Hey all! I'm a local boy from the upper Cumberland of TN. I really enjoy fishing and learning new ways to improve our family farm. I am brand new to farming but each day I get to learn something new or do what I have been researching. I plan on sharing all of my successes and failures along the way. Hope you subscribe and we can learn together!
this came across my feed so i am new to your channel, havent looked at any other videos yet. but based on this one .... and it's only a year ago.. have you considered feeder calves and selling them to locals so they don't have to go to walmart and buy foreign or low quality beef? I only have four head right, 1 bull(highlander), 1 cow(highlander/hereford), 1 heifer and 1 steer. The steer is going to freezer camp this winter, he's almost finished growing out. i want to sell the heifer because i don't need her and not sure if she should breed back to her daddy... i don't know how all that stuff works, honestly. the little bit of reading i've done on it says its possible. BUT she's stunted. way too small for a yearling. and i don't even know why because she eats EVERYTHING and has been wormed. Her brother the steer was a fat boy and grew fast and always looked blocky the way a beef cow should. She's just a scrawny rangy little thing, like one of those wild cows you'd see in a Remington painting. So yeah... i'm ready for her to go away and be someone elses problem. I only just started rotational grazing last year. other than the cows i also have sheep and goats (11 head total) and i read somewhere that five goats equal one cow - but the guy who said that didn't specify which breed... milk cow? meat cow? mini cow? beef master? i don't know! Oh and i almost forgot my two ponies.... little donkey sized ponies, not the itty bitty things or the bigger ones. Regardless of that... i have JUST enough grass for everyone. i would have more except i have four pastures that are in repair mode. once the grass takes off- next year - i wouldn't mind keeping the next calf. There are a lot of things growing here the cows will NOT eat, even if they were starving. that's coffee weed and dog fennel. the goats and sheep nip at it but if i didn't cut it down it would take over the entire landscape. both of them STINK. there is also wisteria growing specifically in another field and i have heard it's really toxic. i will have to pay someone to come remove it. i hate that stuff with a passion. don't care how pretty it is. And there is yellow jasmine. cute little bitty vines with little bitty yellow flowers. the whole plant will kill your goats in a short amount of time. so that particular field is utterly useless. Technically i have five fields but i don't count the last one. it's just a no go zone for anything that grazes. and of course, it's the biggest field! So.... here's a note to anyone who is new at this homesteading lifestyle.... be careful what you plant on your new property. some of those pretty flowers you see at Lowe's are highly toxic and incredibly invasive and absolutely useless. they will ruin your land. I would rather have five fields of kudzu than what i have right now!
Glad that you chose polled cattle, dehorning is unnecessary and completely avoidable. Good for you, farmers like you are who are fixing the reputation the livestock industry has.
Yes it is, if managed accordingly. It heals and protects the soil and ecosystem and lowers costs associated with feeding and manure spreading, as well as livestock health care.
Sarcasm is the lowest form of intelligence. Your poor cows and breaking the parasitic cycle and self medicating on native herbs must be hard on them. 😂❤ lovin it.
There aren't any vets around here. Just dog and cat doctors. And then they have pictures of cows, goats, sheep, pigs, waterfowl and chickens on their signs. Crazy. But they only see cats and dogs. We need more Dr. Pols!
I don't know if you'll see the difference between one side of the farm and the other, as the birds do move around a good deal during the day, but, it's very smart IMO to support these amazing natural predators of mosquitoes, deer flies, horse flies, etc - free pest control!
I’m not a farmer it’s the lords work but I’m dying to somehow attract barn and tree swallows to my house I wouldn’t care if there was an entire colony I love them so ! ❤️🐥🐣💯
It’s not rotational grazing. Have you checked your management such as if you have too much grass, then add more cows. When cows are full they’ll stop eating, lay down and chew cud. What about your vet practices? What supplements are you feeding them? RG is down well by many ranchers without the problems.
You should learn how to rotate if you want to do rotational grazing. You run out of feed in the winter, and they drop down to BCS 2. Now, you don't turn them in until the grass is past its prime. There is a balance. It isn't the joke you tell people it is. As far as BCS, you shouldn't listen to anyone telling you they are a BCS 7. I saw a three, some fours, maybe some fives. If you want to raise cattle, find a good mentor. It doesn't seem like you are very serious.
Don't you know you should cut that grass !!? Not good for the cows to eat that grass . That's probably why they look so swollen, not fat ! That bull looks just awful, not fat but sick !