Moving our Red Devon cattle and St Croix sheep back to paddock #1 to start another rotation while we talk about maximizing grass growth and productivity.
And thanks for watching. It makes me feel good knowing some folks out there benefit from who we’re becoming. I hope as we grow we can keep it that way. I also hope this next week is a better one for you😀
Great opening message. Paul talks about us being slaves to messiah. Dylan took some of those biblical thoughts and said “you gotta serve somebody. It may be the devil or it may be the Lord but you’re gonna have to serve somebody.” Twice Jesus is asked about taxes and both times said pay them. In the verse you quoted it was “even though the kings kids don’t have to. Just pay them. I’ll provide”. It is weird to find freedom within slavery. But I think that is what we have. We can be miserable sickly slaves or happy healthy slaves. One makes the other look like freedom. Solomon said in Ecclesiastes everything is vanity. So enjoy your work and enjoy your food. And it looks to me that is what you are doing. Ecclesiastes 2:24 NLT “So I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work. Then I realized that these pleasures are from the hand of God.”
Thank you for sharing this and for your encouragement - still pondering your words…I’m reminded how I don’t always perceive in His provision the subtle, humble way that the first are becoming last and the last first.
Hi Jason, I live in Northwest Indiana and we are dry right now as several storms went around are area. You are really fortunate to have had that much rain. Enjoyed seeing the footage of that Sheep grazing in that tall Green vegetation at about 10:28. It looked like it was in Heaven. It is interesting to watch how they know exactly what they want to feed on and leaving everything else. Congratulations on that beautiful Peach harvest. How do you keep the Japanese Beatles from destroying your crop? We gave up on Peach trees here as it is so hard to keep them away destroying the Peaches.
Thanks, Ben! If you get time, check out John Kempf’s regenerative ag podcast, specifically his plant health pyramid. One of the concepts is bugs only attack sub-par plants growing in sub-par soil. He had a guest on awhile back who talked about the fallacy in organic ag that just b/c a bug has eaten part of an edible plant doesn’t mean it’s fit for human consumption, quite the opposite! I thought it was fascinating. Thanks for dropping by, Ben!
Man, peaches came on great! First time I’ve been able to see ‘em fruit out like that since they were set out. Nice! And have me some peach jam next time we’re in! 😊
I'm curious, when your lease is up with the farmer on your other acres of land, will you do an experiment running your animal numbers the way they are now with the total amount of space on your farm to see the stocking density comparison, plant recovery, etc? So many comparable experiments... Got to pay the bills, I understand. Just throwing an idea out. I appreciate your videos, you have inspired myself and so many. God bless
So here’s what I’m seeing: The closer we move toward running triple the conventional stocking rate, the more pressure I feel for more ground. Obviously we’re going to have to pivot at some point. We’ve made some strategic moves here recently with purchasing more St Croix ewes. Stay tuned, brother!!🤠
How many cattle and sheep do you have on the 5 acres and how much hay is needed for your non-grazing period of the Ohio winter. You are an inspiration and we may begin something similar.
Right now we’re running 8 Red Devon cattle and 36 sheep. We feed about 10 tons of hay at a price of about $100/ton. Large round bales are my preferred hay choice (cheapest). My email is in channel description if I can further assist.
We are planning a later breeding for next year. Last year and this year we lambed in April but this time we are aiming for June. Gives the pasture more of a chance to grow and lambs a better chance with warmer weather. We will see how it goes! We also got mason bees this year and our orchard produced a TON of fruit! I'm hoping to get honey bees and chickens next year and be more strategic with cover cropping. Bale grazing was great for us. All the spots where there were bales are considerably more green and lush than areas that didn't have bales. We will definitely do that again. I like what you did with cover cropping over the bales and running chickens through that so I'm hoping to do the same next year. A fun (not really) thing we have been dealing with though is hornets! We have two lambs who stuck their faces in nests and they look just like Mike Tyson after a match. I don't like having to kill wildlife but they're nasty here this year.
Pushing lambing back sounds like a very wise thing to do. I’ve often thought about it, and one of the draws for me is those late pregnant ewes getting lots of fresh grass BEFORE actually lambing. Knowing lambs put on most of their weight in the last 6 weeks of gestation, I bet that will be a good move. I’ll be interested to hear about it! Hornets and lambs don’t mix tho, ouch!🫢
So the grass is packed tight in airtight containers and then ferments. Ready in about 30 days and keeps for years as long as not exposed to air. I need to do another video on how we make sometime.
Thank you! We’re on just under 60, but carve out 5 for our intensive rotational grazing system, which yields between two and three times conventional. Definitely not flat, as our land is classified as HEL (highly erodible land).
Do you just hand spread that cover crop? Anything you do to get good germination? I’ve read to give the cattle seed and their stomach breaks down the outer hard layer of the shell and gets better germination, have you tried that before?
I have not tried running seed thru the cattle b/c we really haven’t needed to. We have an ultra simple and small broadcast spreader we pull behind a mower. Very low key and the covers take off for us. I think the key to covers is letting the animals graze the existing forage low, moisture timing, and also having decent soil biology. Dripping some JS extract on the broadcast seed would also boost, IMO…we just haven’t needed to and still getting great stands.
Just dig a hole, put the dirt back on top (the deeper the better so you don’t have night time critters digging), then immediately plant. We’ve seen same season success with squash, potatoes, and cover crops.
@birchfieldfarming Awesome, Mahalo braddah. I really enjoy your videos. I have a small farm here on the Big Island of Hawaii. In a little town Waimea. It's 4 acres and I have a mini Jersey milking cow and a calf. Pasture pigs, and pasture chickens. I have other properties that I'm using family and friends. There I have 22 sheep, 5 horses and a cow and steer. Keep the videos coming. I learn alot from your videos. I also love the scriptures you share. Mahalo and Aloha God bless😁🤙
What is the purpose of the St. Croix sheep? Is there a market for those? Wool? I am unclear as nobody around me, when I was growing up, ever grew sheep or lambs. I have heard there is a market now but unsure how or where. What ethnicity would I be appeasing or marketing to? Arabs?
So St Croix sheep are a hair sheep, so they loose their hair like a dog, no shearing. There is an absolutely incredible demand right now from homestead start-ups across the country for St Croix b/c they are naturally parasite resistant, requiring no chemical dewormer. Therefore, they fit very nicely into a truly regenerative, 100% grass-fed farming system that is building soil health and biology. We primarily sell breeding stock, but also plan on processing our own meat at some point. At that point, whatever lamb meat we harvest will be entirely self-sufficient on only our pasture grass and mineral. There are many breeds who are touted as being larger carcass size than St Croix, but you won’t find a heartier sheep on pasture for the small farm.
So we really haven’t applied much JS to pastures yet. I really think running multiple species in a rotation and mixing in cover crops where it makes sense is an unbeatable, non-chemical approach. Every year we see it improve.
Don’t quite agree with that chart. When grasses develop seed they also produce their maximum root exudates, so you can get a return now at the ‘optimum’ grazing time or extent the rest period and get a return later from the soil improvement.
Interesting. What you’re saying is also in line with Allen Williams’ reports of higher brix levels in the more mature forage. Perhaps straight poundage isn’t all we should be looking at, great point.
Row crop runs the land market (except Greg Judy’s area), reality is pasture leasing is just not an option in the majority of the country when big ag’s attempting to feed the world.
Thank you for sharing your faith in every video Jason!
Don’t know how we could live this way and not, be blessed friend.🌱
@@birchfieldfarming Amen, blessings to you as well!
Thank you Jason. Rough week at work and a crappy weekend so I am in much need of the therapy that your vlog has to offer.
And thanks for watching. It makes me feel good knowing some folks out there benefit from who we’re becoming. I hope as we grow we can keep it that way. I also hope this next week is a better one for you😀
🙏🏼🙏🏼
Great opening message. Paul talks about us being slaves to messiah. Dylan took some of those biblical thoughts and said “you gotta serve somebody. It may be the devil or it may be the Lord but you’re gonna have to serve somebody.” Twice Jesus is asked about taxes and both times said pay them. In the verse you quoted it was “even though the kings kids don’t have to. Just pay them. I’ll provide”. It is weird to find freedom within slavery. But I think that is what we have. We can be miserable sickly slaves or happy healthy slaves. One makes the other look like freedom. Solomon said in Ecclesiastes everything is vanity. So enjoy your work and enjoy your food. And it looks to me that is what you are doing.
Ecclesiastes 2:24 NLT
“So I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work. Then I realized that these pleasures are from the hand of God.”
Thank you for sharing this and for your encouragement - still pondering your words…I’m reminded how I don’t always perceive in His provision the subtle, humble way that the first are becoming last and the last first.
Amen and beautiful farm !!!
Thank you, William!
Thank you so much for sharing your video!! We are working on the same things with our place!! I love the paddock set ups
Hey thanks! I saw where you guys are in Missouri. Is it rocky ground where you are?
@@birchfieldfarmingsome of our ground is rocky but we also have some spots with good soil!
Hi Jason, I live in Northwest Indiana and we are dry right now as several storms went around are area. You are really fortunate to have had that much rain.
Enjoyed seeing the footage of that Sheep grazing in that tall Green vegetation at about 10:28. It looked like it was in Heaven. It is interesting to watch how they know exactly what they want to feed on and leaving everything else.
Congratulations on that beautiful Peach harvest. How do you keep the Japanese Beatles from destroying your crop? We gave up on Peach trees here as it is so hard to keep them away destroying the Peaches.
Thanks, Ben! If you get time, check out John Kempf’s regenerative ag podcast, specifically his plant health pyramid. One of the concepts is bugs only attack sub-par plants growing in sub-par soil. He had a guest on awhile back who talked about the fallacy in organic ag that just b/c a bug has eaten part of an edible plant doesn’t mean it’s fit for human consumption, quite the opposite! I thought it was fascinating. Thanks for dropping by, Ben!
@@birchfieldfarming Thanks, I will check it out.
Man, peaches came on great! First time I’ve been able to see ‘em fruit out like that since they were set out. Nice! And have me some peach jam next time we’re in! 😊
We’re discovering there’s an art to harvesting at the right time. Hope we can get it right!🤠
I'm curious, when your lease is up with the farmer on your other acres of land, will you do an experiment running your animal numbers the way they are now with the total amount of space on your farm to see the stocking density comparison, plant recovery, etc? So many comparable experiments... Got to pay the bills, I understand. Just throwing an idea out. I appreciate your videos, you have inspired myself and so many. God bless
What exactly would you like to see in just trying to learn along the way!
@@AlgiereRanch I'm interested in what he comes up with. His break downs of different styles are respectful and thorough.
So here’s what I’m seeing: The closer we move toward running triple the conventional stocking rate, the more pressure I feel for more ground. Obviously we’re going to have to pivot at some point. We’ve made some strategic moves here recently with purchasing more St Croix ewes. Stay tuned, brother!!🤠
@@birchfieldfarming sounds good! We were considering adding some sheep in to help with the over all quality of the forage
@@AlgiereRanch Sheep have been a great fit for us here, very prolific and thriving on all grass.
How many cattle and sheep do you have on the 5 acres and how much hay is needed for your non-grazing period of the Ohio winter.
You are an inspiration and we may begin something similar.
Right now we’re running 8 Red Devon cattle and 36 sheep. We feed about 10 tons of hay at a price of about $100/ton. Large round bales are my preferred hay choice (cheapest). My email is in channel description if I can further assist.
@@birchfieldfarming Thank you! I will collect my thoughts and questions and reach out by email.
We are planning a later breeding for next year. Last year and this year we lambed in April but this time we are aiming for June. Gives the pasture more of a chance to grow and lambs a better chance with warmer weather. We will see how it goes!
We also got mason bees this year and our orchard produced a TON of fruit! I'm hoping to get honey bees and chickens next year and be more strategic with cover cropping. Bale grazing was great for us. All the spots where there were bales are considerably more green and lush than areas that didn't have bales. We will definitely do that again. I like what you did with cover cropping over the bales and running chickens through that so I'm hoping to do the same next year.
A fun (not really) thing we have been dealing with though is hornets! We have two lambs who stuck their faces in nests and they look just like Mike Tyson after a match. I don't like having to kill wildlife but they're nasty here this year.
Pushing lambing back sounds like a very wise thing to do. I’ve often thought about it, and one of the draws for me is those late pregnant ewes getting lots of fresh grass BEFORE actually lambing. Knowing lambs put on most of their weight in the last 6 weeks of gestation, I bet that will be a good move. I’ll be interested to hear about it! Hornets and lambs don’t mix tho, ouch!🫢
Great insights and data, as always! If you're cutting in the spring how do you keep the containerized grass "fresh" all the way to the winter?
So the grass is packed tight in airtight containers and then ferments. Ready in about 30 days and keeps for years as long as not exposed to air. I need to do another video on how we make sometime.
@@birchfieldfarming definitely a good topic for a video. Thanks.
@@StephenG222I’ll put it on the radar! We should phone chat again sometime, hope things are well up north, Sir!
How many acres do you have and is your land completely flat!???? By the way lovely farm
Thank you! We’re on just under 60, but carve out 5 for our intensive rotational grazing system, which yields between two and three times conventional. Definitely not flat, as our land is classified as HEL (highly erodible land).
Do you just hand spread that cover crop? Anything you do to get good germination? I’ve read to give the cattle seed and their stomach breaks down the outer hard layer of the shell and gets better germination, have you tried that before?
I have not tried running seed thru the cattle b/c we really haven’t needed to. We have an ultra simple and small broadcast spreader we pull behind a mower. Very low key and the covers take off for us. I think the key to covers is letting the animals graze the existing forage low, moisture timing, and also having decent soil biology. Dripping some JS extract on the broadcast seed would also boost, IMO…we just haven’t needed to and still getting great stands.
@@birchfieldfarming very cool, thank you for sharing ! God bless ✝️
@@reefingwithcalvin7336You got it, thanks for dropping by!🧑🏻🌾
How do you bury your chicken innards? Do you just dig a hole or trench. Or spread it out somehow? How long after do you plant on it?
Just dig a hole, put the dirt back on top (the deeper the better so you don’t have night time critters digging), then immediately plant. We’ve seen same season success with squash, potatoes, and cover crops.
@birchfieldfarming Awesome, Mahalo braddah. I really enjoy your videos. I have a small farm here on the Big Island of Hawaii. In a little town Waimea. It's 4 acres and I have a mini Jersey milking cow and a calf. Pasture pigs, and pasture chickens. I have other properties that I'm using family and friends. There I have 22 sheep, 5 horses and a cow and steer. Keep the videos coming. I learn alot from your videos. I also love the scriptures you share. Mahalo and Aloha God bless😁🤙
@@bns8594Hawaii, wow awesome!🤠
What is the purpose of the St. Croix sheep? Is there a market for those? Wool? I am unclear as nobody around me, when I was growing up, ever grew sheep or lambs. I have heard there is a market now but unsure how or where. What ethnicity would I be appeasing or marketing to? Arabs?
So St Croix sheep are a hair sheep, so they loose their hair like a dog, no shearing. There is an absolutely incredible demand right now from homestead start-ups across the country for St Croix b/c they are naturally parasite resistant, requiring no chemical dewormer. Therefore, they fit very nicely into a truly regenerative, 100% grass-fed farming system that is building soil health and biology. We primarily sell breeding stock, but also plan on processing our own meat at some point. At that point, whatever lamb meat we harvest will be entirely self-sufficient on only our pasture grass and mineral. There are many breeds who are touted as being larger carcass size than St Croix, but you won’t find a heartier sheep on pasture for the small farm.
Do you attribute your green pastures in “such heat” to the Johnson SU or rotational grazing alone?
So we really haven’t applied much JS to pastures yet. I really think running multiple species in a rotation and mixing in cover crops where it makes sense is an unbeatable, non-chemical approach. Every year we see it improve.
My grass and hay and pastures are mostly “browned out” this time of year.
Don’t quite agree with that chart. When grasses develop seed they also produce their maximum root exudates, so you can get a return now at the ‘optimum’ grazing time or extent the rest period and get a return later from the soil improvement.
Interesting. What you’re saying is also in line with Allen Williams’ reports of higher brix levels in the more mature forage. Perhaps straight poundage isn’t all we should be looking at, great point.
You can go out. Lease.
Row crop runs the land market (except Greg Judy’s area), reality is pasture leasing is just not an option in the majority of the country when big ag’s attempting to feed the world.