From the Pastures: Starting to wake up

Hello from Graze-N-Grow. Spring was here and then it wasn’t, but the wheat and pastures are waking up. When we drone seeded clover on the wheat last February it had just a little green, but I was hoping it would soon look better and it does.

The rye we broadcasted last October, however, is looking very sparse so far. With negligible rain last fall, it didn’t get a good start. The ewes and lambs are going to have to wait a little longer than normal to get on it. There are 180 acres of it, so hopefully there is enough to keep them occupied until the pastures are ready. It’s been a long hay feeding season.

I was able to get away to the Southeast Iowa Grazing Conference last month and, lo and behold, there was Elton Mau, fellow From the Pastures contributor. But then he gets to them all. The speakers were good, especially regenerative grazing pioneer Allen Williams who’s always worth hearing from, but additionally the conversations with other attendees can be just as rewarding.

With the current high prices for all the ruminants, the mood was upbeat for those in the grazing business. One point that Williams brought up was the price comparisons between ground beef at the store versus what is paid for the same protein at our local fast food establishments, all of them being two to three times as expensive for the same meat in the bun or chicken. Meat isn’t expensive even at current high prices when compared to other foods on the grocery shelves and is surely healthier than a lot of those highly processed offerings. Like I’ve said before, “good food is good medicine.”

I have my oats and pasture seed in bags waiting for weather to cooperate. Crop rotations are always beneficial, and in our organic system even more so. Although returns on those legume mixes seldom compete with organic grain revenues, they can help the soil and with livestock to harvest them can still yield a worthy return before going back to corn. I have good neighbors to harvest for me, but my sheep work for free and pay dividends. I think I will keep them around and I encourage you folks to do the same. If you haven’t yet, you don’t know what you’re missing. Happy trails.