1. Slow down the moves.

2. Gave more access to the woods.

3. Watch closely for any drop in animal performance.

4. Fed a little bit of hay.

The owner obviously wants his animals to return to him in good condition. I obviously do not want to destroy my pasture. Having said that, its critical for the health of the entire system to give the grass a chance to recover. Regrazing grass that has not fully recovered results in eventual death of the grass and a more weedy pasture. By giving access to the woods the cows were able to graze leaves off of forbs, brush and low lying branches.

Bear in mind that slowing down the moves resulted in severe grazing for certain areas that were less productive (the grass wasn’t as prolific), but overall I was able to keep pretty condition on the cows while allowing for 70-80  days rest in July through the end of September. In Iowa that’s a pretty good stretch for that time of year, and now my grass looks in great shape. One thing to remember though – as moves are slowed or area grazed is reduced the stocking rate has increased. An increase in stocking rate has an effect on the pasture in terms of recovery if the plants have been grazed severely. Stocking rate is the amount of animals on a given amount of pasture for a given amount of time. One thing to bear in mind is that I’m custom-grazing 2 year-old dairy replacement heifers, who go back to the owner in late October. I don’t know if I would manage the same way if I had cows year-round.

Bottom line – the year worked out but it was not like last year. In fact, I’ve not had a similar year yet, which tells me that understanding grazing principles are key, as well as having a plan but being able to replan immediately.

Without addressing any scientific reason, I’m wondering if there is a relationship between animals and the land (of course there is!), in terms of the effects of grazing (especially mob-grazing) versus running equipment over to make hay. Obviously, making hay takes off fertility and without adding that back the land will revert to species that can live in a less-fertile environment. Cattle grazing will eat the grass and hopefully return the nutrients via manure and urine. If the grazing is planned right, most of the manure and urine will not have to be hauled back out on the field via a manure spreader.

We are getting ready for winter already, and there is stockpiled grass for the sheep over the winter. Last year I fed my sheep five small square bales of hay for the entire winter season, and only did that in the end because I felt sorry for them during a ice storm. This year I hopefully plan to not feed anything. I keep you posted.

I can’t say enough about how this has clarified my focus and enabled me to make decisions that get me to my goals – based upon the “whole” that I manage. Holistic management is all about recognizing we live in wholes (our farm, our business, our school, our family, our whatever) that also are a part of greater wholes. The earth is a “whole”, a whole entire earth that functions interdependently within itself. The earth itself can be considered a whole apart of the greater whole of our solar system, and on and on. It’s important to recognize that when we identify our whole that we manage, we are impacted by the greater whole which our whole is a part of , be it our community, our nation, our earth. We don’t live interdependently, we are all networked (and we must realize it, especially on farms).

Once we identify our whole, then we develop our goal, which is comprised of three parts. A lifestyle or life goal, a production goal, and a future resource base goal. I won’t go to much into detail here, as there are other sites and literature that do this. What I will say is Savory and others have done is identify ecosystem processes by which tools for managing them are utilized to achieve your goals. There are testing questions that one uses as decisions are contemplated, as well as management guidelines that help clarify the issues.

For example, if  I identify my future resource base (in my case my farm) as something that increases in fertility yet decreases in cost, the tools that I would use would be grazing and animal impact.  I would monitor my decision, assuming my tools are wrong (which allows for quicker correction — usually when I assume I’m right I won’t change as fast).

I’m simplifying the ideas here, however, the bottom line is that this is a method that works! Holistic management is something that is not just for agricultural enterprises, as it also can be used in civic situations, family decision making, businesses etc.

1. In nature the overriding principle is diversity – which creates stable ecosystems. The more diversity on my farm, the more stable and resistant to weather shocks (like drought, rain, etc).

2. Cattle and sheep are dead-end hosts for each other’s parasites. The cattle suck up a lot of sheep parasites in their grazing rotation, which help lessen the load in the sheep as they come behind and graze after the cows. The opposite is true with the sheep grazing and cattle parasites.  Every little bit helps.

3. Sheep and cows eat different plants – thus utilizing more available forage and allowing for more animals (albeit different species) to graze ( and increasing farm income, btw). The key to grazing, however, is time of exposure and return. What I mean by this is the initial exposure of the plants to grazing pressure, how long the plants are exposed, and how long does the plant have to recover before being exposed to grazing pressure again.

Ultimately I’d like to have chickens, goats and maybe even pigs in my rotation. This would help diversify my operation even further, encourage different forages to grow, and focus my efforts on maximizing the farm’s potential as a revenue source without compromising my ecological goals.

What I mean by low-labor is cutting out much of the work in raising sheep (and animals, for that matter). I have a hair-type sheep breed (St. Croix), so no shearing. I don’t clip their hooves, I don’t dock their tails, I don’t worm them (they are parasite-resistant), I don’t feed them grain, I don’t help them with their lambing, I don’t call the vet out for every issue. While some may consider this inhumane, I consider it a program of restoration.  Restoration in this instance and in my opinion is getting farm animals back to a status of health and productivity without a lot of human intervention and cost. I always ask myself: “If I wasn’t here, what would they do”? The truth is, wild sheep do quite well. Somehow they manage to live without worming, tail docking, hoof clipping, lots of grain, barns, and lambing assistance. Those that can’t adapt, die — and don’t pass on those genetics that won’t thrive in that environment.

Now, I know I’m generalizing. There are always specific instances where my broad-sweeping statements don’t apply. HOWEVER — all I know for sure is once I got my genetics right and my mindset right, my sheep herd thrived. I breed them in December for a May lambing. This means their third tri-mester finds them on grass (late March into April) right when their nutritional needs are the greatest. They give birth on grass during a time when it’s not too hot, the grass is growing. The lambs that I’m setting aside for my meat sales will finish in November, right when the grass is not growing (and I don’t have to feed hay).  These sheep came from a parasite resistant flock in the same climatic zone that I live in, so they are geared to thrive in humid environments (sheep traditionally have been raised in dry, cool, arid climates).  If a ewe or ram doesn’t do well in my program, I sell her or him. I’m ruthless with this, because if I’m sympathetic and introduce a lot of medication or labor, then eventually I won’t have a low-labor sheep herd.

The greatest part about these sheep is that they will graze the dead grass in winter, and dig down through the snow and ice to eat it. I didn’t feed any hay last year, and we had a very hard winter. The sheep stayed outside, ate grass all winter, and thrived. That mean their manure and urine was deposited on the pasture, not in the barn (where I would have to clean it up, put it in the manure spreader, and take it out myself).  Interestingly enough, so many people thought I was crazy to not feed hay. They almost got angry at how I was such a bad shepherd.  In looking at my sheep now, I’m amazed at how healthy they look, their lambs are fat and growing, the ewes are contented.

Bottom line: since they graze during the winter, I don’t have to make or buy hay (reduction in diesel fuel, equipment repairs, capital expenses). I don’t have to haul manure (reduction in my time spent cleaning, diesel fuel for tractor to pull manure spreader, equipment repairs, capital expenses).  I don’t have to put up expensive buildings to house the sheep as my herd grows (reduction in capital expenses).  Diesel fuel is the life blood of US agriculture – cut that off and the farm economy comes to a screeching halt. One of my goals is to create a farming system that approximates low labor, little to no reliance on diesel fuel, environmentally-sustaining and economically viable.

So far, so good.

Well, times are changing. While I’m not against large farms, I personally do expect organic livestock operations to adhere to a pasture-based system. If a large farm can pull that off, then more power to them. It’s hard though. Pasture means land, and land can be expensive in certain areas. There is a reason that dairy in general is concentrated in areas such as the Upper Midwest, New England and parts of the Mid-Atlantic, and the Pacific Northwest — due to the climate. Those areas can be built up commercially, and land can be difficult to obtain in the amounts necessary to run a viable operation.

Here in Kalona, Iowa there is a large Amish/Mennonite community. While some Amish communities focus on other businesses, the Kalona  Amish “business” is an organic farm, with a focus on organic dairy.   These are not large farms, but there is enough land to generally support a large family.  However, with the new pasture rule out, these dairies don’t necessarily have enough land to meet the requirement for all their animals (that’s a change in the new rule).  And here is where I come in — I’m offering to custom graze their calves and replacement heifers during the growing season to free up pasture for their main milking herds. It’s a great partnership, and helpful to me as well as I’m converting all of my 60 acres to pasture.

The next blog post will be focused on the rudiments of grazing animals.

FDA Approves Food from Clones against the Will of Congress and the American Public

Despite scant data, congressional action demanding further research and over 150,000 public comments in opposition, FDA approved the sale of meat and milk from cloned animals yesterday. In addition, the FDA will not require any special procedures for tracking or handling food products from clones.  It will not require labeling of any kind on food products from clones or their offspring, depriving consumers of their right to know about the origins of their food. This action comes at a time when Congress has voted twice to delay FDA’s decision on cloned animals until additional safety and economic studies can be completed.

The FDA’s bullheaded action disregards the will of the public and Congress. FDA based their decision on an incomplete and flawed review that relies on studies supplied by cloning companies that want to force cloning technology on American consumers.  FDA’s action has placed the interests of a handful of biotech firms above those of the public they are charged with protecting.

While FDA may deem these products safe to enter the market, companies like Ben & Jerry’s and Organic Valley have pledged not to use cloned animals or their offspring. Dean Foods, Hormel, Tyson and Smithfield Foods have also stated they do not plan to accept milk or meat from cloned animals, but have not addressed their plans regarding the offspring of clones.

What would I do? What would I encourage others to do?

1. Most Important: Buy organic meats and dairy if you eat animal products.
   The National Organic Standards rightly prohibit clones and their offspring from use.
2. Tell Congress to Label Food from Cloned Animals!
   There are bills to label food from clones and their offspring in both the House and Senate. Contact your Congress members and urge them to support this important bill!