The Grass IS Greener…When You Graze It

Our property is 22 acres and the back 10 have been a hayfield since we got here 12 years ago…but not, because we’ve had so many issues with finding reliable people to do the hay for us and the field just got in worse and worse condition.

Learning about building soil and carbon farming, we decided we’d turn it over to rotational grazing and just buy hay from someone else. That 10 acres already looks better! You can see how green the grass is in the foreground of the photo above…despite the hot, dry summer we’ve had.

We’ve had the cows on two sections of it, about 2+ acres each. Why didn’t we use the whole 10 acres? Because the north end is in such sad shape, there’s no point in putting them out there. And we only have three cows right now (technically two cows and a heifer), so we had enough grass with only using half of it.

And oh, do they love it! For example, when we moved the cows to a new patch in mid-July, we hardly saw them for several days. They only walked back toward the barn for their morning and evening grain and for water then went right back to grazing…as they should do!

This has meant mowing (brush hogging) the field too, and that alone has made a huge difference. It made us aware of the extent of our tansy ragwort infestation…but more on that in another post on pasture management.

Mowing stimulated grass growth as did the grazing. On the section that is so poor, we will rent a seed drill and borrow a bigger tractor and get cover crop planted that will start the process of building soil which in turn will help the plants we do want to outcompete the weeds. Plus it will provide better, healthier forage for our cows.

I stand in the field and I look at the green grass and the fat cows and I think, “This is right.” We can buy hay. We can’t buy healthy soil.

(And honestly it’s cheaper to buy hay than to go through all the hassle of trying to find a trustworthy person to cut and bale ours for us.)

So this is right. The animals tell me it’s right. The grass tells me it’s right. My gut tells me it’s right.

September 6, 2024 3

“Don’t bother me. I’m carbon farming.”

When we got this place, half of our 22 acres was a dedicated hayfield. However, getting a 10-acre hayfield actually hayed was a problem for us. No one wants to bring their equipment to your place for such a small field until after they’re done with the big fields…so your hay gets put up late. Or you do find someone and their equipment sucks and breaks down. Or the person won’t listen when you explain how you need the hay cut so it’s lower sugar for the insulin resistant horse. Or you finally get all of those pieces in place and you can’t muster up a hay crew so you’re out there until dark bucking bales yourself and thinking, “I’m too old for this sh&^!”

And so on.

And buying our own equipment didn’t make sense because we can’t count on Bob being home when it’s time to make hay, since it is so weather dependent and his job is so demanding.

That meant every year we’d have the “do we or don’t we” hay discussion (and sometimes argument).

But then I read “Dirt to Soil” by Gabe Brown and we decided no more hayfield. That field sucks. It is dirt, not soil. It has been neglected for as long as our falling down farmhouse. Once we recognized we could do something about it, we changed course.

It’s no longer a hayfield. Instead, we will slowly grow our cow herd (which has been the plan all along) and turn our 10 acres over to rotational grazing. That way they can mow and poop and pee, which all helps to build soil, and we will buy a seed drill and plant beneficial plants in the fall that will help build soil…and make for healthier forage for our cows.

Right now with only the three girls, it’s waaaaaay more grass than they can eat before it gets too mature and stemmy. So we will be mowing too. Plus we are doing this with a single strand of hot wire to keep them on a smaller area. (Thank goodness they are good cows!)

But eventually we will have some permanent fencing in that field and a solid plan for moving the cows through. Eventually we will have good setup for winter so we can have more cows (and not have a flooded cow barn). Eventually we will plant trees and shrubs along fence lines for more carbon farming and for wildlife habitat and native insects and birds.

And eventually we will have 10 acres of soil that’s full of earthworms and carbon…and life.

For now, though, those cows are obviously hard at work with their important job. So let’s leave them be.

bucking bales — Bucking bales as it’s getting dark…how we used to use our hayfield

May 21, 2024 1

We Built a Cow Barn. And It Flooded.

I’ll apologize in advance because I am going to whine. Ready?

Why is this so hard?? All we want is to start a small farm, that’s it. We’re not trying to change the world or anything like that.

We have the best of intentions, we really do!

This time, it was to have a cow barn built—well, the shell of it anyway—before the end of October when we had a calf due. We succeeded with that goal. The barn (shell) was done October 25^th and Pumpkin arrived on the 28^th.

It did rain before the roof was installed, so the barn was full of mud, but we had some crappy hay and I was putting that down as bedding to keep the cows off the mud, assuming the barn would dry out.

The gutters were installed a month after the building was complete.

And then it rained. And rained. And rained.

And we had several inches of standing water inside the building…inside and out to be accurate.

At first I thought it was because the downspouts on the new gutters emptied onto the ground. When we had our garage built—and that has more roof surface than the barn—we had the downspouts installed that way and we’ve never had a problem. The water is absorbed into the ground without even puddling.

But—I reasoned—the ground had been compacted by the equipment during building so that must be the reason the water from the downspouts wasn’t draining. We installed PVC pipe to carry the rainwater away thinking that would help to decrease the standing water from future rains, as a temporary fix.

Nope. We are getting just as much water simply from the rainfall.

So. Our two cows, one heifer and one calf are all trying to crowd into the milking shed for shelter, which is also flooding now.

To be honest, I am stumped. We’ve had the milking shed since we bought our first cow in 2020. Yes, we’ve had far too much standing water and mud because it has been the only shelter, but nothing like this! And now it’s flooding behind the milking shed too, where we’ve never had standing water before.

I understand the ground probably was compacted by the equipment? Maybe?

When summer gets here and the ground dries out, we will have a contractor come in and do something to drain the water away from the buildings. We will put in plenty of gravel to build a base inside the barn. We will add a lean-to to the front to keep weather out and get the doors installed. We will, we will, we will make this right.

But for now and the long winter months ahead of us, the cow barn is flooded.

ARGH!!!

December 3, 2023 1

And Rosie Makes Three…Cows, that Is

Just when I thought Scarlett was not pregnant after all, since her due date came and went, she gives birth to a lovely heifer on a cold, wet afternoon in late October. I was on my way to town to have dinner and see a movie with my oldest and I was trying to get the cows to come in before I left. They were waaaaay at the back of the pasture and Dawn was bellowing at me. Sure enough I took a good look and I saw a reddish lump on the ground. I quickly sent Emma a one-word text “Baby!!!” and she knew what it meant and bundled up to head out to help me. Because it was October 26th at 5:00 p.m. and windy and raining and cold and I was not leaving that newborn out in that weather.

So I picked up Rose and Emma ran interference for me as Scarlett kept trying to get her baby back and we made it to the cowshed and got mama and calf into shelter.

Then I changed out of my clothing now covered in afterbirth and mud and washed up the best I could. I didn’t make it in time for dinner, but I did for the movie, although I think I still smelled like afterbirth.

That’s two heifers in a row! If Scarlett is pregnant again now (and I hope Dawn is as well), we could use a bull calf. Just sayin’.

We start on halter training…and she did really well, despite what it looks like in this picture. 🙂

The herd is slowly growing! And that’s fine by us! We aren’t ready yet for the milking part, and goodness knows we still need plenty of fencing and infrastructure!

November 26, 2021 0