Brushogged pasture versus non-brushogged pasture after 4 days of consecutive rain.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 ส.ค. 2023
- Brushogged pasture versus non-brushogged pasture after 4 days of consecutive rain. The grass pastures look like the spring flush just hit us in August! Unbelievable what happens when you leave a good residual of forage protecting your precious soil. The rains were captured where they fell on the pastures. Minimal runoff and an explosion of new green grass blades accompanied by fresh earthworm castings for natural fertilizer. It just doesn't get any better than that!
If you want to learn how to make your pastures look like this, check out our September grazing school that we are holding by clicking here: greenpasturesfarm.net/grazing-...
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Thanks for making healthy soil !
Thank-you for supporting our channel!!
Greg, if the world had another 10000 of you, we could turn this God forsaken mess around. May God bless you and everything you touch.
Ain’t it crazy that every taxpayer is paying the farmers who raise livestock conventionally? Because they are making food, but they aren’t making money, so the federal government has to support them. I suppose with lobbyists, the FDA or USDA can’t make a big push to stop supporting the chemical input manufacturers.
Thank God for TH-cam. Farmers are getting savvy.
Only need 1 Greg judy
@@C.HawkshawThe federal government has been helping the grain farmers for decades and decades. The cattle farmers haven’t had any help from the government until the recent EQIP program. The government should slowly phase out and farm assistance programs. Then let the consumers pay higher prices for their food. See how that goes.
Jan is a great straight man for your videos, Greg. Thank you for doing this one. I was thinking this morning that I wanted to hear about how Issac's experiment with the tightening down the herd had turned out for your pastures. Very timely follow up.
I'm in SE PA, watch many of your videos for several years. This is one of the best educational vids. you've done. Please do one detailing each grass identity.
I am very happy that you finally received rain! As a grazer, I know that awful feeling of having no rain on land that needs it.
We were truly blessed to get the timely rains right when we desperately needed it.
I am almost in the same neighborhood about 200 miles west of you. Our lifesaving rain over the last two weeks amounted to 1 3/4”. Feel the same pain as you as every day this week in going to be 100+. Yesterday 108, same today. Got my cows in a larger wooded paddock for this stretch.
So happy you finally got a few days of good soaking rain! It is amazing how fast dry pasture grass that looks dead greens up and starts growing again after several inches of rain. The cattle will be happy to be eating re hydrated green grass again.
Hey Greg, I watch Josh Stoney Ridge Farmer & you. Thanks for all the educational you freely give us. I am in the Sandhills of NC
Great Job with the "student-Jan" "teacher-Greg" discussions!!! Very educational
I love that little section where you elain you are in the solar energy business and show the size of the solar panel after overgrazing! Thank you!
I'm glad that Jan was there to ask questions because those were my questions, also. Thank you Jan!!
Most important video you've ever made! Setting up your farm for winter stockpile grass. Can you review the numbers on grazing acres used every 24 hrs. for getting onto the 80-90 day rotation (going slower) to now (speeding up) for 60 days to nip the grass before frost and then working out the winter rotation(twice around the farm) ? Thanks for keeping it simple! Alan D. Henning
I enjoyed this one so much - thanks to Jan for asking extra questions to explain what seems obvious :)
Excellent video Greg and Jan the soil looks amazing I love to see soil fertility test results for some of the land under your management the longest along with fertilising history lime etc.. I know it will shock folks from industrial ag mindset
Great idea!
Great idea! I’d be interested to know that, too.
Thanks for the video! It is amazing what plants can do with rain, sun, and rest. It’s starting to heat up again this week. Our cattle still stay in the hot sun instead in the shade. The sheep on the other hand loves the shade.
This year we did not brush hog/mow our pasture knowing the risk of a dry year. The cover appeared to help keep the moisture in the ground and a with robust rotational grazing program we still have plenty of grass bouncing back to heights of 6 to 8 inches during these dry conditions. My neighbors across the road mowed their pastures and to date those pastures have not recovered. For us, mowing depends on a number parameters that have to be taken into account.
Great comparison for sure! Seeing big differences in our pastures this year! Also gained tge last of the neighbors farm wich hasnt been mowed or grazed in 15 plus years plan on doing a video on what it looks like after grazing and trampling and see how it comes back! Thanks again for the great info!
I love your programBut you still need rain you can't graze or stockpile if you have no rain in Wisconsin we've gotten 3 and 1/8 p since the snow melted you have beautiful grass but you say you got 6 in of rain it cannot be done without rain
I hope you folks get some rain!
This is valuable information. Thank you very much for this video! We are looking to lease some land to grow our own hay for our draft horses. Thank you
We always brush hogged our pastures where the wheel just barely hits the ground on the hog, this way you’re really not cutting your grasses only any unwanted weeds or bushes 👍🇺🇸
Thank you Greg and Jan, this was one of the most informative pieces of grazing instruction that I've received to this point.
Great video. Jan is helpful with her commentary and questions for her hubby.
Good info Jan. Folks forget about the blanket on roots. In cali they have perscribe burn and you got people out here burning nearly every other year sometimes. And they forget impact makes hoof prints it holds water and adds to the blanket on the land. Yes, burn because it's Cali but maybe not every other year if you have impact.
That’s crazy isn’t it, exposing all that land to the sun!
Ive been working on my soil for just two years, and now its black and full of worms. One of my main goals was to keep the ground covered, if there was a bald spot I covered it with grass clippings and I also pick up bagged leaves from neighborhoods, take those home and mow them in, it works great. Built a full inch of black soil in just two years. I also use humic acid, and compost tea. I brew the tea in the humic acid.
Jan, thanks for pointing out which grasses are cool season grasses.
excellent info, thank you!!!
Hmmm very interesting! I’m just getting into this!
Very educative
About to start reading Comeback Farms, can't wait to get my hands on the latest book, just need to figure out how to get it to New Zealand!
I don't recall that you've ever talked about insurance. What insurance do you carry?
Excellent cover,close match to original.
Pasture looks amazing. Stockpiling should be easy enough now. Great to see it for your herd and flock. Did you ever make a sheep-lamb ratio video? Or have they not been sorted yet? I missed it if you did.
We bush-hog in TN (no matter the brand name of the mower). I just bushhogged my little fields yesterday and I'm gong out to the big woods today. It sucks because I have no critters to graze away all this wonderful grass and forbs. But first I'm making a new tractor-seat cushion. The cover has been gone for decades, now I'm replacing the foam with XLPE (mini-cell foam) that I bought to make a kayak seat from. And we've just hit our first dry spell, It's been raining a lot down here--all summer. Glad you folks finally got some-we might be dry next year.
We averaged around 1.5 lambs per ewe.
Oh wow that's down a bit from last year I do believe. Hope for better next round.
OK Jan, This is where the grazing chart comes in forecasting the next 90 days. Folks want to know!!!! Show us pretty please. :)
So roots = resilience!
great video thanks for posting. were in southern ontario canada and weve had quite the wet season. hard for hay but great for our little 7 acre farm thats all pasture. were pretty broke so cant afford a tractor, so the non-brush hogged looks like my field. luckily we only had a few weeks of draught in june, but other than that, weve been pretty lucky this year. alfalfa did really well and our sheep are thriving off it. we dont do grain here either so the second pass is a perfect flushing system for our ewes, at the perfect time as our ram goes in with the girls in august... just as the ewes have been eating mostly alfalfa. :)
natures way in canada i suppose.
Wonderful video, i love the comparison videos! so i guess a brush hog that will leave a good residual is essential for an Adaptive grazing operation to keep the grass tasty for the cows?
In a perfect world, if you had enough cows at the right time and stayed out there all day moving them every 20 minutes, no mowing would be needed. Sometimes brush encroachment gets ahead of you and it needs to be controlled or your will lose the grazing lease on the leased farm.
Hi Mrs. Judy! Thanks for asking good questions on this video. Also do you when Greg is going to get pastured poultry to follow behind the cows? 😊
So you're not brush hogging with a tractor, but using mob grazing? I hope I'm understanding that correctly. Also -- if you can, please make a video on cool season grasses and what can be done to allow for more winter grazing and minimize having to feed them hay. I'm just trying to get started with just a few cows, but I'm leasing my land to a neighbor and just grazing my cows with his herd. Until I get going with my herd expansion and get him off the place -- I'd like to know what I can do to help improve my pasture for the future. I'm in the NE Oklahoma Ozarks, so pretty much the same climate as you. Any info on how to improve my pasture, especially to enhance winter grazing and forage would be very much appreciated!
Thanks for all your info and expertise -- there's a lot of us out here trying to get back to the land. 🌧️🌿🐐
Our cattle (S.P.s) tend to hang around at the end of our paddies closest to the water tanks, which are on a Plasson / quick coupler system. Our mineral feeder (FCE) are at the other end of the paddies, away from the water (G.J. best practices). We move our herd of about 40 head every day. Problem: the grass at the water end of the paddies, within about 50’ to 80’ are getting eaten and beaten down very low, but the rest of the paddy is only taken down to about the correct height. Any suggestions for as to how we might improve this problem? Thank you.
Tricia, for the cheap cost of Plasson couplers, add a few more on the end of the paddock where you are not getting the grazing you like. Back fence them on that area after you have water and move them faster. They will mow it evenly if you speed up your rotation and tighten up their stocking density.
I've learned a lot from watching your videos, Greg! We got 8 St Croix ewes, trying to rotate on a 4 acre pasture. It is a lot for them, so we have also tried mowing behind them to take down all the woody growth. Its amazing how nice it is growing back with just 1 year of their manure and no other additions! Quick question...is it necessary to put down 2 to 3 tons of lime if the soil test indicated that? We have not done that yet, not sure if it is worth the expense. Our ph a year ago was 5.7. Will the sheep improve ph on their own?
You can get there with sheep. Make your daily paddocks long narrow rectangles so that the sheep trample more forage on the ground. This feeds the soil and you will not need to lime.
@@gregjudyregenerativerancher thank you! That is good to know. We will try that this fall and winter and see where we are with another soil test in the spring.
Good rain at a time of the year with warm weather and sunshine. A great combination and a relief as well. More stockpile means having to feed less hay. Thank you for the follow up on the brush-hogged pasture. However, I'm a little confused about the ridges not being hit hard by the herd. Would you recommend not hitting the ridge tops hard with the animal impact during a drought? Or did the cattle simply get too full to eat it off before hitting the ridges? Thank you for a great video.
They were full when they got to the ridges
@40 seconds, he’s looking for his Day Timer…… man I miss those simpler days
True on the grazing level, unless you have bahia
I hope Ian had not been impacted by the unrest in S. Africa!
It's a tough place to live. Be thankful for living in the US. We certainly have our problems here in the US, but nothing like S. Africa.
Greg, Enjoy your mentoring. Thank you! Wondering if after these first rains, would you consider topping the un-mowed portion of the field to cut back some of the summer weeds that have gotten ahead of the rain? I'm in central Texas and we've have over 35 days in a row of 100 degree+ temps and no rain...the wolly croton and briers are really showing off...I was thinking a quick topping (after we get rain) would allow the grass to get ahead for the last part of sumer.
I don’t like clipping after August 15th. Your mowing down winter forage.
When you are talking about moving them faster are you still moving 3 times a day and what is your pounds per acre?
I am finding my cows unfortunately I only have about 14,000 pounds to work with and about 65 acres of grazeable pasture
I am just 10 months into working with my cows & sheep. I am a rookie but entrepreneur so I learn fast you have taught me a lot. Two things I always hear from any cattle people who visit my farm or I send pictures is your cows look fat and pastures look good
So I hope & pray I am a good Stewart of the land and good student of Regenerative mob grazing
God bless you & Jan I would love to attend a grazing school sometime but I am a one man operation and as my wife says a prisoner to my animals
Just starting to generate a little farm revenue but still couple years away from hire sone help
I think Greg has earned a Bluetooth mic or something to help him with all the wind noises on these pasture talks.
Still waiting for rain up here. With the rain you got are the conventional fields flooded?
The row crop fields cannot hold any water. The soil is capped and all the rain runs into the ditches.
God is good.
How low did you cut the pasture in June?
What’s the latest date you would cut your pasture for the year and what height do you cut?
August 10th would be latest date to cut if you were getting rain. Mow it off at 8-10" height.
I'm going behind my cows and clipping the ragweed off at about 8 inches. Beautiful red clover is exploding as a result of this dry weather. Stars aligned just right for clover evidently. Hope everyone gets some rain.
Dose my grass have to go to seed to propagate it's self?Or will it propagate it's self by runners? Which is the best way Thanks 🤠
Some grass spreads by runners, most of them spread by producing seed.
Greg. Was it brush hogged with the tractor, or the 1,000, 000 pounds per acre where the boys moved them every 30 minutes? Confusion in the comments.
The boys moved the cow mob every 30 minutes, and the stocking density was 1 million pounds per acre. After they finished grazing that area, they clipped off the thorn trees with the brushog to please the landowner.
Greg, I sort of just discovered on TH-cam something you raised here called "total grazing". I can't see how it works...it's strange. I can understand moving cows 4 times a day but not this "ultra high density" thing they do. It is quite counter-intuitive and against every thing I ever learned about soil health. Yet their practitioners seem to swear by it. Can you comment more more on this?
It’s a great way to go broke unless you can make it rain and you like feeding purchased grain to get the animals to perform. Ain’t going down that road.
I’ve got 1/2 section of pasture I’ve been saving for drought insurance.
It’s mowed to the dirt from grasshoppers. Not sure what to do with
If it is mowed to the dirt with grasshoppers, you need to get your plant spacing closer together. This is accomplished by planned grazing over several years.
Cover your divots!😁
😊
Hi Greg. How do you deal with thicks on your cows?
Ticks don’t bother our cows much. We are constantly pulling them off of us though. They seem to thrive on smooth human skin!
@@gregjudyregenerativerancher I live in Belize and my cows have ticks. Do you know about a natural way to combat the ticks.
Do you find certain beef breeds taste better. Like hereford taste better than angus on the same pasture or vice versa?
I’m sure there are good tasting ones in most breeds.
Breed doesn't really matter. For thr most part, they look the same with their clothes off. Some are generally more lean than others.
What the animal ate will be the largest contributing factor for taste. Age too.
I have watched some chefa compare beef breeds and therw are clear winners in their opinion. I have heard the same with chicken and pork. Some breeds taste better.
After all this time following all this, I'm still not sure what brush-hogging is and why anyone would do it. It would be great if Gregg could answer these questions.
Sometimes when you have landowners that we lease from, they want it mowed off every summer to make it look pretty and kept looking. In other words they want it to look like their yard in town. If you let it get to weedy looking, they may kick you off the farm lease. This particular pasture that we mowed off was only 20 acres, there are 240 acres that are not mowed on this same farm.
A bush-hog or brush-hog is basically a big industrial type lawn-mower that has blades big enough that it can cut through the woody stems of weedy brush. It’s towed behind a small tractor. You can set the height of it much taller than you would a lawn mower. (Someone correct me if I’m wrong but l think it’s usually set from 8-15 inches.
Then the fields look tidy to the landowner, but you’ve left lots of grass to collect sun and grow back.
@@gregjudyregenerativerancher Thanks! Glad to see you only had to do this on a small acreage.
@@C.Hawkshaw Thank you for your further clarification, although I know Greg said he doesn't have a tractor, so perhaps there are smaller versions that can be towed by a smaller vehicle?
They do make a tow behind model that's made for an atv.
It's normally something you'd contract a local farmer to do if you don't have a tractor. With a large mower it doesn't take them long. They make them 4 to 15+ feet wide.
you had 1000 head?
Solar grazing sheep
I don't understand why with such animal impact and density of grazing that brushhogging should be necessary. Seems like a lot of time/diesel for an otherwise impeccably low-carbon system.
The brush hogging cut off the things the cows won't eat. Also it cuts off brush and turns it to litter to feed the soil.
@@mariayelruh I understand the rationale. But much of the the same could be achieved with trampling, which with 30 minute moves you would think would be more than enough. We brush-hog occasionally ourselves but more sparingly, and I had hoped that with his intensity of impact and with sheep browsing that it would be unnecessary.
Im thinking they might have done it for testing/comparison? ????
@@JimCasler Perhaps. Typically on previous videos he talks about brushhogging in order to please the landowner by making it tidy. If it's a requirement for his system to work I'd like to know for certain so I can tweak my system.
When the forage is growing too quickly and he cannot get the herd onto a particular piece of land in time, the grass starts to get woody snd non-vegatative. In which case, he will get out the brush hog.
Of course, every 2-3 years each piece of pasture needs to be brush-hogged anyway, to take down the trees and brush that survived the trampling by his livestock.
How many acres per cow to be able to keep recommended ground cover ?? What is your total cows per acre?