From the Pastures: Variety spice of life

Hello from Graze-N-Grow. I’m beginning to think the groundhog got it wrong this winter. Warm and dry is not our usual fare for February, but I’ll take it. It’s been good for hauling manure and doing chores and most any outdoor activity.

Our yearling ewes are starting to lamb now. They usually have singles, but that’s enough since they are still growing themselves. When we used to raise wool sheep years ago we would let them grow and not lamb until their second year since it took them longer to reach maturity, but these smaller hair sheep start earning their keep a year earlier.

I’ve been checking the winter wheat that went from green to brown during those below-zero days last month and it’s still green at the base, so I think it should make it and we haven’t had any ice on it. They say wheat dies two or three times most every winter, but still makes a crop.

The rye we broadcasted last fall is not looking that great since moisture has been so low. Wait and see, I guess. Grazing wheat this spring may be an option to give the pastures some recovery time if the rye can’t do its job. Either way, grazing the sheep and calves this year should prove to be a profitable venture.

We’ve had several inquiries by folks wanting to get started since these sky-high prices, both beef and lamb, have shown the benefit of diversifying from the corn and bean doldrums. With the high prices for bred heifers now they could easily buy 10 bred ewes for the price of one cow and get a greater return. Those ewes would produce a greater percent of their bodyweight in meat at a price per pound that currently is a dollar and half a pound higher than beef. Either way they go, it’s providing our people with the domestic protein they need to get and stay healthy.

I have a fellow booked to fly on clover on the 40 acres of wheat with his drone. My friend, Myron, had it done last year with great results. All we need is some freeze-and-thaw cycles and, of course, a little rain. Other than that foot of snow we got early we’ve had very little moisture since last July. It may be an interesting spring this year, but then aren’t they all? I’ve also ordered seed for 30 acres of a pasture mix, as well, since I need to start shifting back some row-crop acres to pasture for both sheep and cattle grazing.

Organic corn prices have risen quite a bit since last year and we will have mostly corn and fewer bean acres this year. It seems organic egg production is on the rise and they need domestic corn, but beans not so much. It seems ordering meal from overseas is cheaper than crushing them here.

On the cattle front we have some dairy/beef steers and heifers ready for market this month and a group of yearlings to start finishing and a group of calves looking forward to spring grass. I’m going to try to finish some of these on grass, both Charolais/Jersey and Angus/Jersey, and see how they do on a forage only diet.

We butchered a 4 1/2-year-old Holstein/Jersey cow last year, grass finished, and the meat is exceptional. Two of our regular grass-finished beef customers from Chicago took a half and thought the same. We shall see. It will take annual forages along with perennials to do the job. It takes a lot longer with beef than lamb, but I guess variety is the spice of life as they say and it’s always rewarding to provide good nutrition for our friends and family. You should try it, too. Happy trails.