I have purchased books and listened to seminars by all the well known regenerative advocates and was always left with the question, how do "I" get started. This video breaks down that process into practical instruction. Now, two years later, I must say that EVERYTHING you advise in this video is spot-on. And, since I don't ever leave comments, I'll add a thank you for always sitting down at the end of your videos to rationalize why you do things. Fatherly advise in a way. My wife and I really appreciate it, and all you do. Thank you!
Just revisiting this video in 2023 and it’s remarkable how this channel has progressed in terms of subscribers from celebrating getting to 1000. Well done Mr.Pete, you’re now over 400K! Not only did you transform your pastures but your channel has blossomed as well! 👍🏻
Regenerative Ag is coming back... finally. It is amazing how quickly the soil can come back even after almost a century of mono-cropping mismanagement... Thanks for your videos, glad I found you.
More than 1 year later and I find the information here to be timeless wisdom!!! Thank you so much for being the kind of human being who would rather help another human being than to suffer through either hearing or seeing their failure. In my book, that’s what angels do. 😃👍
We started about 15 years ago with having pine woods removed destumped and the ground graded by a pro with the right size equipment. Saved us time and money. We seeded and covered the seed with hay in any spots that were bare as the grass grew. Added lime. We hand picked up an old garbage dump and any old glass, etc. as it washed up. The grass took hold and we rotated horses on it for a few years. Then we got into dairy goats and eventually sold all of the horses. Now we rotate the goats between two established pastures. We never use fertilizer, but do mow about three times a year as we found that there is less edible grass after it goes to seed. Also, mowing high with a bush hog puts down carbon. Works very well for us and the herd. Pastures are lush and diverse with very little trash grass or weed.
I am a retired architect/ general contractor here in Utah. I have a farm in Lovell, Wyoming that was part of my grandfathers farm he started in the early 19000’s. I also save restore old tractors.
Another option when mowing, is adding wood ash to an existing pasture. The high potassium in wood ash really explodes any of existing legumes. You can pay the trucking fees and have a lot of it brought in as the ash is given away for free. We use the wood ash from our wood stove as well. We burn 3 to 4 cord of wood a year, I spread it throughout the winter. My pastures were pretty rough when I started, but the red clover is now blowing up.
When we moved to our acreage, it was all weeds, 7 foot tall weeds. I mowed it down with a single blade snapper from the 1980s. Admittedly, I sprayed a lot. I pulled weeds for the first year relentlessly. That’s great information that you gave. From my experience, mowing was the key. The weeds were so bad for the first and second year. I kept mowing. The grass seed was in there and the grass won and I haven’t done anything with my pastures for about six years and they still look absolutely fabulous. Oddly, the sheep took care of the Canadian thistle. They loved it. Weird. Canadian thistle used to be our number one enemy.
@@tennesseegirl5539 It took me two years of mowing and spraying. Admittedly I did spray hard. I had huge pastors of Canadian thistle and other stuff I don’t even know what it was
Hard work pays off. Plus, I find it very relaxing. I enjoy mowing. My horse was so fat this year and healthy, I only fed her oats once a day and she looked better than she ever has!
@@tennesseegirl5539 I enjoy mowing also. I haven’t had time. This last season I only mowed one time. I’m the only one doing chores you’d think with a house full of kids I could enjoy the place a little more.
I very much enjoy your videos. I am a pharmacist in north Florida and livestock farm. I have beef cows and Kiko goats. I cut my own hay as well. I have picked up some great ideas from your channel. Thanks.
I have a small gardening business and manage my 2 x very large allotments (parish council rental plots) over the last 25 x years here in England UK. I have established the most wonderful grass garden lawn for a client this spring. From a virgin builders plot of very poor soil. It is quite remarkable that each step you have mentioned on an agricultural level are almost identical to what I have done with my client's garden landscape project. Except.......no cattle grazing this (field) lawn! HaHa. Bravo sir - excellent, most enjoyable TH-cam video.
Thank you SOOO much for this video, I love them!! My boyfriend and I just bought our first farm, and we need to revamp our hay fields and this video told me everything I needed to know! I LOVE your channel!
Curious how it ended up going! :) Did you guys end up using any of Pete's methods? We're thinking of taking over 25 acres of clear cut logged land and are thinking we'll use pigs and seed after them.
We have the largest pig producer in our country a few miles away. Apart from the breed stock on his own farm, all the weeners and up live in outside "free range" pens about the size of half a soccer field on other farmers land. About 10 in each pen, they have an arc, get fed and watered everyday and have a decent life before their one bad day. The farmers get paid a little, but their fields get thoroughly cleaned of weeds and roots. Copious manuring and tilling. End of the year's contract, a drive over with a chain harrow and the field is set for cropping again. Economic changes mean many farmers locally are slowly changing from arable to pastoral. The fields do really well post pigs with grasses sown straight away, and can be certified organic pasture a year earlier if you want. Pigs will do the same in woodland and with appropriate fences along hedgerows, destroying the brush and weeds and prevent over crowding of saplings so management is much simpler.
Western Sweet Timothy grass, Red clover, a little Alfalfa. If you hunt around youtube, you can find Department of Agriculture videos from the 50's/60's where University study was done on "forage blends" looking for nutrition, energy, and just as importantly, how the cattle actually feed on it. Somewhere in the 80's people quit putting Timothy grass in, and soon after clover because "it didn't dry as fast" for the clover and "not as much energy" for the Timothy. Cattle like variety, it makes them happy, happy cattle will eat more, which means they gain more(or make more milk) Timothy grass is a godsend if you plan on baling any hay. Fluffs the windrows, drys fast. You can do the soil test before you till. Doing it that way you can make a plan before you start. Plow, top dress, use the drag to "mix it in". As for planting, moldboard plow and a spring tooth drag works best. Don't be afraid to burn a little more fuel to cover with the drag an extra pass, it will save your seat and teeth later when you have to mow and bale the hay on the field. Especially the headlands. Make sure the teeth on the drag are down in the dirt! Especially if you bought a "classic" drag, the teeth were designed to bolt shovels on, but most farmers didn't bother it was too much work and the drags were inexpensive. They should be down in there enough to make the tractor work, otherwise you won't smooth the field and bust the clumps well. I WOULD DO THIS EVEN WITH CASH CROP LAND for pasture use. Odds are really good cash croppers were no tilling(doesn't work, been proven but its faster and DNR likes it for erosion) or using a heavy disc to stir the top up and replanting. Tilling deeper to make the soil "lighter" as well as bury all the trash on top makes the seed bed much nicer. Plows and drags are inexpensive even if you have to buy, and will hold their inexpensive value if you want to sell them later. Make sure to check condition of the shares on a plow if you pick one up. Look for welds. Old Oliver plows work best, Case is good(because Oliver made them) and Allis Chalmers made a nice plow. IH plows work good in lighter soils, or black earth. Melroe plows are excellent, but require more ground speed. JD plows work well in wide widths(like 16 or 18") at slow speeds. They will all do the job if set up properly. Grain drill will be most accurate. A nice old Moline or Oliver "Superior" pulled out of an old machine shed works wonders. We planted with a "big steel wheel" 8 foot Oliver with wood bins on it all the way up till the late 80's, when we bought the neighbors old Brillion because it had the cultipacker rolls built into it. For stones we used an old manure spreader with the rear end missing(the usual demise of the machines anyway from back then, beater would rust to bits). We would knock the floor out and put thick planks in. Fill the wagon, but not extreme, back it into the low land or otherwise, grab the planks and twist/turn on edge. Rocks fall out the bottom. Obviously don't overfill or it will be too heavy. Bucket tractor is still easier, but if you have a big crew of help the wagon is faster. People raising beef as a hobby should really watch videos like this. Sending the cattle down to whatever area you have and letting them eat whatever swamp grass, quack grass, etc. they can find is a good way to get underweight cattle, and they will taste bad too boot if you have them butchered. Nothing will make you stop and say "huh." and look a the person next to you at the table then biting into a nice looking piece of beef roast and finding out it tastes like Canary grass that got rained on 4 times. Proper forage makes the food taste better, it's not just all for the cattle's enjoyment.
Really appreciate how you lay out these options. May the Lord bless and reward you for bringing all this stewardship information back to the people. We will keep this wisdom and pass it on to our children. We can’t yet afford a tractor... so here we go. I chuckled at “character building exercise” for the kids. Same here.
Late to this video. I have been looking for information about this for years. We have a wonky front yard about an acre. It was shaved down in to provide material for our house that was moved here by the previous owners. My Dad was a farmer who passed away just before TH-cam became popular. We used to talk a lot about who was going to be there for the next generation. Here you are! An excellent tutorial. Thorough and to the point. Thank you. It’s amazing what you forget. ❤️🇨🇦
Great video, learning a lot! Another option for seeding pasture/hayfield in between a drill and a broadcaster is a Brillion style seeder, kind of a combo of a broadcaster and culti-packer. Old ones can be found fairly cheap and they're very simple, mostly ground driven things I believe. At least ours is.
I work alone so to handle rock I use a skeleton type rock bucket on my skidloader.The skidloader is like having two of me but one doesnt get tired.Plus the rock bucket is made to grub out boulders and large rocks.I once hand cut a cow lot full of canada thistle with a blade type weed cutter.It was late afternoon mid to late July.That evening the cattle came up and ate all those wilted thistles like they were candy.I was surprised.The weed inspector made me cut my pastures thistle.The cows had paths all through them.I was curious so I crawled on a path or two.It was cool in the thistles and grass was growing really well under them.But I had to rotary mow it or face a fine.The state University thistle study field was across the gravel road.They didn't mow it .It was wild,8 -9 foot tall thistles. I mowed mine and the pasture immediately burnt up.Then Russian ryegrass moved in,produced a heavy thatch and now it needs tillage.So the thistles actually werent the worst .Apparently thistles have a deep Taproot and bring up sulfur.
We have a 30 acres horse farm, and trying to buy 12 more strictly for hay. I came across these videos and they are awesome. Very informative. Thank you.
Just subscribed today and I am thankful I found you. How incredibly important this is. I travel all over the country and all I see are overworked fields depleted, dead and dried up. Looking for land for small-scale homesteading and creating pasture is where I will begin. Thank you!
7:12 hey that drag harrow looks familiar lol, not upset in any way for using the video clip, thank you for being around my channel. Found your channel few years ago, really enjoy watching your videos. Stay warm Pete!
This is the second time I've watched this video. First time I didn't really understand it all. It required a bit of experience first. I have 2 acres pasture and I am running a small flock of sheep and goats on it. I can see the wisdom in all these steps now. After my first discing and harrowing, rocks were everywhere... Amongst other other junk found in the fields. And there are many weeds the goats or sheep just don't want. And if I wait too long to graze it or mow it, the grass goes to seed and dies back. So after watching it again, it all makes a lot of sense now.
I spent my childhood picking rocks. It is indeed character building as well as sibling bonding. We used what was called a stone boat, a heavy metal sled that was low enough to lever the big rocks on and off. I still have a beautiful large 35lb chunk that is multi-colored red/white/blue that decorates my gardens and reminds me of times gone by.
Thank you thank you, thank you! I'm looking at purchasing an old farm that has 13 acres of old farmland, and no one has been able to tell me how to turn that into pasture/hayfield.
Good advice. It is a labor of love. Takes 2 to 3 years to bring back a pasture. And lots of money invested in essential minerals. You'll have to till those in. And avoid corn fields. The soil is burnt from all the nitrates.
I love having the time to check out some of your older stuff, Pete. I have seen most, now. I have the first one of the two you showed here on the farm we just bought, it has been let go about a decade and January and February of this year, our first 2 months, were fraught with running the chainsaw and burning brush. I got a tractor, sorry, it's not red, and I got it fixed up now I am fixing up the old bush hog from the back 40, then I can truly begin working on the pastures.
This video has renewed my fervor for expanding my acreage by adding an adjoining 5-8 acres of fallowed land that’s a mess. Briers, brambles and junk weeds have overtaken it. This would give me 5 times the pasture (just have 1.25-1.5 acres now) and open up livestock options for sheep, expanding my pig herd and maybe a cow or two. First, I need a tractor and disk to do the hard part. (I’m 67 and single) I’m going to think long and hard before making any final decisions, but it’s giving me optimism. Thanks Pete!
First thing. Get electric fencing. Use a hot tape front and back worked out on a days grazing for your whole herd. Sow seed directly into that days grazing area just using the broadcast method. Put your whole herd concentrated into that area for the day. Your livestock will hoove that seed to the soil surface and due to the high density stock numbers will tromp any uneaten hayed off grasses to the ground where it will help cover the seed and retain moisture. If you have very high grass like in the first shot vetch is very good mixed with other species. The next day another area of a days grazing next to the first one is done the same. It’s important to move the back fence behind so as to stop stock from going over the ground they have just been on. This process is repeated until you’ve reseeded your pasture. It’s important to have the right amount of stock for the land available so you allow pasture recovery and it’s only grazed once you see the first yellow leaves so as to retain some litter and provide enough roughage for correct rumen function. This is all a very cheap system and over time as you establish more perennial diverse species you will at least double,your stocking rates because basically you’re growing more feed. I strongly disagree that your stock won’t eat thistles and that they should be mowed down. You should never mow, it’s a waste of fuel plus it’s a miss understanding of the function of thistles because they are mother nature’s chisel ploughs that provide biological services for free. They are tap rooted and once they die provide a deep watering and aeration service for zero cost plus they pump sugar exudates into the soil feeding micro organisms. They also provide a lot of habitat for baby lady beetles because they produce sugars that attract aphids. None of this can be achieved without a planned grazing system. You need to estimate your feed days for the next six to eight weeks and make stocking rate adjustments to match the feed estimates. If you don’t do that you will be buying fodder and there is not much point in doing that.
oh my God!! Key words here “ higher PH will crowd out the weeds” 🥳🤩🥳..... my husband needs to hear this it’s everything I can do to keep him from discing it all up Again!!
If big commercial farms did this we would be a healthy people. Regenerative farming is they way it should be and so rewarding thxs for making videos to help people to understand and also do it the right way!
So glad to come across your account. Really nice video. Its awesome to hear you thank your subscribers for reaching 1000 and to see 1 year later you're over 200k!!! That's insane. Congrats.
WOW. What a GREAT find this video is. You answered all the questions I was hoping the CSU Extension Agent would. I just met with him earlier today, and he said to spread Urea over the pasture, incorporate it as best I can with a drag to maximize grass growth, and not to worry too much about seeing clover right now. It's first week of September in Western Colorado. Seriously, THANK YOU ENORMOUSLY for sharing this exceptionally educational How-To guide to pasture regeneration. You bet I subscribed to your channel right away, saved this link, and shared it to fellow grass farmers for grazing. Thank you for including very critical points about exactly WHEN TO GRAZE AND/OR WHEN TO CUT FOR HAY as well. Incredibly helpful information here.
Pete, thanks for the very timely and informative presentation. Smoothing my field is one big concern. It beats me badly just mowing. So one objective I have is to smooth it so I can move at a faster speed. I'll be revisiting this video.
Yes Sir, it can be a rocky road,lol. On horse drawn equipment, after springharrowing we used a drag, built out of oak planks, well we loaded up that bad boy many times.
Thanks Pete. Getting my high desert homestead land in Do Calif so can graze a cow. We have sand and down lower about a foot is some fair soil. I contacted Hoss Seed and they suggested Brown Top Millet for my area for weed suppression, soil erosion, and said cattle can graze it. Trying to get property self sustainable.
You mentioned getting your 1000th subscriber in this video. Now, 16 months later, you are at 170,000 subscribers. Congratulations! Build it (good content) and they will come. 😊
Just found your channel today, suscribed and have watched several of your videos. One thing you didn't mention and may not have available in your area. We can rent a no till seed driller from our county farm service. As well as they sell seed. We use that method to revitalize pasture and hay fields from time to time. There is a per day charge as well as an acre charge on it. It has a meter. I does take a a decent size tractor to pull it. We can also rent a heavy roller at a pretty modest price to help put rocks back down in the ground or to roll if you seed after tilling. You produce interesting and informative videos. Keep up the good work.
This was a great informative video! Just what I needed. I am a first time farmer with zero knowledge and a nearly dead old corn field as my land. Lots of sunflowers and weeds and only scrub for the goats. Have to hay feed my horses entirely. Didn’t know where to start! I have only been able to overseed winter rye so far,Thank you!
1000 Subs on this video! Look at your channel now. Doing awesome. Well done and keep up the great content. Debating rejuvenating our pastures as the drought has taken it's toll on them.
Compost tea is supposed to re-establish the beneficial bacteria which requires warm water, mollasses and compost with an aquarium bubbler to keep air in the bucket until bacterial growth is at a peak, then dilute and apply.
W3 have a lot of organic matter on our 14 acre field. Shrubs, bushes and weeds. We are planning on a controlled burn to take down weeds and prepare field for hay.
Wow an I just subscribed . I’ve been raising few beef for 40 years . I started like you did brush hogging an grazing An it’s come back good . I agree with everything you say here your a smart man like me lol
Nice to hear a Rock Farmer speak..... I live in London and have a tiny garden but my best crop is broken bricks as a number of old houses were demolished these flat then replaced I kept digging up old victoriana bricks in fact when I got fifty I sold them to guy doing a renovation/extension as he wanted old London bricks which very hard and differing colours so sold for 3 pounds each 20 years ago so a good no work crop..
Ive done a couple things, if you can get over the growth with a mower and round baler, wait till early fall and cut and round bale wet. The bales go into a row on end with manure heaped over them, they'll compost up in about 1.5 yrs. As soon as the hay is taken off o scratch the top lightly with a disc and plant rye and clover together, if not pasturing I'll cut next spring for hay or forage. Ive also straightened my disc out and ran over ground twice in a zigzag pattern in early spring to cut small furrows in the ground so when frost seeding you get better soil contact. Just dont angle the disc to much as to not create loose ground for the hay rake to pick up
Thank you for this video. I have now shared on to my side Homesteading Portugal. Same goes to us as you. I have been doing some of what you said but specially I have not followed up on cutting after seeding so I will change that and do more aftercare instead of what im doing now, other things around the farm, hehehe, yeah. With thanks and respect. Bryn
Hi there from India, most of the things you explain in your videos don't apply to the climate out here but I still love your videos, keep them coming. Good Luck
Contrary to popular opinion, we DO have rocks here in Florida: they can be purchased (in plastic bags) at most home-improvement stores. Yes, they're expensive, but if you need rocks that's where they may be found. On balance, a whole bag can be "picked" at once... The comment about New England's most productive "crop" is rocks is an old truism. Enjoy all your videos!
This is a different approach than I have been learning from other channels. Permaculture is another way where you let your pigs go through the pasture then cows then chickens. They all eat different things helping to balance the grass out. They add different nutrients back in from their manure especially if you feed alfalfa to them which I have seen others have success getting alfalfa to grow doing that. And the chicken break up the cow patties.
we ad pastres down for over 20 years before rotating them into grain ir root crop for 1 year and then reseeding. . I used grain as cover crop for the grass
I will never in my life use any of this information. Still, a wonderfully entertaining episode. The information delivered clearly by the guy who has been there. Although, the tip about soil Ph was a great reminder even for a home gardener, so thank you.
Have you consider adding lime to your compost pile in moderation? and the second one which isn't much, ash from your wood burner is also very alkaline on top of being good source of mineral, that could also be added to the compost pile.
One of my favorite signs years ago in Dads shop. Quality is like buying oats. Nice clean good oats will cost you a fair price. If you’re satisfied with oats that have already been through the horse, they can be had a lot cheaper.
I so much enjoy your detailed review of a Liam husbandry and East till basics. I do not know if you get time to review much history but I think you would enjoy the farming management of medieval European farms. Roughly similar in size. Farm management parallels your activities. Really interesting and satisfying to watch your channel and enjoy. Thank you for sharing your window. Sometime perhaps note somewhere on your channel where one can purchase some Dexter beef. Looks like a well marbles grass fed. My back ground is Hereford purebreds. Lots of corn but pretty docile animals also. I grew up in a 400 acre farm central Iowa. Different issues different answers.👍👍
Am trying to get some pasture going this fall ( if we ever get some rain here in the Midwest) . We just have a couple of acres but you’ve given me some great ideas . Thanks for an informative video!
If you aquire your land in late summer instead of waiting for spring to begin start by adding manure old leaves etc to build soil quality so when spring come your ready
I have learned a lot from you, Pete, thank you for producing this video. It is timely for me. I have pasture on a new property (and I have no farming background) that is a bit sketchy, with patchy weed spots and what I believe is Kentucky 31 down (prior owner left a seed bag behind. I have my work cut out). I loved the recommendation to check area farmers to see if they can do some of this work. I have yet to buy a tractor, and operating like you started, with limited available capital.
Good advice we have 4 acres, it had a lot of timber on it which we cut some off to have room for a large garden and animals. We still have a lot of leftover big tree branches and wood. Hope to get at least 2 1/2 acres cleared and plant some grass. We already cleaned 2 acres for our chicken coop and run and a area to let them free range.
This is a great video and super pertinent to our scenario. We are on the Leelanau Peninsula of Michigan and just bought a 13 acre farm with about 11 acres of pasture. The farm has been used for years for raising and grazing horses, no haying. The soul in this area is pretty sandy, the fields look pretty terrible right now. Currently I just have my old trusty Ford 8n and some friends nearby who have large farms I can borrow implements from. I was going to try to just mow this summer to get some sort of nutrients back into the soil. We are hoping to be moved in there by the end of this month so getting a late start to this all. Long term goal to do animal and crop rotations to make the farm self sustaining and restore the pastures. Haven’t decided what livestock yet as we build it out. We have chickens now and we’re planning to increase that as well as start pigs next year. I want to keep feed costs down as much as possible but also need to get these pastures back into health. Two questions, for this season’s mowing do you recommend a finish mower or a brush hog to mow the fields? I was leaning towards a finish mower since they run a bit easier on my modest pto hp. Plus can help mow the large lawn with it. Secondly, do you have any book recommendations that would be applicable? I want to get a 2 year plan of attack by fall. Planning to get the soil tested this summer. Michigan State University has AG support research station nearby that offers testing. Glad I found your channel! Planning to get a tractor with a loader at some point but trying to do as much as we can here with the old Ford and not take on debt on equipment if we don’t have to. Trying to do our own food then expand into direct to people livestock sale as well as local restaurants. Trying to build this out into manageable stages and maximize our limited acreage. Thanks for any tips, advice
Hi Kristian, I'm glad you found our channel too! I recommend a brush hog, as it's better for the pastures if they don't get mowed frequently like a lawn. A sickle bar mower works well too if you can find one, and they require very little horsepower. A finish mower won't do as well in taller grass. I spent many hours on an 8n with a 5' brush hog. Regarding books, I'm not biased, but I hear there's a good one about starting a farm by Peter Larson (see link in later video descriptions). ;). I started out reading Joel Salatin's and Allan Nation's books. Best of luck with your farm!
Another good one. Taking back 7 acres of horse pasture in TN currently. Just got a JD #9 sickle mower, want to get a tiller to hit the Johnson grass patches. We hit them with round up after a mow last fall. Johnsongrass can be toxic from what I’ve read and grows twice as fast as the hay. Looking forward to escaping into hay making.
@@willbass2869 thank you for the reply Sir. I’m learning that usually my first intuitive thoughts on these things are wrong and to be patient and an answer will reveal itself. The J-grass was hearty this year in TN. We had a wet summer and just now are getting some dry spells. I could have easily had 3 cuttings if it weren’t for having to get my equipment acquired. The little MF 10 baler I got can handle the J-grass if it’s really dry. Otherwise it’s too thick. My neighbor has cows and told me the same thing about how cattle love it when presented a choice. I guess I always figured fescue was the desirable hay of choice. Honestly I do not understand how my field has so much of it but one across the street has none. I’m assuming the difference is how frequent someone used to cut these fields. Now that I’ve made some square bales people are bonkers for them. I had no idea there was so much demand. It’s hard to say I’m gonna cut all the time just because I don’t care for the look of one species when it the scheme of things it’s not hurting anything. The concern I had when I was looking into the subject was determining toxicity levels or the j-grass. I’d hate to kill my animals on account of something like that ya know? Anyhow thanks so much for the info, very thoughtful. God Bless
I was very much distracted by the Farm Tractors collection, but still got a whole lot of info on how to get started, because most 90 something % of others videos are way too vague about how to get started with the method
1000 subs , congrats sir . We have some acreage that falls into a lot of work category. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and hard work . I’m sure putting everything you know into 18:00 min video is not easy . Thank you !
I have purchased books and listened to seminars by all the well known regenerative advocates and was always left with the question, how do "I" get started. This video breaks down that process into practical instruction. Now, two years later, I must say that EVERYTHING you advise in this video is spot-on. And, since I don't ever leave comments, I'll add a thank you for always sitting down at the end of your videos to rationalize why you do things. Fatherly advise in a way. My wife and I really appreciate it, and all you do. Thank you!
Hey, that’s great! Glad to hear you are on your way!
I TOTALLY AGREE. We are buying some acres and totally need to replenish the land. Just beginning is hard as you want to do it right!
Just revisiting this video in 2023 and it’s remarkable how this channel has progressed in terms of subscribers from celebrating getting to 1000. Well done Mr.Pete, you’re now over 400K! Not only did you transform your pastures but your channel has blossomed as well! 👍🏻
Regenerative Ag is coming back... finally.
It is amazing how quickly the soil can come back even after almost a century of mono-cropping mismanagement...
Thanks for your videos, glad I found you.
Regenerative Ag has been utilized by farmers since the late 80’s. Media won’t report on it though... it’s all about ‘climate change’
"Our best crop is rocks.". That brought a chuckle! I really appreciate the helpful information you share here on your channel.
Thanks Silas! I wish I could sell those rocks "self service."
Silas DeRoma - too bad the Pet Rock fade has faded.
Tree Climbing maybe it’s time to bring back the pet rocks 🤣🤣. I still have mine in it’s little box
@@JustaFewAcresFarm "Pick Your Own: rocks"
Coulda made a fortune back in the pet Rock daze/craze
More than 1 year later and I find the information here to be timeless wisdom!!! Thank you so much for being the kind of human being who would rather help another human being than to suffer through either hearing or seeing their failure. In my book, that’s what angels do. 😃👍
We started about 15 years ago with having pine woods removed destumped and the ground graded by a pro with the right size equipment. Saved us time and money. We seeded and covered the seed with hay in any spots that were bare as the grass grew. Added lime. We hand picked up an old garbage dump and any old glass, etc. as it washed up. The grass took hold and we rotated horses on it for a few years. Then we got into dairy goats and eventually sold all of the horses. Now we rotate the goats between two established pastures. We never use fertilizer, but do mow about three times a year as we found that there is less edible grass after it goes to seed. Also, mowing high with a bush hog puts down carbon. Works very well for us and the herd. Pastures are lush and diverse with very little trash grass or weed.
I am a retired architect/ general contractor here in Utah. I have a farm in Lovell, Wyoming that was part of my grandfathers farm he started in the early 19000’s. I also save restore old tractors.
Another option when mowing, is adding wood ash to an existing pasture. The high potassium in wood ash really explodes any of existing legumes. You can pay the trucking fees and have a lot of it brought in as the ash is given away for free. We use the wood ash from our wood stove as well. We burn 3 to 4 cord of wood a year, I spread it throughout the winter. My pastures were pretty rough when I started, but the red clover is now blowing up.
These are excellent videos. For a woman trying to manage tractors, la d and livestock, these are a life saver!
When we moved to our acreage, it was all weeds, 7 foot tall weeds. I mowed it down with a single blade snapper from the 1980s. Admittedly, I sprayed a lot. I pulled weeds for the first year relentlessly. That’s great information that you gave. From my experience, mowing was the key. The weeds were so bad for the first and second year. I kept mowing. The grass seed was in there and the grass won and I haven’t done anything with my pastures for about six years and they still look absolutely fabulous. Oddly, the sheep took care of the Canadian thistle. They loved it. Weird. Canadian thistle used to be our number one enemy.
Mine is iron weed....😖 but getting better after one year of mowing
@@tennesseegirl5539 It took me two years of mowing and spraying. Admittedly I did spray hard. I had huge pastors of Canadian thistle and other stuff I don’t even know what it was
Hard work pays off. Plus, I find it very relaxing. I enjoy mowing. My horse was so fat this year and healthy, I only fed her oats once a day and she looked better than she ever has!
@@tennesseegirl5539 I enjoy mowing also. I haven’t had time. This last season I only mowed one time. I’m the only one doing chores you’d think with a house full of kids I could enjoy the place a little more.
@@todphillips3935 that's too bad. My Dad made me work at home. I hated it then but now I'm glad he did.
I very much enjoy your videos. I am a pharmacist in north Florida and livestock farm. I have beef cows and Kiko goats. I cut my own hay as well. I have picked up some great ideas from your channel. Thanks.
I have a small gardening business and manage my 2 x very large allotments (parish council rental plots) over the last 25 x years here in England UK. I have established the most wonderful grass garden lawn for a client this spring. From a virgin builders plot of very poor soil. It is quite remarkable that each step you have mentioned on an agricultural level are almost identical to what I have done with my client's garden landscape project. Except.......no cattle grazing this (field) lawn! HaHa. Bravo sir - excellent, most enjoyable TH-cam video.
I learned more practical knowledge on farming from this video than I have in my entire life.
I just hope young farmers are watching this video what a excellent workshop,thank you ,not a stone left un turned ,hahaha.
Young farmer (more of a homesteader) here, watching this.
We are :)
Thank you SOOO much for this video, I love them!! My boyfriend and I just bought our first farm, and we need to revamp our hay fields and this video told me everything I needed to know! I LOVE your channel!
Curious how it ended up going! :) Did you guys end up using any of Pete's methods? We're thinking of taking over 25 acres of clear cut logged land and are thinking we'll use pigs and seed after them.
You are such a joy to listen to. You really enjoy your life. I share your joy.
We have the largest pig producer in our country a few miles away. Apart from the breed stock on his own farm, all the weeners and up live in outside "free range" pens about the size of half a soccer field on other farmers land. About 10 in each pen, they have an arc, get fed and watered everyday and have a decent life before their one bad day.
The farmers get paid a little, but their fields get thoroughly cleaned of weeds and roots. Copious manuring and tilling. End of the year's contract, a drive over with a chain harrow and the field is set for cropping again.
Economic changes mean many farmers locally are slowly changing from arable to pastoral. The fields do really well post pigs with grasses sown straight away, and can be certified organic pasture a year earlier if you want.
Pigs will do the same in woodland and with appropriate fences along hedgerows, destroying the brush and weeds and prevent over crowding of saplings so management is much simpler.
I'm hoping my pigs do this! They're off to a great start!
As nature intended
Western Sweet Timothy grass, Red clover, a little Alfalfa. If you hunt around youtube, you can find Department of Agriculture videos from the 50's/60's where University study was done on "forage blends" looking for nutrition, energy, and just as importantly, how the cattle actually feed on it. Somewhere in the 80's people quit putting Timothy grass in, and soon after clover because "it didn't dry as fast" for the clover and "not as much energy" for the Timothy. Cattle like variety, it makes them happy, happy cattle will eat more, which means they gain more(or make more milk) Timothy grass is a godsend if you plan on baling any hay. Fluffs the windrows, drys fast.
You can do the soil test before you till. Doing it that way you can make a plan before you start. Plow, top dress, use the drag to "mix it in".
As for planting, moldboard plow and a spring tooth drag works best. Don't be afraid to burn a little more fuel to cover with the drag an extra pass, it will save your seat and teeth later when you have to mow and bale the hay on the field. Especially the headlands. Make sure the teeth on the drag are down in the dirt! Especially if you bought a "classic" drag, the teeth were designed to bolt shovels on, but most farmers didn't bother it was too much work and the drags were inexpensive. They should be down in there enough to make the tractor work, otherwise you won't smooth the field and bust the clumps well. I WOULD DO THIS EVEN WITH CASH CROP LAND for pasture use. Odds are really good cash croppers were no tilling(doesn't work, been proven but its faster and DNR likes it for erosion) or using a heavy disc to stir the top up and replanting. Tilling deeper to make the soil "lighter" as well as bury all the trash on top makes the seed bed much nicer.
Plows and drags are inexpensive even if you have to buy, and will hold their inexpensive value if you want to sell them later. Make sure to check condition of the shares on a plow if you pick one up. Look for welds. Old Oliver plows work best, Case is good(because Oliver made them) and Allis Chalmers made a nice plow. IH plows work good in lighter soils, or black earth. Melroe plows are excellent, but require more ground speed. JD plows work well in wide widths(like 16 or 18") at slow speeds. They will all do the job if set up properly.
Grain drill will be most accurate. A nice old Moline or Oliver "Superior" pulled out of an old machine shed works wonders. We planted with a "big steel wheel" 8 foot Oliver with wood bins on it all the way up till the late 80's, when we bought the neighbors old Brillion because it had the cultipacker rolls built into it.
For stones we used an old manure spreader with the rear end missing(the usual demise of the machines anyway from back then, beater would rust to bits). We would knock the floor out and put thick planks in. Fill the wagon, but not extreme, back it into the low land or otherwise, grab the planks and twist/turn on edge. Rocks fall out the bottom. Obviously don't overfill or it will be too heavy. Bucket tractor is still easier, but if you have a big crew of help the wagon is faster.
People raising beef as a hobby should really watch videos like this. Sending the cattle down to whatever area you have and letting them eat whatever swamp grass, quack grass, etc. they can find is a good way to get underweight cattle, and they will taste bad too boot if you have them butchered. Nothing will make you stop and say "huh." and look a the person next to you at the table then biting into a nice looking piece of beef roast and finding out it tastes like Canary grass that got rained on 4 times. Proper forage makes the food taste better, it's not just all for the cattle's enjoyment.
Thank you so much for all this valuable information!
Really appreciate how you lay out these options. May the Lord bless and reward you for bringing all this stewardship information back to the people. We will keep this wisdom and pass it on to our children.
We can’t yet afford a tractor... so here we go. I chuckled at “character building exercise” for the kids. Same here.
Late to this video. I have been looking for information about this for years. We have a wonky front yard about an acre. It was shaved down in to provide material for our house that was moved here by the previous owners. My Dad was a farmer who passed away just before TH-cam became popular. We used to talk a lot about who was going to be there for the next generation. Here you are! An excellent tutorial. Thorough and to the point. Thank you. It’s amazing what you forget. ❤️🇨🇦
Great video and explains why my field is getting more lush grass every year with only mowing. a good to the point video.
I have found bush hogging 4 times a year really helps establish grasses and choke out the weeds.
Great video, learning a lot! Another option for seeding pasture/hayfield in between a drill and a broadcaster is a Brillion style seeder, kind of a combo of a broadcaster and culti-packer. Old ones can be found fairly cheap and they're very simple, mostly ground driven things I believe. At least ours is.
I work alone so to handle rock I use a skeleton type rock bucket on my skidloader.The skidloader is like having two of me but one doesnt get tired.Plus the rock bucket is made to grub out boulders and large rocks.I once hand cut a cow lot full of canada thistle with a blade type weed cutter.It was late afternoon mid to late July.That evening the cattle came up and ate all those wilted thistles like they were candy.I was surprised.The weed inspector made me cut my pastures thistle.The cows had paths all through them.I was curious so I crawled on a path or two.It was cool in the thistles and grass was growing really well under them.But I had to rotary mow it or face a fine.The state University thistle study field was across the gravel road.They didn't mow it .It was wild,8 -9 foot tall thistles. I mowed mine and the pasture immediately burnt up.Then Russian ryegrass moved in,produced a heavy thatch and now it needs tillage.So the thistles actually werent the worst .Apparently thistles have a deep Taproot and bring up sulfur.
We have a 30 acres horse farm, and trying to buy 12 more strictly for hay. I came across these videos and they are awesome. Very informative. Thank you.
Just subscribed today and I am thankful I found you. How incredibly important this is. I travel all over the country and all I see are overworked fields depleted, dead and dried up. Looking for land for small-scale homesteading and creating pasture is where I will begin. Thank you!
7:12 hey that drag harrow looks familiar lol, not upset in any way for using the video clip, thank you for being around my channel. Found your channel few years ago, really enjoy watching your videos. Stay warm Pete!
Great vid. Appreciate you taking the time to explain in detail how you achieved excellent pastures for your cattle. Thank you. From Missouri
This is the second time I've watched this video. First time I didn't really understand it all. It required a bit of experience first. I have 2 acres pasture and I am running a small flock of sheep and goats on it. I can see the wisdom in all these steps now. After my first discing and harrowing, rocks were everywhere... Amongst other other junk found in the fields. And there are many weeds the goats or sheep just don't want. And if I wait too long to graze it or mow it, the grass goes to seed and dies back. So after watching it again, it all makes a lot of sense now.
I spent my childhood picking rocks. It is indeed character building as well as sibling bonding. We used what was called a stone boat, a heavy metal sled that was low enough to lever the big rocks on and off. I still have a beautiful large 35lb chunk that is multi-colored red/white/blue that decorates my gardens and reminds me of times gone by.
Pet, this is Larry, I am with you on felling about the small farm. I will pray for every day
1,000 subscribers a year ago....now at 148,000 subscribers....you are obviously doing something right. Glad I found your channel !!
Thank you thank you, thank you! I'm looking at purchasing an old farm that has 13 acres of old farmland, and no one has been able to tell me how to turn that into pasture/hayfield.
Good advice. It is a labor of love. Takes 2 to 3 years to bring back a pasture. And lots of money invested in essential minerals. You'll have to till those in. And avoid corn fields. The soil is burnt from all the nitrates.
I love having the time to check out some of your older stuff, Pete. I have seen most, now. I have the first one of the two you showed here on the farm we just bought, it has been let go about a decade and January and February of this year, our first 2 months, were fraught with running the chainsaw and burning brush. I got a tractor, sorry, it's not red, and I got it fixed up now I am fixing up the old bush hog from the back 40, then I can truly begin working on the pastures.
I remember picking stones by hand on my farm with my dad, absolutely soul destroying but nice to look at afterwards, love your channel 👌
This video has renewed my fervor for expanding my acreage by adding an adjoining 5-8 acres of fallowed land that’s a mess. Briers, brambles and junk weeds have overtaken it. This would give me 5 times the pasture (just have 1.25-1.5 acres now) and open up livestock options for sheep, expanding my pig herd and maybe a cow or two. First, I need a tractor and disk to do the hard part. (I’m 67 and single)
I’m going to think long and hard before making any final decisions, but it’s giving me optimism. Thanks Pete!
Sadly I found this video to late. Now I Can se all the mistankes I made when making my field.
Thanks for a Great video though!
Never is too late
Wow, that may be one of the best how to videos I’ve seen. I think your options are spot on. We are living that scenario at the moment.
wow, you've gotten 200 times more subscribers in 18 months! the homestead movement is huge!!
It needs to be, for the future.
First thing. Get electric fencing. Use a hot tape front and back worked out on a days grazing for your whole herd. Sow seed directly into that days grazing area just using the broadcast method. Put your whole herd concentrated into that area for the day. Your livestock will hoove that seed to the soil surface and due to the high density stock numbers will tromp any uneaten hayed off grasses to the ground where it will help cover the seed and retain moisture. If you have very high grass like in the first shot vetch is very good mixed with other species. The next day another area of a days grazing next to the first one is done the same. It’s important to move the back fence behind so as to stop stock from going over the ground they have just been on. This process is repeated until you’ve reseeded your pasture. It’s important to have the right amount of stock for the land available so you allow pasture recovery and it’s only grazed once you see the first yellow leaves so as to retain some litter and provide enough roughage for correct rumen function. This is all a very cheap system and over time as you establish more perennial diverse species you will at least double,your stocking rates because basically you’re growing more feed. I strongly disagree that your stock won’t eat thistles and that they should be mowed down. You should never mow, it’s a waste of fuel plus it’s a miss understanding of the function of thistles because they are mother nature’s chisel ploughs that provide biological services for free. They are tap rooted and once they die provide a deep watering and aeration service for zero cost plus they pump sugar exudates into the soil feeding micro organisms. They also provide a lot of habitat for baby lady beetles because they produce sugars that attract aphids. None of this can be achieved without a planned grazing system. You need to estimate your feed days for the next six to eight weeks and make stocking rate adjustments to match the feed estimates. If you don’t do that you will be buying fodder and there is not much point in doing that.
Interesting, thanks.
👍🏼😎
A donkey or some goats might eat the thistles.
Gentleman sounds like a professor giving lecture. 👌
oh my God!! Key words here “ higher PH will crowd out the weeds” 🥳🤩🥳..... my husband needs to hear this it’s everything I can do to keep him from discing it all up Again!!
If big commercial farms did this we would be a healthy people. Regenerative farming is they way it should be and so rewarding thxs for making videos to help people to understand and also do it the right way!
Amazing video! Every sentence is jam-packed with great advice. Thanks very much for this presentation!
So glad to come across your account. Really nice video. Its awesome to hear you thank your subscribers for reaching 1000 and to see 1 year later you're over 200k!!! That's insane. Congrats.
WOW. What a GREAT find this video is. You answered all the questions I was hoping the CSU Extension Agent would. I just met with him earlier today, and he said to spread Urea over the pasture, incorporate it as best I can with a drag to maximize grass growth, and not to worry too much about seeing clover right now. It's first week of September in Western Colorado.
Seriously, THANK YOU ENORMOUSLY for sharing this exceptionally educational How-To guide to pasture regeneration. You bet I subscribed to your channel right away, saved this link, and shared it to fellow grass farmers for grazing. Thank you for including very critical points about exactly WHEN TO GRAZE AND/OR WHEN TO CUT FOR HAY as well. Incredibly helpful information here.
Pete, thanks for the very timely and informative presentation. Smoothing my field is one big concern. It beats me badly just mowing. So one objective I have is to smooth it so I can move at a faster speed. I'll be revisiting this video.
Yes Sir, it can be a rocky road,lol. On horse drawn equipment, after springharrowing we used a drag, built out of oak planks, well we loaded up that bad boy many times.
WOW 1 year ago you had only 1000 Subs now nearly 100,000 Subs. Way to grow the audience. Clearly people have a big interest in home grow organic food.
Thanks Pete.
Getting my high desert homestead land in Do Calif so can graze a cow. We have sand and down lower about a foot is some fair soil.
I contacted Hoss Seed and they suggested Brown Top Millet for my area for weed suppression, soil erosion, and said cattle can graze it.
Trying to get property self sustainable.
You mentioned getting your 1000th subscriber in this video. Now, 16 months later, you are at 170,000 subscribers. Congratulations! Build it (good content) and they will come. 😊
This is gold, thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge with us greenhorns.
Just found your channel today, suscribed and have watched several of your videos. One thing you didn't mention and may not have available in your area. We can rent a no till seed driller from our county farm service. As well as they sell seed. We use that method to revitalize pasture and hay fields from time to time. There is a per day charge as well as an acre charge on it. It has a meter. I does take a a decent size tractor to pull it. We can also rent a heavy roller at a pretty modest price to help put rocks back down in the ground or to roll if you seed after tilling. You produce interesting and informative videos. Keep up the good work.
This was a great informative video! Just what I needed. I am a first time farmer with zero knowledge and a nearly dead old corn field as my land. Lots of sunflowers and weeds and only scrub for the goats. Have to hay feed my horses entirely. Didn’t know where to start! I have only been able to overseed winter rye so far,Thank you!
1000 Subs on this video! Look at your channel now. Doing awesome. Well done and keep up the great content. Debating rejuvenating our pastures as the drought has taken it's toll on them.
Always a pleasure to hear your voice. Thank you,
You're a natural educator. Thanks for the great vid.
Compost tea is supposed to re-establish the beneficial bacteria which requires warm water, mollasses and compost with an aquarium bubbler to keep air in the bucket until bacterial growth is at a peak, then dilute and apply.
Thank you for blessing us with all this valuable information. Hay crop science in a nutshell! 😇
Very well done and thorough video. Thank you. I'm taking back a 20 acre farm that half was rented out and the rest over grown
W3 have a lot of organic matter on our 14 acre field. Shrubs, bushes and weeds. We are planning on a controlled burn to take down weeds and prepare field for hay.
Wow an I just subscribed . I’ve been raising few beef for 40 years . I started like you did brush hogging an grazing An it’s come back good . I agree with everything you say here your a smart man like me lol
Nice to hear a Rock Farmer speak..... I live in London and have a tiny garden but my best crop is broken bricks as a number of old houses were demolished these flat then replaced I kept digging up old victoriana bricks in fact when I got fifty I sold them to guy doing a renovation/extension as he wanted old London bricks which very hard and differing colours so sold for 3 pounds each 20 years ago so a good no work crop..
Ive done a couple things, if you can get over the growth with a mower and round baler, wait till early fall and cut and round bale wet. The bales go into a row on end with manure heaped over them, they'll compost up in about 1.5 yrs. As soon as the hay is taken off o scratch the top lightly with a disc and plant rye and clover together, if not pasturing I'll cut next spring for hay or forage. Ive also straightened my disc out and ran over ground twice in a zigzag pattern in early spring to cut small furrows in the ground so when frost seeding you get better soil contact. Just dont angle the disc to much as to not create loose ground for the hay rake to pick up
And now you have over 65K subscribers! Not surprised. Your content is excellent!
And now 154,000.......way to go Pete.
Thank you for this video. I have now shared on to my side Homesteading Portugal. Same goes to us as you. I have been doing some of what you said but specially I have not followed up on cutting after seeding so I will change that and do more aftercare instead of what im doing now, other things around the farm, hehehe, yeah. With thanks and respect. Bryn
Love all your tractors, mostly IH, really like the IH 656!
Hi there from India, most of the things you explain in your videos don't apply to the climate out here but I still love your videos, keep them coming. Good Luck
Pete teaches me a ton with every video. Now I just have to see if all this works on hilly pastures.
Contrary to popular opinion, we DO have rocks here in Florida: they can be purchased (in plastic bags) at most home-improvement stores. Yes, they're expensive, but if you need rocks that's where they may be found. On balance, a whole bag can be "picked" at once...
The comment about New England's most productive "crop" is rocks is an old truism. Enjoy all your videos!
This is a different approach than I have been learning from other channels. Permaculture is another way where you let your pigs go through the pasture then cows then chickens. They all eat different things helping to balance the grass out. They add different nutrients back in from their manure especially if you feed alfalfa to them which I have seen others have success getting alfalfa to grow doing that. And the chicken break up the cow patties.
It's a fun project and healthy for the earth. I'm doing this right now.
we ad pastres down for over 20 years before rotating them into grain ir root crop for 1 year and then reseeding. . I used grain as cover crop for the grass
I will never in my life use any of this information. Still, a wonderfully entertaining episode. The information delivered clearly by the guy who has been there. Although, the tip about soil Ph was a great reminder even for a home gardener, so thank you.
Lol Pete... Love your videos but still snickering at the 1000 subscriber comment. I look over and see you are now at 334k subs.. Well done sir.
Just commented on his newest video about that, mind blown 🤯
Have you consider adding lime to your compost pile in moderation? and the second one which isn't much, ash from your wood burner is also very alkaline on top of being good source of mineral, that could also be added to the compost pile.
Congratulations on the 1k! We are trying to start our dexter herd next year and are soaking up all of your great knowledge for across the farm!
Thanks Todd!
I love Thistle, spiky weeds, and Sudan grass.
Most types of thistle are a sign of compaction issues. My heifers love thistle, I get some in my hay and they pick it all out first during the winter.
One of my favorite signs years ago in Dads shop. Quality is like buying oats. Nice clean good oats will cost you a fair price. If you’re satisfied with oats that have already been through the horse, they can be had a lot cheaper.
Great info! We will be starting our new pasture this year and this helped a ton
Hi Peter just so refreshing to watch your videos no bull just the good oil
After 30 years at sea and 12 months to go it will be my tern
Cheers Mark
Only 4 months to go!
I so much enjoy your detailed review of a Liam husbandry and East till basics. I do not know if you get time to review much history but I think you would enjoy the farming management of medieval European farms. Roughly similar in size. Farm management parallels your activities. Really interesting and satisfying to watch your channel and enjoy. Thank you for sharing your window. Sometime perhaps note somewhere on your channel where one can purchase some Dexter beef. Looks like a well marbles grass fed. My back ground is Hereford purebreds. Lots of corn but pretty docile animals also. I grew up in a 400 acre farm central Iowa. Different issues different answers.👍👍
Thanks for the very direct and professional instruction. I really appreciate it.
thank you. really great vid. I'm a CA date grower. Moving to TX and planing on farming with my son. This will be really great help!
Am trying to get some pasture going this fall ( if we ever get some rain here in the Midwest) . We just have a couple of acres but you’ve given me some great ideas . Thanks for an informative video!
If you aquire your land in late summer instead of waiting for spring to begin start by adding manure old leaves etc to build soil quality so when spring come your ready
I have learned a lot from you, Pete, thank you for producing this video. It is timely for me. I have pasture on a new property (and I have no farming background) that is a bit sketchy, with patchy weed spots and what I believe is Kentucky 31 down (prior owner left a seed bag behind. I have my work cut out). I loved the recommendation to check area farmers to see if they can do some of this work. I have yet to buy a tractor, and operating like you started, with limited available capital.
love your vids , greetings from Czech republic from horse and sheep hobby farmer
Love all of your videos !
Tons of information and always right to the point!
Good advice we have 4 acres, it had a lot of timber on it which we cut some off to have room for a large garden and animals.
We still have a lot of leftover big tree branches and wood.
Hope to get at least 2 1/2 acres cleared and plant some grass.
We already cleaned 2 acres for our chicken coop and run and a area to let them free range.
How did you clear the stumps and roots?
Invaluable info and advice -- 1 acre or 100. Thank you!
This is a great video and super pertinent to our scenario. We are on the Leelanau Peninsula of Michigan and just bought a 13 acre farm with about 11 acres of pasture. The farm has been used for years for raising and grazing horses, no haying. The soul in this area is pretty sandy, the fields look pretty terrible right now. Currently I just have my old trusty Ford 8n and some friends nearby who have large farms I can borrow implements from. I was going to try to just mow this summer to get some sort of nutrients back into the soil. We are hoping to be moved in there by the end of this month so getting a late start to this all. Long term goal to do animal and crop rotations to make the farm self sustaining and restore the pastures. Haven’t decided what livestock yet as we build it out. We have chickens now and we’re planning to increase that as well as start pigs next year. I want to keep feed costs down as much as possible but also need to get these pastures back into health. Two questions, for this season’s mowing do you recommend a finish mower or a brush hog to mow the fields? I was leaning towards a finish mower since they run a bit easier on my modest pto hp. Plus can help mow the large lawn with it. Secondly, do you have any book recommendations that would be applicable? I want to get a 2 year plan of attack by fall. Planning to get the soil tested this summer. Michigan State University has AG support research station nearby that offers testing. Glad I found your channel! Planning to get a tractor with a loader at some point but trying to do as much as we can here with the old Ford and not take on debt on equipment if we don’t have to. Trying to do our own food then expand into direct to people livestock sale as well as local restaurants. Trying to build this out into manageable stages and maximize our limited acreage. Thanks for any tips, advice
Hi Kristian, I'm glad you found our channel too! I recommend a brush hog, as it's better for the pastures if they don't get mowed frequently like a lawn. A sickle bar mower works well too if you can find one, and they require very little horsepower. A finish mower won't do as well in taller grass. I spent many hours on an 8n with a 5' brush hog. Regarding books, I'm not biased, but I hear there's a good one about starting a farm by Peter Larson (see link in later video descriptions). ;). I started out reading Joel Salatin's and Allan Nation's books. Best of luck with your farm!
Just a Few Acres Farm thank you! Will look for the link. Brush hog is probably the smart choice. Appreciate the help.
Another good one. Taking back 7 acres of horse pasture in TN currently. Just got a JD #9 sickle mower, want to get a tiller to hit the Johnson grass patches. We hit them with round up after a mow last fall. Johnsongrass can be toxic from what I’ve read and grows twice as fast as the hay. Looking forward to escaping into hay making.
@@willbass2869 thank you for the reply Sir. I’m learning that usually my first intuitive thoughts on these things are wrong and to be patient and an answer will reveal itself. The J-grass was hearty this year in TN. We had a wet summer and just now are getting some dry spells. I could have easily had 3 cuttings if it weren’t for having to get my equipment acquired. The little MF 10 baler I got can handle the J-grass if it’s really dry. Otherwise it’s too thick. My neighbor has cows and told me the same thing about how cattle love it when presented a choice. I guess I always figured fescue was the desirable hay of choice. Honestly I do not understand how my field has so much of it but one across the street has none. I’m assuming the difference is how frequent someone used to cut these fields.
Now that I’ve made some square bales people are bonkers for them. I had no idea there was so much demand. It’s hard to say I’m gonna cut all the time just because I don’t care for the look of one species when it the scheme of things it’s not hurting anything. The concern I had when I was looking into the subject was determining toxicity levels or the j-grass. I’d hate to kill my animals on account of something like that ya know? Anyhow thanks so much for the info, very thoughtful. God Bless
1k subs? My man you provide such great info that In just a year you’re at over 150k congrats and thank you
Ummm... ? 187k
@@rcronin1 Um . . . ? 228K in Jan, 2022. Pete doesn't just grow great pastures.
Thank you for the great information. I appreciate you sharing your land knowledge
Just watched this one. In 3(ish)years you've gone from 1,000 subs to over 430, 000. Good for you!
😊
AWESOME video i know my grandpa would always get mad if I cut the pasture to low or to high
Really liked the video, very helpful. Just getting ready to burn mine off and follow similar patterns. Hope alls well, wish you the best.
I was very much distracted by the Farm Tractors collection, but still got a whole lot of info on how to get started, because most 90 something % of others videos are way too vague about how to get started with the method
1000 subs , congrats sir . We have some acreage that falls into a lot of work category.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge and hard work . I’m sure putting everything you know into 18:00 min video is not easy . Thank you !
Thanks Craig!