Pasture based farm in southeastern Ohio’s Appalachian hills. We raise cattle, sheep, chickens & pigs. We believe that healthy animals create healthy food!
I’m pretty much at where you’re at also. I have kunekunes and I’m trying all the cover crops you mentioned. My pigs do not clear land like yours. Good luck with your pigs.
Just a thought...Greg Judy switched to 3x - 4x per day moves and he is seeing fewer flies, better condition, and healthier calves. Have you tried smaller paddocks and faster moves?
We had to move two large intact boars in pasture (away from the sows) and it was some of the best meat I've ever had. We fed them some grains but they spent one year on pasture. No boar taint. Over that time period, they pretty much cleaned the entire area. Will do again soon.
The mistake you're making with is that your cultivating pastures . The problem also with pastures stems all from the fact that they are pastures. But you should be cultivating are a grassland and savannah ecosystem. If you can cultivate more deeply rooted native plants while also diversifying your vegetative and structural components you will realize greater gains while building resiliency towards drought, heavy rain and long term fertility and carbon sequestration. However your tall grass looks good and tall grass pulse grazing is definitely the way to start.
Really cool video bud. Before I mention anything else, it's amazing how difficult it can be to record with wind noise, pigs messing with camera stands. Few people will appreciate it but I get it. Our boar (700 plus pounds) will often come up behind me and rub on me for back scratches and head rubs while I'm recording. Kuddos to you, I know how frustrating and distracting it can be. First, I'm interested to see how the mess with multifloral rose. We don't have it here yet, but it looks like they are setting it back some. I suspect that by now or very soon when the pigs are pushing 150-250 pounds they will really root it up. Yes they will tear the ground up, but it will heal and it will be worth it to get rid of that stuff. Second, it's funny how different environments are. When you mentioned mixing warm and cool season stuff (clovers, brassicas, and Sorghum sudan), I wasn't sure if it would work because I was thinking of my climate in Mississippi. In my area it they don't grow well together but in many areas like Ohio it is commonly done. Third, do you like the hog netting? For a handful of pigs, I wonder if it would be best. I think it makes people more comfortable than the high tensile fencing or poly wire, but its a lot of work.
Thank you! Honestly had forgotten how bad this video is 😅 but I learned a ton bout filming And editing. Wow I’m definitely jealous that you don’t have the multifloral rose. It’s such a pain & so widespread here in Appalachia. The hogs definitely wouldn’t go outta their way to destroy established plants but they eat the new growth off of them and if I fed directly in a thicket they would root it up. Honestly been surprised how well & how quickly they’ve opened up this area to let light hit the ground. This year has been so odd my cover crop data is basically trash at this point. In the video I showed the muddy area and the water in the paddock. After this we have been record breaking dry so the cover crops started out like gang busters but got stunned by the heat and drought. Unfortunately my cows found the already stressed cover crops and finished the job but that’s farming. As for the netting it’s great for small feeders. I believe in the future I’ll use it to train my piglets to electric then as they grow move to a poly wire setup. Large pigs just love to root up soo much soil against the fence it’s a daily job of clearing. Plus the mutliflora rose & I had a pretty big fight my last paddock move and it took at least an hour to untangle 😂 I appreciate your support & advice
@@DustyRidgeFarms I used poultry betting for my chickens but it was a pain. That’s why I started using high tensile and poly wire. I bet the cows enjoyed the cover crops! Our covers have suffered here as well. It’s been miserable.
Normally I’d say yes but this is gonna be used for pig pasture so the idea is to have them clear the brush up for me plus I can’t get a mower back to this area anyway
Thank you. Im in a similar situation. Ohio myself. My pasture is in the same condition. I just started cutting behind them on the highest adjustment. Should have calves next spring to help with the grazing consistency.
Thank you for watching. It can be tough to maintain pastures during the spring when it’s been this wet. Sounds like you have a good plan, best of luck🍀
there are forage calculator tools out there. So you can have a really good estimation of how many pounds of feed are in an actual area. That little butcher steer is off to a good start.
Thank you for watching! Have you used any before? I’ve heard of them but never tried it out. Yes they are growing fast fingers crossed 🤞 they are ready by fall
Hey Idea, You Could Make a Fish Pond once The Fish Grow up and the Fish Population Begins to pop off You Will have a lot of Fish Which You Could Either Sell or Eat.
Thank you for watching! I’ve definitely spent many hours of research almost to the point of insanity. Or at least my wife thinks so lol. Thank you for the advice, I have a microphone coming to hopefully eliminate the wind noise 🤞
Taking a pasture & dividing it into small sections. Letting the cattle or sheep eat on that area for a small period then moving them to another section. This helps to provide higher quality & more grass while reducing parasites & illness for the animals.
Really nice,a fella down the road and I are just getting started fixing up his wifes old family farm,we got 40 acres mostly pasture with some scattered woods and a nice clean creek at the bottom and a great running spring at the top of the hill,he had got two cows now,moved them today on to electric they did good ,how often do you move them? Great show thank you
@@brandonjackson1434 thank you for watching! I move mine at least once a week usually more if I have time. If your stocking rate is low enough you can also use rotational grazing to stockpile forage for winter time.
@@DustyRidgeFarms nice ,I think we will need to move more often especially in spring the ground is all slope and hill about 16" of great topsoil on hardpan clay with quite a bit of ground water ,maybe summer we can spread out the paddocks to larger size and give em a little more time in an area and give a chance to get a good size area ready for winter grazing
I agree he's spot on with his hogs and spewing knowledge. It's all about what ya feed em. A fella up in Canada has omega 3s in by feeding them duck weed algae. It's got fish eggs and snails caught in it. I want to incorporate that in the farm I'm starting later this year.
Thanks for taking the time to do the before and after videos, I like to see the difference and look forward to you showing us the recovery over time as well. Happy to see a beginner, we can always watch Greg Judy if we want to see a pro who's done it all before!
Thank you for watching! I’m really excited to see how they change our property. I have some exciting ideas for cover crops to plant during the rest periods.
