From the Pastures: Holding down the soil

Well, it’s starting to get busy around here. I’ve got my bean crop planted into green standing cereal rye that had been sprayed just the day previous. It went into great soil conditions on April 28, the same day I sheared. As I write this, May 10, the 20 mph winds are blowing the topsoil off of my neighbor’s tilled and very black fields, but my fields have still-standing cereal rye that is holding my soil down and slowing down the wind across the soil surface. Also, the litter on the soil is protecting any soil moisture that I do have from that strong wind. I was really amazed by how much dirt was in the air this afternoon.

In nine hours and 40 minutes, Will Kleinert sheared 113 head. He did a good job and my back didn’t hurt too bad — because I didn’t have to shear them! That included four head from a neighbor lady. I took my trailer to her place, got the sheep, brought them to my place, Will sheared them inside the trailer and then I took them back. You have to help out your neighbor, you know.

There is an upcoming producer workshop put on by the American Lamb Board to educate and empower producers to capitalize on the benefits and techniques of targeted grazing through a combination of classroom instruction and hands-on field experience. This is what the Lamb Board says: “Targeted grazing has offered the U.S. sheep industry an opportunity to grow and capitalize on our sustainable grazing practices. The American Lamb Board is excited to offer an in depth education workshop for producers to assist in their success and promote industry growth. Vegetation management for solar arrays, vineyards and fire suppression are the content areas for the three-day intensives offered across the country. Producers interested in grazing solar arrays will receive an American Solar Grazing Association certification upon course completion.”

To find out more information, type lambboard.com into your computer, go to the Events page, look for Targeted Grazing Workshops, click on the Learn More tab and then scroll down to the dates and locations. The class in Texas just got over, but we do have a class in Illinois on June 11-13 at Kankakee Community College. I’m hoping to be winding up lambing by then, but I’m registered and I’m going. I’m hoping to see some smiling familiar faces there.