Can You Hear the Grass Grow?

Lately when my wife has been out checking on the Dexters and making sure our new fence is working she claims that she can hear the grass growing when the sun is shining down (I've heard it popping as well). Hearing and seeing the grass growing this spring has made me do a lot of thinking about our forages and our soils. That is why I automatically jumped to the back page of this months issue of "Graze" when I saw the article titled, "Matching plants to soil type is no easy task". That was an article that I had to check out because our soils and our forages have been on my mind lately.

When I make the drive into town I drive past quite a few pastures and hay fields that are really starting to look pretty good with all of the sun and rain. When I get to our place I see green grass (and it is growing), but it isn't as thick and tall as many of the pastures I drive by. This is probably because of a combination of a couple things. First of all, I'm sure that many of those places (especially the hay fields) have some sort of soil amendment added for time to time and our pastures have been sitting idle for about 14 years. But secondly, I know that there are different grass types in all of those other fields. Our pastures have a good amount of warm season grasses instead of an even mix.

Anyways, this article really got me thinking about our soil ... the type ... the nutrients it has ... and the stuff that it is missing. Figuring out our ground will probably be one of the more difficult things for me to do because I don't have any background in that sort of thing, but it is something I'm looking forward to.

Have any thoughts or help?

Quite a Pasture...

For various reasons (some of which you know about if you follow the blog) I haven't been able to do as much work on the farm as I would have liked so far, but today I was pondering one of the encouraging things. You may remember that I had planned to have the cattle on the farm by now grazing down the pasture and such, but building has taken the front row seat for the time being and the pastures will just have to wait. There is hope for our pastures that have been in the Conservation Reserve Program for the last 14 years though.

There are a very few areas that I have mowed this summer (I'm talking about a total of three times of mowing), but one of them is east of the garden next to the water hydrant. In that area there is a decent amount of red clover that has come up on it's own just because it has been able to compete with the other grasses when they were shorter. This does give me hope for the rest of the pastures and confirms something that I have read in Gene Logsdon's books that clover and bluegrass will grow if you keep an area clipped and they are able to compete.

Now, I think is a good time to start making plans for what my pastures will be like next year. Do you have any suggestions?

What to Do, What to Do...

Yesterday evening I drove the tractor out to the farm and pulled out the hay rake because I was getting tired of people commenting about the fact that I had a tractor in town! No, really I took the stuff out there so I would be able to get to work. But, while we were out there we decided to take a walk across our 26 acres of soon to be pasture ground and again the wheels in my mind started to turn. In the past I have considered mowing, baling, or burning, but none of that has happened for various reasons. First of all I don't have a bush hog, secondly it probably wouldn't work to well to mow with our haybine because of the anthills and brush, and finally they haven't made it to my name on the burn list yet (Have I mentioned it has been very wet).

So, as I was walking through the pasture-to-be yesterday I began to think about a fourth option (one of the comments mentioned this) which is just sticking the herd out there and trying to graze it down. There is quite a bit of green grass coming up between the matted down tall switch grass and if they were given enough area they would have plenty of food. Also, I was thinking/wondering if their hooves tramping around the pasture would break down the old switchgrass?

Of course this would be the most inexpensive way to begin conditioning the pasture and it is beginning to feel like it would also be the fastest. With the late planting season this year it has been difficult to borrow/hire/work with other farmers. They just are so focused on their planting right now it is impossible for them to get the old bush hog out of the shed or do baling in May.

So, what do you think? The downside is that I probably wouldn't be able to get as much hay off the ground this year as I had thought was possible. I may be able to scrounge up a pull behind mower in the next week or so and then maybe I would just mow it all, but maybe doing some mildly high intensity grazing along with spots of mowing would be the best bet. Also, Dexters do have a reputation for browsing ... that would help with some of the brush that has sprung up in a few areas.

I look forward to hearing what others think on this subject. Click on the picture above to see a bigger picture of what the pasture looks like.

The Contrary Farmer :: Chapter 6 Book Review

The other evening I finished chapter six of Gene Logsdons book, "The Contrary Farmer". This chapter is titled, "A Paradise of Meadows". Like Mr. Logsdon's other chapters in this book it is part life philosophy and part practical knowledge. I enjoyed reading this chapter as the meadow places are areas that I find exceptionally beautiful and full of life ... kinda Mr. Logsdon's idea!

One quote that really hit home for me (not as much because it was new knowledge, but rather because it encourages me) comes from the beginning part of the chapter. Mr. Logsdon writes, "The reason controlled rotational grazing, or grassland farming, the older term which I prefer to use, fits the cottage farm so well is that this is becoming the most economical way to keep animals as the cost of annual crop farming rises." He goes on to talk about the benefits of the livestock doing the work, controlling the weeds, and harvesting our crops (grass, legumes, corn, etc.). One thing I feel like I need to remind myself each time I pick up this book is that Mr. Logsdon is specifically talking about what he calls "cottage farms". These are farmers that don't make their soul income from their livestock, crops, or other farm ventures. So, his type of grassland farming with slower rotations may not fit someone looking to raise their stock density in order to meet product demands, build up their soils, or create a product.

Another thing that comes out loud and clear in this chapter is Mr. Logsdon's love affair with bluegrass and white clover ... and I must admit that I think I'm starting to believe him! I first read his words on bluegrass and white clover in "All Flesh is Grass" a book that I have also read. His feeling is that bluegrass and white clover are such great pasture grasses/legumes because they almost always show up when you graze/mow a pasture for a period of time. And, I must admit that I have seen that on our own families farm. There is land that was a weedy mess of nothingness that all of the sudden is full of a variety of plants and lots of bluegrass and clover! We didn't seed anything, it just came on by itself. He does throw out a few other meadow (pasture) plants that he likes or has heard of others liking. Some that he includes are: birdsfoot trefoil, red clover, alfalfa, timothy, orchard grass, rye grass (although he wasn't as high on this as I have heard others speak), and more. This book chapter really did get me think about grasses, legumes, and weeds again ... this spring I would really like to have an extension agent or the like come out to the family farm to give us a run down of what our pastures hold.

So, here is your two second run down of the chapter: Meadows are beautiful places that hold wonderful wildlife, great memories, and a place to relax. They provide a great opportunity to raise your livestock as they were created to graze and at lower prices than conventional farming as long as you practice some sort of rotational grazing to spread the nutrients and force them to eat a variety of plants. And, meadows should be diverse and have plentiful species of plants ... maybe even different meadows in different environments on the farm with different plants!

When I read other peoples review of this book many of them said that is a book they like to keep on their shelf so they can read it once a year to make sure their heads are on straight. Now that I'm over half way through I can really appreciate that comment. It may not be full of details and systems of grazing, but it does help you keep your mind focused on the ideals of grass farming.

**For my other chapter reviews check out these links : Chapter 1&2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5**

In Case You Didn't Notice...

...I have been wanting to add a picture to the header on my blog for a little while now, and I finally figured out how to do it! It's not like everyone else didn't know how to do it, but I'm still pleased with it. I need to do a bit of tweaking still so everything is readable and sized correctly, but it will work for now.

Every time I have gone down to my dad's place, I have tried to take pictures of the cattle so I can feel a bit like I'm down there when I'm working on my comptuer (they are my background image). Here is the picture that I made the header from. If you scroll down more you will find some more pictures of our bred Dexter heifer and our Dexter steer.

"Quality Pasture" :: Chapter 3 & 4 Book Report

This continues to be an interesting read, and as I read more and more I continue to believe that I know less and less! I have noticed Mr. Nation bringing up dairy cattle a lot in his analogies and stories, but this was to be expected because I read that on a few reviews. Dairy cows require a higher level of forage to continue to produce high levels of milk so this information is important to dairy grass farmers, but the higher quailty forage surely doesn't hurt the beef producers.

This chapter is specifically about year-round grazing in temperate climates, and he discusses different plans and grasses/legumes that would be practical to use in this climate for year-round grazing. Grazing your animals through the entire year is an interesting concept and is one that I am somewhat familar with through "All Flesh is Grass" by Gene Logsdon. To me it seems like it would take a lot of inputs (seed and soil amendments). I don't know how the numbers would work out, but I question if it is just as economical, or more economical, to make hay during the spring/early summer flush when your grazing can't keep up with the pasture growth and feed that hay durining the winter months. Also, by using a hay shed type of feeding system like Joel Salatin does I think you may also be able to save more nutrients rather than them hitting a potentially frozen pasture.

There was some interesting information about promoting clover growth among your pasture grasses. The grass can easily outgrow the clover so it is important to keep the grass clipped so the clover can thrive. Another thing that has come up in this book, and in "All Flesh is Grass", is the idea of feeding standing corn (green ... and by the way corn is a grass) along with brassicas (rape, kale, turnips, swedes, and cabbages). These are all interesting ideas, but I don't know if I am ready to tackle any of them just yet. I think they would be great if I wanted to stock the pastures at a higher level than would be expected even with excellent pastures, but really there is no reason to go to all the work if I don't have the animals to harvest all of this exceptional food (Mr. Salatin says that a lot).

The great thing about reading a book like this is that it gives me a glimpse into all the possibilities and gives me hope for the small farmer ... even in Iowa ... the king of corn, soybeans, and really BIG green and red tractors!

The Order is Placed...

So, awhile ago I discussed the possibility of getting a solar fencer for our rotational grazing system. My dad suggested those because some of the pastures we may start out on are quite a ways from electricity, and also because they possibly would work better for us than a battery system (especially when he is gone and the Amish are doing chores for us). I did some research and found quite a few people that couldn't stand them and just as many that absolutely loved them. I decided to give them a try. I ended up going with the Parmak "Deluxe Field Solar Pak". It is supposed to have a 25 mile range and is rated at 1.5 joules. You can read about it here.

I found the fencer for a decent price on-line at Jeffers Livestock. Since I was already ordering from them and they had free shipping, I went ahead and ordered another book, Quality Pasture by Allan Nation. Mr. Nation is the editor for the Stockman Grassfarmer magazine. It looks like a good book and also reminded me that I need to begin my subscription to the magazine. Maybe I can hold off until Christmas and ask for it as a gift.