Monday, February 24, 2020

The grass is greener on the other side of the fence

This is the time of year when I have to exercise the most patience. Our cool season annual grasses are looking beautiful, but not quite ready to graze yet. We no-till drilled these fields on Nov. 2 to a seed mixture that consisted of Triticale, Rye-grass, and Crimson Clover. In a couple weeks we will start allowing limited access to this field by dividing off a section with electric fencing. The cattle will graze small patches for a day or two and then move to another section. This allows the cattle to have a fresh paddock of grass and helps the grass be able to recover from the grazing. This is one of my favorite parts of this lifestyle. It takes lots of planning, but we get to orchestrate the relationship between the grasses and the ruminant animals. If we do our job right, they both perform at their best.

Notice in the picture. In the distance, you can see that the wild turkeys didn't wait for me to give them the O.K. to graze this field. Oh well, we can share.