From the Pastures

With the last five or so days of July-type weather most all the crops got planted in a hurry and much has emerged looking great. Here, though, our organic corn and soybean seed is still in the bag.

Well, the grass and forage has really taken off. Last Monday, May 9, I clipped forage samples from the current lot and the field I would be going into. Everyone talks about the “spring flush” and its washy grass.

Interesting how short spring can be in northern Illinois. This week the weather has jumped right into summer. I do not mind. Nice to see the grass and pasture turn green.

Hello from Graze-N-Grow. Well, still no oats in and not a lot of growth in the pastures. Not even the rye is tall enough to start grazing yet. I’m predicting a late spring.

Happy spring? The tulips are a little confused, also. Our pasture does have a little green, giving some hope that spring is not far away. I am getting a little impatient this time of year — always lots of projects to do and I would like to get started.

March has been teasing us with 70-degree temps followed by snow and single digits. Winter has a hard time letting go, but the forecast looks favorable for spring’s arrival. The recent snow cover did allow for finishing my frost seeding.

March is always an up and down month for weather. Nice one day and then cold and snowy the next. I am choosing to be positive and know it will not be long until spring. March is a good time to plan for projects when the weather turns nice.

It’s a beautiful spring day at 65 degrees today, quite a change from the weather we have been getting every Thursday for the last four weeks. I even missed several grazing meetings because of the snow and ice and you know it’s bad when that happens.

The early March weather has finally allowed us to complete the frost seeding. Conditions improved rapidly over the last weekend in February.

Hopefully the groundhog is not correct and spring is closer than six weeks away. It has been cold the last few days and nights. The sheep are doing well, but stay in the barn most of the time. The north side of our barn has three doors.

Hello from Graze-N-Grow. Our lambing season has been more spread out than usual, but since we sold off a large portion of the flock last November, it’s not been as hectic. It’s nice to come in after evening chores and not have to worry about late-night visits to the lambing barn.

We sure are getting a lot of wind farms in Illinois. I’ve been to one of two future wind farm meetings last week. The meeting was held in my old high school where I grew up.

Happy New Year! I usually do not make very many New Year’s resolutions, but this year I did try to think of some for the farm and fiber mill business. I would like to attend — probably virtually — at least one educational seminar on improving flock health.

Hard to believe it is almost the end of the year. I must say that I am not sad to see 2021 fade away. It has been another challenging year, as I am sure it has been for a lot of other people. I am choosing to focus on our many blessings, especially our new granddaughter.

Hello from Graze-N-Grow. As the grazeable grass has been disappearing so has the numbers of our ewe flock. We still have plenty of ewes and replacement ewe lambs, but I felt it was a good time to reward the market.