board. As long as I provide food, water and shelter, they work tirelessly for me. They put in long hours and never take a sick day. They never complain. Actually, they work until they die and I don’t have to pay them a dime.
Our industry has an addiction to products. A symptom appears, usually because of something we changed. We are trained to use a quick-fix solution to deal with it. What we really need to do is find a long-term solution to the problem.
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My question to you is: why do we need to add fertility? I have not hauled manure or used fertilizer in at least 20 years now, yet I somehow still have fantastic-looking pastures. Nowhere in nature do you see a nitrogen-deficient plant. This only occurs in our agriculture systems.
Nature works in wholes, whereas modern agriculture only looks at individual parts of the system. For every one thing we change, there are nine other things that we affect that we don’t know about.
Let’s look at this with a hypothetical production practice that causes us to need fertility. If you recall, a few months ago my daughter, Dayna Kenyon, shared with you her perspective on “weed” management. She explained that we do not need to eradicate “weeds,” as they are part of a polyculture. We just need to manage the system so that they don’t take over an area. But industry tells us to spray weeds. Let’s throw this stone and watch the ripples.
What happens when we spray “weeds”?
1. It kills the weeds. My question is, what else does it do?
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2. It also kills the legumes. Now we don’t get the free nitrogen from the bacteria that are associated with the legume.
3. Without the legume these bacteria die and I wonder just how many more types of bacteria also perish from the herbicide.
4. Now we have nitrogen-deficient plants and our production drops.
5. We now have to add nitrogen fertilizer to get more production.
6. This changes the pH, which can drastically affect many of our soil organisms and put our very important mycorrhiza fungi out of work. This network of fungus was bringing needed nutrients to the plant. Now the plants have other nutrient deficiencies as well as nitrogen.
7. Plants will also likely show signs of drought stress sooner because the mycorrhiza fungi also transports water to the plants. The fungi are crucial employees to me in times of drought.
8. Without the other needed nutrients, plants become weak and are unable to fight pests and disease. Maybe a harmful pest will attack these weakened plants.
9. Now we might need to apply a pesticide to manage the new symptom.
10. In killing the pest, we may also be devastating populations of many other beneficial insects such as bees, dung beetles, mites, dragonflies and spiders, just to name a few.
These do not sound like very good working conditions for my employees. One simple production practice can spiral us downward into a never-ending product addiction.
Let’s back up to before we sprayed the “weeds.” Bees and other beneficial organisms like the variety of plant types that flower at different times of the year. A polyculture is beautiful to a bee. Now by not spraying weeds in our hypothetical example, we still have legumes. We still have the bacteria and still get the free nitrogen. The mycorrhiza fungi still bring us water and other nutrients for free. Our plants are strong and can fight off pests and disease, another no-cost service. We still have our beneficial insects, pollinators and soil organisms that work together. All of this because we didn’t spend money to deal with a symptom that was never really a problem in the first place.
Let me be blunt. Our industry is wrong. There is no need to buy nutrients. The air we breathe is 78 per cent nitrogen. We just need these microbiotic employees to get it for us. We also need to recycle. Every nutrient has a cycle and my employees help me recycle those nutrients.
My goal is not to export nutrients. Once you get it, keep it. Is it possible for you to grow a crop, but still retain most of the nutrients on your land? This is where livestock provide an advantage. The cow, for example, is about 20 per cent efficient. Eighty per cent of what goes in the front end comes out the back end, returning that waste product to the land. I know, that goes against our “efficiency” mindset as humans. But nature recycles so that the whole system can be sustainable.
The method of manure transport and distribution is also very important. Those nutrients are best returned to the land, directly deposited by the primary producer herself. The cow is also my employee. She works for room and board and her job is to recycle nutrients for me. What’s her pay? Well, she takes a 20 per cent cut off the top to cover her living expenses. She can be pretty low maintenance if you select for it. She recycles for me but I also want her to spread the nutrients for me. We need to get her out of the pen and onto the land so she can do her job more effectively, but that’s a whole other can of worms that we won’t open today.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: it is not about adding fertility, it is about building biology.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Steve Kenyon
Contributor

Steve Kenyon runs Greener Pastures Ranching Ltd. in Busby, Alta. You can email him at [email protected] call 780-307-6500.

 

[Farmer Roy]

The “weeds” article he alluded to


Just another ‘weed’ hugger
From the Ground Up with Dayna Kenyon
By Dayna Kenyon
Reading Time: 4 minutes
Published: September 30, 2019
Comment/Columns

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Dayna Kenyon. Photo: Supplied
It feels like I’ve been bouncing around in the truck, checking pastures with my dad all my life.
Growing up on Greener Pastures Ranching has given me a different world view than most kids my age. Even when I was young, I understood that we need to take care of our environment. I even asked my dad one time when I was very young, “Dad, you work for nature, don’t you?” I was taught that we need to take care of all aspects of nature, from the soil-life, to the water cycle, the insects, and all other living organisms in our system. It all needs to have balance. We need to look at things on the farm as a whole instead of managing one thing at a time.

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As an example, many farms have to deal with a “weed” problem from time to time. Neighbouring pastures around us are filled with buttercup, scentless chamomile, Canada thistle and more, but they don’t seem to understand why. Most farmers resort to spraying or tillage, but is there a better long-term solution?
First off, you may be wondering why I put quotation marks around the word “weed.” For as long as I can remember, my dad has always said, “There’s no such thing as a weed,” and the more I learned throughout the years, the more I understood that this statement was a fact, not just an opinion. Every plant has a purpose in nature. Those “weeds” have a job to do. They heal the soil. The word “weed” is just a nickname for a plant that isn’t wanted.
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Some things that can cause “weeds” to invade your pasture are overgrazing, droughts, or a disturbance of some kind like tillage or fire. However, these plants have some benefits — they protect the soil and hold it together. They bring vital nutrients from the subsoil to their leaves so that when they are recycled, those nutrients are released into the topsoil. They may have a strong root system, or deep taproots that open up the soil. They add organic matter to the soil and provide channels for water and air, and tunnels for worms and other organisms. They are also quick to flower, so they can attract beneficial insects. Having a few “weeds” is not a bad thing. We just don’t want them to take over an area.
Spraying these “weeds” on your farm doesn’t fix your problem like you would think. It only deals with the symptom of that problem, and you will have to spray again and again. The “weeds” are a scab to heal your land, and if you get rid of them, it’s like ripping off a scab. You start bleeding and the healing process has to start all over again. The more you do that, the harder it is to heal each time. So instead of getting rid of the “weeds,” let them stay and heal your land. Next year, your land will have more nutrients, healthier soil, and more organisms, so the preferred plants can grow better.
So how do you address the problem? The best way is to use the four grazing concepts: graze period, rest period, animal impact, and stock density (or GRAS).
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The graze period is the amount of time that the livestock are in the pasture. This period of time should be short enough so the cows don’t take a second bite on the pasture, and so there’s enough residue left to hold moisture.
The rest period is the amount of time you let the pasture rest without any animals on it. This needs to be long enough to have the plants fully recover and fill their root reserves.
Animal impact is when the livestock puncture the surface of the soil, pushing in seeds, and making it easier for water to soak into the ground.
Stock density is the number of animals you have in a space to make sure that the manure is spread evenly, allowing every plant to get nutrients. It also improves plant utilization.
Plant utilization is the key to weed management. Continuous grazing has low stock density which allows the livestock to pick and choose the yummy plants and leave the “weeds” to prosper, go to seed and spread. What we need is high stock density. The higher we get, the better the plant utilization which means we give every plant the same opportunity to grow. It’s pretty easy to understand why the “weeds” get the upper hand if you continuous graze. You are giving the “weeds” the perfect growing conditions and wiping out all their competition by overgrazing the good plants.
Using these four concepts helps maintain the pasture so it can grow thick, tall, tasty and healthy, but don’t be shocked if there are still a few “weeds.” There should always be some “weeds” in every piece of land. Our bees need food all summer long. It allows them to “bee” happy. Just let the “weeds” do their thing, but if you have to, mowing them can be beneficial as it still leaves the beneficial residue on the soil surface.
One of the “weeds” most farmers don’t like is stinging nettle. Everyone knows not to wear short pants while checking fence at Greener Pastures, but we love stinging nettle. We actually pick it, bag it, and sell it as a tea. It’s loaded with minerals and vitamins. We use it as a spice or make tea out of it. If you add a little honey and put it in the fridge, it makes a very flavourful iced tea. You can get your daily vitamins without any pills.
“Weeds” have a very important role in nature. We need them to keep this planet healthy, and regenerative grazing helps us manage the forage and deal with “weeds” naturally. Come visit us one day at Greener Pastures Ranching and see for yourself why I am just another “weed” hugger.
Dayna Kenyon is 14 years old and is part of Greener Pastures Ranching near Busby, Alta.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dayna Kenyon's recent articles

• Just another ‘weed’ huggerSeptember 30, 2019

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[Farmer Roy]

reGenerative Grazing Group | Facebook

Welcome! This is a group for discussions and problem solving for regeneratively grazing all kinds of critters while improving the health of the animals and the soil. Posts involving anything other...

www.facebook.com

I recently watched a presentation from Sarah Flack. This was one of the slides that blew my mind. This is a quote from the year 1797. Of course herding has been around for thousands of years, but people were even talking about fenced rotational grazing 220 years ago. This advice to have 15-20 divisions of equal feed value perfectly aligns with the recommendations of Ranching4Profit schools. I'm not going to say our ecological understanding hasn't deepened, but if this practice improved land and animals 220 years ago, it still does today. That's all a farmer or rancher needs to take action. What would someone from 1797 pay to have access to portable electric fencing and PVC water pipe??? It sounds like Good management could increase forage production 4 fold over bad management even when we still had top soil in the east, imagine that.

[
](https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2856603504396929&set=gm.2601014686836936&type=3&av=100001419220044&eav=AfZfpsMo2bGkbPQ3dpNr1SvbY8DkhfRRkbagf2Hcut8QU1OSfFJ4Rn-FNm0lSAmUFoQ&eid=ARAH82LPaCS-SCkwoxnWdHWd4qprrxSiKjzOLElxkDWCdN_WyZE-vkol0MbyKZCrZDmIa_GqOsZF0zpE&ifg=1)

 

[onesiedale]

Roy, thanks for those articles. Quite a bit to digest there. I really love the red warning about the 'Non Traditional Agricultural content ?. I somehow think you should use such a label when you post over in the 'Traditional Agric Threads'.

 

[bitwrx]

reGenerative Grazing Group | Facebook

Welcome! This is a group for discussions and problem solving for regeneratively grazing all kinds of critters while improving the health of the animals and the soil. Posts involving anything other...

www.facebook.com

I recently watched a presentation from Sarah Flack. This was one of the slides that blew my mind. This is a quote from the year 1797. Of course herding has been around for thousands of years, but people were even talking about fenced rotational grazing 220 years ago. This advice to have 15-20 divisions of equal feed value perfectly aligns with the recommendations of Ranching4Profit schools. I'm not going to say our ecological understanding hasn't deepened, but if this practice improved land and animals 220 years ago, it still does today. That's all a farmer or rancher needs to take action. What would someone from 1797 pay to have access to portable electric fencing and PVC water pipe??? It sounds like Good management could increase forage production 4 fold over bad management even when we still had top soil in the east, imagine that.

[
](https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2856603504396929&set=gm.2601014686836936&type=3&av=100001419220044&eav=AfZfpsMo2bGkbPQ3dpNr1SvbY8DkhfRRkbagf2Hcut8QU1OSfFJ4Rn-FNm0lSAmUFoQ&eid=ARAH82LPaCS-SCkwoxnWdHWd4qprrxSiKjzOLElxkDWCdN_WyZE-vkol0MbyKZCrZDmIa_GqOsZF0zpE&ifg=1)

View attachment 855147

That ^^ is what I was looking for back in Dec last. (See below.) @PercyBlakeney very kindly PMd me only a few days ago to say the quote was in Sarah Flack's book, but I'm still looking for the video where I originally saw it quoted.

O/T to current discussion, but I hope someone can help

At some time in the last year or so I've watched a video about rotational grazing that ends with a quote from a Scottish agriculturalist about dividing your farm up into paddocks and moving the beasts around daily so that the grass has grown back by the time you get to the first paddock (or something like that). I thought it was the Jim Gerrish wasting grass vid, but it appears not.

The videos was probably posted from this thread, so hoping one of you will know what I'm on about. Thinking about it now, it may have been a grassfed exchange vid... Hmm. Anyway, any ideas?

Damn. You were near the top of my 'most likely' list. I swear I wasn't dreaming it. Probably.

Worth noting the Scottish agriculturalist was from properly olden times. Like 17 hundred and something.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

That ^^ is what I was looking for back in Dec last. (See below.) @PercyBlakeney very kindly PMd me only a few days ago to say the quote was in Sarah Flack's book, but I'm still looking for the video where I originally saw it quoted.

Good detective work, I knew someone somewhere commented about that but couldn't remember who!

 

[Woolless]

I've been having a think over the past six weeks or so (never claimed to be a quick thinker!) on how I might start my grazing for 2020. The farm is very fragmented and what I would have considered the best and biggest parcel in particular is quite overgrazed.

So what I have decided to do is to load the second biggest parcel, much rougher ground but perversely much easier access, with all of the fit breeding ewes (maybe 140) and feed them hay there. This should give the largest parcel until maybe the first week in April to somewhat straighten up. Lambing will be around April 20th.

Two questions here really.

1. How many round bales would 140 approx 55/60kg ewes require for February & March?

2. I'm undecided whether I should unroll the hay, or bale graze? (No ring feeders nor will there be)

We do get a lot of rain.

Over to the collective.

60kg ewes will need 1.2kg DM/day for maintenance, so 140 ewes will need 168kg, maybe 3/4 of a bale? You need to have a stab at how much they'll get from the grass. If they're getting a bit, it would help with the hay likely to be a little short of energy and protein.

I would unroll bales every day for the sheep if I was at home every day. As it stands, ring feeders are filled to keep them fed while I'm at work. If you're wet, it won't help the utilisation of rolled out hay?

 

[Kiwi Pete]

I think drilling went OK, really quite enjoyed myself TBH. Just a wee bit shy on seed so...... back to the mixer for more.
Going to do some other bits I didn't think would drill, after doing this much with a disc drill I think it'll be fine.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Love my girls. What a wonderful hobby to have.

My neighbours asked if they could see more of "the cows and their babies, less of those noisy bulls and all those sheep" so here we are, pandering

Oversown clover - remember my frost-free frost seeding? Seems to be a great year for white clover here. The red clover is about to pop, soil temp is hovering about 13-16 degrees.

The drill did a little bit of ploughing where I attacked an old fenceline and it went about 8 inches deep, perfect conditions for drilling?

 

[Henarar]

Folk do love to see the cows and calves

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Folk do love to see the cows and calves

I try to keep them either on the roadside by their house or within view.... they did get a bit keen and took all their friends for a jaunt which resulted in a wee bit of 'free electric fence education' and then they worked out it was better not to go in with the cows...... they are from the city and so farm animals, close, is a real novelty.

 

[Treg]

Folk do love to see the cows and calves

There the poster girls of the livestock industry

 

[Henarar]

There the poster girls if the livestock industry

they are apparently a scurge to the environment and should be done away with in favour of some over processed crap made in a factory
if you have ever heard so much sh1t in all your life
perhaps Pete should tell his neighbours that and see what they think