Livestock
Local Food Security: Challenges and Opportunity
“If the world is saved it will be saved because the people living in it have a new vision.” –Daniel Quinn No one wants to admit that the food supply we depend on could ever be in jeopardy, or that food prices are not as stable as they once were. We want to take comfort and security in the fact that our grocery store shelves and markets are always stocked with the foods we love, and that year after year, we spend only a small percent of our income on food. A picture is beginning to emerge into mainstream consciousness that could shatter this comfort and security, however. It can be seen in films like Food Inc., recently nominated for an Academy Award, which details the grotesque and completely unsustainable practices of our modern agriculture industry. It can be seen in television specials highlighting the same issues, like David Suzuki’s The Nature of Things two part series on “Corporate Agriculture” and “Alternative Agriculture”. Canadian historian and international affairs writer...
Local Food Security: Challenges and Opportunity
“If the world is saved it will be saved because the people living in it have a new vision.” –Daniel Quinn No one wants to admit that the food supply we depend on could ever be in jeopardy, or that food prices are not as stable as they once were. We want to take...
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Curated Content From Around the Web
FAMACHA Score Four Sheep in 30 Seconds
Last week we shared an article about the problem of parasite resistance to worming medications and covered worming practices that may help or hurt resistance. FAMACHA© scoring is one of the tools available to help prevent resistance in your herd. It’s a test for barberpole worms (Haemonchus contortus) in your herd, and uses the symptoms of anemia that the worm can cause to help us pick out the animals that need to be treated. By treating only the animals that need it instead of the whole herd, we make better use of our wormers, and reduce the potential for creating resistant worms. FAMACHA© was created by a team that included Dr. Fafa Malan of South Africa (FAfa MAlan CHart). The chart they created as part of the process shows different possible colors of the membrane of the eye, from a dark red, or 1, indicating no significant anemia, to a…
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How Often Should You Move Your Herd?
Are you a competitive grazier? By that I mean, do you measure your success against other folks by how often you move your animals and the more moves you do, the better you must be? That may not be the best way to measure your success, and it could be a good way to burn out. So here’s a collection of articles that might help us all control our competitive streak so we get the lives and results we want. First, James Matthew Craighead reminds us that building soil health doesn’t require daily moves, and he gives us some pretty good advice. You Do Not Have to Move Cows Every Day John Marble adds to the story, taking a look at other things we might consider when deciding how often to move animals – like lifestyle and economics. How Often Should You Move Your Herd? Lifestyle and Economic Considerations for…
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Can the Weather Predict Your Calves’ Weaning Weights?
Editors’ Note: This article was drawn from a piece by Ann Perry of the USDA-ARS. The article was published in the July 2014 Issue of their Agriculture Research magazine. The research is part of Pasture, Forage and Rangeland Systems (#215) and Climate Change, Soils and Emissions (#212), two ARS national programs. For decades, Agricultural Research Service scientists in the northern plains have kept meticulous records on cattle weight gains during the growing season. Although their main focus was on trends in livestock and forage production, they also tracked weather conditions as part of their studies. Then, a few years ago, ARS rangeland management specialist Justin Derner assembled a team from three ARS locations in Wyoming, North Dakota, and Montana and used the data to see if it might give us a clue about how increased seasonal weather variability might affect cattle production. Wet Winters and Springs Are Better For Weight…
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Sue Kennedy Teaches Cows to Eat Leafy Spurge
Here are some of the posts on the Kennedy Ranch Facebook page from Sue Kennedy’s work teaching cattle to eat leafy spurge on their ranch in Lamoille, Nevada. Sue says that the cattle do well eating the spurge on their first rotation through a pasture. But 14 days later they tend to eat around the spurge. She and I will be chatting in the near future about this tendency. I’d like to know a little more about what the regrowth looks like after 14 days and variety in pasture as well. So we’ll share more when we know more! 🙂 Relat
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Three Things You Can Do Starting Now to Be More Profitable
When Greg Judy wrote this in February of 2017, farmers and ranchers were reeling from the ups and downs of the market from the previous couple years. It seems that some things never change, so here’s Greg’s advice once more for ways you can survive no matter the ups and downs. There has been quite a price change in the livestock world in the last two years. There has never been a time in recent history that cattle prices crashed as quickly as they did in the fall of 2015. Historically high prices were being paid for anything that looked like a cow. The new normal for 2014 and part of 2015 was rocket fuel prices never seen before in history. Tons of folks threw caution to the wind and wanted to get in on the action of the super high cattle prices. I read an editorial during this feverish…
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How I Raised a Year’s Worth of Grass-Fed Beef for Practically Nothing
Is it cheaper to raise your own beef? Is it even worth raising your own meat? Yes, it is absolutely cheaper and completely worth the time and effort to do so!Before moving to our 10-acre farm 12 years ago, I homesteaded in every capacity possible in the suburbs.Our suburban lot was small, and the south side of our house was blocked by the neighbor’s house. Still, I did everything I could to grow our own food. This included tearing out most of the landscaping and planting food all around the house.Canning food was a skill that I learned from a neighbor at our previous house, and so I canned everything I could get my hands on. In addition to the food we grew, I frequented “U-pick” farms, farmers markets, and took advantage of “loss leader” sales at the grocery.Every winter, we enjoyed the homemade marinara sauce, jams, and vegetables that…
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How to Install an Electric Fence
Learn how to install an electric fence by learning about conductors, corner posts, and insulators before buying quality electric fencing materials and spending time on construction.As a containment system for livestock, a well-made electric fence can be both highly effective and relatively low maintenance. I’m not opposed to other methods of fencing, such as barbed wire; I’m just opposed to paying for them. If you already have a barbed wire fence, good. If you don’t have fence and need to build one, the most economical way — by a wide margin — is to build an electric fence the right way.Unfortunately, the first permanent electric fence I built was neither effective nor low maintenance, because it wasn’t well-built. I struggled with escaped livestock, the constant need for repairs, and ceaseless calls from angry neighbors. (I’m lucky to have good neighbors, since cattle walking through their cornfield will test the patience…
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