stewartr IL

50 hens/acre will generate an estimated 2.5 tons of manure/acre. They produce approximately: 106 lb. N, 30 lb. P, 61 lb. K

Quoting from: "Mixing Free-Range Hens and Ruminants on Pasture", Robert Plamondon- Norton Creek Farm. March 8, 2000 (Revised June 4, 2001)

I would think that liming would be required if you went much higher than this.

I think a stock trough is the way to go. The rubber troughs are rugged, but they do warm up quite a bit faster than the steel sheep tanks (at least on a sunny day).

We practice high stock density grazing on a daily basis, running around 500 cattle through various pastures (high quality and low quality). I was just speaking to a guru of high stock density grazing last week, and he has achieved 1.8 acres/animal unit.

I could sit here writing all night about the benefits of high stock density grazing, it is awesome. We graze by the rule of thumb "take half, leave half". Your grass should look rough, like someone tied a rake to an ATV and rode randomly through the pasture. There is no measurement that can you can go by. If you take your 3' long grass to 6'' or less, your "solar panel" just got destroyed and your grass will take forever to regrow (plus you just overstressed your rootstock and stressed your cattle by forcing them to consume low quality forage). The highest nutrient and energy value is in the tips of the plant. the faster the movement, the faster the regrowth.

Try to think like the buffalo. they grazed an area, then rest for a long time, then grazed again for a short period. Maybe there was a fire while it was resting, then a heavy graze again. Grass requires management, as un-managed grass will result in monoculture. The more species of grass, the better your year round grazing will be (and your mineral cycle for the cattle) as when your warm season grass is slow to start, the cool season stuff will be lush. Try to shoot for 30% legumes in your pasture, any more and bloat can be a concern. 30% returns a wonderful amount of N to the soil. High organic matter incorporation, manure microbes, and earthworms can handle the rest.

If your cattle get used to moving, they will tell you when to move them. they will eat all of the good stuff, and when you show up, they will want to move. We move anywhere from 1-3 times per day. We have 3 herds that are running on anything from irrigated pasture to native grasslands, to overgrown fields. I just moved a herd of about 100 cows, almost all with large calves on them, twice today. They had two 1 1/2-2 acre paddocks. Your earthworms will thank you for the organic matter, your grass will thank you for the proper management, and your grand children will thank you for improving the land.

I am a firm believer in moving livestock regularly, and giving the land long rest periods. This is a good land management practice but also helps with parasite pressure. Often it is only a few animals in a herd that have persistent parasite problems, but they soon spread the problem. Ideally, good herd management will remove these problem animals and reduce the parasite load. Think about it in terms of natural selection....the animals with higher parasite loads would be more likely to die and certainly less likely to reproduce.

Stock selection is critical as well. Not all animals will work in a low input grass system. Ideally only purchase animals from people who are running a similar system to your own. If you purchase stock from someone who worms his herd every 3 months, they will have little to no natural parasite resistance left because they have become dependent upon the treatments. They may use a mineral (lick tub, salt block, or loose mineral) that has anti-parasitic medication as well.

The guy I work for has not wormed his cattle in 9 years...because he rotates frequently and he has removed problem animals. I would imagine that access to a wide variety of native pastures has also provided access to natural worming plants as well. However, we have not planted anything with the intent of using it as a wormer.

If you are wanting to plant a permanent pasture, pigs can be a problem. They tend to root quite a bit and tear up the grass pretty bad, that's why we don't run hogs on our pastures anymore. It just depends on your management system. They can be of great benefit in overgrown scrub and brush.

It depends on how big the plant is in relation to the pot. Transplant as soon as possible. If it is root-bound, it may not transplant as well as it would have earlier.  I transplanted a pumpkin plant earlier in the year (we had a real late frost), and it is doing better than I could have imagined.

tribalwind wrote:
another important point for the veg's among us  is that ORGANIC does not equal VEGANIC... its not permaculture nor cruelty-free as they still bring in blood meal and bone meal for fertilizers.

Just wanted to add a bit to your statement. Some of the most efficient and self sufficient farmers around are organic (certified or not), however some of the least efficient and input reliant are organic farmers. It depends on the system. I know of some very large scale organic producers that are far from sustainable. Maybe they truck in fish meal from the pacific North West, or kelp from the coast, or other inputs that are neither self produced nor locally sourced.

I also know of other operations that use few if any purchased inputs. I can attest to the fact that fertilizer is not needed on properly managed pasture ground. It's common for some feed or hay to be purchased, as the required equipment for haying is expensive to maintain for a small herd (not to mention the nutrient loss). Last time we calculated the costs, we couldn't produce hay for the price we could buy (we don't use much). However, if we needed to we could produce enough hay for our use in a sustainable manner.

The heart of the organic movement was carved out when the USDA got heavily involved. USDA organic can often be achieved in an animal enterprise simply by shifting the purchased inputs form conventional to organic-approved, and it has nothing to do with confinement-free nor sustainable. The USDA regulations favor large scale , industrial-transition enterprises. Certification favors economy of scale, as the fees and paperwork are the same for all sizes of producers.

As for the animal welfare side, different producers have different philosophies. Our #1 concern is the welfare of our animals. However some producers over-market their products....."cage free" eggs usually mean they're floor raised in a huge building, not free range. Look for GAP certification on your animal products! It's not just some ag-industry white wash, it's the real deal.

http://www.farmforward.com/features/gap

I can identify some species of grass that I didn't see listed in those resources, so if you want help with something you can't identify shoot me an email or post a pic.

Here are some grass identification resources:

http://www.turffiles.ncsu.edu/turfid/ItemID.aspx?orderID=GR&orderDesc=Grass

http://www.ppws.vt.edu/scott/weed_id/rightsid.htm

http://learningstore.uwex.edu/assets/pdfs/A3637.pdf

http://www.agry.purdue.edu/ext/forages/ForageID/forageid.htm


Here's some info on growing alfalfa for seed, when to harvest is listed on page 7.

http://web1.msue.msu.edu/imp/modp1/morefile/E0111.pdf

Here's some info on harvesting sweet clover seed, near the end of the page:

http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/plantsci/hay/r862w.htm

Hope that helps!

I like to tack with a framing nailer and then come back with the screws. I like the fact that I can "nudge" with a hammer after I have tacked (if something is slightly off). If you use screws first, you better back them out if you need to adjust something.

If you're looking for added holding strength, shoot the screws in at opposing angles.

I haven't read Salatin's books (yet), but I have an excellent mentor/employer.

As John Polk said, variety is crazy important. I have heard some folks say they have as many as 40 species of grasses/legumes in any given pasture. As the cool season stuff slows in the summer, the warm season stuff takes over. Legumes are critical, but remember that bloating can be an issue at certain growth stages so don't seed it too heavily!

One thing I would like to touch on is the idea of over grazing: there is no such thing as "over-grazing", just "under-resting". Try to manage your grass as the bison managed it for eons, shock it for a short period and let it regenerate as long as possible. It is a good idea to graze paddocks at different times each year as well, so the different grass mixtures don't receive the same stress. When it rains, move the cattle faster or the ground will be torn up.....but if it does get torn up, let it rest for a long period and it will come back stronger than you might think. The longer the rest, the healthier the grass.

Try to graze by the rule "take half, leave half". If you take too much, your plant's surface area will be reduced too far and regrowth will take much longer. Grass has an exponential growth curve, once it gets enough surface area it can take off.