Our five-step plan for healthier soils

By Gabe Brown

I want to start by telling everyone up front that I am not a soil scientist. I am a farmer/rancher who has spent the last 20 years working to improve the soil resource on my operation.

I have tried doing this in a myriad of ways, with some successes and many “learning experiences.” What I am going to do is share some of my experiences and observations, using my own operation to illustrate the concepts I follow. Realize that every operation is different. Each has its unique set of circumstances, and it is up to the operator to determine what works best on his or her own farm. Continue reading “Our five-step plan for healthier soils”

August 1, 2013April 18, 2020

Breeding within for no-grain dairy success

Van Amburghs happy with what a single bull has done for them

By Tracy Frisch

Sharon Springs, New York — After starting with a bunch of sick and undistinguished cows, organic dairy farmers Paul and Phyllis Van Amburgh are bucking conventional wisdom in their breeding and heifer-rearing programs to create a more efficient, uniform and closely related herd that thrives in their no-grain system.

As students of Gearld Fry, a controversial cattle breeding consultant from Arkansas, Paul and Phyllis have worked hard to realize their notion of an ideal cow through linear measurement, prepotent bulls and rigorous selection. And at their Dharma Lea farm, replacement heifer calves are kept with their mothers for an entire 10-month lactation. Continue reading “Breeding within for no-grain dairy success”

May 1, 2013April 18, 2020

The profit key: working within your farm

By Jon Bansen

Monmouth, Oregon—At the latest American Forage and Grasslands Council meeting, the buzz was about increasing profitability by extending the grazing season. Although one piece of the puzzle, it’s also true that increased days on pasture can come at a high price if soils and plant health are degraded.

In reality, the true profits lie with optimizing a farm’s total feed production, with an eye on putting as much forage as possible into the animal through managed grazing. There are no instructions for putting this puzzle together, as each of our farms is unique in its soil types, weather patterns, topography, irrigation potential and land base. Continue reading “The profit key: working within your farm”

May 1, 2013April 18, 2020

Plant diversity as the key to soil health

Gabe Brown isn’t afraid to put 25 species in the seed box

Bismarck, North Dakota — Gabe Brown acknowledges that no planted crop will build soil health as quickly and completely as a well-managed and very diverse perennial pasture. But that doesn’t mean he can’t try.

And boy, does he try. Gabe says the seed boxes on his no-till drill often contain 15 to 25 species at any one time, chosen from a wide variety of warm and cool season grasses and broadleaf crops. Buckwheat, barley, turnips, hairy vetch — you name it, Gabe plants it in mixes that give new meaning to the word “variety.” And he’s ready to use that seed at almost any time when winter isn’t ruling the northern Plains. Continue reading “Plant diversity as the key to soil health”

March 1, 2013April 18, 2020

A report from our return trip to no grain

Goal: grain feeding as punishment

by Nathan Weaver

Canastota, NY—We have long hoped to have a no-grain milking herd, and we have geared the herd and our farm toward that conclusion. We stopped our original no-grain effort shortly after moving to this farm several years ago, as the land was not yet able to produce enough quality feed to allow for success.

But we decided to try again in 2012. We have not fed grain to our spring-seasonally calved dairy herd since mid-May of last year. I will try to write about our experiences. Continue reading “A report from our return trip to no grain”

February 2, 2013April 18, 2020

Options for adding annuals to your operation

By Daniel Olson

Lena, Wisconsin — Most of you have seen those “growing curves” for perennial, cool-season grasses. The curves spike in mid-spring, crash in the summer heat and revive in time for the early-fall grazing period. The biology of this is that a perennial can’t afford to put all of its energy into production, as it needs to survive the heat of summer and the cold of winter in order to live to reproduce again next year.

Advanced management has helped us graziers cope with the curve. Longer rest periods and stockpiled forage reduce the impact of the summer slump while extending the grazing season well beyond the growing season. The downside to such stockpiling is that much of the forage is not dairy quality, and thus limits animal performance. Continue reading “Options for adding annuals to your operation”