$ 5.00 1947 THE STOCKMAN Our 72nd Year — Since

May 2019 Gras Farmer Volume 19, #5 THE S GRAZIER’S EDGE The informational foundation for a healthy planet and people through profitable grass-based livestock production. What Causes Meadow Talk Flavor, Off Flavors and Color in Beef? By Anibal Pordomingo

SANTA ROSA, Argentina: Flavor and color of beef could be related with animal genetics, the forage base, and the animal and carcass handling. Depending on the rumen capac- ity for absorption of pigments and the liver enzymatic machinery, The Colemans use regenerative permaculture techniques to raise pure, nutrient-dense foods. Farm Crisis ruminants express more or less the ability to pass colors and flavors Answers to fat in beef or milk. Forages are Sweet Grass Dairy of Ohio Fulfills full of water soluble pigments, but By Joel Salatin the fat-soluble are the ones most Long-term Dream to Farm in an involved. As 2018 agricultural data Many plant species produce car- trickles in, it’s not a pretty pic- otenes, flavonoids, absorbable ter- Ecologically Sound Manner ture. penes and essential oils. If the liver By Becky Gillette Farm as a young person and had Average net farm income was cannot deal with the amount or has a dream to farm in an ecologi- negative. In other words, the no machinery to metabolize them, FREDERICKTOWN, Ohio. As cally sound way while building a average farm in America lost the compounds will likely be stored a teen, Jacob Coleman started direct market.” money. Farm income decreased in the fat. a 4H dairy lease program where He went to the College of $9.1 billion and total farm Colors and flavors from for- he “rented” a heifer on a grass- the Ozarks for an ag business debt increased $410 billion. ages are more detectable in milk based dairy near his parent’s degree while looking for a way Bankruptcies in some states than beef. The mammary gland home in Indiana. His parents to farm. Then he met the woman are up nearly 60 percent. From captures and directs to milk these had a mini farm with a couple of who would become his wife, the dairy crisis to tariff talks, compounds faster and with lower steers and a few hundred broil- Elizabeth. it’s gloom and doom time in transformation than though the ers. “Liz and I met on eHarmony in American agriculture, at least liver to the adipose tissue. Jerseys “My 4H project quickly turned 2011 as two people looking for according to most conventional are known for their yellow fat. Fat into a job digging bull thistles a spouse who was a Christian, accounts. in older animals is yellower than fat and dock on the pastures,” Jacob desired a family, and wanted to Senator Michael Bennet from young ones, unless we force said. “Soon this turned into farm,” Jacob said. “We married (D-Colorado) wrote an op-ed the animal to a weight loss and use milking a herd of 100 cows six and I started working with Liz’s piece in the Wall Street Journal all backfat. In such circumstances days a week in the evening and family on their family dairy. I identifying three problems: low stored pigments would be removed learning pasture management. I quickly realized my dream was commodity prices, drought, and and metabolized with the fat. Then, loved my job through high school not going to come to fruition labor shortages. Drought is the we re-feed the animal with an ener- and quickly developed a dream on a conventional confinement only one for which he doesn’t gy-rich pigment-free diet. This is to farm someday, somehow. As dairy farm. So, I started looking have a culprit. The other two are the case of cows that are culled thin a teen, I also direct marketed for a way to start our own farm President Trump, of course: tar- and are concentrate fed to fatten. grassfed beef and chicken from with smaller grass genetics for a iff wars and immigration wars. Perception of colors, odors and my parents’ four acres. I had small dairy farm.” He wants a different policy on flavor is cultural and difficult to read Joel Salatin’s book You Can Continued on p. 5 Continued on p. 29 Continued on p. 3

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By Paul Schneider Jr., unavailable to the plant. Nature has the 5. AG-USA solution. Why not let nature supply more of First, there are soil microbes that your NPK, Ca, moisture, etc. Nature “eat” phosphorus; they digest it. This has many answers for fertility; it is breaks the chemical bond and makes simply our job to cooperate with it. phosphorus available. Sure, cooperating with nature isn’t Second, although phosphorus is not always easy, but the more we learn how mobile in the soil, mycorrhizal fungi are to take advantage of the solutions it able to transport it long distances, offers, the better the outcome. taking it directly into the plant’s root. MycorrPlus was created to maximize MycorrPlus activates the above process. our cooperation with nature. Here is a little of nature’s plan for soil fertility. Mycorrhizae Require Special Care Because of our farming practices, it An Abundance of Nitrogen is actually rare to find mycorrhizal fungi Unlocking soil nutrients - left of fence was treated, right was not. in farm land. Here are some of the There are at least 3 natural ways to microbes. MycorrPlus is able to complex mycorrhizae organism. things that set Mycorrhizae back. enrich the earth with nitrogen. break these down and restore soil 3rd and 4th year customers are 1. Plowing. Working the soil breaks ● Nitrogen fixing bacteria life. Just apply it after the chemical. amazed with the differences they up fungi networks, not allowing ● Nitrogen fixing plants (legumes) are now seeing with pH, nutrients, them to really develop. Minimal clover growth and soil tilth. ● Animal urine and manure tillage protects them. MycorrPlus Helps Mycorrhizal Fungi MycorrPlus is a biostimulant that 2. Bare soil. Mycorrhizal fungi get ● By helping to balance the soil Natural Sources of Potassium contains nitrogen fixing bacteria. It their nourishment from sugars ● By cleaning up toxins takes a good 4 to 5 months for these sequestered by the plant. When the ● By remediating salts ● Manures are a good source of bacteria to transform the soil enough to soil is left bare for an extended potassium. Here are some other things you can meet the nitrogen needs of most plants. period of time, they have no food. ● Potassium is a major component of do to encourage mycorrhizae: The wise use of legumes and manures Cover crops satisfy this need. clay. 1. Manures and grazing. Apply some further fortify the soil with nitrogen. 3. Phosphorus applications. When ● MycorrPlus helps to optimize and manure or allow animals to graze. If they have applied nitrogen in the phosphorus is low in the root zone, make available potassium that is past and the soil has become “addicted” the plant is highly motivated to 2. Establish multiple species of plants. already in the soil. to it, corn and wheat farmers may still sequester sugars in exchange for Mycorrhizal fungi create a community under the soil that links need to apply some. MycorrPlus helps phosphorus. Mycorrhizal fungi feed Making Calcium Available to stabilize a nitrogen application so it various types of plants together. these sugars to phosphorus Most soils contain a lot of calcium; doesn’t wick off or leach out, thus Each species helps the other, and digesting bacteria. it is just tied up. If the soil does contain allowing you to apply less. are also helpful to the fungi. This not only makes phosphorus calcium, the microbes in MycorrPlus 3. Cover crops. Mycorrhizae are available, but it rapidly builds will help free it up, making it available dependent on plants to feed them. Tapping into Phosphorus organic matter in the soil. Applying to the plant. This can really save on Keep something growing so that A good acre of farm ground contains phosphorus fertilizers hinder this lime, plus balance pH. they are continuously fed, allowing enough phosphorus to last a hundred soil building. 4. “Cides” kill microbes. Pesticides, them to develop more fully. years. But phosphorus is quick to react Enhancing Moisture with other minerals in the soil. There is nematicides, fungicides and herbi- 4. Give it time. Applying MycorrPlus The microbes in MycorrPlus help to a lot in the soil, but it is tied up and cides all take their toll on soil each year helps to establish a more highly structure the soil. ● When it rains, water soaks in. ● The soil becomes a larger water bank. Plus TM ● Mycorrhizal fungi are able to transport Like a center pivot for dryland farmers! moisture to the plant from deep in the soil. Tap into nature’s fertility solutions. Call our Reduces the need for LIME and other fertilizers toll-free number today and request a free MycorrPlus is a liquid bio-stimulant that helps to remove compaction by highly structuring the soil. information packet. It creates an “aerobic net” in the soil that retains nutrients and moisture. It contains concentrated sea minerals, 70+ strains of aerobic bacteria, fish, kelp, humic acids and molasses. $20 to $40/acre. 1-888-588-3139 Or go to: www.AG-USA.net Call AG-USA now at (888) 588-3139 for a free information packet, or go to: www.AG-USA.net Organic? Request MycorrPlus-O. Conquer Nature by AG-USA, LLC, PO Box 73019, Newnan, GA 30271 [email protected] Cooperating with it M AY , 2 0 1 9 3 Many of the substances (pro-car- ground or industrial non-aged beef. degrees F and constant airflow are Flavor, Off otenes, carotenes and flavonoids) Likewise, exposure of muscle required. Continued from p. 1 have antioxidant properties and mass to air and contamination Fatness protects aging and beef are relevant at protecting shelf life increases molding. Fat cover, since flavor. Lean carcasses, with mini- generalize. Previous exposure, age, as well as improving the nutrition- it has much less water than mus- mum or no cover fat are at higher training experience and preconcep- al value of meats. Humans have cle takes longer and helps protect risk. Fat is low in water content and tion define preferences and taste. evolved consuming antioxidants of the meat. Aging for 14 to 21 days decays or allows mold colonization Strong flavors in one part of the this nature in green, red and purple is common to warrant tenderness. at a much slower rate than protein world (France, China) may be val- vegetables, fruits, milk and meats. Integrity of the carcass and is very (muscle), which has much higher ued, while in other parts (the USA, However, most undesirable fla- important during dry aging to pre- water content and substrate easier Argentina, Australia) may be per- vors in meats often arise from poor vent water loss and molding. Most to degrade (protein and muscle sug- ceived as off-flavors. handling after harvest and during of the tenderization during hanging ars). Major entry points for bacteria Objective methodologies based aging. Aging is a necessary process (dry aging) or after vacuum packing and fungi are cuts and injuries, even on chemical capture and charac- to transform muscle into meat. (wet aging) takes place during the more if blood or other fluids are terization of volatile compounds by Muscle enzymes break down con- first seven days of aging. Effects present from poor bleeding or poor electronic “nose” are used to char- nective tissue and loosen myofibrils, during the second week are less carcass wash before chilling. As a acterize odors of beef. This research which lead to tenderness. significant, and gains in tenderness strategy for extra lean meat, short- has pointed out that alfalfa, white There is a narrow line between after 14 days are less significant. ening the aging and grinding would clover and brome mixtures, ryegrass aging and rot. As muscle breaks The risk of odd flavors, metallic help to retain moisture and reduce or cereal oats annual pastures, corn down, tenderization increases. tastes and undesired colors increas- off-flavors. and sorghum-finished beef emit a Water loss and decay follows fast es exponentially over time with Air exposure of exposed muscle lower proportion of sensitive vol- protein break down. Muscle pH microbial activity. Aging for a period for hours oxidizes iron and devel- atile compound after cooking. Red should drop below 5.8 in a few longer than 14 days requires ade- ops a metallic taste. Frequently, clover fescue pastures, broad leaf hours and the temperature kept quate facilities to control moisture, we remove the bag for a vacu- species (brassicas, weeds, etc) and between 35 and 40 degrees F. If pH temperature and hygienic process- um-packed piece and allow color most native ranges rich in forbs are remains higher or temperatures are ing. to recover and flourish. The light not so predictable and often high higher in the cooler, mold and decay Small walk-in coolers without air brown looking appearance turns in volatile compounds associated initiates and off flavors are likely to flow are not appropriate for aging. into red or light red, which makes with essential oils and flavonoids. develop. Poor bleeding (poor exsan- A few carcasses in a cooler and beef look fresh. This is an oxidation Cooking temperatures seem to guination at harvest) is responsible frequent fluctuations in temperature process of surface iron. As this hap- affect the release of gaseous forms for most off flavor and poor aging. and moisture favor mold and bac- pens, if we keep such a cut exposed of these substances as they are Carcasses from animals poorly teria development. Temperatures structurally affected by heat. managed at harvest should go into above freezing and below 40 Continued on p. 12 4 T h e S t o ckman G rs a s f a r m e r

$ 5.00 Since 1947 Spring Growth Overlapping from THE STOCKMAN Our 70th Year —

June, 2017 Gras Farmer Volume 17, #6 THE S GRAZIER’S EDGE More Profit The informational foundation for a healthy planet and people through profitable grass-based livestock production. Three Secrets for Increasing Profit from Your Grasslands Warm- and Cool-Season Grasses - of Grass Finished Beef Enterprises

By Dave Pratt a few of them make a profit.

FAIRFIELD, California: Several SUFFERING FROM A years ago, Allan Nation asked CONVENTIONAL PARADIGM me to participate in a panel dis- The primary reason that most cussion on the profitability of grass-finishing operations lose grass-finishing. Allan told me, “I money is because, while they may want you to be the grim reaper. be using innovative techniques, I want you to sober people up they are applying them with about the economic reality of the same failed paradigm that grass-finishing.” plagues most of agriculture, that Other speakers on the panel profit is a function of price and The Fisher family realizes the huge benefits from marketing all the grassfed products together. told attendees how to produce a production. Which Should I Graze Now? gourmet quality product and how Price and production are not starts with to get paid top dollar for it. I told the most important factors. Profit ADVERTISING! At Paradise Pastures, All Products people that I was a huge fan of is a function of three things: over- Allan and The Stockman Grass head costs, gross margin per unit Are Sold Before Leaving the Farm Farmer, and an enthusiastic sup- and turnover. porter of grass-finishing. It is By Becky Gillette Paradise Pastures is operated generally better for the environ- THE ILLUSION OF PROFIT by John Lee, his wife, Verna Mae ment and the health of consum- Most people figure that if their PARADISE, Pennsylvania: Fisher, his brother, Alvin Fisher, and ers. But just because something bank account is bigger at the end The Fisher family that operates his wife, Sadie Fisher. They have a is good to do doesn’t mean that of the year than it was at the start By Patrick Keyser tinues to increase. Thus, substantial Paradise Pastures on 118 acres near partnership with another brother, it’s profitable. of the year, they made a profit. If Lancaster, sells all of its products Aaron Fisher, who raises grassfed Regardless of how noble your that were true, people creating before they leave the farm. That sheep and beef cattle at a ranch in cause and how good your prod- income by selling their herd in a includes 8,000 broilers, 1,000 tur- Virginia about an eight-hour drive uct, the laws of economics still severely depressed market would keys, 200 hogs and the milk, cream apply in your pastures. I’ve met make a big profit. But of course, and cheese from 50 grassfed Jersey hundreds of producers who have Contact Continued on p. 2 gain is foregone by staying on the cows. grass-finishing enterprises. Only Continued on p. 4

your gas? What happened when in a sustainability summit in the Meadow Talk Tomorrow’s self-service arrived? Canary Islands. One of the other The self-service movement speakers, from Germany, concen- KNOXVILLE, Tennessee: Native cool-season grass. Opportunities disrupted the economy 50 years trated on Eco-Mobility. He said the ago just like the shared econo- average car gets used seven per- Sally Imgrund at 843.851.6240 by Joel Salatin my will disrupt tomorrow’s. The cent of its life. Uberization of everything signals If that could be moved to 28 In case you missed it, things are a cataclysmic shift in the culture: percent, we could get by on a happening fast. socially, economically, and envi- quarter of the cars. Think of the How many of you remember ronmentally. displacement: auto manufactur- grass pastures begin producing A second reason for moving off when elevators had an operator Consider that in the last decade, ers, gas stations, mechanics, stationed in them? What happened AirBnb created as many beds as road builders, parking attendants, to all those folks when elevators all the Hilton and Sheraton hotel fewer leather seats. Autonomous [email protected] became self-service? Can you families combined, without driving (self-driving) cars were a huge remember when a service station a single nail or buying a single attendant came out and pumped mattress. I recently participated Continued on p. 12 forage at a time during spring when cool-season pastures at this point SGF’s Multi-Species School with Greg Judy, see p. 3 our cool-season pastures are still is that during May and June, toxins productive. within tall fescue are increasing Certainly by mid-May, producers leading to reduced animal growth The Stockman who have both warm- and cool-sea- and reproductive performance. For ISSN 0899-1057 © Copyright 2019 son pastures will be faced with the spring herds, where April breeding GrasSFarmer question of which they should be is typical, having recently bred ani- The Stockman Grass Farmer is published monthly by the Mississippi Valley Publishing Corp. grazing. Simply put, there are two mals removed from toxic fescue is a Editorial and Business Offices are located at 234 W. School Street, Ridgeland, MS 39157. Business Office options. good practice. phone (601) 853-1861, fax (601) 853-8087. [email protected] First, stay on the cool-season A recent study at Clemson North American subscription rates (USA, Canada, Mexico) are US $56.00 for two years and US $32.00 for grass until it tells you it is time to University found that switching move off. Depending on the spring bred animals to a non-toxic summer one year. Overseas subscriptions are US $150 for two years and $90 for one year. Periodicals postage paid at (and your management), this could forage substantially increased preg- Ridgeland, MS and at additional mailing offices. Prices good through 6/30/19. be up until late June. The other nancy rates (as much as 20-30%). option is to move off the cool-sea- This same toxic forage, when har- POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: son pasture when the warm-season vested as hay, has much lower lev- The Stockman Grass Farmer, P.O. Box 2300, Ridgeland, MS 39158-2300. grass is first ready to graze. Which els of ergot alkaloids. makes the most sense? A third reason to move off of Editor...... Joel Salatin Although either option is fine, cool-season forages earlier is Managing Editors...... Carolyn Nation & Glinda Davenport and one or the other may ultimately stand vigor and longevity. Stressing Marketing/Advertising Director...... Sally A. Imgrund fit your operation best, I think your cool-season grasses during summer Business Manager...... Suzie Pooley best bet is to graze the warm-sea- when they are becoming semi-dor- Retail Manager...... Diane Dickens son grass once it tells you it is mant has a greater negative impact Public Relations...... Connie Croswell ready. Why? There are several rea- than if that same stress occurred at Production Coordinator...... Deanna Kelley sons. a time when they were vigorously First, the quality of native growing. Erring on the side of get- Circulation Assistant...... Sandra Vincent warm-season grass at this point is ting off somewhat early makes more Typesetting/Production...... Nancy B. Morgan much greater than that of cool-sea- sense than going the other way and son grass. By mid-May when most getting off too late. of our cool-season grasses are past Finally, because of the rapid boot stage, forage quality begins to growth of tall-growing natives decline more rapidly. At this same during May and June, their qual- point, warm-season species such as ity will decline as they mature. Don’t miss another issue! switchgrass, big bluestem, and indi- Obviously, they can be cut for hay angrass are producing gains above if they do get too tall for effective Name______❑ 2 years. - $56.00 2.5 pounds per day. grazing, but if your timing is not Although this rate declines some- good, you could lose considerable Address______❑ 1 year. - $32.00 what in June, the gap between cool- potential nutritional benefit. I have City______State (Province)______Zip ______and warm-season grasses during seen a couple of studies in which late spring and early summer con- the researchers did not use the Phone #______warm-season grasses until much M/C /VISA#______Exp.______later in the growing season. In one Mother’s Day, Father’s case, the result was a loss of more than 50% of the per acre produc- Day, Graduation, tion! Recently a colleague observed Visit our website for digital subscriptions! that if you do not move to the Birthday warm-season grass once its ready, Or return a check today to: you will ruin both your cool-season The Stockman Give a and warm-season forages. For me, I U.S. funds, please! think he had it right. n Prices good through 6/30/19. GrasSFarmer P.O. Box 2300 GIFT SUBSCRIPTION Ridgeland, MS 39158-2300 to Patrick Keyser is Professor and Director, Center for Native Call today! 1-800-748-9808 or fax (601) 853-8087 The Stockman Grasslands Management in www.stockmangrassfarmer.com GrasSFarmer Knoxville, Tennessee. M AY , 2 0 1 9 5 Sweet Grass Dairy The Colemans started with 40 organic cows on the Horizon truck. Continued from p. 1 Then they began building direct markets to have more diversity. In His search for cows led him to the summer of 2018, they stopped Craigslist, where he found dairy selling to Horizon because they cows for sale in Fredericktown, had developed enough market of Ohio. When they came to look at their own to go on. the cows, they learned that the “We left Horizon when the new 150-acre farm was also for rent. owner, Dannon Yogurt, redesigned “We went home pondering how the renewal contract,” Jacob said. starting on a farm that was already “The new contract did not allow for in grass could leap start our independent sale of product to any- dream beyond building a farm from one other than Dannon/Horizon. scratch in Pennsylvania,” Jacob We were at a fork in the road. Our said. “Elizabeth was a bit skeptical direct marketing was 50 percent at first, but through many organic of our income and Horizon was the farm tours and lots of reading, she other half. We chose where our came around to the understanding hearts thrived and where we saw of how God’s creation can work the most potential. If we as farm- without chemicals for the improve- ers want to survive the current ment of the soil, animals and peo- farming cycle, we have to learn to ple involved.” take control of our product from In 2013, they moved to Ohio, production to the end sale.” leased the 150-acre farm and The farm follows a holistic started the Sweet Grass Dairy. grazing plan. From mid-April to The lease started in 2013 at three October, the cows are strictly graz- years. One year in, they extended ing; they are not feed any hay. They the lease to five years. At three try to graze at the flag leaf stage years, they extended it another five of the plant to maximize energy in years after the first five. the forages. They do use a small “We care for the land and fence,” amount of energy supplement, if Jacob said. “Our landlord has rein- needed. vested into permanent infrastruc- Winter feeding is done on pas- ture each year. Our rental relation- ture through bale grazing of balage ship has been a pleasant exchange that is harvested in late May on the of helping and caring for the land farm. and infrastructure together.” “Our balage is made in a day,” Word-of-mouth has been a huge Jacob said. “We start mowing at 8 marketing benefit to them. a.m. There is no crimping or crush- “Our first customer happened to ing of the plant. The grass is laid be driving down the road and saw out wide so as to harvest sunshine our cows,” Jacob said. “He stopped and dry the plants. Balage is then to see what he could purchase. baled by 2 p.m. that day. We have He told a few people and they told an extremely high brix reading a few people. The relationship over 25. Moisture ranges from 30 we have with folks is invaluable. percent to 50 percent. It makes a Facebook, EatWild, and Real Milk great forage for feeding with little have all been valuable tools for connecting with folks.” Continued on p. 6

PHARO PHILOSOPHIES 101 — A cow should be supporting the ranch, insteadinstead of being supported by the ranch.

Because of modern technology and mainstream beef industryindustry thinking,thinking, mostmost ofof today’stoday’s beefbeef cowscows areare beingbeing supported by the ranch they live on. That may be a good deal for the cow — but it’sit’s not profitable. PHARO CATTLE COMPANY Cheyenne Wells, CO Phone:Phone: 1-800-311-09951-800-311-0995

Email: [email protected] Website:Website: www.PharoCattle.comwww.PharoCattle.com Call or email toto receive receive our FREE and very opinionated Newsletter 6 T HE S TOCKMAN G RASSFARMER Just think of this report: antibiotic try, pork and eggs? Nada. None. resistance is more costly than can- And that all of my customers can Musings From The Blog cer. It’s unthinkable almost. If there sleep easy tonight knowing they By Joel Salatin die due to antibiotic resistance, is one food and health issue that is are immune from the killer that which is more than from cancer. absolutely and completely human- exceeds cancer? That’s worth cele- According to an article in Small Furthermore, health care costs caused, this is it. Completely brating. Farm Canada magazine, the World associated with antibiotic resis- unnecessary. Completely based on How is your clean meat sourcing Health organization estimates that tance will cost the global economy hubris and the law of unintended coming along? ■ by 2050, 10 million people will $100 trillion. consequences. Do you know how great a feeling This is an excerpt from Joel’s it is knowing that none of these Blog. To sign up go to www.thelu- costs will be borne by customers naticfarmer.com of my [antibiotic free] beef, poul-

Sweet Grass Dairy how their farm management is a holistic approach to feeding the Continued from p. 5 whole ecosystem. energy supplementation needed.” “Our products are fresh, and For replacement of the dairy raised in a way that each animal cows, they use home-raised bulls celebrates their created purpose out of older cows that thrive on in the environment,” he said. “We their farm. are an organic, grass-based farm. What inspires him the most We use regenerative permaculture from operating the grassfed dairy techniques to raise pure, nutri- is the healing of the soil, and the ent-dense foods that will nourish positive results that their farm our families. In order to do this, supporters experience. He also we harness diversity and symbiot- thrives on the opportunity to be so ic relationships starting with the in touch with the creation around soil and the life within it. Healthy us. soil raises healthy plants which, in “Spring is my favorite season,” turn, feeds animals and people a he said. “Seeing new life and wak- healthy diet.” ening of hibernation is exhilarat- Jacob’s tips for marketing ing!” include never growing more prod- His plans for improving the farm uct than you can sell, and not to in the near future include improv- expand faster than you can cash ing marketing and pond building. flow. When talking to customers Through the years, the about the benefits of their milk, he Colemans have also grown a fam- generally starts by talking about ily along with the farm. They have five children: Heidi, Israel, Peter, Annie, and Ivan. Jacob said operating the farm has been an exciting adventure Reliable and Affordable Electric Fence Supplies for Graziers Everywhere that they would not change for the world. “We have met and seen so many lives change for the good through what we are doing here on the farm,” he said. Jacob feels there is plenty of room for more operations like theirs. “We need to focus on con- Providing the sumer education and reaching gro- rotational grazing cery store addicts,” he said. For more information, call supplies and 317-258-3864, email jacob@ knowledge sweetgrassdairyofohio.com st or see the website www. demanded by 21 SweetGrassDairyofOhio.com. ■ Century Graziers Becky Gillette is a freelance Posts Poly Reels Underground Cable writer and photographer from Superior Products...Exceptional Service Eureka Springs, Arkansas, who is an avid organic gardener and pro- 800-230-0024/www.pasturemgmt.com ponent of buying local food. M a y , 2 0 1 9 7 DIRT TO SOIL: One Family’s Journey into Regenerative Agriculture Reviewed by Joel Salatin forgiving, abundant soils. Working have been wonderful. Or extoling to be convinced. with soil scientists during his jour- the virtues of his corn that is often But we get nothing, and this is a All of us grass farmers who raise ney, he documents organic matter, shorter than the neighbors’. What if glaring weakness I think in too many omnivores use grain and have an water infiltration, nitrogen, potas- it’s 30 percent higher nutritionally? If intense interest in how it’s grown. sium, and phosphorous levels to I’m a skeptic, I need more than soil As a group, we eschew tillage, laud show the increase and compare it Continued on p. 8 perennials, and sometimes can get to unconverted neighbors’ fields. It’s a bit self-righ- dramatic, compelling, and ultimately teous about our hopeful for scalable regenerative bio-mimicry, capacity. soil building, This book is easy to read. It’ll and carbon explode the heads of traditional sequestration. grain farmers, but they need their But what about heads exploded. Probably my favor- the grain we ite theme from the book is the advice use, whether to experiment. Quick to appreciate we grow it our- climatic and contextual differences, selves or buy it Gabe literally turned his farm into a from others? laboratory. He advises all of us farm- To support ers to do the same because the actu- the pastured poultry and pork pro- al outworking of a principle in one duction on our farm, we’ve calculat- place will not look the same as the ed that it requires about 250 acres of practical outworking of the principle grain. What if that grain production somewhere else. Side by side test- were as regenerative as our perenni- ing to not only prove the principle al grass production? And what if we to yourself, but to test ideas small- could grow grain in grass (pasture) scale before jumping off the cliff is without herbicide or tillage? And both reasonable and economically what if someone had a protocol we judicious. could give to all our grain suppliers With all of its strengths, I think to encourage them to grow grain in a the book does have some weak- total ecosystem regenerative way? nesses. The primary one is that it In his recently-released book, Dirt strays off topic. Right at the end of to Soil, Gabe Brown offers us that the book, he explained, “I wrote this gift. In his self-deprecating story-tell- book to tell the story of how my fam- ing persona, Gabe describes his ily and I changed from farming and decade-long conversion from indus- ranching with an ‘industrial’ mindset trial chemical-centric farming to his to farming and ranching in nature’s beyond sustainable model dubbed image.” That captures the essence of “regenerative farming.” Along the the book more than the current title. way, he introduces us to his mentors The chapters about marketing and and what he gleaned from each one. inheritance are certainly interesting, If you want an introduction to the but they don’t tie back to soil regen- best soil mentors of our era, his list eration. is spot on. They could. Because diversity Gabe and his family farm about requires multiple enterprises, mar- 5,000 acres near Bismarck, North keting outside commodity norms is a Dakota, in a 15 inch rainfall region good thing. Likewise, long term soil with a five-month frost-free window. stewardship requires long-term suc- Quick to admit his failures, he is just cessional planning. Again, that topic as quick to admonish from them. His could have been tied back to soil in experience led him to develop “The a beautiful and impactful way, but it Five Principles of Soil Health:” wasn’t. 1. Limit Disturbance. The second big weakness is that 2. Armor (biomass ground cover). it jumps from soil to food nutrition 3. Diversity. without any data to back it up. As 4. Living Roots (living vegetation). much science as Gabe uses to proj- 5. Integrate Animals. ect soil health, it seems negligent to Combining grain farming with not tie the two together. An impera- holistic management, his choreogra- tive of the data-driven argument on phy aims to duplicate as closely as efficacy requires some sort of link possible the cycles and principles between the soil and nutrition. But of the original prairie. In doing so, this book does not offer that. A few he has approximated the chocolate studies comparing his sunflowers’ cake look of those fertile, hydrated, nutrients to the conventional would 8 T h e S t o ckman G rs a s f a r m e r the floor, 2) excessive pressure from a hydraulic chute, 3) tipped The Importance of Good Stockmanship off balance in a poorly adjusted By Temple Grandin squeeze chute, 4) banged on the Figure 1 head, or 5) sharp edges. FORT COLLINS, Colorado: Falling down during han- Good stockmanship and reducing dling. Falling can be due to stress on livestock will improve either a slippery floor or getting productivity. cattle too excited. Scientific research has clearly Mis-caught in the squeeze shown that cattle that become chute. Caught in the squeeze agitated during handling have chute in the wrong position. lower weight gains and poorer Running out of the squeeze conception rates after artifi- chute. Ideally most cattle should cial insemination. The National walk quietly out of the squeeze Cattlemen’s Beef association, chute. through their Beef Quality Electric prod use. On many Assurance (BQA) program, has operations with really good emphasized the importance of handling, electric prods can be lowering stress during cattle almost eliminated. One must handling. The association has remember that hard tail twisting sponsored many stockmanship Movement pattern to encourage cattle to move forward in a chute. to get an animal into the squeeze workshops. When cattle remain chute is not acceptable. Cattle calmer when they are held in and sheep can be urged to move really enthusiastic on improving tle handling. a squeeze chute, it is easier to forward by quickly walking back handling. Unfortunately, some properly give injections in the by them in the opposite direction people may slip back into old CATTLE HANDLING neck. of desired movement (Figure 1). rough practices unless they con- MEASUREMENTS The BQA program also has a By measuring the above items, tinually assess their practices. Vocalization. If cattle vocal- scoring system for monitoring you can prevent poor practices This is what I call “bad becom- ize (moo/bellow) during catching cattle handling practices. Often from slowly creeping back up. This ing normal.” The easiest way to in the squeeze chute, they are people will attend a stockman- scoring system helps to prevent prevent poor handling practices saying “ouch.” Common causes ship workshop and they become from returning is to measure cat- of vocalization are 1) slipping on Continued on p. 9

cover crops; nothing could be further www.powerflexfence.com Book Review from the truth. So what is Europe doing that makes its food better, and Continued from p. 7 what does it have to do with the five principles of soil development? We’re of our tribe’s apologetics toward not told, but I guarantee you it’s not farm-food relationships. This is why Gabe’s protocol. It’s this kind of logic the work of Fred Provenza and Jo skipping that naysayers will exploit in Robinson is important. If we’re going discrediting Gabe’s wonderful work. to use the sword of science, we’d I’m sorry that a debater did not proof- PowerPost Pig Tail Post better be ready to die by the sword read the text. with Extra Insulator of science. You can’t use science Without regard to that, however, Powerflex on one end and get all emotional this book is a great gift to agricul- Reflective on the other. Subjecting our food to ture and especially to those of us meta-analysis is something Allan who want to use grain responsibly. Bungy Nation preached and that message I plan to buy a box and give it to my Gate Kits is still on point. We can’t use science grain-growing neighbors and all of on our farms and then wander into our farm’s grain suppliers. Consider fantasy land at the plate. We have it like a gospel tract. The soil regen- to tie the two together because the eration protocols and the strength hydroponic folks and their ilk are of personal testimony are optimistic pushing back. and profound. We can thank Gabe for For example, Gabe waxes eloquent finally setting his transformational about the great food in Europe. But protocol and story into words. n Europe does not practice this system. I’ve been to Europe many times, and DIRT TO SOIL One fami-

I’ve certainly never seen anything ly’s Journey into Regenerative Portable Ends/Corners there like what Gabe is doing. That Agriculture by Gabe Brown with Self Driving - in & out Join us on Facebook doesn’t mean Gabe isn’t doing the Courtney White is 240 pages, paper- Check our website for NEW Products & Monthly Specials! right, or even the best approach, but back, 1 lb., $19.95 plus $5.60 ship- the reader is supposed to assume ping and handling. Available in lim- Order On-Line 24/7 • FREE Catalog that European food is better because ited supply from SGF, 800-748-9808 417-741-1230 • [email protected] they do mob stocking on cocktail or use the order form on p. 26. M AY , 2 0 1 9 9 bad stockmanship. It is not a mea- Guide to Working with Farm sure of the very best stockmanship. Figure 2 Animals has many Round Tub and Bud Box designs that are DIFFERENT TYPES OF designed to be portable. Figure FACILITY DESIGNS 2 illustrates a Round Tub system There has been much discus- that can be easily constructed sion about the merits of different from portable equipment. The handling facility designs such as expensive catwalks have been Round Tubs versus Bud Boxes. eliminated. The handler is posi- Throughout much of my career, tioned at the round crowd pen I have worked with large opera- gate pivot. The cattle will easily tions such as feedlots and meat circle around the handler. The plants that have high employee crowd gate can be left in the turnover. These places need a position shown in Figure 2. It is cattle handling facility that is not pushed up tightly against the both safe and requires relatively cattle. ■ little skill to move cattle through it. Many of the larger designs I Temple Grandin is a Professor have created are more expensive, Round tub system where the handler works at the gate pivot. of Animal Science at Colorado but they are less dependent on State University. She has handler skill. Designs such as designed facilities for handling the Bud Box are much more eco- improve cattle movement. Some leased land is used, portable livestock that are used around nomical, but are more dependent of the most common distractions facilities that can be easily the world. She has also been on stockmanship skill. A person are vehicles parked alongside removed are recommended. In instrumental in implementing needs to have a higher skill level the corral fence, coats on fences, most states, structures that are animal welfare auditing programs to work safely inside a small pen. and people standing in the wrong permanently attached to the land that are used by McDonalds, Both Round Tubs and Bud place. become the property of the land- Wendy’s, Whole Foods, and other Boxes must be laid out correctly. If there is a distraction in lord. In some situations, portable corporations. Her books include: One of the worst layout mis- a facility, such as a change in corrals have to be moved from Thinking in Pictures, Livestock takes is bending the single file flooring, give the lead animal pasture to pasture. A Bud Box Handling and Transportation, chute too sharply at the junction the opportunity to put its head constructed from straight panels The Autistic Brain and The New between the chute and the crowd down to look at it. When the is easier to move and set up. York Times bestseller Animals in pen. When an animal stands at animal has raised its head back My book Temple Grandin’s Translation. the entrance of the single file up, it can be urged to move. If chute, it should be able to see it has pressure applied to the at least two body lengths up the flight zone too quickly, it may chute. In both designs, the crowd refuse to move and turn back. If pen should never be overloaded. a handling facility is located in a When a Bud Box is used, all the building that has side walls this TM cattle that are put in the box has the same effect as a solid should be able to fit in the lead side around the facility, the outer up chute. perimeter is the most important Dylan Biggs, an early student part to cover to block distrac- of Bud Williams, has demonstrat- tions. ed how to load a bull into a stock trailer with no handling facility. FACTORS THAT AFFECT This is the ultimate in high skill FACILITY DESIGN cattle handling. The stock trailer Two factors that may have • is located in the middle of a pas- had an effect on choices for han- ture. He carefully applies pres- dling facilities are calmer cattle • sure on the flight zone when the temperament and a greater use • bull looks away from the trailer of leased land. During the last and backs up and removes pres- twenty years, cattle have become • sure when the bull either looks less excitable due to intensive • at or moves towards the trailer. selection for a calmer temper- • Removing pressure from the ament. Cattle with a calmer flight zone when the bull moves temperament have a less intense • towards the trailer rewards it for reaction to sudden new novel • cooperating. experiences. Cattle with calmer genetics also gain more weight. REMOVE DISTRACTIONS When cattle have a calmer tem- FROM HANDLING FACILITIES perament, there is less need for When cattle are moved covering all the fence with solid through a novel new place they sides. Simpler less elaborate will stop and look at little things facilities can be used with calm- that move or have high visual er animals. contrast. Removing distrac- Another factor is more cattle tions from handing facilities can grazing on leased land. When 10 T HE S TOCKMAN G RASSFARMER NEW! THE STOCKMAN GrasSFarmer Profitable Bull Selection By James Coffelt cows, a mature bull can handle 75 WHAT’S THE SECRET BEHIND cows. We have 20 herd bulls, two are NOSE-TO-TAIL MARKETING & CADIZ, Ohio: Why are bull and extras, in case one goes lame, breaks breeding costs so high? What drives a penis, or any other issue. The PRODUCTION? the value of a bull, his breeding, con- extra bulls are not a cost with bull sistency of offspring, or, what we pay turnover, while they appreciate, or Taught by Anibal Pordomingo and Anton Kotar for him? Better yet, can bulls make hold their value for sale, swapping, money, and not cost money? or lease. A “good bull” is developed September 10-11, 2019 ■ Kansas City, Missouri Bulls are required, they are beau- in the environment and management tiful, and they can be a pain in the in which he is expected to work. It In this exclusive Stockman Grass Farmer fanny. As large animals they consume might be all forage, it might be a school you’ll get an insider’s answer. more forage, nearly twice as much feedlot, or a farm feeding six months Argentine researcher/livestock producer Anibal as a moderate sized cow. That forage per year. More on this subject, later. Pordomingo, and restauranteur/livestock owner could be used for females who will Here, the bulls are alone with Anton Kotar, will take you beyond harvest to calve. They need a separate pasture their group for 60 days. Then we learn from the carcass itself. for a portion of the year. Some are combine groups leaving one bull in. dangerous. This insures a fertile bull with every In the classroom, Anibal Pordomingo will explain They consume time and money. A group. We track the dates, and DNA factors in the field that affect a beef’s grass- bull here, escaped through the fence, any late calves as our herd is regis- finished quality, grade and carcass yield. He will was gone for eight months, and sud- tered. A commercial herd can skip detail strategies for setting up proper growth and denly reappeared. He had been in a the DNA. performance of animals. forest enjoying the spring and sum- A late calf is better than no calf. mer months. The cost was the time We cannot sell a calf that was never Anton Kotar will take you to the chill and aging and gas looking for him, plus forage, born. By leaving a bull in months rooms of his restaurant to point out aspects and not breeding. beyond the 60 days, nearly every- of the carcass that reveal how the animal was thing is settled. The cow with a late raised, whether it was stressed or not, various attributes of fat, and more. COWS PER BULL calf Most place too few cows with a is culled after weaning her late calf This school will take you from the carcass to the consumer. bull. A good yearling bull can settle the following year. In the grass-fin- ■ Learn about profile factors affecting growth for quality beef. 40 cows, a two-year-old can settle 50 ished business, there is a benefit to ■ Learn how to make production consistent. a longer calving season in order to ■ Hear how to design a program for pasture sequences that result in top quality spread available supply. We do not preg check. This is finishing. work, costs money, stresses the cat- ■ What to look for on a carcass. Join the 9,000+ ranchers tle, and stresses people. With low ■ See the fabrication of the carcass into various cuts. on PastureMap. cow costs, in our case $293 per year, ■ Discover a diversity of markets tailored to your customers that will maximize it costs more to preg check than your profits from the entire animal. carrying a few open cows through winter. These cows will be great, well This two-day, limited attendance school will be located in Anton’s Taproom on marbled, grass-finished beef, the fol- Main Street in Kansas City, Missouri, September 10-11, 2019. Lunch and lodging lowing year. are not included. GRAZING MANAGEMENT Hang out with fellow participants during an Optional Grassfed Beef Dinner the An animal moving from a farm that feeds six months, will fail when evening of September 10. Details of the dinner and a list of area hotels will be moving to a ranch grazing year included with your confirmation letter. The cost of SGF’s Nose-toTail Marketing round. A group moving from rotation- & Production School is $1000, however you can secure your place with a non- al grazing to mob grazing will have refundable deposit of $100. Call SGF today 1-800-748-9808, register at our website “PastureMap mediocre success. Cattle moving www.stockmangrassfarmer.com or mail in a check with the coupon below. is indispensable.” from mob grazing to rotational graz- -Brian Alexander, Alexander Ranch ing will thrive. Cattle moving from SGF'S NOSE-TO-TAIL SCHOOL a ranch or mob grazing, to a farm feeding six months will thrive, as the Plan your grazing season September 10-11, 2019 ■ Kansas City, Missouri environment is easier. Cattle adapted with confidence. to their environment and particular RESERVE your place TODAY by calling 800-748-9808 or send in this coupon. Keep your team on the management perform better; each same page. generation improves the herd adap- Name ______tation and performance. Address ______Tie grazing practices to Generations matter. Most of the herd performance. City ______State (Province)______large volume sellers of bulls use Zip Code______Phone ______Improve pasture health cooperator herds. The good news is over time with photos that bulls within a large peer group Cost $1,000 / $100 deposit in the field. can be evaluated and measured SGF • P.O. BOX 2300 • RIDGELAND MS 39158-2300 • 1-800-748-9808 against one another with a pre- www.pasturemap.com defined set of criteria. There is bad M a y , 2 0 1 9 11 The bulls come from various envi- than geography. There is a saying tation is slightly shorter. This can begins with the bull. The future cow ronments. Cooperators for most of that you do not move cattle South be overdone. Calves too small are herd is produced by today’s bulls. the top 100 bull marketers turn over or East. I disagree. I propose you do more fragile. Calves need milk, but at a rate of about 20% per year, not move cattle from one manage- not much. Good disposition bulls are BULLS CAN PRODUCE INCOME consequently the ability to stack ment model to another, unless that required, but never fully trust a bull; AND ADD VALUE generations averages about five model is equal or easier, i.e. , mob they are not pets. The herds east of the Mississippi years. That is not long enough. And, grazing to rotational grazing works, As a side issue, we have not average 18 head. It is difficult to most cooperators will have the same rotational grazing to a farm works. weaned heifer calves in several justify a top bull at 5k to 15k for cow herd they started with, with the The opposite direction is much years; the mothers wean them. It that low number of cows, or is it? addition of new bulls. This is absent harder. Dr. Allen Williams produced produces better replacements, with Consider these factors: Buy a top prepotency, the bull may look great, a fabulous article on this subject less stress and work for cattle and bull, and expense him that year. but his offspring may be all over the in The Stockman Grass Farmer people. This year, we have done the Effectively, his cost is the price paid, spectrum. (February 2019). For anyone who same with the potential bull calves. less your upper tax bracket. Cattle For example, our heifer calves doubts epigenetics, consider a crack All of the above is opposite of are expensed when bought, and will average 60-65 pounds, bull baby, programmed for a life of drugs the industry, which works toward income when sold. calves 65 to 72 pounds. A customer in the womb, and is addicted when a production per head model. We We put bulls in August 1, which bought a bull and it produced a cou- born. work toward production per acre. produces May/June calves; most cat- ple calves over 100 pounds. This is Stocking rate and low input man- tlemen calve earlier and some later. lack of prepotency, however, the cow THE BULL MODEL agement have the largest influence Consider leasing bulls for 60 days, provides half the genetics and the We have five plus generations of on profitability more than any other $750 per month for two months; cow genetics are unknown in this breeding the chosen size, type, and factors. have them vet checked upon return commercial herd. numbers, on the bull side and the We can run 120, eleven-hun- and they go right back to work on A negative example: a top 10 sell- female side. Choose the bull from a dred-pound cows, in place of 100 your herd. That is $1500 in lease er of bulls in the USA sells them as large peer group, 100+. fourteen hundred-pound cows. The revenue, times five years. This pays range cattle, meanwhile, the bulls We aim for cattle with the follow- smaller and younger cattle will pro- for top bulls. Better yet, lease them are developed in a feedlot. Fifty ing traits as measured with EPDs: duce calves roughly 30 lbs. lighter, again to a fall calving herd. The bet- percent of their feet need trimming Easy calving; we look for a CED however, there are 120 calves vs. ter the bull, the easier it is to lease, prior to auction. The bulls are beau- (Calving ease Direct) above 8, or 100 from the larger cattle. Younger swap, and later sell, while enjoying tiful, but they will fall apart when BW close to zero. Milk EPD around cattle will consume less forage, genetic improvement in your own they go to work after that type of 15 or below. Weaning weight EPD gain and calve, and appreciate. The herd. Sell the bull if possible into an feedlot development and moved to around the 40s. $EN EPD (efficien- pounds of production per acre is easier management model for his ranch conditions. Consequently, they cy) above +20, higher is better. 20% more with the smaller, more latter years, and he should do fine, service fewer cows and last fewer Lower milk, combined with mod- efficient cattle, with no depreciation. Bulls can make money. years. Some are all forage, how- erate growth lowers the year round Remember, land is the largest Bulls drive the genetic influence ever, it is high quality alfalfa, soy maintenance requirements of the expense. If you bought the land, you in a herd. The bull in a lifetime will hull development, haylage, etc.. The cow. This in turn, permits easier paid for it and you know its cost. influence hundreds of calves. A bulls need to be developed in the fleshing, better marbling, easier If inherited, it must be measured great cow will influence 8-10, on way they will live in the future. Bull wintering, less problems, and high- against opportunity costs, i.e., what average. Everyone has known of a development methods and forage er stocking. Stocking rate has the could that money otherwise be pro- 20-year-old cow. Ten to 12 years is content matters. highest influence on profit than any ducing. the norm. Bulls are key. A top breeding program in the other trait. Moderate size, milk, More moderate cattle will have Consider swapping bulls. Imagine world is Pinebank, in New Zealand. growth permit higher stocking. higher calving percentages and buying a bull, a top bull, a friend Gavon Falloon designed the program Calving ease insures easy calving. wean a higher percent of their body does the same, and assuming you with a geneticist 68 years ago. In They are smaller because their ges- weight with fewer problems. It all short, they keep their best young Continued on p. 12 bulls, use them one year, sell them with an option to buy them back, subject to the performance of their calves. Because they are stacking the generations with fast bull turn- over, each generation is better than the last. Because every bull is sold every year, the bulls are not a cost, they make money. There is one catch, they have an 800 cow herd, and consequently 400 bulls to choose from. This is a large peer group. The best of 400 bulls will be better than the best of 10 bulls. Large peer groups measured against one another matters. I am a believer in epigenetics, that is, the concept that a calf in the womb is genetically programmed for their future life relative to the mother’s life. Moving them to differ- ent areas of North America matters more from a management model 12 T HE S TOCKMAN G RASSFARMER no worming, no supplements. We never been open or late. He needs make a judgment. Choosing young Bull Selection are slightly north of I-70. If they had good structure, thick and shorter is bulls is like choosing a son in law Continued from p. 11 supplements, feed, worming, meds., better in the grass-finished world, when they are in fifth grade; it’s we would lose the ability to judge and a good disposition is 50%. tough and inaccurate. how they perform, stay in flesh, how Calving ease, moderate growth, We have changed our bull mar- keep heifers back, exchange bulls they winter, and watch injuries. The lower milk, high efficiency measures keting. Bulls are $2500, period, and after two years, effectively cutting cattle have been here since cre- is 50%. A poor bull with good num- available year round. This idea could in half bull costs. Add a third friend, ation. The crutches were developed bers is out. A beautiful bull with bad change the industry. Why work to and cut costs in three. You may buy over the past 100 years. If someone numbers is out. Their appearance be low input and efficient in every one top bull every 6 or 7+ years, wants a beautiful herd, it is simple, and numbers matter. aspect of the business, with the enjoying income and genetic perfor- feed them all they can eat. If some- Keep it simple. We were with exception of bull costs? mance along the way. one wants a functional herd, then Gavon Falloon of Pinebank New As an aside, do not restrict your cattle need to be measured against Zealand, and he said every 10 years purchases to local breeders. It is BULL TURNOVER their peers under real conditions. they would have a game changing easy to move single animals around Sell mature bulls while they are bull from a cow herd of 800, four the country when combined with productive and have value, in our SELECTING A BULL hundred bulls per year. That is, one other loads. Going from Ohio to case it is four to five years old. If I am no fan of AI. It is a bunch of game changing bull, of 4000 bulls Kansas might cost $300. they winter hard, get rid of them work and bulls are still required to over 10 years. The idea that most If we can raise a replacement the following year while they are on clean up. It reminds me of a dating of us will be able to find and iden- heifer, breed her to a top bull, and their feet. Dead bulls are hard to service: there are pretty pictures, tify that one, young, amazing bull she has a 2k+ value after bred. Why sell. but nothing is known beyond the in 4000 is remote. Look for a good are bulls double or more? Their cost The idea of buying a two-year-old pictures: How many cows were ser- bull, as that is likely the best you of development is roughly similar. bull, using him one year, and selling viced the past year? How did he stay will find. Keep the costs down. The answer rests in the hype and him for the same money as a three- in flesh? How did he winter? Any The closer to maturity the better promotion of the bull industry, at the year-old, eliminates bull costs and injuries? We want to own the bulls when selecting a bull. My preferenc- rancher’s expense. ■ wintering. Buy another bull the next and see them work. We have two es are two-year-old, forage devel- year. three-quarter brothers, one is pig oped bulls. We do not band bulls James Coffelt’s Ohio Land A good, forage developed bull fat, the other looks like he just got until weaning, with the idea that it and Cattle Company is in Cadiz, should last 7+ years. Some bulls out of a concentration camp. Winter is too difficult to judge them at an Ohio. He can be reached at last 10+ years. Some humans live to is a tool to judge cattle. earlier age. We will band the obvi- OhioLandandCattle.com or over 100; the norm is however 81. Bulls need to look good, have a ous culls, and if there is a question, [email protected] Plan on the norms. nice head, be early maturing, come leave them intact. A two-year-old Our herd bulls receive no meds, from a moderate mother who has bull is close enough to maturity to

meat, we need to check for min- Flavor, Off imum fatness, exsanguination at Continued from p. 3 harvest, cleanness at processing, carcass integrity or vacuum pack to air for several hours, light red quality, temperature, moisture and will tend to dark red and metallic air flow in the cooler or chamber. and sulfur taste develops. In the We may want to age for shorter presence of oxygen, protein decay periods until we detect the origin of accelerates, and sulfur oxides are the problem. A short aging should released from sulfur containing ami- not develop off-flavors. If that hap- no-acids resulting in a rotten food pens, then the issue may be in the smell. pasture. And pasture-originated fla- Handling of sub-primals from the vors need 60 to 90 days of different carcass could also be another area pastures to remove. Most flavoring of concern. Temperature and han- feeds or forages need to be removed dling of large cuts at a butcher place from the diet at least 60 days prior has been found to greatly affect to harvest. ■ flavors. Keeping new fresh cuts with older cuts and cuts from other Dr. Anibal Pordomingo is both a animal species would not be recom- grassfed researcher, renown world- mended. Meat and fat rapidly absorb wide educator and private grass odors and volatile compounds. finisher in the Argentine Pampas. He Off-flavors could arise also from has spent a lifetime perfecting pro- frozen meat that is thawed and duction systems that allow healthful remains long periods on display. grassfed beef to compete quality-wise Freezing could happen partially in with grainfed beef under harsh cli- a chilling/aging cooler on carcass- matic conditions. He will present a es too close to the air blower. We Stockman Grass Farmer Nose-to- may not realize that a carcass froze Tail Marketing & Production School during chilling. Excessive drip loss, with Anton Kotar in Kansas City in dryness and color change (dark red) September. See page 10 for details would be a hint. and to sign up. If we have the issue of off-flavor M a y , 2 0 1 9 13 Pollan, was to use our recent $3000 it to the local county conservation tax-refund to buy some heifers, set organization, which plans to make Develop your Grazing Skills… them up on daily moves with rotation- it a natural prairie. Without grazing al grazing, find a bull to breed them animals, of course, but a whole lot of that summer, and raise the calves burning. Aren’t humans putting too until they were ready to butcher. much carbon into the atmosphere From the Grass UP! I also needed (wanted, anyway) already? I know, the methane in cows to buy a tractor, sickle-bar mower, will destroy the planet quicker, but side-delivery rake, and small-square we have all read conflicting articles baler to make hay for winter feed. about methane from cows. I didn’t explicitly explain that to my You may be wondering how I wife, figuring it would be too much ended up with a 23-cow herd on 18 information for the Brooklyn, New acres of pasture. Even in Central York, native. Nor did I explain that it Iowa - God’s country, with rich soil would take time and money for mate- and timely rains - it would take more rials to set up rotational grazing. than 18 acres of pasture for 23 cow/ I imagined I could start recouping calf pairs. The 18 acres I originally my costs by selling grassfed beef in rented were part of a 50-acre tract 2012 when the steers from the first that my landlady owned. I asked if I crop of calves would be ready for the could use more of the 50 acres, but butcher. I got one positive response she said it wasn’t fenced in. from a PFI member and that was all I Well. In the mid-1980s I worked needed. on a ranch in South Dakota in the I bought five 600-pound heifers summer when I was in college. We Lessons Learned from a Small Farm at the sale barn May 5, 2009. I lost would fence 50 acres and wonder the lease to the pasture in 2018, what we were going to do after lunch so on May 5, 2018, I took my herd, (pardon the slight exaggeration). My By Ray Bratsch-Prince knowledge sharing between farm- which had grown to seven cow-calf landlady said she had the supplies ers, in the spring of 2009. I had the pairs, 16 bred cows, and one yearling I needed to finish fencing her land, AMES, Iowa: Fortune or folly? chance to rent 18 acres of pasture calf, to the sale barn. My landlady as she had purchased them with the That was the question I e-mailed for $1000 per year. My idea, sparked sold (mostly for tax purposes) the land. to the Practical Farmers of Iowa by reading about Joel Salatin’s rota- pasture to the Iowa Natural Heritage (PFI), a non-profit organization ded- tional grazing as explained in the Foundation. They have since sold icated to farmer-led research and book Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Continued on p. 14 Truax Has Raised the Bar! “On the Go” Grass and Grain Drills Go from planting no-till to conventional seed beds hydraulically—without stopping! 14 HE TOCKMAN RASSFARMER THE STOCKMAN T S G ality changed. I have become more Gras Farmer Grass Up patient. My three children may or S may not agree with me on that. You Continued from p. 13 GRAZIER'S MULTI-SPECIES could ask them, but they no lon- ger live with us. Even though they GRAZING SCHOOL I imagined she had a dozen rusty ranged from 5th grade to 9th grade steel fence posts and half a roll of and we were very involved in their barbed wire. What I found when she daily lives when I started raising Sheep! Goats! Pigs! Cattle! took me to where the supplies were cattle, they are in college and grad- stored was a treasure-trove of fenc- Mix them up for maximum PROFITS! school now and we get the occasion- ing materials: a dozen large wooden al text from them. Taught by GREG JUDY posts for corner posts, 30 smaller And I met so many great people wooden posts that could be used Sept. 25-26, 2019 ■ Albany, New York along the way. They wouldn’t remem- as brace posts and H-brace cross ber me, but I met Joel Salatin, Greg posts, seven new rolls of barbed- Judy, Gearld Fry, Will Winter, Doug ■ Give your customers more product options. Load your wagon to become their one-stop wire, and 250 new steel posts. shop for grassfed products. Gunnick, Gabe Brown, and Jim Van Over the next couple of years, I Der Pol, thanks to my member- ■ Work with Nature to beautify your landscape while sanitizing pastures and building soil. fenced in her 50 acres (10 of her ship in the Practical Farmers of ■ Increase your bottom line. Switch focus when one market is high and another low. acres were in the Conservation Iowa. (Bradley Cooper, in addition ■ Select and develop adaptable low-maintenance, easy-keeping seedstock for multi- Reserve Program (CRP), so I to starring in my wife’s favorite couldn’t fence them in until her species operations. dreams, told me not to name drop. contract was over). I was offered ■ Create low cost water systems, fencing and low-maintenance handling facilities. Sorry Brad.) I met so many gener- another 15 acres of pasture connect- ous local people who gave me the ■ Select and train the proper guardian animal to fit your farm needs. ed to her pasture, if I fenced it in, grass from their waterways to bale, ■ Put it all together using multiple grazing methods - leader-follower, one mob, strip which I did. The 65 acres in central tin to build a hay shed, used fence grazing, rest periods and graze-to-trample ratios. Iowa were ideal once-daily-moves posts and wire to build interior grazing land, as the good-flowing fences, along with people who sold “Few folks involved in holistic planned grazing or grass-finished beef West Indian Creek bisected the pas- me my inexpensive tractor, mower, ture and provided a year-round water would argue with the statement that Greg Judy is a leader rake and baler. I met a great local source. butcher, and a few loyal customers in the field of sustainable ranching.” — Ann Adams, HMI I fenced the cattle out of the creek for my grassfed beef. And, oh yes, in all but the coldest months of the tire-repair people, farm store and Come to one or both schools! year. A previous renter had installed hardware store proprietors, and a creek crossing using concrete rip- parts people at the local machinery GRAZIER’S SILVOPASTURE SCHOOL rap, and the rapidly flowing water dealerships. I didn’t make any of over that kept an open spot for them rich, but they did get some of ■ ■ Taught by GREG JUDY Sept. 27, 2019 Albany, New York the cattle to drink in the coldest of my money. weather. Silvopasture can help you productively, and profitably utilize every area of your farm or What should have I done differ- So was the venture fortune ranch. Why wait 15 to 30 years to harvest timber when adding livestock can give you ently in order to make money? Many or folly? No and no. Despite the profits every year? of you probably have spotted a red- $23,000 check I got when I sold the flag already. If some of the cows had In this one-day school learn animals, once I took out the expens- started calving, many more of them es it cost me $7 a day to have the ■ ■ should have calved. Because I had How to get started; How to select and manage livestock in cattle. Not bad, until you consider I ■ How to select trees for silvopasture; timber stands; so few cows in the first few years, I did it for 3,288 days. I imagine the left a bull in with them year-round, ■ How grazing livestock among trees ■ How to set up infrastructure; average pet-owner, if they added offers multiple benefits; which had lengthened my calving everything in, spends $7 a day on season. But I hadn’t done that the Tuition is $800 for the Multi-species School and $400 for the Silvopasture School but we their pet. My pets just happened to last couple of years. can hold your place today with a non-refundable deposit of $100 per school. This does not be edible, as my wife used to say. I rented a bull starting July 1st of include lodging or meals. $100 discount if attending both schools! I learned so much by raising 2017, as I had a pretty good idea I cattle, and I even think my person- Call 800-748-9808 today! Or register at www.stockmangrassfarmer.com or send a check.

SGF GRAZING SCHOOLS FEATURING GREG JUDY — Albany, New York —

RESERVE your place TODAY by calling 800-748-9808 or send in this coupon.

Check which school you want to attend or come to both: ❒ Grazier's Multi-Species Grazing School / Sept. 25-26, 2019 ❒ Grazier's Silvopasture School / Sept. 27, 2019

Name ______Address ______City ______State (Province)______Zip Code______Phone ______$100 deposit per person per school

SGF • P.O. BOX 2300 • RIDGELAND MS 39158-2300 • 1-800-748-9808 M AY , 2 0 1 9 15 Charolais in their background, but I could have saved money the first they should be black when they go few years by not rotating the few to the sale barn, as one of the three head I had every day. I could have packers who are represented there given them enough space and water will only bid on black-hided cattle. To be honest, I was most inter- Continued on p. 18 ested in improving the soil through rotationally grazing cattle than mak- ing money. I had a flexible schedule as a stay-at-home Dad (didn’t I say GREENER PASTURES my kids are in college?) and self-em- ployed carpenter, and my wife has a RANCHING LTD. job that pays her well. So I had time and money to see if rotationally graz- *Year-Round Grazing Systems* ing cattle can improve soil health, A Business Management School trap carbon in the soil, save the plan- Topics include: et, etc. • Human Resources A lesson learned: Put a value on your time and charge your landlords for the fencing work you do. It seemed that I was able to • Economics and Finance have more of an impact on the soils • Pasture Calculations through winter bale feeding than Anyone who has tried direct-mar- • Grazing Management would be losing my lease and would through summer rotational grazing. keting knows that marketing must • Pasture Rejuvenation have to calve in April of 2018. In I didn’t know it initially, but I didn’t become job one. I sold a couple of • Weed Control 2017 most of my cows had calved need to spend a lot of time and quarters on Craigslist early on, but • Cell Designs/Water Systems in May, so moving up a month didn’t money making old small square bal- after that it didn’t work for me. • Swath Grazing/Bale Grazing seem like too big a deal. By the first ers work and stacking the bales in I put an ad in the local paper, at of August of 2017, though, I was a the barn, nor building a barn (albeit Greener Pastures Walk a cost of $80, and that generated little suspect that the bull wasn’t with only $1800 of purchased mate- just one steady customer. I had some July 6•BusBy, AB doing his job. It wasn’t until a nice rials for a 36 by 50-foot building). success selling quarters and eighths cool mid-August morning when I could have bought net-wrapped of grassfed beef to friends and family, Year round GrazinG sYstems three cows were all over him and he round bales, which store well outside but I really should have worked hard- couldn’t do anything about it that I in Central Iowa, for hay, or hired my Nov 20-22•Westlock, AB knew he was done. er at marketing to a wider audience. I baling done. In central Iowa, anyway, Ask us about hosting a school in your area! enjoyed working with the cows better Fortunately the fellow I was rent- farmers will custom bale cheaply and spent as much time with them Steve Kenyon ing the bull from had another one from $12 to $15 a bale. The last cou- as I could. I couldn’t part with any of available, but by then having 23 cow- ple of years I used an old Vermeer (780)307-6500 my heifers, so instead of selling them [email protected] calf pairs to sell in May of 2018 was 605D round baler, free from a fellow or finishing them as grassfed beef I out of the question. At the sale my on Craigslist, behind my Case 800 added them to my herd. Check out our Facebook page pairs brought $500 more than the tractor. That wasn’t a time or money With more brood cows and calves, Greener Pastures Ranching bred cows. I know, I shouldn’t have saver, but my quality of life depends I didn’t have enough pasture to finish made excuses for cows that were on doing fun things like that occa- for details on animals, so I sold yearling calves, calving late all along, but I was trying sionally. upcoming schools to build my cow herd without spend- some direct and some at the sale ing any money to buy cows to do so. barn, instead of finished animals. I A better approach may have been to sold many of them during the days of sell late-calving cows and buy cows high calf prices, so low prices aren’t more in sync with my calving date. the reason I didn’t make any money. Perhaps you spotted another red My calves sold for good prices, too, flag from all the fencing I did without as they were black or black baldy. In being compensated. Put a value on Central Iowa at least, black animals your time and charge your landlords sell for more money. The calves or for the fencing work you do. finished cattle can have Hereford or

Cattle Genetics for Dummies (We've made the mistakes so you don't have to...) Ichthys seedstock development recipe: Mix appropriate amounts of grazing forage, water and salt/mineral and let the cattle develop naturally. Seedstock don't have to be fed hay or any other supplement. www.icecattle.com [email protected] 402-984-6375 16 T h e S t o ckman G rs a s f a r m e r July is highly risky. If your sod is The Grass Farmer Network dense, that will also create too much competition for the seedlings. COOL, WARM, HOT SEASON ever spent time in southeast Texas in within the past month. I have a Pasture cropping is done on the GRASSES August and felt the difference as we question about the forage chain in shoulders of the season spring and Dear SGF: transition into October, you’ll under- Michigan. fall when you know you’ll have mois- I was “wowed” by my SGF March stand what I’m saying. I eat the same I would like to add a cool-season ture. Also, it takes two grazings, issue. Easily your best effort this diet year round, but gain my weight annual for the fall grazing season, fairly close together, to temporarily year with so much interesting and back once we hit fall and winter. Do but I do not have an area accessible weaken the sod enough to get the food for thought writing. you think the cattle are any different? with a plow. I’d like to broadcast the annual up. Most planting is done I can comment on Gerrish’s Keep up the good work, SGF. Allan annual into my perennial pasture, with a no-till drill. assigned topic of the quality of would be proud. one paddock ahead of the cattle for warm- vs cool-season grasses. We Glen Boudreaux about 20 days in July. WHY KIDS LOSE INTEREST IN run strictly native grasses with 15 Brenham, Texas My question is, will that work? FARMING versions identified to date during our What annual would be best to start Dear SGF: warm season (make that “hot season THE ONE THING being productive in October and As a young farmer with two chil- grasses” since we graze in southeast The timing for Joel Salatin’s book last through January? I was thinking dren, a three-year-old and a two- Texas). In the fall, we broadcast oats review of The ONE Thing was perfect. oats or annual ryegrass. It would be year-old, my thoughts often are as and rye. We don’t test for anything, My vision for our farm is so disparate broadcast over an existing pasture how to keep their interest on the be that crude protein, brix or others. from where we are now that I real- that is currently fescue, brome, and farm. They love feeding, playing and Our beeves provide our test results. ized I’ve been paralyzed for years, red clover. petting baby animals. Outdoors is Are the Momma cows staying con- especially on the author’s point about Please let me know what you think. everything! sistent from gestation to lactation? thinking big. THANK YOU for sharing Thanks. I was a born farmer and animal Are their calves thriving on momma’s so much pertinent, useful and broad Nick Frechen lover, which Dad encouraged and milk? That’s our test for the health of spectrum information. Fowler, Michigan supported. He never complained our soil and nutritional value of our Jon Bakehouse about duck poop in the feed alley, grasses. Hastings, Iowa Planting seeds is substantially rabbit cages in every corner of the That being said, I should add that different than growing annuals. To barn, bantam chickens under foot we do see somewhat better gains on ANNUALS IN MICHIGAN germinate, seeds must be moist and and in the flower bed. The milk our winter pasture. My guess is that Dear SGF: to take root, they must have good inspector complained more about it has less to do with the quality of I’m a recent subscriber to seed-to-soil contact. What you want our fowl than our parents did and the forage and more to do with the Stockman Grass Farmer and I’ve to plant is fine, but assuming the we hated that guy. Dad never com- less stressful environment. If you’ve finished the book Grassfed to Finish cows will tread it in on a hot, dry plained about wasted time when I tended any truck patch of rhubarb, blackberries, popcorn and kale, rath- th er helped and encouraged me. 11 Annual South Poll Field Day & Cattle Auction I had to shake my head when the other day a neighbor was complain- ing about his boys and a bantam hen they got. He always said, “Yea, I was Natural Fish never impressed with these birds Fertilizers and now they hatch chicks. It’s just too much, the whole she-bang’s gotta for go.” Talk about nipping entrepre- Organic & Sustainable neurism in the bud. Crop Production The home farm was a diversified farm, green grass, corn, tobacco, col- June 21 & 22, 2019 Speakers ored cows, as Dad liked crossbreds, Mountain Glen Farm Joel Salatin and Tamworth sows, broilers, tur- Extremely keys, horses and raised colts, plus us Glenn & Becky Szarzynski Daniel Salatin high levels of available boys’ ducks, geese, bantams, rabbits & 372 Jonestown Raod and guinea pigs. We never trimmed Fairfield, VA 24435 Pasture Walk Calcium every tree and bush, so we picked with Greg Judy Phosphorus a lot of blackberries, wine berries, mulberries, which was always rewarded with praise by Mom. Friday 5 p.m. - 8 p.m. Social and viewing of cattle Once after coming home after Saturday 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. PASTURE ROW CROPS PRODUCE visiting my Dad’s friends, I told Dad, $50 per person “They have a boring farm, just mules and black and white cows, no creek $85 per person after June 10 and no woods. Children under 16 free admission As duties on the farm keep us stepping, let us not forget the most important crop, “The field of baby Register online farmers.” 920.684.0227 Henry Esch www.southpoll.com DRAMM® Manitowoc, WI • U.S.A. Fax: 920.684.4499 New Providence, Pennsylvania 256-996-3142 www.FishFertilizer.com ORDER 800.258.0848 M AY , 2 0 1 9 17 GOATS AND COWS so my cattle rarely drink pond water. years to get rid of the bigger trees. goats. They will make an impact on Dear SGF: Bought a new place and I dig a water Fire is very effective on plants three particularly the younger trees, but Hi, I wonder if you folks at SGF well and run water lines all over the years or younger. If you get the field it takes a lot of goats to clean up a know, or if any of your readers know, place. Cool. Then during dry spell the cleaned up, prescribed burns are large acreage. if you were to run a single goat with water well starts staggering. Uh-oh. recommended every three to four Shredding is not effective for a herd of cows for brush control, Now, what? years. huisache as it profusely sprouts would the goat stay in a single strand Am I negating the health benefits Visiting one client in south Texas in response to top damage. The fence with the cows because of herd of clean water by pumping pond when he asked what he should do instinct, or would it be prone to wan- water to cattle? Even though no ani- about it, I told him to get 10,000 Continued on p. 18 dering off and causing trouble? mals have access to the pond? Are Hilary Elmer there “cleaner” ways of using pond Lowell, Vermont water? County water runs $8/1000 gallons and cows need 500 gallons Great Judy replied: When you run per day so that’s an unpalatable a single goat with your cows, he is option. What do you reckon? Thanks, going to stay close to the herd for guys. Gear Up for Spring company. With one hot wire he might Luke D. Jessup stray a little ways off to eat some Kiowa County, Oklahoma succulent brush if there is not any Fencing with this available in the cow paddock. Goats Pond water quality varies widely. like company and he will stay close If you have healthy biology (frogs, to the herd once the herd accepts cattails, fish) you can assume the Special Offer him. On the first couple days you water is acceptable. If the pond is expose the goat to the cows, there sterile, stinky, or stagnant, it won’t will be a transition period where be as good. the cows may butt the goat around. Once they get used to the goat and HUISACHE TREES realize that he is not a predator, they Dear SGF: will not pay any attention to him. We have a ranch in Durango, If you have lots of predators in the Mexico. A semi-arid climate and area that are following your herd, the would like to receive your input on goat may not survive long. It is pret- killing and removing huisache trees/ ty tough for a goat to resist tender brush. As apparently it is an invasive leaves on a bush that is just across a species that limits forage production. single wire hot fence. There is an extreme abundance of them on our land. I don’t know if we OFF FLAVORS IN MEAT should attempt to get rid of the hui- Dear SGF: sache trees to improve our forage. LIMITED My question to Anibal Pordomingo And if we ought to remove them, any is about the “off flavor” or “gamey tips on how to. Thank you, TIME taste” sometimes described with Leonardo Carrasco grassfed beef. Mark Bader states Durango, Mexico OFFER that it is due to ammonia build-up in SPRING OFFER the meat. He states that this occurs Jim Gerrish replied: Huisache when the cow eats an unbalanced is a native shrub common through Purchase a qualifying Gallagher 110 volt, Plug-In forage that has too much protein southern Texas and northern Mexico. compared to energy. The cow then It has become an invasive problem in Energizer and a Gallagher Volt Meter (G50314) to uses the protein as an energy source. response to chronic severe grazing get a FREE Live Fence Indicator (G51100) & In so doing, the protein is deami- throughout that region. Once estab- Gallagher ball cap after mail-in rebate. nated and the nitrogen goes into the lished it is hard to get rid of, but bloodstream as ammonia where it there are some methods that have Terms and Conditions apply. Offer valid on purchases made between is taken up in the meat. I wanted been successful. April 1 - June 30, 2019. Full Terms and Conditions and rebate form Anibal’s opinion as to whether this is Let’s start with the one most SGF can be found at www.GallagherOffers.com. correct. Thank you. readers probably aren’t interested Jim Linne in but has been successful. That Cincinnati, Ohio is herbicide treatment. Because of stratified canopy with shrubs of Whether you need a portable, short-term fence for Dr. Anibal Pordoming answered different ages, it might take three to rotational grazing or a larger scale more permanent this issue in an article on the front five sprayings to get 90+% control. electric fence, our Fence Selection Tool can help cover. That means the process might take you find the right system and configuration for your from $30 to $150+. Herbicides are needs. POND WATER probably the fastest way to get rid of Dear SGF: huisache but you must be willing to Started the whole managed graz- accept the collateral damage to the ing deal in 1992 and subscribing to plant community and soil. www.PlanMyFence.com SGF somewhere not long after that. I Fire will eventually kill even sincerely believe clean water serves mature huisache, but it might take as the foundation for animal health burning every other year for ten 18 T HE S TOCKMAN G RASSFARMER the cattle in the winter paying off fer- sells either flour or seed of long- Grass Up tilitywise. Grass Farmer Network stemmed wheat varieties, and/or a place to start my reading on the Continued from p. 15 But without cattle on the land the Continued from p. 17 fertility may not be there long. Even topic? with good burning events, I think the I would love to see an article so that I wouldn’t have had to spend combination of shredding and then county is going to end up with a weak in SGF on Walter Jeffries’ Sugar the time and money on the 20-mile having 10,000 goats to work on the stand of brome grass, along with a Mountain Farm in West Topsham, round-trip each day, perhaps going regrowth might get the job done, but lot of mulberry, Eastern red cedar, Vermont. He raises pigs and built his every other or every third day. it would take several years. and locust trees trying to take over. own State/USDA inspected butcher Also in the first few years I could Alejandro Carillo of the Las But I am not bitter. Perhaps it is shop. have taken more soil tests and Damas Ranch in Chihuahua was providential that I lost the lease on Thank you so much for continuing bought fertilizer to balance the soils able to almost completely eradicate the pasture. When I started my Dad to offer fantastic how-to and profile and grow more grass. But it seemed mesquite from his ranch by changing was the picture of good health, but articles year-yound. that I had enough grass, and every- grazing management to improve the his health has deteriorated, and I Kaitlin Weisman thing I read told me rotational graz- water cycle in the surface four to six was able to spend time with him at Hayden, Idaho ing would take care of soil fertility. feet soil profile. Mesquite lives on the end of last fall. In the end it did. Just for old-time deep soil water and will not persist This week I found a lead on anoth- ADDING VEGETABLES sake in September of 2018, after my if water is retained near the surface. er pasture which I can fence in this Dear SGF: cattle had been off the land for four I do not know if huisache would year and start using in 2020. I told First off, thanks for a great mag- months, I visited the pasture. I could respond in the same manner as mes- my wife and she said, “Noooooooo. azine. During a message about mar- hardly walk through it, as the grasses quite. Can’t you do something other than riage relationships, the pastor told and forbes-of-unusual-sizes were raise cattle?” us husbands to put down the news- thick and ensnarling, on account of Really? Is there anything more TRANQUILITY paper when our wife needs to talk. the 11 inches of rain we had had in Dear SGF: challenging, heartbreaking, eye-open- My wife leaned over and whispered, June and, finally, years of rotationally Many people recognize and appre- ing and rewarding, in a word, FUN, “For you that means The Stockman grazing in the summers and feeding ciate the tranquility of the grazing than raising cattle? ■ Grass Farmer!” Hmm. side of agriculture. We have all heard I liked the article in a recent issue “Sell us an acre.” Recently we were about raising wheat on a grass farm. www.agri-dynamics.com • 1.877.393.4484 approached about being a half way My question is this: Is there any way house for recovering addicts. The to raise other food, such as vegeta- most recent, “I want to be buried bles, on a similar wavelength? Many here.” customers who would like to buy Frank Greenlee fresh meat would also want fresh Meeting the Needs of Growers Clarkrange, Tennessee vegetables and fruit.? SGF preach- with Nutrition and Performance es that constant tillage can easily Solutions for Soil, Crops and Plants. WHEAT GENETICS deplete the soil. Is there a practical Dear SGF: way to raise beans and potatoes, I was intrigued by Joel’s mention for instance, without yearly tillage? of long-stemmed varieties of grain Is this idea practical from a holistic and their impact on gluten and nutri- Formulated sustainable viewpoint? by Jerry tive value. I am borderline gluten Bradley and Heather Martin Brunetti Ask about our Full Line of intolerant, and would like to discover Alturas, California Free-Choice Livestock MiMineralsls if I have a different response with dif- for Herd and Equine Healtlth ferent wheat genetics. The principles of soil health Can you recommend anyone who are universal across climates and products. Ruth Stout introduced the world to deep mulching in vegeta- bles half a century ago with her No Mobile shade is an investment in your land and animals Work Garden book. Today, we have that permutation at many levels: permaculture Singing Frogs Farm in “The Shade Haven is so easy Petaluma, California; Jean-Martin to fold up, I can jump on the Fortier with his bed tarps in Quebec, 4-wheeler and be back in 10 Paul Gautschie with his Back to minutes!” Eden deep wood chips, and Eliot Ben Taylor, Bedford, VA Coleman with his compost covering. Keeping the soil covered is universal.

EDITOR’S NOTE: We would love to hear from you! Send us your questions and comments. Tell us what articles you would like to “If anyone wants to graze, they see more of. Email: sgfsample@ should have one of these.” aol.com or mail to; SGF, PO Box Matthew Gasser, Sterling, OH 2300, Ridgeland, MS 39157. Learn more at shadehaven.net 855-247-4233 M AY , 2 0 1 9 19 Evergreen or cedar thickets make laying yard down in the woods where good shaded areas to set the logs. If it is out of sight and mind, you will you don’t have either, select any wood- miss picking many mushrooms. When ed area that has a large canopy in the shiitake mushrooms get moisture and summer. the correct temperature, they don’t It is best to make your future shii- wait on anybody. take laying yard in an area that you Our first attempt was done on can easily check every couple days in 40 black oak logs that we had cut the growing season. If you put your Continued on p. 20

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Limited to 30 Dawn to dusk Comprehensive and on the farm: • livestock • forestry Log-grown mushrooms seemed like a perfect fit to offer with grass-finished meat. • water • fencing • marketing and more— Green Pastures Farm Adds UP CLOSE & PERSONAL 3 Choices: Shiitake Mushrooms - Part 1 July 22-23, By Greg Judy selection for growing mushrooms. The July 26-27, trees need to be green when you cut CLARK, Missouri: Several years the logs for mushrooms. You will not Aug. 2-3 ago we started implementing silvopas- grow shiitake mushrooms from a dead ture areas around our various farms. tree. The dead tree already has wild As a direct result from the various fungi living in it and your spawn will tree thinnings all of a sudden we had not have a chance to compete. The —Most Common Complaint tons of cull trees to deal with. Some of trees should be cut after the leaves the cull trees were cut into firewood fall off in the fall or before they put on and some were big enough to saw buds in the early spring. into lumber for building projects. We Once you cut your logs, let them Cost: $900 per person had mountains of firewood and we set for 7-14 days in the shade started brainstorming additional uses before inoculating them with spawn. Reservations: 512-892-4400 for all these cull trees that were being removed. We settled on growing shiitake mushrooms on logs. It just made good economic sense to grow food on cull Portable fences for poultry trees that normally would have been FREE Shipping! Contain and control the movement of chickens, ducks cut into firewood. Log-grown mush- On qualified orders. and other poultry with Premier’s easy-to-move electric rooms seemed like a perfect fit to fence. It’s ready to keep poultry in and their predators out. offer with grass-finished meat. After Our netting arrives at your door as a complete roll with the reading up on the processing meth- posts already built-in. Just unfold it. Set the posts by hand, od of inoculating logs with shiitake add step-in corner posts and electrify with an energizer. spawn, we jumped in. Rough terrain? No worries! “Plus” nets have added Most folks cut their logs three feet built-in posts to accommodate curves, corners and major long, which makes them easier to directional changes. handle. We decided to cut ours four Intended uses feet long because it was a better use Protection from raccoons, coyotes, foxes, dogs of our labor. For every log that we and other predators. handled, we got an extra foot of grow- Containing free-ranging layer flocks. ing material for mushrooms. If you are Fence orchards, compost piles and other areas going to handle a log, you might as for tillage and bird-friendly weed control. well get as many mushrooms grown For long or short grazing durations. per log as possible. Let me clarify something on log FREE Catalogs! Contact us or visit our website. 800-282-6631 • premier1supplies.com 20 T h e S t o ckman G rs a s f a r m e r bit into the log, wood chips fly every- the length of the log. When the first and breaking your back handling the Shiitake Mushrooms where. Preparing mushroom logs is row of holes is drilled, give the log a heavier logs. Continued from p. 19 a great group activity for your farm. quarter turn and repeat the process. The perfect size log for us is 4-6” Invite your friends out to help and let On larger logs you may get five to six diameter, which will weigh around 20 them know that when they leave, they rows of drilled holes; smaller logs nor- pounds. 95% of our mushroom logs from cull trees. We figured if nothing get a free inoculated mushroom log to mally yield four rows of drilled holes. actually come from the top limb sec- grew on the logs, we could always take home. The distances do not have to be exact. tions of the tree. These limb sections cut them up for firewood. We ordered A note on selecting which strain of We drilled all 40 logs first and then were previously targeted for firewood; a five pound bag of shiitake spawn shiitake spawn to use in your area: We got our applicator tool and started heck we are growing nutritious food from Field and Forest Products out of wanted a shiitake strain that would injecting spawn into the holes. At the on them now. Wisconsin. I also ordered their 12 mm fruit as many months of the growing same time as I filled the holes with The trunk of the tree can be cut drill bit with a built-in stop on it. This season as possible. We decided on spawn, my wife Jan was sealing the into firewood or milled into lumber, bit is incredibly efficient at drilling WR46 strain. It offers the fastest injected filled holes with hot wax. I because it is mostly heart wood. holes in green logs. The built-in stop spawn, heavy fruiting and quick log talked Jan into letting me use her When you cut your limb sections into prevents you from drilling the holes recovery to begin the next fruiting. You electric skillet to melt the block of logs, handle the logs gently. You want too deep. I used an angle grinder that may need to use some of your own wax, it worked great. I forgot to tell to keep as much bark on the log as had a 13,000 rpm rating and it made trials to see which strains fruit best Jan that she would probably never possible. Think of the bark as the skin quick work of drilling holes. Just a in your area. There are warm weather be able to use it again for cooking of the log. If the logs loses their skin plain drill will work for drilling holes, shiitake and cold weather shiitake. We though. I owe her a new electric skil- because you tossed them around care- but it is much slower. now have both which gives us produc- let! Other ways of melting wax would lessly, the log dries out excessively. I also ordered a hand applicator tion around nine months of the year. be to use a Coleman stove with an old The inoculated fungi in your log dies spawn tool that is used to inject the The next step, I made a set of cast iron skillet, or a wood fire for the due to lack of moisture. If the mois- mushroom spawn into the drilled rollers that we clamped onto a saw- heat source. ture percentage in a log drops below holes. I also ordered a pound of wax to horse. This set of rollers allowed us to One five-pound bag of sawdust 25%, the likelihood of the fungi dying seal the spawn-filled, drilled holes. If place the log on the rollers and turn spawn will inoculate between 30-40 increases dramatically. you don’t seal the hole after injecting it. With the turning motion of the log logs depending on how big your logs Once you get all the logs injected the spawn into it, the spawn dries out this greatly simplified the drilling and are. One of the mistakes that we made with spawn and sealed with wax, and your log will not produce. injecting spawn steps. The log is held early in this process (will be sharing a lay them down next to each other as Make sure that when you drill the in place and you have control over its few more mistakes later) was thinking tightly as possible in one stack by holes in the logs to use goggles to motion and position. that if a small diameter log would pro- rotating the direction of each log row. protect your eyes. When you stick the We drilled holes every six inches duce mushrooms, a bigger diameter This area should be in heavy shade log would produce many more mush- or if shade is not heavy due to winter rooms. We cut four-foot-long logs and conditions and no leaf cover, then inoculated some 10-12” diameter cover them with a shade cloth. white oak cull trees. The individu- This is the critical step that we al green large diameter logs were skipped when we inoculated our first extremely heavy and burdensome to 40 logs. I initially just laid them out work with. Some of those logs had in one long row directly on the ground 8-10 rows of drilled holes in them and under some large white oak trees. weighed over 100 pounds. This would have been in the latter Here is the hard lesson we learned part of March. I went out one evening and I want to prevent you folks from to check the logs and was mortified by making this same mistake. All mush- what I saw. room spore that is injected into the All the prior research that I had log gets their food to grow from the done of mushroom log production outer sap wood portion of the log, had not mentioned a single word not the heart wood section. So if you about woodpeckers! Every single log cut massive diameter green logs all that had holes facing up toward the you’re doing is wasting excess spawn sky were completely picked clean of spawn and wax. All that work for nothing. I almost felt like throwing in the towel at that point, but being hard headed prevented me from doing so. I ran a series of long extension cords down to our mushroom log laying yard. We bought more wax and another bag of shiitake spawn. Plugged in Jan’s electric skillet to melt our wax and re-inoculated every log that had an empty hole in it with new spawn. Nothing like doing a job twice, but a lesson well learned! When we finished, the entire log bed was covered with a dark shade cloth that prevented the woodpeckers from having a food fest on our logs. Once the shiitake spawn colonizes your logs in the next seven months M AY , 2 0 1 9 21 throughout the sap wood area, then sumed forage in front of them. It isn’t the woodpeckers picking the hole the amount of standing forage that clean will not kill the log. was in the field when you put them We leave the logs in a shaded area in that paddock that matters. It is covered with breathable nylon netting how much standing forage you leave until we see tiny mushroom buttons behind. starting to appear out of our drilled When grass is too short, it doesn’t sealed holes. This time incubation matter how long the cattle try to period can vary from six to nine graze, they still won’t optimize intake months depending on the growing because the bite size is too small. If conditions. One other monitoring Grassroots of Grazing forage is too mature, intake is not method that you can use to see if your optimized because rate of passage of logs took the spawn is to look at the fiber through the rumen is too slow. ends of them. There should be a white cloudy film growing on the surface of Continued on p. 22 the log ends, your good then. During this six to nine month incubation time period, you need to You know Jim Gerrish from his books, grazing keep track of your rain events. If you workshops & monthly SGF column…but did you go two weeks with high temperatures When it Comes to Grazing Stocker know that Jim & his team at and windy conditions, you should set a sprinkler over the logs to soak AMERICAN GRAZINGLANDS SERVICES them. You don’t want the logs to get Cattle, Size Does Matter are a one-stop shop for all things grazing. With nearly 40 years of field experience, the products we excessively dry and risk killing the By Jim Gerrish offer have been hand selected because we know fungi in the logs. We use a jet pump Too many people focus on the they work! that pumps water from our lake into wrong aspects of the stocker busi- a lawn sprinkler that rotates back MAY, Idaho: I recently was visiting ness including running only #1 steers, and forth. You can really soak a stack with a rancher who had been a client maximizing gain per head, and top- Permanent Electric Fencing Energizers, wire, posts, gates etc…. of logs using this method. If you are of ours 10-12 years ago. Because of ping the sale. In any given year one getting rain every couple weeks, then their relatively short grazing season or more of those factors may become Portable Electric Fencing your logs should be fine as long as high up in the northern Rockies, they important in a particular transaction, Geared reels, polybraid, step-in posts, the Batt-Latch etc…. they are shaded well. Direct sunlight had given up on their pasture-finished but year in and year out, it is the is your enemy with mushrooms. ■ beef business and switched to grazing three factors mentioned in the previ- Stockwater Systems lightweight stockers for the four to ous paragraph that drive the profit- HDPE pipe, fittings, valves etc…. Greg and Jan Judy graze South five months of quality grazing they ability of stocker grazing. Weigh Systems Poll beef cattle, parasite-resistant have available on irrigated pastures. Cattle performance is driven Load bars, platforms, displays etc…. hair sheep, pastured hogs, and layers Even though they could achieve by forage intake. To gain at a cer- Seed on 1620 acres in Clark, Missouri. The very impressive average daily gain tain rate, cattle must consume the Customized cover crop & farm includes 13 leased farms and on heavy cattle in their finishing pro- required amount of energy, protein, perennial mix etc…. three owned. All animals are direct gram, the overwintering cost offset and minerals to support that perfor- marketed as meat and seed stock the cheap gains they could make on mance level. It is lack of energy that Questions on products or need advice sales. Contact Greg at gtjudy4099@ summer pasture. most often limits rate of gain. We’ve on setting up your grazing system? gmail.com or visit greenpasturesfarm. He explained they had been steadi- been through this before, but as a net. His books are available from ly moving towards grazing lighter and reminder there are three factors that Give us a call & we will make the SGF Bookshelf page 26. He will lighter calves in the summer. When govern how much forage an animal sure you have everything you need — present a Stockman Grass Multi- it comes to grazing stockers with the will consume in a day. Those are time Species Grazing School and another objective of optimizing profit per acre, spent grazing, biting rate, and size of & the knowledge to make it work on Silvopasture in the fall. See page there are a few essential concepts we the bite. www.americangrazinglands.com 14 for details. Ask him more about all need to understand. These include The only one we can effectively mushrooms there! forage intake, maintenance vs. gain, manage for is size of the bite. We do (208) 588-3900 and value of gain. that by keeping adequate, easily con- Red Angus Angus Hereford HEIFERS FOR SALE PCC Genetics 100% Grassfed/No Grain N.E. Texas Call Nick 305-772-2522 or Email [email protected] 22 T h e S t o ckman G rs a s f a r m e r forage is in high Phase 2 stage. This sumption of 9.4 lbs/day. To gain 2 lbs/ of grazing heavy yearlings, they gen- Grass Roots is also where solar energy capture is day, he does not have to double total erally stay pretty healthy. Continued from p. 21 being maximized. If you want a high consumption and eat 18.8 lbs/day. Lighter weight cattle are a riskier rate of gain on stockers as well as All he has to do is increase the daily venture. What might limit how light high production per acre, intake must total by another 1.7 pounds for a total a stocker you are willing to graze is The balance of bite size and digest- be optimized. of 11.1 pounds/day. Small changes how good are you at spotting sick cat- ibility usually optimizes when the From a profitability standpoint it in intake can give surprisingly large tle and getting them healthy again as is usually better to sacrifice some boosts to ADG. quickly as possible. individual animal performance to Now we need to consider the size The third factor that is hugely increase gain per acre, but it is a fine of the stocker we are grazing on this important in stocker profitability is line between optimization and push- pasture. A 400-pound steer gaining buying and selling in such a way as ing the grazing too hard which results 2 pounds /day should be consuming to increase the value of gain for the in both gain per head and gain per about 11.1 pounds of dry matter for a weight you put on those cattle. Wally acre declining. feed conversion rate of 5.5 pounds of Olson from Oklahoma and Richard Next we need to think about what forage per lb of gain. An 800-lb steer McConnell and Tina Williams from happens with the forage the animal gaining 2 pounds /day needs to eat Missouri have written articles in SGF has consumed. This is where size about 22 pounds of forage/day for a over the past several years on effec- of the animal comes into play. The feed conversion of 11 pounds of for- tively selling and buying stockers in first nutritional energy demand that age per pound of gain. any market environment. They teach must be met is maintenance. That Why is there so much drop in feed workshops and provide consultation is the energy that allows the stocker conversion for the bigger animal? on how to manage your grass, live- to stand on four legs, walk around, The biggest reason is the increased stock, and capital inventories. graze, ruminate, belch, and be a daily maintenance requirement of the Look up their past articles or seek bovine. The larger portion of what larger animal. Every day we keep a them out online to learn much more an animal consumes goes to main- growing animal on our place the more about increasing the value of your tenance. Maintenance consumption of our forage production that goes to stocker transactions. Grazing effec- is directly related to body mass. A maintenance and, potentially, the less tively is only half of the equation when bigger animal must consume more that is available for gain. it comes to profitability on the stocker forage every day just to meet its This is why the rancher I men- business. Savvy financial management maintenance requirement. tioned at the beginning of this article is the other critical piece. n Weight gain occurs when the ani- has gone from grazing heavy ani- mal consumes forage in excess of mals with a whopping maintenance Jim Gerrish is an independent the maintenance requirement. Each requirement to grazing as light of grazing lands consultant providing added calorie consumed increases stockers as he can. It is all about service to farmers and ranchers on weight gain. the feed conversion efficiency of the both private and public lands across Here is an example. A 400-pound smaller animal. the USA and internationally. He can steer will need to consume about 7.7 There is another side of the coin to be contacted through www.ameri- pounds of dry matter forage for daily grazing as light a stocker as possible cangrazinglands.com. His books are maintenance. To gain 1 pound/day, and that is the tradeoff with increased available from the SGF Bookshelf he needs to consume an additional likelihood of sickness with younger page 26. 1.7 lbs of forage for a total daily con- cattle. If you do a halfway decent job

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We service Cap-Chur products in house. M AY , 2 0 1 9 23 If one arbuscule of the mycorrhiza Mycorrhiza fungi is also the enforcer. Dealing with the Mob runs out of nutrients in its location, The fourth benefit that we receive is the plant will cut off its supply of disease resistance. This tough guy for By Steve Kenyon interactions. It is incredibly complex. sugar and let it die, and send sugar to the mob helps to fight off a variety of I would however like to single out one other arbuscules that are bringing in BUSBY, Alberta: A healthy soil is other critter that we have in our soil supplies. There is no free ride when Continued on p. 35 an incredibly complex ecosystem that that does not get enough recognition dealing with the mob. we know very little about. There are for all of its hard work. There are four big benefits that we millions and millions of interactions Mycorrhiza fungi is the mob’s num- get as ranchers from this symbiotic that occur within our soils. It is more ber one man. It is in charge of trans- relationship. Obviously with a contin- FENCE POSTS & WIRE complex and busier than the floor of portation and distribution. This fun- uous supply of nutrients, we will get BY THE the stock exchange at closing. I call gus sets up a system of arbuscules, more yield from our pastures without TRUCKLOADS this my Secret Underground Black which are like root hairs that can the added cost of supplying fertilizers. Market and it is controlled by the extend the reach of the plants roots More growth with less cost is always mob. system up to 1000 times further. good for the bottom line. The mob is our plants and why do In exchange for sugar, this fungus Secondly, the hard to get phos- they have total control? It is because can transport nutrients directly to phorous is released by the fungus. they produce and control all of the the plant’s root system. It acts like a Phosphorous is usually bound up in currency. Everyone in the soil wants system of root extensions that help to the soil and is unavailable for the • Temporary sugar. Sugar is the currency and the gather the plants’ needed nutrients. plants. Our friendly neighborhood sustenance of life and it is only pro- This is truly a symbiotic relationship fungus comes to the rescue and can Fencing Supplies duced by plants. There are millions of that benefits both parties and it only broker a deal for the rare commodity. soil organisms that constantly broker works if both sides do their part. A win for us as ranchers. • Taylor Fencers deals with the mob in the quest to get Every plant is approximately 45% Our third benefit is drought resil- • Pasture Water sugar. Carbon, 45%, Oxygen, 6%, Hydrogen ience. When times get dry (and the Every critter in the soil needs and 1.5% Nitrogen. That’s 97.5% that soil gets hit with prohibition laws), Supplies sugar. As an example, we all know all comes from the air. (So why is it the small plant root system can no Quick Coupling Valves legumes are plants in our pastures that we add nutrients to the soil?) longer reach its favorite drink. Our that are known to produce nitrogen. It Only the remaining 2.5% needs to extensive network of fungus can start is not actually the plant that acquires come from the soil. Nature has had supplying water to the mob. There is the N. There is a type of bacteria this figured out long before we came nothing they will not do in the quest that works with the different types of along with soil amendments. for sugar. This underground black legumes and forms nodules on their This is where our mycorrhiza fungi market will always find a way. If you think about it, it is a life or roots. It is the bacteria that gets the comes in. It spreads though the soil High Flow Water Valves N from the air and then trades a mol- and gathers everything else. This fun- death situation. If the plant can’t get ecule of N with the plant in return for gus actually has the ability to decom- water, it stops handing out sugar. a molecule of sugar. A fair trade all pose stone and extract micro-nutri- Without sugar, our fungus will die Nevill Supply Inc. around. ents from it for the plants. This is the so it is pretty important all around 989-386-4522 I do not have enough time or ultimate courier in the black market that this symbiotic relationship stays 8415 S. Eberhart Ave. knowledge to get into all of the dif- system. Whatever the plant needs, the strong. We all know that one-sided Clare, MI 48617 ferent critters and all of the different mycorrhiza fungi can get it. relationships never last. [email protected] DIVERSITY? See 100+ species of plants at our Pasture Walk in a Diverse Native Grassland Also Continuing Education: “Unlocking the Nutrients Already in Your Soil” with Candy Thomas Both Events June 28th More Info: 417-967-2190 or www.HamiltonNativeOutpost.com 24 T h e S t o ckman G rs a s f a r m e r What’s New in GRAZIER’S GEAR SGF asks producers… ANIMAL HEALTH providing combined research, crop management “What are the main issues that you face in strategies and education. They are farmers helping ➲your operation in late spring?” Minerals farmers. With efficiency of top products and smart Proper nutrition is essential to any preventative planning, you can produce wholesome foods for health program. A balanced diet which includes end consumers, and that is the strength of the Bobby Thoman, T & T Cattle, WYOMING trace minerals allows your flock/herd to reach American farmer. We are finishing up calving and getting ready for breeding season.This is the only time of year genetic potential for growth and reproduction. Contact King’s we do not have pasture available. We graze crop aftermath during winter and spring, but by April Many common flock issues are the result AgriSeeds, Inc.,1828 1st we need to move off the cropland to get ready for the next growing season. Our pastures are of insufficient nutrition, due to lack of critical Freedom Rd, Suite not ready to graze until late May. Our cows are moved to adjacent rangeland and supplemented micro-minerals in animals’ feed. The Shepherd’s 101, Lancaster, PA with grass/alfalfa hay. We have worked to shorten this time to a month and a half. To get the most Choice® Gold Formula Premixes have been spe- 17601, call 717 687 out of feed during this time, we supplement with apple cider vinegar (ACV), diluting the ACV in cifically formatted for small ruminants to maximize 6224, email [email protected] or visit 100-gal water troughs to feed approximately 4 oz/hd twice per week. We provide fresh water, salt health and immunity. They contain high levels of www.kingsagriseeds.com. and mineral. We try to keep the cows on a level plane, not getting fat, but not losing flesh either. We zinc, iodine, and other essential trace minerals. usually accomplish this with 15-20 lbs/hd of hay per day. Our goals are to convert more cropland to All Premier’s premixes include essential trace Gamagrass perennial pasture land, so we can graze stockpiled forages during this time. minerals needed for well-being of sheep and goats. For over 30 years, Gamagrass Seed Compa- But GOLD Formula ny, Falls City, Nebraska, has been committed to Lanny Greenhalgh, Ichthys Cattle Enterprise, NEBRASKA Premixes, formulated producing, processing, and supplying high quality It is tempting to answer based on conditions we are staring in the face in Nebraska: extreme by Dr. Dan Morrical, Eastern Gamagrass seed. They pride themselves in moisture saturation/flooding, economic anxiety, lack of forage development, hay prices etc. While Ph.D, increase levels of a top-notch product, excellent service after the sale, these are immediate concerns, they aren’t perennial concerns. An issue we face every late spring zinc and iodine. Zinc, customer satisfaction, and ultimately in helping is the management needed to plan grazing. Forage must be available for every class of animal we the most commonly farmers and ranchers become more productive and have, since we don’t feed hay. The cows must be off of the stalk residue fields and have stockpiled deficient micro-mineral efficient. or growing grass in front of them for calving. The bulls and heifers we develop for seedstock must in forages, is not added in quantity to most other Eastern Gamagrass is a native, perennial, have high quality grazing forage all winter (cover crops/more planning) then must have the same mixes. So, Premier has increased zinc (compared to warm-season, bunchgrass. It has the highest in late spring; this usually means cereal rye must be available. Being able to graze year ‘round, other mixes) to promote stronger, healthier hooves. photosynthetic rate of any plant species reported especially utilizing some annuals, requires substantial planning ahead. Planning can be a seemingly Zinc is important for animal growth and reproduc- in scientific literature, giving rise to its high pro- insurmountable task when it’s challenging to keep your “head” above water with the current crisis. tion. ductivity and tall robust appearance. Unlike other Proverbs 16:9 says, “A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord determines his steps.” We trust Selenium (to the maximum level allowed by native grasses, Eastern Gamagrass will show God’s grace in our planning. FDA), manganese, and cobalt have been added earlier spring greening as well as faster first year or levels increased across all mixes. In the Sheep seedling growth. It Joe Schallberger, DVM, Whispering Hills Farm, OREGON Trace Mineral Premixes, molybdenum has been is very adaptable to a Maintaining proper pasture rotation in late spring is always difficult because the grass here in increased for more protection against copper accu- wide range of soils and Oregon is growing the fastest during this period. It is always a balance between leaving too much mulation in the liver—sheep absorb copper more climates facilitating grass behind and stopping the grass from starting to head up because the cows have not been efficiently than goats. effective establishment turned into the next field yet. Since we utilize artificial insemination in breeding most of our cows, Small ruminant questions? Premier has in many locations. Its monitoring heat cycles and getting cows AI’d at just the right time can often be a challenge with all partnered with Pipestone Veterinary Services. high nutritional value the other farm tasks that need to be done in late spring. Send email to sheepadvice@premier1supplies. and season-long palatability make it a great fit for com for advice from their sheep and goat experts. grazing and increasing pasture productivity. High Arron Nerbas, Nerbas Brothers Cattle, MANITOBA Contact Premier, 2031 300th St., Washington, IA tonnage and fast regrowth ability provide a perfect Every time of year has its challenges and spring is no exception. We are on target for an earlier 52353,800-282-6631/319-653-6631 or visit www. choice for the hayfield. In favorable conditions, East- than normal spring, but we all know that can change in a hurry. We had above average snowfall premier1supplies.com. ern Gamagrass can provide three cuttings per year this past winter with extremely cold stretches of weather. It was hard on feedstocks and, as a result, averaging 7-8 tons per acre! the carryover of feed into spring will be minimal. Last summer was dry and, as a result, stockpiled SEED Take advantage of this truly amazing grass forage was reduced. But, with the winter moisture, we feel spring and summer outlook for grass today. Call Bruce, Dean or Deb, 800-367-2879, and production looks good. Staying optimistic! Much prep work needs to be done to get ready for calv- Forage Resource ask about the improved varieties: PETE, IUKA and ing in 2 weeks time, sorting herds as we split pre-calving and then these management groups stay In American agriculture today, forces other than NEMAHA. Or contact them at 70225 656 Avenue, together right through calving and the grazing season. Looking forward to spring and feeling fortu- the American farmer are making the decisions and Falls City, NE 68355, [email protected] or nate in our area! controlling the changes. Offshore pressure and visit www.gamagrass.com to learn how Eastern merger after merger continue to change the mar- Gamagrass can help solve your pasture and hay- Kevin Jennings, Kinloch Farm, VIRGINIA ketplace. For the success and sustainability of the field productivity problems. By late spring, face flies become quite annoying to our cattle. With Kinloch Farms being an industry, it is imperative that the American farmer all-natural farm, face flies are the most difficult pasture pest to contend with. Shoo-Fly concentrate regain control of his destiny. by Dr. Sarah’s Essentials does work on sunny days and is now OMRI approved. But like most natu- The good news is that’s what the KingFisher ral products, there is no residual, and rainy weather washes it away. Last year, our area endured the group is all about, combining the power of two of GOT FRIENDS? rainiest year ever recorded, so natural controls weren’t working. The highly contagious disease of the biggest forage-focused companies in the USA pinkeye was impossible to stop naturally and costly in repeated applications and time. – Byron Seeds and King’s AgriSeeds, now with the Hoping to drastically reduce the bovine pinkeye cases this year, we worked closely with our addition of Southeast AgriSeeds. They have pooled Send us their names & veterinarian to swab last year’s pink-eye cases. Our local vet developed a regional ontogenesis resources to put the tools for success in the hands addresses and we’ll mail pinkeye vaccine, which we have used to vaccinate the entire herd. Will it work? Let’s hope so. I will of the American farmer. Not a merger, not a buyout, them a Sample Edition. When have an answer in a few months. but independently successful forage companies sharing resources, talents and effort to develop a they subscribe we’ll extend your active subscription two Spencer Oliver, Oliver Angus, GEORGIA premium line up of the best forages. Our biggest dilemma each spring is trying to control noxious weeds within stands of clover and They are farmers themselves; among their months. other beneficial annuals. Thistle and turnips seem to top our list of undesirable weeds. We wrestle three companies, they source regionally appropriate each spring with the decision to treat for these weeds at the expense of losing our clovers and top genetics world-wide, which include perennials The Stockman Grass Farmer vetch. We typically spend much time spot treating these weeds in order to save the good ones. We mixtures, alfalfas, corn hybrids, summer annuals P.O. Box 2300 are looking forward to a reliable and safe product to use over top of clovers. and cover crop seeds—making those available to Ridgeland, MS 39158 you through a network of over 400 dealers. KingFisher group goes beyond products, M AY , 2 0 1 9 25 The Stockman Grass Farmer Bookshelf By Allan Nation By Anibal Pordomingo Grassfed to Finish Stored Forages Addresses all the factors necessary for a quality grassfed product. Allan Nation debunks the myths and misconceptions Anibal Pordomingo covers how stored forages can bridge seasonal flat spots, about grass-finished beef and shows that grain is totally details for various methods of stacking and feeding hay bales, how to double unnecessary for a gourmet “killer” product, and actually low- an animal’s voluntary intake of feed, when to supplement throughout the year, ers quality as well as the health attributes. From conception how to feed during extended periods of mud or precipitation and more graz- to post harvest, Grassfed to Finish shows producers how ing management ideas. to create a truly tender, flavorful, gourmet-quality product 58 pages. $18.00. 1 /2 lb. every time, year around. S299 pages. $33.00. 1 lb. Drought Forage quantity declines in a drought but forage quality may actually improve as Creating A Family Business Anibal Podomingo shows in this books how it is possible to successfully contin- Allan Nation left behind an unfinished manuscript about ue grass-finishing of beef animals in a drought as well as keep your cash flow family business. It was the kind of book he said he wished coming. Learn what to plant to survive a drought and using legumes as a key he had when he began his business career. In his world component of pasture. travels he captured the essence of family businesses 69 pages. $18.00. 1/2 lb. with a special focus on family farms. 280 pages. $35.00, 1 lb Grazing Profitability Knowledge Rich Ranching How real ranchers financially succeed in the ranching business is cov- Land, Livestock & Life ered by Allan Nation. A grazier’s guide to finance is presented as an incredibly complex • Packed with guidelines on how to read and profit from the cattle “whole” made up of a lot of separate businesses that you must be cycle. good at to make a profit… the land, the livestock and the lifestyle. • Reveals the secrets of high profit grass farms and ranches. For more insight and analysis into land-based financial issues such • Explains family and business structure for today’s and future gen- as protecting yourself from falling real estate prices without selling erations. your ranch, order Land, Livestock and Life, A grazier’s guide to • This is the first book to cover the business management principles finance, by Allan Nation. of grass farming and ranching. 224 pages. $25.00. 1 lb. 336 pages. $32.00. 1 1/2 lbs. Marketing Grassfed Products Profitably Pasture Profits with Stocker Cattle Carolyn Nation, goes beyond the basics to show you how to make Allan Nation shows how to profit without making hay, buying land or your grassfed products stand out from the competition. You know equipment, and without retained ownership of animals. This is the how to produce grassfed products, now learn to maximize profits first book ever written on stocker cattle, profiling Mississippi grazier, using marketing strategies such as branding your products, cre- Gordon Hazard, who has been able to accumulate and stock an ating value-added products, where to sell, database marketing 1800-head ranch solely from retained stocker profits with no bank and organizing a buying club. leverage. 363 pages. $28.50. 1 1/2 lbs. 224 pages. $24.95. 1 lb. Audio version, abridged, 6 CDs $40.00, postage included. Books by Joel Salatin This book is a great introduction for Joel’s Your Successful Farm Business! Salad Bar Beef Pastured Poultry Profits You Can Farm by Joel Salatin. A fundamentally fresh way to look at the symbiosis A hard core how-to book, this The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Start and $ucceed in a includes all the stories and tips Farming Enterprise between farmer, field and cow, this book is now a classic in the pas- from brooding to marketing. Joel pulls from his eclectic sphere of knowledge, Centered around meat chickens combines it with half a century of experience and ture-based livestock movement. Joel’s production model describes it includes a section on layers covers topics that will affect the success of a and turkeys. Many would say farming venture. He offers his 10 best profitable herd effect, mobbing, moving, field design, water, manure, soil this book started the American ventures and the 10 worst. This is a hard hitting pastured poultry movement. practical view from a successful farmer. fertility and even pigaerating, 480 pages, 2 lbs. $30.00 368 pages. $30.00. 1 lb. 398 pages. $30.00. 1 1/2 lbs. 26 T HE S TOCKMAN G RASSFARMER

New Titles to the Boofshelf! DIRT TO SOIL The CALENDAR of the Gabe Brown articulates the soil SILVOPASTURE regeneration protocols his family YEAR-ROUND GRAZIER established and the strength of his Steve Gabriel presents a great idea personal testimony is optimistic and Steve Kenyon. shows how all suc- manual for trying to incorporate cessful agricultural businesses start profound. He aims to duplicate more traditional mixed use in our the cycles and principles of the with good management, and good landscapes. Weedy woods yearn communication within a business original prairie by combining grain to intervention. Incorporating live- farming with holistic manage- is essential for success. stock and forages pays for that ■ ment. Joel Salatin writes that his The importance of human resources intervention while waiting for the ■ favorite theme is the advice to Cash flow and Gross Margin Analysis trees to mature. ■ Grazing principles for year-round profit experiment. ■ How to prepare for swath and bake grazing 320 pages, 2 lbs, $39.95. 240 pages, 1 lb, $19.95. 70 pages, 1/2 lb. , $18.00

By Jim Gerrish By Greg Judy Management intensive Kick the Hay Habit Grazing With today’s grazing management systems, No Risk Ranching the cost of making hay far exceeds its value Jim Gerrish takes graziers step by step through the to grazing businesses. Studies have shown Based on his personal experience, MiG system. He begins from the ground up with that winter feed costs are the largest sin- Greg Judy shows how to make the soil, and advances through the management a living from the land without gle factor limiting the profitability for most of pastures and animals. owning it. He describes his suc- livestock operations. In virtually every area • Making pasture fertility pay. • Working with cesses as well as his mistakes of the USA, year around grazing - without legumes. to help others on the road to hay - is possible. Yet many graziers are still • The power of stock density. • How to match forage sup- profit. By leasing land and cat- making hay. tle he went from 40 stockers ply and animal demand. • How to judge maximum intake to over 1100 head and was Softcover. 224 pages. $27.00. 1 lb. of forage. • Pasture weaning for health and weight gain. able to pay off his farm and Audio version - 6 CDs 320 pages. $31.00. 1 lb. home loan within three years. (with charts and figures) $43.00 240 pages. $28.00. 1 lb. Comeback Farms THE STOCKMAN Credit card orders call Rejuvenating soils, pastures and Order Form 1-800-748-9808 profits with livestock grazing or order online management. Takes up where No Gras Farmer www.stockmangrassfarmer.com S Risk Ranching ended. Expands the grazing concept on leased land with sheep, goats, and pigs in addition to Name ______Quantity Book Title Price cattle. Covers High Density Grazing and Address ______fencing gear and systems, grass-genetic cattle, devel- oping parasite-resistant sheep. City ______280 pages. $29.00. 1 lb. State ______ZIP ______Phone ______By Joel Salatin POSTAGE & HANDLING: USA

1/2 lb. $3.00 Your Successful 1 to 2 lbs. $5.60 2 to 3 lbs. $7.00 Farm Business 3 to 4 lbs. $8.00 Shipping & handling 4 to 5 lbs. $9.60 Shipments to MS add 7% sales tax Production, Profit, Pleasure 5 to 6 lbs. $11.50 Joel offers fresh views into his 6 to 8 lbs. $15.25 beliefs and farming methods so 8 to 10 lbs. $18.50 SUBTOTAL Over 10 lbs., please call for zones that anyone who is determined and passionate about their dream can 1-YR Subscription (12 issues – $32) Canada achieve the same kind of success they see at Polyface today. He 1 book $18.00 2-YR Subscription ( 12 issues – $56) describes the theme of this book to “artic- 2 books $25.00 3-4 books $30.00 ulate the common threads of success for beginning farmers US Funds only, no shipping charges for Subscriptions and what made a farmer thrive.” If you want to improve what Prices and availability subject you are already doing or itching to get started, this book is for to change without notice. GRAND TOTAL you! P.O. Box 2300 • Ridgeland, MS 39158 • FAX 601-853-8087 336 pages, 1 1/2 lbs. $30.00 Order 12 issues at full price and #13 is free! 1/2 Price! while supplies last! $2.50 Back Issues - 2018 $5.00 each Back Issues - 2014 January May September January May September The Forage Chain Future Tech Grass Farming Drought Management Cover Crops & High Density Grazing Selling Grassfed Beef Mixing Grazing Animals & Crops Frost-seed Clover Garrowing Grazing Reduces Wildfires Staggering Cost of Making Hay Profitable Irrigated Pasture Nigerian Dwarf Goats Value added Carbon Grazing Sheep in Vinyards Stockers Calving Season Custom Grazing Contracts Pastured Laying Hens Recovery Period Capture More Water Beef Forage Program Grassfed Slaughter Cows Growing Summer Annuals Your Seed Bank Account February June October February June October Diversified Landscape Irrigation Grazing Cells Native Ranges & Silage Cow Nutrition During Pregnancy High Stock Density Shepherding Business Goats on Range Allen Williams’ Tips Flexibility & Backup Stored Forages Replace Your Corn Harvester with Pastured Pigs Higher Seeding Rates Social Media Raising Heifers Stocker Cattle on a Texas Ranch Cows Utilization Rate Wealth vs Income Stock Dogs Portable Water Systems Bale Grazing Yardage Costs Recycle Nutrients Underappreciated Weeds Clean Water as A Major Crop March July November March Silvopasture Fly Management Genetic Trend Reduce Cattle Production Costs July November Grass-Legume Mixes Grain Quality Hay Water Comparisons Certified Organic Dairy Save the Farm with Mob Grazing Luck Through Grazing Management Pastured Poultry Gear for Pigs Burning Supplemental Forages for Washy Grass Seasonal Once-A-Day Milking Pasture Competing With Crops Transitioning to Sheep Grazing Chart Grassfed Breeds Receiving Cattle for Custom Grazing Fence Line Weaning Build Soil Organic Matter Ruminants Learn Grazing from Salatin’s Pastured Turkeys April August December April Mothers Grass Finished Beef Soil Health Farm To Fork Starting a Successful Cow-Calf Herd December Summer Annuals Stockmanship Grassfed Beef Marketing Bring Soils Back to Life with Pasture August Leased Cows & Mob Grazing Bull Value Dung Beetles Low Input Management Social Network Marketing Breeding Cattle for a Warmer World Pastured Poultry, Pigs & Beef MiG in Nebraska Grazing Tips Add Some Forbs Selling the View Managing for Drought Resilience Weaning Time of Dairy Calves Cost Of Pasture Planned Grazing Knife-cut Castration Back Issues - 2017 $5.00 each Back Issues - 2013 January May September January May September Ensiled Sweet Sorghums Kentucky 31 Fescue Mixed Species Grazing Spring Planting Easy-keeping Cows Sheep & Stockers Healthy Pasture is Profitable Prevent Predation Losses Fall Pastures FescueSOLD OUT Proper Stockmanship Biodiversity Pasture Family Farm Sustainability Managing Internal Goat Parasites Lower Production Costs Cost of Feeding Hay Once-a-Day Milking Predator Control Grass That Is Best Grazed Wrong Alabama Grass Dairy Grassfed Finishing Guardian Dogs Calculating Cow-day Cost Eliminate Pinkeye June October February A Grassfed Model Grazing Plans and Severe Drought February June October Choosing Sheep or Goats Ranching Without Equipment Water Cycle Management Legumes Grass Finished Beef Profits Whorls, Curls & Swirls Swath Grazing Alternative Ag Niche Markets Bale Grazing Economics Annual Forages Pasture Productivity Power of Water Rest Rotation Grazing Receiving Programs for Pastured Quality Beef Eating Goats Think Before Culling Stockpiled Fescue Cost of Custom Grazed Cows Pigs Autumn Olive Overgrazing Portable Fencing November March July Profit Even in a Drought March July November Red Devons, Heritage Hogs & Winter Annuals Pasture Yield Goals Year Long Grazing Thriving in Depressed Market Grass Genetics Selection Goats Grazing Management Pioneer Mob Grazing and Soil Heritage Breeds Animals are Important Shift Work to Livestock Temporary Feeding Enclosures Heart of Sustainability No-Hay Ranches Noxious Weed Control 3 Principles to Graze By Winter Options Build Soil Pasture Weed Problems Distribution for Producers Pastured Pigs Grazing in Range Country Proper Levels of Mineralization December Grazing Improves Range & Forest August Stored Forage Benefits April August December Composting Raising Gourmet Grassfed Beef Multi Species Grazing Cattle Walk to Water Salt for Livestock April Soil Acidity and Grazing Record Cattle Price & Record Soil Needs Plants Summer Slump Epigenetics Upper Midwest Beef Finishing Parasite Disrupters Inputs Bison Plant Fall Forages Pumping Water Lessons from Polyface Agri-Tourism Improves Grazing How to Enjoy Working Cattle Mobile Abattoir Horses & Weeds Laying Hens Advice on Beef Genetics Quality Cell Design Back Issues - 2016 $5.00 each The Stockman January May September 1-800-748-9808 Flerd Grazing Grass Friendly Livestock Range Beef GrasSFarmer Beat the Summer Slump Grassfed Operation Graze Cover Crops P.O. Box 2300/ Ridgeland, MS 39158-2300 ComplexSOLD Pastures OUT Emergency Feed Bison Meat Business Management Canadian Thistle Multi Species Meat

February June October Back Issue 1 issue...... $2.00 3-4 issues..... $3.50 Stockpile Perennials Pasture Management Forage Pairings 2 issues...... $2.75 5-12 issues... $6.00 Develop Bulls on Grass Measure the Animal Calves on Mammas ORDER FORM Postage Landscape Graziers Raw Milk Products Dairy Grazing Canadian and foreign postage, adjusted in office. Chopping Hay Grassfed & Grainfed Clip Seed Heads Name______March July November Pigs & Electric Fence USA Wool Grass Finished Beef Address______Stressing Cattle? Winter Annuals Meat Goats Receiving Animals Linebreeding Irrigation City______State______Zip______Spring Pasture Supplements Cover Crops & Cattle Wintering Cows $1.00 issues = ...... $ April August December 1/2 price $2.50 (2013, 2014 issues) = ...... $ Organic Dairy Moving Cattle Winter Water Grassfed Multi-species OR Grassfed Beef Non-Grain Energy Single Issues @ $5 = ...... $ Fence Posts Acorn Finished Pigs Adding Pastured Chickens Soil Organic Matter Trendy Goats Fat Is Critical In Beef Plus Postage & Handling (see chart for charges)...... $ TOTAL$ $5.00 each Back Issues - 2015 July September November Custom Grazing Cattle & Sheep Carrying Capacity January March May Forest Fed Pigs New Composite Breeds Pasturing Pigs Perennial Pastures Heritage Breeds Bermuda Grass Hair Sheep Effective Solar Panels Livestock Health Goat Milk Cheese Year Round Grazing Drought Pasture Tips Grazing Density Pastured Turkeys Improving Pastures Breeding Objectives Energy Forages Fescue Cow Depreciation II Subdivide Pastures August October December Winter Annuals Beef & Pecan Pork Rare Breeds Wintering Outdoors February April June Drought Planning Electric Fences Building Soil Organic Matter Legumes Summer Annuals Salatin’s Keys to Success Grazing Management Primary Soil Nutrient Coccidiosis Your Grazing Plan Diversification Family Milk Cow Grass Farming Near NYC A Non-Wealthy Successor Marketing Matters Cow Depreciation Breeding Objectives II Tips & Tricks Cash Flow Grass Finishing Pastured Livestock 28 T h e S t o ckman G rs a s f a r m e r ☛ Audios From The Grazier’s Audios/CDs Recorded Live Marketing School This is the next best thing to being there. grazier for life. expanded and how they did it The audios are not studio recorded and while avoiding debt. Recorded Live/Available As Audio Tapes Or Cds we get as much as possible on each tape GETTING THE HAY OUT-There so some end abruptly. is virtually nothing you can do that KEEP THE RANCH, FUND SCALING UP SALES-Joel Salatin encourages graziers to leverage will increase your return more than YOUR RETIREMENT- Richard everything, utilize the “nooks and crannies” and hang additional CHEAP CUSTOM COW going to hayless ranching. Jim Ger- Parry describes how he monitors enterprises around the centerpiece business. Marketing is all about WINTERING – Terry Gompert rish shows you how this can be done the interest rate and business cycle the people and using your customer base to expand your profits. talks about the excellent economics in almost all climates. to decide what and when to buy of stalk-field grazing and why every and sell in his off-ranch invest- BIGGER PROFITS WITH BUNDLING-Joel Salatin encourages direct cow-calf owner should consider tak- GRASSFED BEEF & CUSTOM ments. marketers to develop a one stop shop with a diversity of “aha” prod- ing the winter off! GRAZING-Jon Taggart discusses ucts handled by a team of customer friendly complementary people. how he was able to develop a prof- MAJOR LIFE CHANGES- Jim It’s all about making it easy for the customer to buy more. itable grassfed beef business while Gerrish relates the process he used CONVERTING IRRIGATED GROWING METRO BUYING CLUBS-Sheri Salatin picks up what maintaining a monthly income from CROP TO GRASS – Kevin Fulton to get his family on board with his Joel started and continues to grow Polyface’s Metro Buying Clubs. custom grazing. shows why he believes irrigated dream of living on a small, remote She shares the nitty-gritty successful social media details that will grass is the most profitable crop you Idaho ranch and leaving a secure PREVENTIVE APPROACH TO save you research time and money. Joel gives a brief introduction can grow. He converted his cropland farm in Missouri. on how the clubs got started. to grass and sells to grassfed beef ANIMAL HEALTH-Ann Wells companies on a custom basis. discusses good farming practices NO LAND, NO MONEY? NO Want to learn more….. without using synthetic chemicals PROBLEM- By changing his ORGANIC CERTIFICA- and preventing disease by holistic business structure, Greg Judy Attend the next GRAZIER’S MARKETING SCHOOL! TION-HOW TO GET IT DONE management of animal, soil & was not only able to get out of Call 800-748-9808 for information. – Grassfed meats have the best forages. debt but he expanded his grazing chance of being the most profitable operation. organic product. Get tips on how FLIES, PARASITES & CREEPY ON-FARM ABATTOIR – Joel principles work rain or drought from Margaret Scoles, the executive CRAWLIES-Grazing manage- MARKETING & BUSINESS Huesby’s USDA inspected abattoir for ranches, livestock and finances. director of the Independent Organic ment for parasite & pest control – Multiple venues that worked is part of a successful business plan. Stan tells how some ranches are Inspectors. is presented as vital by organic and didn’t work for Joel Salatin’s He shares how to keep it simple, structured to fail economically and vet Ann Wells. Multiple species, Polyface farm. Joel shares his adaptable, scaleable and affordable. how to redo for long term profit- GETTING STARTED IN herbs, forage diversity and use of knowledge based on first hand ability. CUSTOM GRAZING-Greg Judy weather are some of the manage- experience with interns, appren- MARKETING LIVESTOCK - went from the brink of bankruptcy to ment tips talked about. tices, subcontractors, farmers’ Bud Williams will expand your a prospering operation with little risk markets and more. mind about the many ways you NEW AUDIOS/CDs thanks to custom grazing and he’ll SOILS & MINERALS-Herd can market livestock today: com- tell you how he did it. health consultant, Will Winter, METRO BUYING CLUBS – The modity cash, futures and direct FROM THE GRAZIER’S shows how soils & minerals con- highly successful Metro Buying markets. PASTURED PORK SCHOOL CUSTOM GRAZING BASICS- tribute to a successful grassfed Club developed by Joel Salatin Jim Gerrish discovered custom graz- beef operation. Develop a strategy offers a model to follow. This real- A PROFIT FOR 15 YEARS WHY PASTURED PIGS-Joel ing late in his ranch’s development to build organic matter in your ly works and Joel tells you how to STRAIGHT. Oklahoma cow-calf/ Salatin shares why and how but it made a big difference. He’ll soils and increase the bio-diversity do it right! stocker rancher, Walt Davis, has Polyface Farm got started with tell you how he would do it if he of your farm. been in the black for 15 years this low risk, forgiving venture that were to do it again. ADD VALUE, NOT VOLUME straight. He will detail the changes beginning graziers can succeed in MAKING MONEY GRAZING- – Jonathan White has found arti- he did to make profit an every easier than beef. THE CUSTOM GRAZING CLI- Bud Williams shows you that there sanal cheese adds the most value year event, including the biggest PIG PROBLEMS AND ENT’S POINT OF VIEW- Allan is a profit for those who structure to his diversified grass farm. His change - the one in his head! SOLUTIONS-Listen to what Joel Nation will go through the business their ranches correctly. products are all sold at premium Salatin encountered and how he and economics of custom grazing prices direct to the consumer; TAKE A LOOK AT SHEEP— solved the problems getting started from the client’s view giving you tips 10 TRANSITIONAL STEPS- Joel grassfed meat, veal, whey-fed pork Hudson Glimp shows you how to with pastured pigs. He also tells to keep him as a client for life. Salatin tells how he transitioned and cheese. make some serious money from a you the benchmarks and principals the management and responsibili- relatively small family farm. THE GRAZIER’S POINT OF ty of his farm to a young adult. SUBSCRIPTION MEAT MAR- Polyface Farm successfully uses. VIEW-Greg Judy goes through the KETING – David Evans tells how PUTTING YOURSELF IN CON- IF YOU WANT TO LEARN MORE, economics of custom grazing from NEW SALATIN ENTERPRISES- he sells the whole grassfed carcass TROL OF YOUR RANCH — Joel discusses the huge expansion ATTEND THE NEXT GRAZIER’S the grazier’s view giving you mar- with the West Coast version of Sala- Ranch management consultant, PASTURED PORK SCHOOL! gins, fears and tips to get him as a his farm has undergone, why they tin’s Metro Buying Club. Stan Parsons’ proven economic

USA postage included. All Audios $11.00 each…Any 5 or more Audio Tapes for $10.00 each…CDs $18.00 each… others add $2.50 to order.

Name ______

TITLES: Address______City______State/Province______Zip______#1 ______Phone no. ______#2 ______Total amount ______❏ check enclosed

❏ Visa/MC/Disc# ______Exp. ______#3 ______Signature ______

#4 ______The Stockman P.O. Box 2300, Ridgeland, MS 39158-2300 #5 ______GrasSFarmer 1-800-748-9808 M AY , 2 0 1 9 29

Meadow Talk can actually refuse to be pawns in a global chess match, is quite lib- know that the most efficacious than they did a half century ago. Continued from p. 1 erating. Too often when someone way to change profit is by reducing Spread that over several farms, dares to suggest that farmers don’t expenses. Machinery and the fuel a county, a state, a nation, and both in order to relieve America’s have to be stuck in a centralized to run it is the quickest way to you have an entirely different land- farmers. control agenda, the orthodox farm- change expenses. We can all shave scape. In addition to organic mat- The tenor of this piece is ers assault the optimist. a few expense dollars off our oper- ter, we can build ponds (or dams, that farmers are dependent on “Farmers don’t have a choice.” ations. Well managed livestock and tanks, dugouts - depending on Washington. Here at SGF, our “Everybody can’t be a niche farm- perennials follow nature’s template where you’re from) and mimic the whole theme is empowering farm- er.” “If we’re going to feed the whereas mono-crop agriculture beaver ponds of yesteryear, trap- ers to step outside the orthodoxy world, we have to play the com- does not. The cost of constantly ping surface runoff and dispensing and take control of their own per- modity game.” “Farmers don’t have and consistently fighting nature’s it during dry times. This does not sonal destinies. Being completely control of their pricing.” You get template adds up; American farm- hoard or deplete water; it actually reliant on federal trade negotiators the picture. ers are feeling the cost of that increases the commons. By defi- and federal politicians is not the At the risk of suffering all these fight. nition, if surface runoff occurs, way toward resilience and affirma- accusations, I want to tackle an Precipitation. Water. This the water holding capacity of the tion. Rather, it smacks of colonial- SGF response to all three of these is where grass farmers shine. landscape is maxed out. Once that ism. problems identified by Senator Nothing develops good hydrolo- happens, holding a raindrop rather Farmers feel the tension of Bennet: price, precipitation, peo- gy cycles better than perennial than draining it adds to the water centralized control perhaps more ple. pasture because nothing increas- commons. With strategic and simple K-line acutely than any other sector of Price. Can any of us farmers es organic matter as efficiently. society because they are inherent- do anything about world com- On our farm here in Virginia’s irrigation, we can place that water ly planted in a place. Their local modity price? No. It is what it is. Shenandoah Valley, we averaged on moisture-starved pastures for roots grow deep, as opposed to Complaining, grumbling, claim- 1 percent organic matter in 1961 yet more dependable, predictable people in vocations that lend them- ing victimhood - none of this will and today average 8.2 percent. growth. A small percentage rise in selves to more transience. change anything. What can we do? When you realize that every one price doesn’t hold a candle to the A new book titled The Third We can cut expenses. I can hear percent increase in organic matter long-term payback of investing in Pillar by Raghuram Rajan is sub- Allan Nation’s voice: “Get rid of increases water retentive capacity water development. And yet you titled How Markets and the State heavy metal disease.” Or Gordon by 20,000 gallons per acre, you won’t see the Senator or anyone Leave the Community Behind. Hazard: “Eliminate the things that can begin to see the dramatic ben- else in the mainline agriculture He traces the transportation and rot, rust, and depreciate.” The efit of increasing this soil sponge. press encouraging this. communication that enabled the typical crop farmer’s treadmill of A seven percent increase means Recently I was in Utah facili- our pasture soils can now hold nation-state, markets, and commu- expenses is profound, but this is Continued on p. 30 nity to shift toward centralization precisely the treadmill SGF advo- 140,000 gallons per acre more over time. cates changing. And by the way, He argues that shifting more if you think the world needs our control back to the historically corn and soybeans, you haven’t normal community level actually been paying attention to Brazil, works better because customi- Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay PASTURE SEEN BETTER DAYS? zation and contextualization are lately. possible. The reason people trust The fact that the Chinese can their local governing bodies more immediately drop their soybean than federal governing bodies is purchases from the USA by 17 because policies and services can million tons in 2018 is because be more responsive to local needs the world responds quickly to mar- and protocols. ket changes. By concentrating on As mainline farmers feel help- domestic production and domestic less in the face of mounting federal markets, a pasture-based livestock and global power plays, their psy- farmer reduces vulnerability to the che takes a beating. This is not a global chess match. uniquely American phenomenon by Animals self-harvest, self-fer- any means. Interestingly, the abili- tilize pasture that doesn’t even ty of American farmers to dislocate have to be planted. By practicing imports has never been greater. Management-intensive Grazing, The USA now imports 22 percent livestock can compete with grain of its food, which is double what it without all the chemicals and vul- was just a couple of decades ago. nerabilities. Perennial ecosystems As mistrust of centralized by definition are less fragile; more authority escalates throughout resilient. Capital expenditures for A Datamars brand the culture, the marketing and equipment and buildings are far messaging of domestic produc- less. Ongoing energy and input Extreme tion resonates with more people. costs are lower as well, as long as Wire Solar Powered Electric Fencing. Re-capturing historic percentages the grazing is correctly managed. Give your pasture the break it needs. of domestic production and con- The point is that our tribe sum- sumption offers a lot of wiggle marily withdraws from much of room for innovative farmers. The the ongoing drama and centralized 800.433.3112 www.stafix.com notion that farmers can come out manipulation of the mainline crop SXS Geared Reel from under this global dominance, farming sector. In addition, we

Stockman Grassfarmer_May 2019.indd 1 4/23/2019 10:50:23 AM 30 T HE S TOCKMAN G RASSFARMER the elected officials all groaned pensation is acceptable, you can average poultry processing plant Meadow Talk about the lack of water and the find help. The problem is that con- worker can learn a job in 20 min- Continued from p. 29 need to dispense it strategically. ventional farms do not have good utes. How would you like to do Off the cuff, I asked them if they work habitats. Not only is the pay something for your life’s vocation had ever, in their focus groups and low, but the environment is a bum- that you can learn in 20 minutes? tating a town hall exchange with think tanks, discussed strategies mer. Such a dehumanizing environment some state delegates and senators to increase water; to actually end If variety is the spice of life, then doesn’t attract labor; it repels for a group of farmers. The topic up with way more water than they one of the quickest ways to make labor. of water shortages came up and thought they had. No. Never came our farms enjoyable habitats to We farmers are some of the up. And they had never heard of work in is to diversify enterprises. most downer people I know. Always ® ® EasyWean NoseRing permaculture. They thought they Add animals to veggies and veggies complaining, grumbling, whining, • Wean with ease were educated. to animals. Few work habitats are complaining. Would you want to • No stress • Next to the mother People. Labor. Generally, if the as psychologically depressing as work with you? Are you interesting? work habitat is great and the com- single-crop or single-species out- Perhaps if we farmers would make fits. And few habitats are as pleas- our farms more interesting and ant as pastorals. ourselves more interesting, we’d GRAZING SCHOOL IN OHIO Of course, this issue is not just be more attractive to people who an on-farm issue; it includes pro- want to spend time with us on our cessing and industrial value-added farms. I guarantee you won’t see Ian Mitchell-Innes operations. Here in Virginia, the that notion bandied about in the Two days at conventional media. Produced and supplied by: As conventional ag experts speak Whole Concepts cc Kiko’s Angus Farm to our culture through the press, PO Box 1806, Vryburg 8600, South Africa June 13th & 14th we here at SGF are committed to Secure online www.nosering.co.za the notion that the stranglehold ordering for E-mail: [email protected] Limited Seating 330-417-1739 that the centralized system has on USA clients! Tel: +27-53-9274999 (GMT +2) kikograssfedbeef.com Continued on p. 36 SGF Advertisers’ Events CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING May 21-23 Soil Health Consultants 3142; www.soilhealthconsul- Academy, Uniontown, AL tants.com) CLASSIFIED ADS IN THE STOCKMAN GRASS FARMER MAGAZINE (Kathy Richburg 256-996- Placing a classified ad is easy, just EMAIL your ad wording and no. of issues you want it to run to: 3142; www.soilhealthconsul- July 22-23 Joel Salatin’s Polyface Inten- [email protected]. sive Discovery Seminars, By return email (within 24 hours), you will be notified of the amount due. tants.com) Prepayment is required for classified advertising. There are 3 ways to pay: Swoope, VA (Joel Salatin 1. By credit card via telephone 601-853-1861. June 4-6 Soil Health Consultants 512-892-4400) 2. By credit card online at www.stockmangrassfarmer.com. Under the ADVERTISE menu, go to MAKE A Academy, Carroll, OH PAYMENT. Put in the comments box, that payment is for a Classified Ad along with the amount. (Kathy Richburg 256-996- July 26-27 Joel Salatin’s Polyface Inten- 3. Mail a check to P.O. Box 2300, Ridgeland, MS 39158-2300. (PLEASE NOTE ON CHECK THAT IT IS FOR A sive Discovery Seminars, CLASSIFIED AD!) 3142; www.soilhealthconsul- You are done! Be sure to renew or place new ads by the first day of the month prior to the issue. tants.com) Swoope, VA (Joel Salatin 512-892-4400) CLASSIFIED RATE: $1.10/word, 1-3 times • .95/word, 4-7 times • .85/word, 8-12 times June 13-14 Kiko’s Angus Farm Grazing Min. 30 words. $15 surcharge applies to ad wording given by phone or fax. School with Ian Mitch- Aug. 2-3 Joel Salatin’s Polyface Inten- sive Discovery Seminars, ell-Innes, Ohio (Liz Horne Cattle grass-fed beef markets, possible profit sharing. Housing avail- 330-417-1739) Swoope, VA (Joel Salatin able. Leave msg phone 402.992.1283 or email mhfreud@ British Whites/White Park herd. cow/calf, heifers, steers, 3 512-892-4400) gmail.com June 21-22 11th Annual South Poll Field nice bulls. Also some Murray Greys www.foxhillfarmgrass- Sept 10-11 STOCKMAN GRASS fedbeef.com. 518 810-3274 Intern wanted: For general all around farming. Could include: Day and Cattle Auction, Fair- hogs, chickens, turkeys, cattle watering and feeding. BEEFALO-the forage fed breed. Small calves, lean meat, win- field, VA (Kathy Richburg FARMER NOSE-TO-TAIL Gardening, mowing, fence repairs, electric fencing, rotational ter hardy. See the difference Beefalo can make in your herd. 256-996-3142; www.south- MARKETING SCHOOL, grazing. Following Polyface, Joel Salatinís model on a smaller Bulls and heifers for sale. Circle Z Beefalo 573-732-5763 poll.com) Kansas City, MO (Anibal scale. Free room and board plus small stipend. My Shepherdís Bourbon, MO Pordomingo and Anton Farm 276-620-1513. www.myshepherdsfarmpsalm23.com June 28 Hamilton Native Outpost Kotar 800-748-9808) DEVON CATTLE- HERD REDUCTION SALE- Bred heifers, Bred Real Estate For Sale/Lease Pasture Walk, Elk Creek, cows, Reg. Bulls. Grass fed, rotationally grazed. Excellent MO (Elizabeth Steele 417- Sept. 25-26 STOCKMAN GRASS quality. $1,500 and up. Located in Indiana. Call Bill at 765- WANTED: WINTER GRAZING LAND The Bar Cross Ranch FARMER GRAZIER’S 649-8466 or Joe at 765-425-6887. seeks a 500 to 2,000 Animal Unit grazing lease(s) from 967-2190; www.HamiltonNa- December to May of each year to support its growing busi- MULTI-SPECIES GRAZ- Herd Reduction-100% grass fed, certified organic angus cows tiveOutpost.com) ness. The lease serves to meet the ranchís growth, econom- due to calve in April and May. Ohlde Genetics for easy flesh- ING SCHOOL, Albany, NY ic and ecological objectives. Crop residue, hay aftermath, ing. 80 cows available. Call Matt at 989-621-0021. July 6 Greener Pastures Ranching (Gred Judy 800-748-9808) irrigated pasture and conventional dry land range are all Pasture Walk, Busby, AB 3 Purebred Open Heifers. Purebred Registered 6 year old acceptable pasture types. The Bar Cross will consider full-care (Steve Kenyon 780-307-6500) Sept. 27 STOCKMAN GRASS Devon Bull. Devon/Red Angus Crossbred Cows. Argyle, WI. and no-care pasture leases. Ideally, the lease will be seasonal, FARMER GRAZIER’S Call Tom 608-214-6116. but the ranch will consider annual leases as well. Importantly, July 16-18 Soil Health Consultants SILVOPASTURE SCHOOL, Employment/Help Wanted the ranch has the flexibility, credit-worthiness, and ability to Academy, Brandon, Manito- Albany, NY (Gred Judy 800- meet a variety of landowner goals and objectives. CONTACTS: ba (Kathy Richburg 256-996- 748-9808) Partially irrigated, holistic grazing operation seeking self-mo- JASON R. SPAETH, OWNER 952-688-2181 jspaeth@bar- tivated and detailed oriented individual to join us on expand- cross.com ing acreage in Norfolk Nebraska. Established and growing The Stockman’s Directory M AY , 2 0 1 9 ■ 31 ANGUS ANGUS (CONT’D) ANGUS (CONT’D) ANGUS (CONT’D)

Eat'n grass, Breed'n cows, Gain'n Weight! CLASSIC ANGUS CATTLE Grass Efficient Angus Cattle Since 1969 FREE DELIVERY! Proven for Grass Fudge Farm Finishing & Production www.oliverangus.com 68 Years of Breeding James and Mary Fudge 539 Henry Miller Rd. Colquitt, GA 39837 Spencer Oliver Low Input Angus Cattle 404/803-4400 229-758-2812 • 229-220-2764(cell) [email protected] Feiring Angus Ranch Doug & Ceylon Feiring [email protected] 6698 94th Ave. NW Ph.701-755-3449 Powers Lake, ND 58773 [email protected] www.feiringangusranch.com

Sire: R R Rito 707-$EN +48.87 Top 1% Dam: Donna 714-$W +86.68 Top 1% •Deep •Easy Fleshing •Masculine •Muscular •Semen Available •Bulls for Sale

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Ideal Genetics for Grass Fed Beef

Green Calving Ease Garden Carcass Angus $Values EST 1932 The Janssen Family 1356 Ave M, Ellsworth, KS 67439 785-472-3752 [email protected] www.greengardenangus.com ANIMAL HEALTH/NUTRITION CTORARO NGUS DDA Fahren 21X - Semen Available OOctoraro Epiphany & EmA Brook Angus Featuring sons and daughters of sires like DDA Sam & Sherrill Wylie Emblazon 27C, Fahren of Wye, Banjo of Wye INDRELAND ANGUS 2336 Adams Run Rd., New Paris, PA 15554 814-889-9196 (Sam) 717-816-4816 (Chris) Forage Tested Bulls and Females 814-494-2341 (Sherrill) 814-937-7867 (Rick) Call for Semen Catalog On-Line Bull Sale Dec. 9th, 2019 [email protected] www.octoraroangus.com FORAGE DEVELOPED! OHIO LAND & CATTLE Roger & Betsy Indreland Black Angus DUTCH CREEK ANGUS FORAGE GENETICS Big Timber, Montana Pharo, Pinebank & Wye Genetics NOT ALL ANGUS BULLS ARE CREATED EQUAL JUST IN—NEW ZOETIS DNA TEST RESULTS ON 1-866-901-BEEF Capable of finishing ON GRASS at a premium FORAGER 308!!! James Coffelt • Cadiz, OH Top 18% of the breed for low birth weight [email protected] (330) 328-4470 Top 9% of the breed for docility www.ohiolandandcattle.com Top 6% of the breed for dry matter intake efficiency www.indrelandranch.com Top 4% of the breed for heifer pregnancy rate Top 39% of the breed for yearling growth

CED +11 Private Treaty Angus BW -1.4 Bulls, & Semen For Sale WW +51 HUMANE CASTRATION YW • Maternally Efficient +97 • Moderate Frame Size BLOODLESS • DRUG FREE SC +1.03 • Deep, Thick, & Easy Fleshing DOC Line Bred - Predictable Genetics Early Castration Delayed Castration +33 • MILK +21 $B +107 Semen available $20/straw Export inquiries welcome

Doug & Susan Schlosnagle Pleasureville, KY 40057 Visit our website at dutchcreekangus.com WEE • SMART • PRO Home: 502-461-7882 • Cell: 502-706-0008 • 502-321-2727 Jauer Dependable Genetics Roger & Karen, Doug, Kurt Jauer 31059 Juniper Ave. • Hinton, IA 51024 (712) 947-4357 • [email protected] 800-858-5974 Market Hard! 843-851-6240 www.jauerangus.com CallicrateBanders.com 32 ■ S TOCKMAN G RASS F ARMER The Stockman’s Directory ANIMAL HEALTH/NUTRITION (CONT’D) DEVON (CONT’D) EQUIPMENT (CONT’D) GALLOWAY

MEDI-DART GALLOWAY Crossbow syringe system 500 Years of Extension pole syringe system Exquisite Beef Up to 30cc IM or Sub-q, reusable syringe NO COST PER SHOT from Pasture. 1-888-778-7757 www.medidart.ca The AGBA Legacy [email protected] Continues www.americangalloway.com

FENCE GOATS DEXTER

American Dexter Cattle Association Heritage with a Future Preservation with CATTLE MARKETING a Purpose Stewardship with Marketing a Community GRASSFED CATTLE BUYERS Services www.dextercattle.org 844-588-2322 Specializing in Grass Finishing & Sustainable Grass Genetics WWW.DEXTERCATTLECLUB.COM YOUR NATIONAL RESOURCE FOR DEXTER CATTLE & BEEF www.brubakersales.com Dexter Cattle For Sale (Nationwide) Ken Brubaker Heritage Beef For Sale (Nationwide) 540/908-5799 • [email protected] • Breed Information • Semen Sales • Events of Interest CONSULTING EDUCATION GreG Judy Holistic Planned GrazinG scHools On Farm Consulting Private Farm Tours Of Judy Farms Parasite Resistant Hairsheep Seedstock South Poll Grass Cattle Seedstock 573-874-1816 www.greenpasturesfarm.net [email protected] Tailor Made Cattle “Solutions For Your Genetic and Epi-Genetic Challenges” Steve Campbell Phone: 208-315-4726 tailormadecattle.com Email: [email protected] www.twinmountainfence.com

DEVON EQUIPMENT HILLSIDE PASTURES, LLC Portable Fencing Spring Green, WI • Energizers •Posts Red Devon Seed Stock • Wire •Tumblewheels Daniel & Linda Marquardt • Reels •Waterers 608-588-5367 FOR BEST PRICES Visit our online store at [email protected] WWW.GALLAGHERELECTRICFENCING.COM www.hillsidepastures.com *Free shipping on energizers in the USA, We ship worldwide too* The Stockman’s Directory M AY , 2 0 1 9 ■ 33 GRAZING GENETICS HEREFORD LIVESTOCK HANDLING MURRAY GREY

— ADAMS RANCH — DOGWOOD FARM CORRAL DESIGN SERVICE Murray Grey Select your ABEEF or Brafords Hereford cattle designed & adapted NEW WORKING Grass Genetics Highly Efficient to work well on grass from cows from the foundation Herd! bred entirely on forages since 1964 BOOK WITH FARM Perry Coblentz by ANIMALS PRIVATE TREATY BULLS AVAILABLE! Toby & Debby Dulworth • LaCenter, KY Yrrep Farms 270-224-2993 [email protected] Temple for the Mike Adams (772) 201-5198 www.dogwoodherefords.com May’s Lick, KY 606-763-9021 Buddy Adams (772) 201-4966 Grandin SMALL FARM

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•High heat index resistance •Nutritional adaptation •Early marbling •Parasite tolerant • Certified Organic • Reliable Quality •Early sexual maturity •Docility • Dependable Supply • A Natural source supplement for all feed rations from �Jaime Elizondo � � �832.776.0886 the cold and clean North Atlantic coast of Canada [email protected] Serving only IN, OH, KY. Facebook: Regengraze GRAZING SYSTEMS SUPPLY, INC. Greensburg, IN MINERALS 888-635-8588 or 812-663-8588 RED ANGUS MEITLER CATTLE www.grazingsystemssupply.com • Hereford • Angus • Black White Face Calvo Family Red Angus GRASSFED MATERNAL GENETICS TRUE Grass Based www.MeitlerCattle.com Genetics-Calvo Bulls Lucas, KS 785-658-5612 are a Recipe for Grass Finished Beef. LOW Maintenance. Calvo Easy Red 126C LOW Input. • Heavily Influenced w/ OCC Genetics BIG TIME • Bulls, Females and Semen Angus ◆ Red & Black Composites Calving Ease. For Sale All Year Round Forage Developed www.rccgenes.com Rick Calvo 402-760-1274 www.calvofamilyredangus.com LONGEVITY has Been Our Focus for 50+ years Follow Us On Facebook Steve Radakovich C# 515-229-6169 Steve Ory C# 515-240-4385 Earlham, IA 50072 RED ANGUS SEEDSTOCK GRAZING SUPPLIES Produced on Forage ONLY Easy Fleshing • Kit Pharo Genetics HORSEFLY VALLEY FARM Comprehensive Corrulate dairy production with Farm Chart feed inputs (and beef too). Steven Yutzy West Union, OH 28x40 double sided chart on durable tyvek. 937-544-7838 $24 chart + $4 shipping Simple tracking of farm production: • up to 32 fields • up to 90 • Feed Storage/ Farm Concepts • grazing breeding/calf Inventory • planting • feed DMI • Feed 4991 Township Road 419 • soil inputs • Herd Health Purchases Sugarcreek, OH 44681 • harvest + more 330.407.9578 Organic inspector loves it too! ADVERTISE in the ONLY Grazing Publication That Reaches EVERY STATE!!! Give the year-long gift....a gift subscription to The Stockman Grass Farmer, 1 year $32 Call 843-851-6240 800-748-9808 stockmangrassfarmer.com [email protected] 34 ■ S TOCKMAN G RASS F ARMER The Stockman’s Directory

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WE SHIP DEALERS WELCOME R. L. & Pat Dalrymple Join These Glad Advertisers DALYRMPLE FARMS dba “Elstel Farm & Seeds” Susan Schlosnagle, Dutch Creek Angus, Pleasureville, KY: “Our fall sale ad in SGF really helped! We “The Crabgrass Seed Folks” are very pleased with our sale results. We sold bulls all over…as far away as Canada, Minnesota and Farm/Office: 24275 E. 910 Rd., Thomas, OK 73669 Oklahoma! R. L.’s Phone: 580-670-0043 (BEST) Paul Schneider, AG-USA, Newnan, GA: “We ran an analysis on cost of advertising with the 5 maga- FARM Ph./Fax: 580-661-3997 SHEEP zines we advertise with compared to sales resulting from that advertising. Over the last 3 months, E-mail: [email protected] Stockman Grass Farmer brought in a return of sales of 750% compared to what we spent on SGF Web: redrivercrabgrass.com FLORIDA CRACKER/NATIVE advertising. Not bad! “ high parasite resistance, easy keepers LOOK FOR “MANAGEMENT FACT SHEETS” for organic and pasture systems. Baron Buzhardt, Hay B Gone, Saluda, SC: “We are getting a lot of response from our advertising in ON OUR WEB PAGE! Carol Postley at cell 352-843-8440\352-732-3181 SGF. Our ads produce more sales for Hay-B-Gone than the trade shows we attend!” [email protected] David Schafer, Featherman Equipment, Granbury, TX: “We are getting quite a few calls from the FAIRMEADOWSHEEPFARM.COM Prairie Schooner ads!” GROW NATURE’S POWER PLANT 9276 N.W. 60th Ave., Ocala, FL 34482 Betsy Indreland, Indreland Angus, Big Timber, MT: “Our ads in SGF are bringing in calls from our EASTERN GAMAGRASS Ideally suited for management intensive grazing. target market! “ KATAHDIN HAIR SHEEP 1-800-367-2879 • No Shearing • Excellent Grazers Andrea Martinez, PastureMap, San Francisco, CA: We’ve been really happy with the results from • Low Maintenance • Fertile running ads in SGF! GAMAGRASS SEED COMPANY • Lamb on Pasture • Superb Mothers 70225 656 Ave. Falls City, NE 68355 • www.gamagrass.com ADAPTABLE - Canada to Mexico; Florida to California Connie Krider, Powerflex Systems, Seymour, MO: “Stockman Grass Farmer is #1 for us in number of For Information & Breeders List responses to advertising!” KHSI Operations ■ 479-444-8441 PO Box 778 Fayetteville, AR 72702 Henry Hundt, Shade Haven LLC, Viroqua, WI “We are looking forward to advertising with you again [email protected] www.katahdins.org this coming year!” Jim Truax, Truax Co. Inc., Minneapolis, MN: “We get tremendous results from SGF. We get more response on your ads than anywhere else we run; and we run in a lot of publications.” Kit Pharo, Pharo Cattle Company, Cheyenne Wells, CO: “SGF is the only ag publication that I am will- SWEETPRO MINERAL� ing to pay for.” FOR SHEEP Sam Wylie, Octoraro Angus, Breezewood, PA: “My SGF ads produce more response than my breed FAIRMEADOW SHEEP journal ads!” SLAGLE ENTERPRISES Robert Cain, SeaAgri, Atlanta, GA: “We receive 4 - 5 calls per week from our ads with SGF.” Carol Postley Nickcola Slagle Greg Judy, High Density Grazing Seminar, Clark, MO: “We just sold out our October grazing school 352-843-8440 352-216-4571 in 1 week with the SGF ad!!!” [email protected] Call 9276 NW 60th Ave. Ocala, FL 34482 Join these glad advertisers. 843-851-6240 Place your ad today. M AY , 2 0 1 9 35 What do you think would happen Dealing With the Mob if you added in chemical fertilizer to Continued from p. 23 the mixture? The plants get excess nutrients for free so the fungus is out of a job. The black market is diseases and pests that can be detri- disrupted and the fungus dies. Then mental to the plants. They strengthen when the drought hits, who is there and protect the mob from bad guys. to supply the plants with the hard to It can also transport information to reach moisture? Or the other needed other plants warning them about an micro-nutrients? What happens when incoming disease and the next plant you then stop supplying the fertility? over will start building up resistance How about if a fungicide added to the before the parasite or disease even AN AMERICAN system? What does that do? I think SEED COMPANY reaches it. So not only is the mycor- you get my point. FARMER OWNED rhiza fungi the highway system, it is This secret underground black also the internet of the soil web send- market it pretty important to our ing information back and forth. Talk pastures. This is just one example of about your world wide web! the many trade deals brokered by the Here is the kicker. If the plants mob. There are millions of interac- are weak, they can’t spare any sugar. tions that occur beneath our feet that With no sugar there is no fungus. The we are completely unaware of. Take system fails. All the more reason to care of your black market. The surviv- keep your pastures healthy and not al of the whole system depends on it. overgrazed. An overgrazed pasture God Bless. ■ will have a poorly functioning black market. For this reason, there is Steve Kenyon can be reached at more mycorrhiza fungi present in BONUS TEFF skenyon@greenerpastureranching. rotationally managed pastures than in com. Www.greenerpasturesranch- HIGH QUALITY FORAGE FOR THE SUMMER SLUMP continuously managed pastures. The ing.com or on Facebook at Greener stronger the plants, the stronger the Pastures Ranching. His new book fungus. Make sure you plan for short is available from the SGF Bookshelf graze periods and longer rest periods. page 26. Bonus Te has multiple applications from This black market depends on you. emergency forage to high quality hay! Index of Advertisers Ag-USA ………………………………2 Ohio Land & Cattle ……………………3 Agri-Dynamics ……………………… 18 Palmer Cap-Chur Equipment ………… 22 Agricultural Production Enterprises …… 21 Pasture Management Systems …………6 American Grazing Lands …………… 21 PastureMap ……………………… 10 Arrowquip ………………………… 36 Pharo Cattle Co ………………………5 Belco Resources Equipment ………… 15 Polyface Farm ……………………… 19 • FAST ESTABLISHMENT Datamars ………………………… 29 Powerflex Systems ……………………8 Dr. Sarah's Essentials ……………… 21 Premier Fence Systems ……………… 19 • NO PRUSSIC ACID • NON INVASIVE Dramm Corporation ………………… 16 Ranch Management Consultants ……… 20 • EASY TO HARVEST • 8 10 LBS/ACRE Gallagher Power Fenc ……………… 17 Rio Nutrition ……………………… 12 Grass Farmer Supply …………………9 Safety Zone Calf Catchers, LLC ……… 13 GrazeCart ……………………………5 SeaAgri, Inc ……………………… 23 Greener Pastures Ranching Ltd ……… 15 Shade Haven ……………………… 18 Hamilton Native Outpost …………… 23 Simple Soil Solutions LLC ………………7 IVA Manufacturing ………………… 30 South Poll Grass Cattle Assn ………… 16 Ichthys Cattle Enterprise …………… 15 Thorvin Kelp, USA …………… …….22 Kiko/Grazing Schools ……………… 30 Tigerco …………………………… 11 MAIA Technology ………………………6 Truax Company, Inc ………………… 13 MSF Farm LLC ……………………… 20 Twin Mountain Supply Co …………… 22 Mountain View Seeds ……………… 35 Welter Seed Company ……………… 14 Contact our o ce for more info 503.588.7333 Nevill Supply ……………………… 23 Whole Concepts …………………… 30 [email protected] www.mtviewseeds.com 36 T HE S TOCKMAN G RASSFARMER Meadow Talk Soil Compound Fights Chronic Wasting Disease Continued from p. 30 EDMONTON, Alberta: A involves soils as an environ- or infectivity. According to the farmers can be shaken off. These pages major compound in soil organic mental reservoir of infectivity. authors, the study provides new are full of stories about people who matter degrades chronic wast- Different soil compounds can insights into soil-prion interac- chose a different path. They did not wait ing disease prions and decreas- differentially bind prions and tions, the persistence of prions for a trade negotiator to win the day es infectivity in mice, according change their infective proper- in soil, and their bioavailability or for some concession in immigration to a study published November ties. to grazing animals. policy. We believe in creating our own 29, 2018, in the open-access Aiken and colleagues tested Aiken added, “CWD is a options, or own opportunities. We refuse journal PLOS Pathogens by the role of a major soil organic significant emerging and fatal to be beholden to nameless faceless Judd Aiken of the University of matter compound, humic acid, disease of deer, elk and moose. power brokers manipulating our future. Alberta, and colleagues. for its ability to bind chronic Given it is shed from infected Here, we promote stepping off the ortho- Chronic wasting disease is an wasting disease prions and animals into the environment dox path and finding success by daring environmentally transmissible, impact infectivity. The research- where it can serve as a source to think differently. The water’s warm; fatal prion disease affecting ers examined a wide range of of infection, it is essential that come on in. ■ free-ranging deer, moose, elk humic acid concentrations, we understand the impact of and reindeer. It is endemic in representing the extensive soil and soil components on this Joel Salatin is a full-time grass North America, present in South spectrum of humic acid levels unusual infectious agent.” ■ farmer in Swoope, Virginia, whose Korea and has recently been present in native soils. The find- family owns Polyface Farm. Author confirmed in northern Europe. ings suggest that soil organic PLOS, the science and conference speaker, he promotes Environmental prion contami- material degrades chronic wast- Journal Reference is by food and farming systems that heal nation plays a major role in the ing disease prions. Incubation Alsu Kuznetsova, Catherine the land while developing profitable increasing incidence of chronic of chronic wasting disease pri- Cullingham, Debbie McKenzie, farms. Follow his blog musings at www. wasting disease, with infectivity ons with high concentrations Judd M. Aiken. Soil humic acids thelunaticfarmer.com. To contact him, being released into the environ- of humic acids decreased both degrade CWD prions and reduce email [email protected] or call ment by decaying carcasses, or the chronic wasting disease infectivity. PLOS Pathogens, Polyface Farm at 540-885-3590. through shedding of biological prion signal and infectivity in 2018; 14 (11): e1007414 DOI: It’s not too late to attend Polyface fluids including urine, feces, mice, whereas lower levels of 10.1371/journal.ppat.1007414 Intensive Discovery Seminars. See the and saliva. The transmission humic acids did not signifi- ad on page 19 for details. of chronic wasting disease cantly impact protein stability

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