The National Organic Program (NOP) has released new rules for livestock that mandate access to pasture for ruminant animals. These rules require that a percentage of the necessary dry matter intake per day come from pasture.  The minimum is 30% dry matter per head per day for at least 120 days over the grazing season. [...]

Filed under: Animals, Grazing/Pasture, Healthy Food, Organic Dairy, Organic News, sheep on March 4th, 2011 | No Comments »

Sheep and cows together are a good thing. I’m currently grazing cattle in a planned rotation, moving them daily. I also have a herd of St. Croix hair sheep, which I allow them to graze at will. Couple of comments about this arrangement and my thinking behind it:
1. In nature the overriding principle is diversity [...]

Filed under: Grazing/Pasture, Organic Dairy, Uncategorized, sheep on July 28th, 2010 | No Comments »

So far, so good. I’m coming up on my one year anniversary on this project. I got the sheep in August of 2009 as ewe lambs  from a cutting-edge breeder down in southern Missouri. One note of importance is the critical issue for any 100% grassfed program is to MAKE SURE your genetics are right. [...]

Filed under: Animals, Grazing/Pasture, Uncategorized, sheep on July 20th, 2010 | 8 Comments »

I switched out our Icelandic sheep herd last fall, in a radical attempt to reset my entire genetics with a low labor/low cost breed that would be parasite resistant in the summer and that would be hardy enough to dig through the snow in the winter and eat stockpiled grass. And, if that wasn’t enough, [...]

Filed under: Animals, Grazing/Pasture on February 22nd, 2010 | No Comments »

Normally we plan for the next year the year previous, optimally in November. This year, due to many changes in our operation and the economy, the planning process has extended now into February. We are in the process of several changes that will effect our operation significantly. One, we are really contemplating changing our sheep [...]

Filed under: Farm Planning on February 19th, 2009 | No Comments »

Well, today marks the 1st day of December, and the first snow. Typically, farmers around here try to get the harvest end before Thanksgiving, as all bets are off once the holiday is over. This year has been no exception. I finished (finally) the perimeter fence of the 10 acre field just south of the [...]

Filed under: Farm Updates on December 1st, 2008 | No Comments »