From the Pastures: A change in plans

I went through three hired hands in 30 days. The first guy worked for me for 1 1/2 years and was a real good hand, but he moved to Missouri and got a job doing vertical drilling for a cable company. The guy he recommended was a senior in high school and worked the days he was not physically in class. But he went back to school full time. The third guy worked for two weeks and just up and quit on me. So, I’m in need of a good hired hand if anyone knows of one.

My lambs are still on half-acre lots in the winter annual field. I move them about every 1 1/2 to 2 days depending on how quickly they eat the forage. I’m leaving about 20% of the red clover trampled, but the rest of the eight-way mix is being eaten down to a 1- to 2-inch stubble height. Four of these varieties will winter kill out and the remainder are established and will grow back next spring and I’ll be lambing on this pasture next May.

But for now the lambs need to harvest as much of the forage that is out there as they can. They are growing and maintaining a body score of 3 on a scale of 5. The old ewe flock is doing landscaping duty on the farm I baled hay off of in June. They are staying in each lot longer so they can eat the grass shorter because they won’t be back to this grass until next August. However, the deer are enjoying the growth in the first two lots that were grazed in the middle of October. That 70-degree weather really helped with the regrowth.

I’m on the planning committee for the Heart of America Grazing Conference that will be held in Illinois in 2021. Last week, we decided to cancel the February date and reschedule it for July or August. We want to have an in-person meeting, not a virtual meeting. Also, we might have a pasture walk the night before the actual meeting the following day. This is all due to COVID and could and probably will change before the actual meeting. I just wanted to keep you informed of the latest data. Try to have a happy Thanksgiving.

Arrowsmith, Ill.