I just take my hat off to you Greg, as busy as you are you still make time to crank out an excellently interesting video a day without fail. We thank you so much for your valuable time!
I hate flies sucking the blood out of my animals so any natural way to get rid of them it's more than welcome, plus the animals look so happy that I do enjoy watching the videos.
Smokey was very happy. Dogs don't usually show their bellies unless they ready trust the person. You have Beautiful Land. I understand you wanting to cover the bare spots. You have a passion for great pasture. God Bless and Peace Be With You All ☮️🙏❣️
That is how we patch pastures (usually new ones) but one time we had a patch near the woods and the wild turkeys came and ate all the seed. There were over 20! Now we know how to draw some turkeys!! :)
I had to pull up sections of the grass in my front lawn because I was putting garden beds in. I took the sections I cut out and placed them on a few bald sections. They rooted well.
a while ago you spoke about not needing to buy seed for pastures that there is a lot in the soil and in the bales. i had a field that for a couple years i controlled the grass, 3 year it was the nicest thickest clover stand you could imagine. never put a clover seed in the ground!
Your an inspiration! Thank you for making these videos. It’s brought me back to cattle ranching now that I can see that it can be done profitably and enjoyably.
have a lot of bare ground now and want to plant it and I can irrigate it. It's HOT though. I have a bunch of common Bermuda seed and some mixed forage seed and a bunch of round bales to use. Can I go ahead and broadcast the seed on top of the ground and unroll bales and spread it now even though it's so hot???? Again, I can keep water to it as long as needed. Can't wait to come to grazing school. Cya soon
Greg, all it may need is a 3 inch scratching to break the crust and awaken the seeds trapped beneath. I saw it happen on 25 acres that were pretty depleted. I hired a guy to till to get a seed bed. By the time I came back to plant, the blue stem and clover were already coming out. I didn't seed anything.
Joel Salatin says you should always plant FENCE POSTS before you worry about grass seeds. I am in West Plains MO in a motel looking for my homestead. Got two to look at tomorrow. Wish me luck.
Hi greg when do you now the tops of and with what ?? I never knew you did that I thought you left it for stockpile !! Awesome videos much appreciated!! Happy grazings
This is so interesting. While I understand that some of the seeds may already be in the ground, I somehow doubt that a cow would be interested in the moss and wild strawberry plants that cover my 5 acres. Im thinking feeing Hay in the field for the first few years will add much needed nutrients, and perhaps the trampling will expose some seeds for germination. Perhaps it would be better to run a few pigs across the land first to stir things up a little. NE Maine is not exactly known for it's beef production but I'm sure a small breed can thrive for a families needs with excess being sold locally.
Hello I stay in Mississippi an trying to get started in the cattle business. I have 50 acres that the timber was cut a year ago I am cleaning the land up now an need some advice on what type of grass to plant that will allow me to be totally dependent on solar energy an what steps I need to take to do so?! Please help!!!! Thank you in advance!!!!
Hello Greg, I have a couple of questions for you. First, when during the year on your farms does Bird's-foot trefoil demonstrate the most growth, and, second, why does Bird's-foot trefoil not cause bloat in cows? Thank you, sir.
Hi Greg, do you think its possible to maintain this type of pasture in an arid hot area like in Southern Africa? . For instance we get about 350-400 mm (about 16 inches of rain a year) here in Namibia, where I farm.
It should be possible. In northern states like North Dakota and western provinces of Canada like Saskatchewan and Alberta, the annual precipitation is about the same or less, and the growing season is probably much shorter than you have in Namibia. You should check out some videos by Gabe Brown to see what can be achieved with a 3-month growing season and 14-16 inches of rain. As he says, it isn't about how much rain you _get_ -- it's how much you _keep._ With good soil infiltration to minimize or eliminate runoff, and a layer of ground cover or mulch (Greg's "litterbank") to *always* keep the soil cool and retain moisture (no bare soil!), 16 inches is enough to do this.
@charles Urinavi I have the same question as I am situated across you in the Kalahari. Allan Savory is from Zimbabwe but you have to buy the material to read on. I have not bought it yet. I have been reading the net for regenerative or as others call it Ultra High Density but have not found a clear successful study that can be repeatable. Checkout Zimbabwean cattleman Johann Zietsman. You can visit grainsa.co.za on the subject. If you get in touch please do share. I also believe Greg do grazing course together with Ian Mitchell-Innes from South Africa.
So the compaction on the wheel tracks won't be a problem for the "new" plants? I would have thought that something to loosen the soil up a bit would speed the recovery. Like a quick pass with a subsoiler, then overseeding and mulching with the hay flakes.
Hard ground is the best seed bed there is for grass seed. Fluffy seed bed is a recipe for failure on grass seed. A dozer track on a new pond dam is the best seed bed there is!
Except you're not seeding barley or oats or corn on that, James. Those annuals can be sown at a much deeper seed depth than most forage grasses, which only need to be sown at around 1/4" deep (corn and barley can go as deep as 1 to 2 inches). As Greg said, too loose and fluffy a seed bed spells trainwreck because it just makes forage seed much, much to susceptible to be put down at a deeper depth than needed for good germination. I've talked to producers with a similar question like that, and I've always had to let them know that a *well packed* seed bed is a must if they're going to sow down a forage stand, regardless if it's for hay or pasture. By well-packed I mean packed so that when you walk out on the soil, you only see the toe and heel of your boot, not your arch or, if you're using a tractor tire to compare, that you're only seeing the treads and not the arches in between the treads. If a person is seeing the arches, then they need to get out there with roller and pack it better.
we run our 1590 John Deere seed drill over spots like this and viola! you have great grass, we have 7000 feet in elevation, limited water, and miles of sagebrush,
Roughly how many pounds of livestock are you running to the acre during the spring flush? Just want to know an appropriate stocking density for a twice a day move system
Greg I apologize but at minute 9:28 you're saying to see with 4 what? Hoves? please clarify as i'm indecisive as part of the sabbatical of my 3 acres whether to seed it (seed has fescue, clover, alfafa, timothy.ect) or another alternative.
Also.. have you ever seeded any of your pastures? E.g to get legumes in the mix or other species of grass. If so, what technique did you use to get the diverse mix established?
May I ask how many additional acres do you need per animal unit if you wanted to grow your own hay instead of purchasing it? I realize that will vary depending where you are, length of your winter season, etc. But say you can have one animal unit per acre, would you need an full additional acre for your winter forage?
Just covering it with hay will work. You will get new plants. We had some old seed that we wanted to get rid of, that was the only reason we put it down.
Keeping a close herd and closed flock essential to good animal health, no point in importing disease. Do you have any red clover free pasture when tupping the ewes bearing in mind red clover is a contraceptive for sheep?
If you have a bad field. Take pigs or a rabbit tractor group. to clear the field and knock it back. Then spread some compost, and feed hay then drill stainfol. It's an I have to get this field working type investment. If you have the money. You can begin to use that field for fatting up. The stainfol if is treated right it's like alfalfa but doesn't get the bloat. You can keep a solid field of it for 2 or 4 years without doing a great job with it. It will fade over time if it's not managed to keep the stainfol going. Fade into native clover slowly replacing the stainfol. If you got clover in your seed bank and most folks do. This field is highly effective for finishing herds. While you transition your herd into a solid grazing-style herd and replace your heads of cattle. Sometimes a small investment can be a badaid as along as you don't go overboard and you know what your doing.
some folks plant soybean to kick start a field or another annual. but this is a better idea long run if you have a transitional first or second-generation herd of pasture finish cattle. Just remember that you have extra protein in the field and keep transition your heard away from old genetics even if you got cattle who are doing well because of these types of fields.
@gregjudy Just out of curiosity, how many head to acres are you stocking on average? I know every farm is different, but just trying to learn how you decide to stock however many you have in the herd on 18 acres in a day? I know experience also eventually comes into play knowing that specific land and how much forage is available. Just trying to pick your brain and learn.
It's so sad that videos like this aren't taught in the curriculum everywhere, the fact that when talking animals and environment, they are so conflated these days is just wrong.
is buckwheat a pain with animals on pasture though? I have been trying to read up on it this week, seems alot of people are saying bad for sheep goats and cattle. Although this fall im thinking of putting buckwheat in as a cover crop/ green manure to mow down and try to revitalize and restore earth due to wind erosion.
@@gregjudyregenerativerancher Thank you for the information. Right now i have buckwheat testing on a manual fodder system to see how well it might do. Currently doing barley and holding off on peas and oats because i was wanting to sow peas and oats in the field come seeding time. half tempted to disc in buckwheat in fall and find something that will seed/germinate in the winter if i can or i might just crimp it down if i can without breaking soil and use it as a mulch barrier.
I wonder if they ate the hay? When you put out something you dont want them to eat, they eat it every time. Like putting a roll of hay in a ditch that they would not eat, in the ditch they clean it up.
Greg Judy's the most interesting man on TH-cam !!! Yet it's that clown the "Tiger King" and his circus life that's famous. This world's on the highway to hell .
I would just love to have one Dollar for every Person you have inspired to get out on the land and that life has to be better than working in a Paper mill. I want some land so I will have somewhere to hunt for Deer and Turkey. Might as well raise some cattle when I retire if I ever retire. Sometimes I think I will have to work up to Lunch time the day they bury me!
@@gregjudyregenerativerancher yes I was asking why not if you have extra grazing at peak growing why not cut your own hay to either save buying or sell surplus for added income?
Selling hay off your farm is a great way to bankrupt your soil. We buy hay from hay contractors, they have the machinery to put it up, we don't. It is always more economical to buy hay than to bale it.
A good man knows how to appreciate a good dog.
Scottie Westfall You mean a “dawg” 😊
I just take my hat off to you Greg, as busy as you are you still make time to crank out an excellently interesting video a day without fail. We thank you so much for your valuable time!
Many thanks to you Tam for watching!
Tam M - Greg is my favorite person to watch.
Positive and upbeat, cause he understands what he’s doing. Too few ppl like that today.
I really love to see the birds taking care of the flies !!
I hate flies sucking the blood out of my animals so any natural way to get rid of them it's more than welcome, plus the animals look so happy that I do enjoy watching the videos.
Smokey was very happy. Dogs don't usually show their bellies unless they ready trust the person. You have Beautiful Land. I understand you wanting to cover the bare spots. You have a passion for great pasture. God Bless and Peace Be With You All ☮️🙏❣️
Beautiful Greg. Every day I've got to see what you've put on TH-cam. Always good! Thanks.
Make sure you remember to show us the path you covered and seeded in a while. I want to see how it does.
Please do a video on what a littler bank is and how it’s beneficial. I’m new to this and learning so much
I'm watching this late, in June. You said he looks like a bear, and I was going to comment about this video, how to fix "Bear" spots...
That is how we patch pastures (usually new ones) but one time we had a patch near the woods and the wild turkeys came and ate all the seed. There were over 20! Now we know how to draw some turkeys!! :)
I had to pull up sections of the grass in my front lawn because I was putting garden beds in. I took the sections I cut out and placed them on a few bald sections. They rooted well.
a while ago you spoke about not needing to buy seed for pastures that there is a lot in the soil and in the bales. i had a field that for a couple years i controlled the grass, 3 year it was the nicest thickest clover stand you could imagine. never put a clover seed in the ground!
Grazing school in September! That sounds pretty neat. Thanks from Texas.
Very informative in a very tight format. Thank you - you're an inspiration.
Can you make a video on how you stay organized with your rotation schedule?
Your an inspiration! Thank you for making these videos. It’s brought me back to cattle ranching now that I can see that it can be done profitably and enjoyably.
Absolutely amazing grazing lesson!! Thank you and enjoy your beautiful day
Great info. Could we get a sheep update and in depth video on your birdhouses?
Love your videos, so informative which is needed for us folks who only know city life
I’m learning so much from your videos thank you
Very happy to find your channel.
I've watched a lot of your videos and I think this is one of my favorites . It shows your passion for regenerative farming and is very inspiring.
We just got our paster all fenced in with sheep and would love to hear more about sheep rotation. We have ALOT more grass than sheep.
Every video I learn a little bit more. Today it was about the boot seeds. Lovable dogs. Are or were they part of the sleep protection dog group??
They were.
Such a cute dog
Hay lightly spread like dead grass stops sun burning the seed and helps retain moister
why grain when sown is covered with 2 rollers as seeder sows .
have a lot of bare ground now and want to plant it and I can irrigate it. It's HOT though. I have a bunch of common Bermuda seed and some mixed forage seed and a bunch of round bales to use. Can I go ahead and broadcast the seed on top of the ground and unroll bales and spread it now even though it's so hot???? Again, I can keep water to it as long as needed. Can't wait to come to grazing school. Cya soon
Greg, all it may need is a 3 inch scratching to break the crust and awaken the seeds trapped beneath. I saw it happen on 25 acres that were pretty depleted. I hired a guy to till to get a seed bed. By the time I came back to plant, the blue stem and clover were already coming out. I didn't seed anything.
had never heard of jim the wonderdog ... looked him up ... he reallsy *was* amazing .... learning more than just farming here 😀
Hi Greg, I can't find the videos you recorded in Arizona. Could you lead me to them please. Thank you
Joel Salatin says you should always plant FENCE POSTS before you worry about grass seeds. I am in West Plains MO in a motel looking for my homestead. Got two to look at tomorrow. Wish me luck.
Good luck!
Hi greg when do you now the tops of and with what ?? I never knew you did that I thought you left it for stockpile !! Awesome videos much appreciated!! Happy grazings
Bushog seed stems off after the second grazing pass of spring. This promotes more new leaf production.
Great information Greg, 33.9k today may 10,2020 wow one day on 9 acres,they are just going to take the seed.
This is so interesting. While I understand that some of the seeds may already be in the ground, I somehow doubt that a cow would be interested in the moss and wild strawberry plants that cover my 5 acres.
Im thinking feeing Hay in the field for the first few years will add much needed nutrients, and perhaps the trampling will expose some seeds for germination.
Perhaps it would be better to run a few pigs across the land first to stir things up a little. NE Maine is not exactly known for it's beef production but I'm sure a small breed can thrive for a families needs with excess being sold locally.
You need more carbon trampled onto the ground.
Lol, look at that dog's smile!
Hello I stay in Mississippi an trying to get started in the cattle business. I have 50 acres that the timber was cut a year ago I am cleaning the land up now an need some advice on what type of grass to plant that will allow me to be totally dependent on solar energy an what steps I need to take to do so?! Please help!!!! Thank you in advance!!!!
Excellent video - Thanks!
Hello Greg, I have a couple of questions for you. First, when during the year on your farms does Bird's-foot trefoil demonstrate the most growth, and, second, why does Bird's-foot trefoil not cause bloat in cows? Thank you, sir.
Timely, will do this this week.
Hi Greg, do you think its possible to maintain this type of pasture in an arid hot area like in Southern Africa? . For instance we get about 350-400 mm (about 16 inches of rain a year) here in Namibia, where I farm.
You may want to look up Allan Savory. He is from Africa.
Thanks Nate, will check him out 👍
It should be possible. In northern states like North Dakota and western provinces of Canada like Saskatchewan and Alberta, the annual precipitation is about the same or less, and the growing season is probably much shorter than you have in Namibia. You should check out some videos by Gabe Brown to see what can be achieved with a 3-month growing season and 14-16 inches of rain. As he says, it isn't about how much rain you _get_ -- it's how much you _keep._ With good soil infiltration to minimize or eliminate runoff, and a layer of ground cover or mulch (Greg's "litterbank") to *always* keep the soil cool and retain moisture (no bare soil!), 16 inches is enough to do this.
Add Geoff Lawton to your research. He specializes in regenerating deserts.
@charles Urinavi I have the same question as I am situated across you in the Kalahari. Allan Savory is from Zimbabwe but you have to buy the material to read on. I have not bought it yet. I have been reading the net for regenerative or as others call it Ultra High Density but have not found a clear successful study that can be repeatable. Checkout Zimbabwean cattleman Johann Zietsman. You can visit grainsa.co.za on the subject. If you get in touch please do share. I also believe Greg do grazing course together with Ian Mitchell-Innes from South Africa.
So the compaction on the wheel tracks won't be a problem for the "new" plants? I would have thought that something to loosen the soil up a bit would speed the recovery. Like a quick pass with a subsoiler, then overseeding and mulching with the hay flakes.
Hard ground is the best seed bed there is for grass seed. Fluffy seed bed is a recipe for failure on grass seed. A dozer track on a new pond dam is the best seed bed there is!
Except you're not seeding barley or oats or corn on that, James. Those annuals can be sown at a much deeper seed depth than most forage grasses, which only need to be sown at around 1/4" deep (corn and barley can go as deep as 1 to 2 inches). As Greg said, too loose and fluffy a seed bed spells trainwreck because it just makes forage seed much, much to susceptible to be put down at a deeper depth than needed for good germination.
I've talked to producers with a similar question like that, and I've always had to let them know that a *well packed* seed bed is a must if they're going to sow down a forage stand, regardless if it's for hay or pasture. By well-packed I mean packed so that when you walk out on the soil, you only see the toe and heel of your boot, not your arch or, if you're using a tractor tire to compare, that you're only seeing the treads and not the arches in between the treads. If a person is seeing the arches, then they need to get out there with roller and pack it better.
we run our 1590 John Deere seed drill over spots like this and viola! you have great grass, we have 7000 feet in elevation, limited water, and miles of sagebrush,
colorado/ utah border, the Ute tell me the same thing, seems to hold true, the Elk not so much
Roughly how many pounds of livestock are you running to the acre during the spring flush? Just want to know an appropriate stocking density for a twice a day move system
Do you just leave all the manure on the pasture after theyre done and on to the next pasture, or do you mow it and break it up
We never do anything with the manure. Our soil critters eat it and turn it into valuable rich soil that grows more grass.
Great question welcome to the channel.
Greg I apologize but at minute 9:28 you're saying to see with 4 what? Hoves? please clarify as i'm indecisive as part of the sabbatical of my 3 acres whether to seed it (seed has fescue, clover, alfafa, timothy.ect) or another alternative.
Four hooves, i.e. a livestock animal
Nice job
Also.. have you ever seeded any of your pastures? E.g to get legumes in the mix or other species of grass. If so, what technique did you use to get the diverse mix established?
Cattle trampling carbon on the soil surface will bring diversity into your pastures.
I was thinking about this video the other day, how's it looking now in July
May I ask how many additional acres do you need per animal unit if you wanted to grow your own hay instead of purchasing it? I realize that will vary depending where you are, length of your winter season, etc. But say you can have one animal unit per acre, would you need an full additional acre for your winter forage?
Go Smokey and Venus 🐶🐶🏆🏆 Great Video ⭐️
...WHEN YOUR GRASSES GO TO SEED AT DIFFERENT TIMES WHEN DO YOU MOW TO SPREAD THE SEED?
We don't mow to spread seed. We mow to remove seed heads and stems to promote more leaf production.
The times that you have to mow, do the clippings increase your litter bank ?
yes it all ends up as soil microbe food
how do your herd dogs react to your house dogs? Do you have to keep them apart?
Martin they are use to each other.
Mine get along just fine
great video
Give us a video on weed control.
Greg where do we buy the seeds that you plant? Local?
Any feed store not tractor supply. Local ag store will have bulk seed you might have to ask them. Won't be on display inside
What's your opinion on Dexter Cattle for colder climates (Southern Ontario) and how do you deal with bottle babies.
What would happen if you just covered the bare spots with old hay and no seed. Was the seed added just to get the varieties to are looking for
Just covering it with hay will work. You will get new plants. We had some old seed that we wanted to get rid of, that was the only reason we put it down.
Great Wisdom :)
Keeping a close herd and closed flock essential to good animal health, no point in importing disease. Do you have any red clover free pasture when tupping the ewes bearing in mind red clover is a contraceptive for sheep?
Really? Well tell that to my 14 first year ewes that are all dropping lambs after grazing red clover infused fescue all last fall.
If you have a bad field. Take pigs or a rabbit tractor group. to clear the field and knock it back. Then spread some compost, and feed hay then drill stainfol. It's an I have to get this field working type investment. If you have the money. You can begin to use that field for fatting up. The stainfol if is treated right it's like alfalfa but doesn't get the bloat. You can keep a solid field of it for 2 or 4 years without doing a great job with it. It will fade over time if it's not managed to keep the stainfol going. Fade into native clover slowly replacing the stainfol. If you got clover in your seed bank and most folks do. This field is highly effective for finishing herds. While you transition your herd into a solid grazing-style herd and replace your heads of cattle. Sometimes a small investment can be a badaid as along as you don't go overboard and you know what your doing.
some folks plant soybean to kick start a field or another annual. but this is a better idea long run if you have a transitional first or second-generation herd of pasture finish cattle. Just remember that you have extra protein in the field and keep transition your heard away from old genetics even if you got cattle who are doing well because of these types of fields.
Bravo Greg
How big is this area?
@gregjudy Just out of curiosity, how many head to acres are you stocking on average? I know every farm is different, but just trying to learn how you decide to stock however many you have in the herd on 18 acres in a day? I know experience also eventually comes into play knowing that specific land and how much forage is available. Just trying to pick your brain and learn.
What time of the year is this?
Give Smokey his own channel!!!
Hi Greg, love your work! How many inches do you clip your pasture back to when you need to trim the seed heads or ‘boots’ off? TIA from Australia 🙌🏻
We focus on clipping off the stems, stay out of the leaves.
@@gregjudyregenerativerancher Thank you :)
I am leasing some pasture and one area has alot of wild sweet pea in it. Is this good or bad? Just want to clear it up before I get to that area.
Greg does it have to be hay? How about straw, or even rice straw (which is basically cardboard).
Any kind of straw will work
How are you controlling your weeds?
It's so sad that videos like this aren't taught in the curriculum everywhere, the fact that when talking animals and environment, they are so conflated these days is just wrong.
Yet. ;)
is buckwheat a pain with animals on pasture though? I have been trying to read up on it this week, seems alot of people are saying bad for sheep goats and cattle. Although this fall im thinking of putting buckwheat in as a cover crop/ green manure to mow down and try to revitalize and restore earth due to wind erosion.
Buckwheat without the seed head on it would be good grazing
@@gregjudyregenerativerancher Thank you for the information. Right now i have buckwheat testing on a manual fodder system to see how well it might do. Currently doing barley and holding off on peas and oats because i was wanting to sow peas and oats in the field come seeding time. half tempted to disc in buckwheat in fall and find something that will seed/germinate in the winter if i can or i might just crimp it down if i can without breaking soil and use it as a mulch barrier.
I wonder if they ate the hay? When you put out something you dont want them to eat, they eat it every time. Like putting a roll of hay in a ditch that they would not eat, in the ditch they clean it up.
If you put it in the ditch, it’s like we are going to eat it because we are not supposed to😊
What do you use to clip the pasture? Brush hog?
So far we have not clipped this year. When we do clip it is with a brushog and we clip at 8-10" high.
How do you correct PH, Lime? Do you soil test?
Earthworm castings are a 7 ph that's perfect. I'm using lime to jump start. I have no worms its an old pine forest.
What about cud weed ????
Super
Greg Judy's the most interesting man on TH-cam !!! Yet it's that clown the "Tiger King" and his circus life that's famous. This world's on the highway to hell .
Boy he really hates to see a little bare spot! 😊
Smokey old whitey by an other name. Those dogs have a bear size bite to bite bear on the mouth when the bear tries to bite.
I would just love to have one Dollar for every Person you have inspired to get out on the land and that life has to be better than working in a Paper mill. I want some land so I will have somewhere to hunt for Deer and Turkey. Might as well raise some cattle when I retire if I ever retire. Sometimes I think I will have to work up to Lunch time the day they bury me!
If you could have, but don't want extra head of cattle then buy hay why are you not cutting your own hay!
We never cut or bale hay.
@@gregjudyregenerativerancher yes I was asking why not if you have extra grazing at peak growing why not cut your own hay to either save buying or sell surplus for added income?
Selling hay off your farm is a great way to bankrupt your soil. We buy hay from hay contractors, they have the machinery to put it up, we don't. It is always more economical to buy hay than to bale it.