Grazing Archives - Page 6 of 8 - Ninja Cow Farm LLC

October 29, 2013October 29, 2013

Grazing update and a new well being drilled

The grass continues to look great. Here you can see today’s paddock on the left, yesterday’s on the right. Its obvious where the cows have grazed as it’s very brown vs todays paddock which is as green as spring grass. In fact the poop from the cows is getting somewhat runny like it does in the spring which is interesting since there is a fall flush of grass much like there is a spring flush. I read about the fall flush but with our old grazing methods you never saw it. One more thing that is working just like the grazing experts said it would. The brown would be bad in your suburban yard (homeowners associations would be unhappy) but for our pastures its gold. This is dried organic matter which is matting down and decomposing. This brown grass will be next years healthy soil.

Today we are meeting Ryan with NW Poole Well company to redrill an old well that was out of service when we moved on the farm. We are going to hopefully hit good water and then combine this well with a solar based pump that will now water all of our cows from solar pumped water from a separate well than our main farm well. As we grow our herd they are going to drink more and more water so we are planning ahead for that growth. An adult cow can drink as much as 30 gallons of water per day and lactating cows can double that need. Since we have a lot of lactating cows we have pretty sizeable water needs that will only grow. Thank goodness the cows don’t take showers. 🙂

This project is in partnership again with Wake County Soil and Water and Teresa Hice from that office who continues to help us on the farm. I met Teresa at a Keeping the Farm” workshop some years ago and she has been working with us ever since helping with our erosion issues, land retention, etc. The next keeping the farm workshop is January 29th and if you farm or want to farm I highly recommend you attending. It’s well worth the day.

October 28, 2013October 28, 2013

Morning update

This morning sunrise as we finished our chores. The Princess is the photographer.

The cold weather has abated somewhat this morning although it was still 45 degrees when we started. The cows were up and ready to move this morning as the Princess and I made our way over to them. All 24 cows were looking good and even in the pre-dawn light they went straight to eating. The paddock they are on today which is the beginning of the main pasture close to the woods as we come across from the pasture by the golf course road has some really good looking grass. They should have a belly full by mid-morning.

We also fed the pigs this morning what we didn’t get them last night. The scarfed it up in just a few minutes and were back begging for more. They will get a good load of food this afternoon so the fat little piglets can get a bit fatter. They are getting seriously round, like little oinker cherubs.

We have another farmer interested in buying a couple of our piglets plus we need to take two of the pink pigs and have them processed. Then we are saving two pink pigs for the hog killing class. That will leave us with Penelope and 7 kids for the winter. With our Latin source of winter food, we should be in good shape for the winter after all the changes.

October 18, 2013

Beef. It’s what’s for dinner

I was reading my latest Stockman Grass Farmer paper and they had a really nice article on how to know when your cow is ready to finish. A lot of it had to do with fat and how to judge it which I knew. However there was another tip about looking at the inside of the back legs. I hadn’t really looked at Sam that way before until this morning. I gotta say, the boy has some nice legs. He’s closer to finish weight than I really thought. I think he will be ready to go by the time we go in hay which will be about perfect as far as feeding. However since I can’t fit any more meat in the freezer we either need to sell some pork or I need to buy another freezer. Probably both.

Here you see the cows in the paddock just outside the barnyard. The grass is still pretty thin so we are doubling the paddock sizzle giving them plenty to graze. The clover is recovered in these paddocks and the cows are going straight to it first.

October 17, 2013

The big move

The beauty of having the cows in the front pasture is that they are right by the house and its like having them in my front yard. The downside is that moving the cows from the front pasture into the next pasture is the largest move we make. We have to move the cows from the far end of the front pasture all the way to the other side then through the barn paddock and into another pasture.

I am either getting smarter or luckier because this time we timed the move when the inmates were here. I also had Spork and the Princess to help me. With all that help, and a bit if strategic hot wire, everyone was moved without a hitch. In fact it went so well that I didn’t even get a picture.

The interns are getting better at this grazing thing than I am. They are making decisions I didn’t even look at yet and are keeping the paddock sizes right for the grass. Today John pointed out that the grass in the bottom of the upcoming weeks pasture is thinner than the grass at the top of the hill. I had noted that on the last rotation but hadn’t said anything. John picked it up and was already adjusting the upcoming paddocks for the individual conditions. Its great to see these guys getting everything down. It’s also great to see that individual attention is making a difference on the pasture.

While giving a tour to a 4H group this week, I was showing the soil conditions in our front pasture. Much like the other paddock which had completely different conditions, this pasture had about 1/2″ of dry organic material on top then about 3/4″ of topsoil. We have created almost all of that topsoil in one season utilizing nothing but grazing with no amendments. Pretty amazing.

October 8, 2013January 7, 2014

Grazing update

Today we moved the cows to the pasture that is landlocked by the pond. This is a quick in and out pasture because there is currently no water source to this paddock.

Here you can see the leaders of the pack getting onto some very nice grass before sunrise. From left to right, Laser, Sprinkles, Sam, Spunky, and Love. Love and Spunky are the actual leaders of the herd.

October 3, 2013

Forbidden fruit

Yesterday the cows received an unexpected treat. Usually they are fenced out of the 6 acres of woods bordering our main pasture since the woods are a protected area. Per my agreement with Wake County soil and water I can “flash graze” protected areas for one day.

Yesterday when it was time to move the cows to the next paddock, I instead opened the gate to the woods. The cows ran in like kids getting out of school the last day before summer.

This morning it took Spork, the gator, myself, and the inmates to get everyone back to the pasture. Cows really enjoy being in the woods. No worries though. This weekend they will be in the pond flash grazing it so there is another treat coming.

September 29, 2013September 30, 2013

Visitors

Yesterday we had a visit from two very nice young ladies who are interested in our food system. Daniella Uslan of dinnovatesfood.tumblr.com and Beth Hopping from the doctorate program at UNC Chapel Hill came by to visit. They were interested in all things farming but specifically in how to take food waste from our farmers and turn it into something valuable. I showed them our farm and how we use the product we get from the farmers market to feed our cows and pigs. They were able to hand feed the cows, especially Benjamin and Spunky who are always at the front of the line.

We ended the day with a visit to our neighbors where we opened a bottle of vino and debated and discussed the state of the food system, business models, and life in general. Except for the fact that I missed dinner, it was a good visit.

While visiting with Daniella and Beth we discussed our pasture management process and how we are building soil. I know it seems strange that I haven’t done this lately but I haven’t actually dug any soil test holes in many months. While discussing our soil I dug a small hole with my finger and what do you know, about 1/2″ of loose organic material and about 3/4″ of good looking topsoil. This compares the the 1/8″ of topsoil we had in April. I was really encouraged. I need to dig some holes in other places but it looks like what we are doing is working and working well.

September 24, 2013September 30, 2013

Sward

The grass continues to do its job. The dry matter continues to build up on the ground, creating a healthy environment for all the life, seen and unseen. I am looking forward to the next soil sample, not so much for the lab results but for the process of digging the hole and seeing what the topsoil layer looks like. Last time there was almost no topsoil and the ground went almost immediately to clay. 30 years of grazing will do that, as will living in this part if NC. If I go and dig up my yard, it’s almost immediately clay so you wouldn’t be blamed for just throwing up your hands and saying its impossible to build topsoil but if I go to the forest and dig, it’s rich loam. Hmm, looks like its possible then so we keep forging ahead.

September 21, 2013

Grazing update

Yesterday’s on the right, todays on the left. The grass continues to look good. Cool weather and rain should make the fescue jump now. We cut off the side pasture for winter grazing so we are back on this pasture weeks earlier than normal. Even with wide paddocks the grass is very grazed but with the fall flush starting I think we will be fine.

September 19, 2013September 20, 2013

Sunrise and some poop

Today SWMBO was feeling under the weather and couldn’t get warm. I offered to share a little body heat and we ended up snuggling in the bed an extra 20 mins so I got a later start than normal. It was totally worth it. Especially when we got to see this effect from the sun rise. A clear line of golden light hitting the trees. I share these pics because they only last a few minutes. The rest of the day is the same day everyone else sees. Its these moments that make me glad I choose to have a farm rather than go to the gym. Can you compare sweating on an exercise machine with ear buds in trapped in a concrete box of a building vs saying hello to my animals and seeing sights like this? Nope.

So the mineral feeder was topped off today with silica and trace mineral TC. I put double the phosphorous in last time and it is GONE! I can’t believe how much phosphorous these cows are eating. Tomorrow I will have to add another 50 pounds, I didn’t even bring any with me this morning because they couldn’t possibly of needed some.

Not everything on the farm is sunrises and flowers, although for a cattle farmer, this is just a beautiful. This is a perfect poop. Not too runny, not too firm. Plenty of dry matter in the pat. This poop means the cows are getting what they need and are returning to the ground the nutrients it needs. The grass is looking good and we are getting good results.