I think we all have our vision of what makes an excellent pasture. We see a thick stand where nearly all the ground is covered by vigorous, rich green plants. We see a myriad mixture of different grasses and legumes. Some of us see forbs as well, while others may think of those as weeds. We have this mental picture of what an excellent pasture should look like, but in all honesty, how often do we really see that on our own place? In my almost 40 years of working with pastures and livestock, I have had the privilege of visiting 49 US states, ten Canadian provinces and many of the countries we think of as grazing paradise. Ireland, New Zealand, Uruguay, among others. In my experience across th
We all know that giving our pastures enough time to recover before grazing them again is critical to our success. But what may be news is how big the impact of just a few days less of recovery can turn into a problem that costs us forage and money. Dave Pratt, CEO of Ranch Management Consultants, specializes in helping ranchers look at their operations so they can make more profitable choices. In this video he talks about the cost of not giving forage enough time to recover, and how you might slide into a vicious cycle by paying attention when your cows say, “MOOOOVE US!” In this case, his example is a rancher moving one herd among 15-16 paddocks. That’s more than enough paddocks to stop ove
