Deep Roots Radio interview @ 8:30-9:00 CT, today streamed live www.wpcaradio.org

Catch you then.

Sylvia

    It's Mother's Day and I'm sitting in the Columbia, MO airport, ready to fly back to Clear Lake, Wisconsin, to my farm, Bull Brook Keep. It'll be more than eight hours before I pull into the drive, lot of time to review notes, flip through photos and replay videos.

   What an amazing few days this has been: 40-minute drives that took me over small streams and lakes, miles of white fence around horse farms, and five-strand wire electric fence around fields of grazing cattle. The Greg and Jan Judy farms were a beautiful sight: rolling hills of tall hardwoods and acres of lush fields covered with lush stands of grasses, forbes, herbs and amazing insect life. There were birds everywhere: blue birds, bright cardinals, hawks, crows, tree swallows and more.   

   My head is filled with lots of new information, and more importantly, a few major lessons that I hope to put into play as soon as I reach the farm this evening. Here are just a couple:

Have a wonderful Mother's Day!

Sylvia

     Diagrams, sketches, demonstrations, stories about what works and lessons about what doesn't. The day was filled with practical information about what makes for nutritious pasture forage and what doesn't, as well as with terrific information about how to examine my grazing methods so that we can make the best use of what's growing throughout the grazing season. 

     For example, you don't want to graze the grass in any field all the way down to the dirt. Why? Because different types of nutrients are stored at different points along the blade or leaf. The top half stores sugars, while the bottom portion is where the proteins reside. Too much protein can cause all kinds of problems with calves, digestion and reproduction. Who would have thought! 

    So glad for the presenters: Greg Judy, Ian Mitchell-Innes and Mark Bader.

   Time is short right now. More to come.

Sylvia

   72 of us from all over the US and Canada alternated between classroom lecture and field walks yesterday as we drank up the stories and the data of mob grazing. It's an approach that's based on the theory that if you contain lots of cattle in a small area of pasture for a short period of time, the cattle will eat the top sweet 1/3 of the forage, trample the rest, gain lots of weight and do the same when moved to the next fresh bit of pasture. You use the word "mob" in this discussion because we're talking about applying 100,000 lbs of live beef to small parcels of land. That equals about 100 cows. And that's just the beginning. The goals are to reduce stress on the grass be limiting how much of each blade is consumed, provide the cows a balanced diet of energy and protein, and to imcrease the diversity of plants in the pasture thru the hoof action of the cattle which churn up latent seeds in the soil.

   All this without the need for tractors, seeding, fertilizers or pesticides, grains or supplements.

   Those are just the basics. We covered lots of territory yesterday: watering systems, fencing materials, how to read the cow's hide and hair (indicators of health), carbon cycles, and lots more.

   It's been a pleasure to meet the other attendees. Lots of the crowd is in their later-30s to mid-60's. There are a few younger people, and it's wonderful to see them here. This is a second career for many people. Some have made the shift in their late-40s, others are looking to live their dream after retiring from another career. All are intent on doing this right, of building sustainable businesses: growing grass-fed livestock in ways that produce flavorful, highly nutritious food, restores soil, protects groundwater, and produces a living wage.

    I'll try to sum up some of the major lessons learned tonight. Right now, I've got to drive out for today's class. The forecast is for lots of sun and 79 degree temps. I'm bringing along sunscreen and a hat.

    Till later!

Sylvia

     Every time I turn around, I seem to crash up against yet another thing I needed to know yesterday - how to figure out if a calf is getting enough colostrum, if the frost has created bloat-inducing conditions, who to go to to trim a couple of bad hooves, how to  evaluate the nutritional value of purchased hay, if I should design permanent or temporary lanes between the paddocks.  That's just April's short list.

     While there's not substitute for experience, there are books, webinars, mentors and friends, and then there are intensive seminars like the one I've traveled to Missouri to attend. At 9 a.m. I'll join other farmers for the start of a three-day field-and-classroom course that'll be presented by Greg Judy and Ian Mitchell-Innes. Greg, author of No Risk Ranching, and Comeback Farms, is a proponent of intensive management rotational grazing and of increasing income opportunites by owning neither land nor livestock.

Leaves are out and the first of the fruit trees have blossomed. At Bull Brook Keep, the plums were first to unfurl their pale pink petals. Unfortunately, they were lured by the premature heat and were kicked back into winter by a couple of nights in the 20s. I think we lost a good 20-25% of those buds, but I think we'll still get a good showing this summer.

The apples lagged by a couple of weeks. As I leaned in to steal a whiff of their very faint perfume, I was stopped short by the hum of bees, dozens of them hovering over the nearest branch. I was glad to see them because without these busy actors the flowers would not be pollinated and we wouldn't enjoy apples come September.

Attracting birds and insects to our farm and vegetable garden is critical to our sustainable enterprise. They are important contributors to our pastures and to our grass-fed beef operation.  We need them to help fertilize our clovers, herbs, veggies and fruit trees, and we simply enjoy their presence on the farm. We've got blue jays and bright red cardinals, bright blue birds, martins, cat birds, a variety of hawks, and a couple of pairs of sandhill cranes. There are also grackles, robins, pheasants, black-capped chickadees, barn swallows and tree swallows, kill deers and bobolinks, and ruby-thoated hummingbirds. Those are the few I recognize. I know there are lots others I've yet to learn.

We try to keep them coming to our fields in a couple of ways:

- by not using pesticides and insecticides that can harm them directly, or kill off the plants and insects they feed on, and

- by increasing the diversity of shrubs, trees and plants, especially of those varieties known to attract them

This year, we're adding blueberry, gooseberry and honeyberry bushes, additional coneflowers lots more herbs, and several more raspberry bushes. 

Here are just a few references from Mother Earth News that may help you attract birds and bees to your garden or farm:  

Let me know what you're adding to your garden or farm hedgerow.

Sylvia

    If this had been a human baby we'd have welcomed a new tax deduction today. But no, this is a little black & white bovine. Weighing about 50-55 lbs, it was born to Emme, #29 tag, a red & white BueLingo. She is a "first time heifer." In other words, this is her first calf. 

   You tend to worry about these first-time mothers because they can be spooked by the birth. Emme did really well and tended to her calf immediately. That's the type of self-reliant cow you select for on a grass-fed/grass-finished beef farm.

   Dave was nearby when she delivered, but he wasn't able to capture the actual birth on film. This quick video shows the calf just minutes old and attempting to stand for the first time.

   It's pretty common for the cows to wander off on their own and look for a stand of thorny bushes for the delivery because the thickets provide a measure of protection against predators. Emme obviously felt safe enough to have Dave video from a very short distance.

   One more calf expected this spring.

Sylvia

     Just a quick word to let you know that a third calf has arrived at Bull Brook Keep.  Bella, our BueLingo cow with the best conformation, had a little bull at about noon yesterday, April 6th. She's an experienced mother and we don't anticipate any problems, but we're keeping an eye out, just the same.