Join me today as we discuss rest and productivity on our grazing operation, which includes grass-fed Red Devon cattle, St. Croix sheep, and chickens all within a 5 acre rotational grazing system.
Our little homesteading family of 7 grow much of our food and we always pray that we’ll learn to rest from our work and learn to work from a place of REST. God is so good. The boundary lines have fallen for us in pleasant places. Prayers from Nova Scotia 🇨🇦
Hi Jason! I’m a new subscriber. Been binge watching all day. You are raising what I want on to have on my farm. Thank you for sharing the scripture or your journey. 🙏🏾🙌🏾
I LOVE this. I have long been in awe of how much the Bible focuses on the importance of rest and how it is built into the very structure of creation and given to us as an example from the very moments of creation. Our sermon at church this morning was from Psalm 112, and it speaks about how blessed the man is who finds delight in the commandments of God, some of the promises for him and his family that God will not forsake him and that he has security. Stewarding the land and animals in a way that honors Him, giving it rest, and finding delight in doing that seems like one example of that being put into very practical action.
Thanks so much for this encouragement! I do indeed find so much delight here, and as I look back I understand it was all the grace of Jesus that made it possible.
As soon as I heard scripture, I knew I needed to be subscribed. I believe God is calling me to homestead, which is not something I ever thought I’d do, but our Lord has a way of literally and figuratively leading us to green pastures and still waters. I’m so glad I was guided to this channel. God bless you and yours.
I have to pray about this, thank you. My father worked too much, and I learned that rest and leisure were part of God's plan, but it was six days hard work and then rest. And importantly, the sabbath was made for man. So i learned to better work hard during the week so that I could really rest and pray and fellowship, etc. We had an evening prayer service on Saturday right before supper. I had to get all my work and study done, which meant better Thursday, Fridays, and Saturday. Then really take time for the Lord, for prayer, even going to a symphony on Sunday fit into that. If i honored God, in this way, i had a much better life, and my studies also improved. I do hear too much work all the time vut farmers have to figure it out. Some give a double pasture to try and minimize this. Don't be legalistic, but don't ignore it.
Too often for me it’s a matter of pride in thinking, “Imagine how much more I could get done if I didn’t break?” I think you’re right, each farm has a different context so rest may look different. The place I’m coming into is that God is good, and he blesses us with rest. We get to do that, and ultimately end up in a better place for it. Be blessed, Tired Dad🤠
Very well done. Glad to know of your farm and ministry via RU-vid. Very challenging Thank you for making a meaningful connection between Scripture and real life, so few are thinking like this way. Craig
Love your speech on small farmers coming together. I live in one of the largest cities in America and me and my wife are actively trying to get out. God bless!
I remember when we moved and then one of the first times I returned to see friends. I couldn’t believe how much hotter it was in the city, and I had never known it when living there. I wish you the best in moving on.
Hi Jason, thanks for sharing the story about your 2 Rams running low on feed and causing fighting amongst them because of it. It reminds me of the saying "Desperate times call for Desperate Measures". When you mentioned about the downfalls of Artificial Insemination it reminded me of another Homesteading channel I watch. There is a family that has one Jersey Milk Cow and they had to try 3 different times to successfully get her bred. It is expensive and sometimes the delay that is caused by it not working can cause a lot of difficulties in your operation.
What a great reflection on rest and productivity. Been trying to be more trusting in the Lord with that. It always amazes me how much reflective one can be when observing real life on the farm. Great insight and wisdom as always.
@@birchfieldfarming Doing great! Foxes are really enjoying our chicken and ducks...🤦♂ Also, you mentions the cattle/sheep eating Honey Suckle. I was reading that it was reading the berries can be toxic. Do you only graze them prior to the berries coming?
@@StephenG222Oh man, foxes are crafty!! I don’t worry about the berries. I’ve noticed the animals tend to self-select. So many of the naturally occurring species in the silvopasture are toxic, but only in larger quantities. Never had an issue here.
Great reflections and so fascinating to track your progress. Let me say, you’ve got the BEST shepherdesses anywhere, and that young feller manning the drone is top-notch too. You reminded me at 31:12 of the Josh Garrels tune, The Resistance, when referring to our “weapon of rest.” When your sis introduced me to that song, it’s just grown on me through the years as an ongoing song speaking to our emerging times (for me at least). Just hope you- and others like you who are co-laborers in this work across the region, nation and world- are encouraged that all you and your families sacrifice to work the land is life-giving. Who would have thought that living out a theology that balances the trichotomy of land/God/others would draw the ire of the establishment, but here we are. You all are an inspiration.
I have watched your videos for a while and I appreciate your verses and love for Godly things. Your words on rest in this video really hit home with me. I was out cutting hay and found myself trying to hurry through and get done and feeling stressed. I thought about your words and started just looking at the scenery around me and decided to “rest” in the work God had for me and to enjoy it. I found myself singing while driving the tractor and truly enjoy cutting the hay again. Appreciate your words and commitment brother. Thanks.
Thanks for the great content! Keep holy the Saturday. 😁 I have a LOT of hope in the future, because of regenerative agriculture. l think this is a great time to be alive ! I focus on the things that l want to see happen in the future. l ignore the rest. Focus on what you want. That is all. 😀
I understand completely. Today I am taking a day of rest from installing my electric fence on the 6 acres. Thank you for all your videos. They keep me encouraged to make the small farm a reality for my retirement in two years.
@@aquaclearwatersolutions3210Yeah, daily moves seem to be working best now, especially with above average rainfall - been a great Spring to graze. We’ll see how we do come August/Sept when forage growth typically halves.
This is the first time I’ve ever watched your channel, but I will be watching y’all from now on. I appreciated your message about the goodness of God! He is absolutely always good! God bless your family big, big!!
WOW !!! Did I need to hear this. Rest Rest Rest Your channel popped up in my feed. God has a plan. We just need to open our hearts and listen. Are you a pastor?
I agree with you about having a bull, I have taken cows to a bull when in heat and some worked and some did not a friend had five cows and had them AI one caught plus the problem of the tech showing up at the right time. When I had my bull I never had a miss, I only had three cows so you are on the bottom of the list when you need them breed. I got laughed at buy other farmers for letting one of my fields stand empty and summer fall it for a year but that is what is talked about in the bible. Yes I believe in the day of rest as well and try to follow that as well. John
Hey John, You know, I think that’s my biggest beef (no pun intended) with conventional farming - It’s all about maximum extraction, but the paradox is by never stopping it actually becomes destructive. We may even be labeled as lazy or laughed at like you’re saying. Also, with all the big equipment now, if one isn’t wise, it’s now easy to go broke by working and running those machines all the time. We don’t rest to be more productive, we do it b/c God tells us to. Kuddos to you for doing what He says no matter what those around you are saying!
Looks all very nice. If you have nitrates in your water, I would also do a soil test as it might be an issue of too much manure during the slow growth season. Testing water in the swale might be an option. Is your land also sloping into that same swale? If not you might have another swale to check some of the effluents of your land. In the USA the laws on stocking rates and nitrate testing are quite relaxed compared to some other regions in the world.
European farmers know to take their dairy cattle to the mountains for the diverse plant forage because of allows them different flavors in the cheese. Aldersprings Ranch in Idaho follows a similar idea and apparently their beef is incredibly complex in flavor.
Amazing abundance. You are blessed and are passing on the blessing. In my own life, experiencing the provision of יהוה God has come most vividly and even miraculously as I observe his “rest” commandments. I was in an industry that never stops. When I demanded that I must stop in obedience to the commandments, I became the boss instead of the employee. I have so many stories because once a week I challenged an entire industry, and won. I think farming too is an industry that never stops. Yet all those commandments were given to an agricultural society. It takes a lot of faith to do exactly nothing for 24 hours during seed time and harvest. Especially when a harvest can absolutely be lost in a 24 hour period depending on weather. Yet, this is the commandment. Your words and life are such a powerful statement. Thank you for your courage.
Mostly fescue, some orchard grass, white and red clover, lots of chicory, some dandelion and burdock where there’s compaction. My recommendation is to let whatever is in your seed bank come up naturally and mow or graze it…it’ll only get better!
We are about to move onto 10 acres, and want to prepare our pasture land by planting cover crops, oats, what else should we seed before we start with sheep? The land hasn’t been used in 5 years. Currently it’s covered in native grasses and native wild flowers and it’s beautiful. But there are some bare patches. We already have the perimeter fenced, we will be adding paddocks. I really just want to be feeding the soil this year and need ideas for what to seed in pasture, thanks!
If you can get chickens on the ground, it will be the best thing you ever did from a pasture perspective. Eggs are just a bonus. There’s just no substitute for their scratching and manure. I’m also a big fan of Green Cover Seed’s warm season grazing cover crop mix. Also, take a hard look at dripping down some extracts (KNF, Johnson-Su, etc). Those can be really good at jumpstarting things, especially when dripped directly onto your cover crop seed. I’ve also done some sod transplanting for smaller pasture bare spots (mostly where the bulls kick up dirt🙄) with pretty good success - it’s quick and typically thrives when taken from out nearby lawn. Best thing you can do though, is get those sheep in there and get them grazing! Best wishes to ya!!🤠🐑
Thanks for the video, how long do the cattles stay in each part before moving them to another one. And how long the grass needs to grow before next rotation. thanks
Great questions. Cattle stay for 1 day on each 1/4 acre paddock, but this can vary. Typically grass grows twice as fast in May/June as it does in Aug/Sept, so we have to adjust accordingly. I think one of the best approaches is to figure out how much dry matter forage you have (based on grass height), and figure you need about 3% dry matter forage per animal unit (1000 lbs). Now, don’t take it all or you’ll struggle with regrowth. In hot and dry times, I like to take half leave half. In wetter, better times I’ll be a bit more aggressive. Hope this gives you a starting point!
You could probably just use that well to help water the fields. If youre dead set on using it to water livestock, the root system for the plants are not going to reach the 100' below the ground to filter anything. You would need to build a surface pond, and pump into the surface pond from the well, then stock the pond with plenty of nitrogen eating plans to filter it out for you.
Id be extremely interested to hear why you run red devons over dexters on small acreage. I have dexters and recently discovered red devons, and they seem like the exact same breed, just a difference in size. Let me know your thoughts
When we first started, I desired the absolute heartiest, 100% grass-fed ruminants I could find. I originally wanted bison but couldn’t stomach the capital expense of extending existing 4 ft fencing up to 6 ft on a 60 acre perimeter. We were already set-up for cattle, so I rolled with it. And let me say, from my experience there’s just nothing heartier than these Red Devon on grass! We just sent one in for processing and hit almost 59% hanging weight to live weight, again that’s no grain. I’ve had our Devons thrive thru negative 33°F in winter with zero messing around or doctoring. Of the 8 we have now, no dewormer, no antibiotics, no foot issues, no growth hormones, etc. - even better than grass machines, as they put out fertilizer and require no petrol. Red Devon were the first cattle to North America with the pilgrims and many traversed the Oregon trail. Just a true triple purpose breed, small framed and lots of history as being tough as nails with very minimal inputs and a great maternal side. Thanks for the question!
We do not use the silo. It was here for an old dairy. Do you need one? Man, I guess that depends on your farm goals and what you want to do. Inputs would probably be best put towards something else when starting out, but again, depends on what you want to do farming-wise.
Great message! Pay attention to the words you overgrazed because you left them too long not because they grazed the forage too low. I'm not sure if it's being southpoll and corrientes in central Texas but I can really neglect the minerals and they still slick off really well. My 13 month old south poll slicked off faster than my 18 month aberdeen x corriente cross heifers which I was surprised by
I’ve heard great things about the South Pole and heat tolerance. My issue is I need cattle that can stand negative weather thru winter and not need babied or sheltered. I think South Pole would be great in the southern states.
I’ve heard great things about the Southpole and heat tolerance. My issue is I need cattle that can stand negative weather thru winter and not need babied or sheltered. I think Southpole would be great in the southern states.
@@birchfieldfarming it's funny I'm worried about south poll not being hardy enough for the heat and dry of Texas lol I dont have a concept of winter we get a few single digit days every couple years but most years a couple weeks of freezing and snow at a time. I'm moving to more tropical breeds I only have 1 cow heifer pair of southpoll. My bull ill start on the cows is a Mashona cross and then looking at the Romosinuano cross bulls next
@@masonbaylorbearsI watched a guy with Mashona/Angus cross having great success with heat tolerance. Yeah, I can’t imagine some of the heat you guys get down your way. I hit 85/90 up here and my cattle start the head bobbing and slobbering.
@birchfieldfarming I cant imagine the cold yall get, we get a week or so a year and it wrecks all my plans because it's hard to plan for because it will be 65 one week then single digits the next and all my water infrastructure isn't set up for it. Yeah heat is a big deal last years drought really made it where most of my later calving cows didn't get back in condition to rebreed. They were all straight corrientes so I was kind of surprised it hit them that hard
You raise all these animals on 5 acres. It doesn't seem possible to me. Are the animals on the 5 acres 365 days a year? What do you do with the 60 acres you mentioned?
Hi Steve, We do feed hay over winter, and rent the rest of the ground to a local farmer. Has allowed us to grow our flock and herd and still generate income from the rental side.
You're missing a few Goats on your pastures to get rid of the weed permanently. 3 or 4 goats will restore the pastures from unwanted weeds. Goats are the best Natural Herbicides.
Used to work at a place that kept goats. Pulled up one morning and they were on top of the barn roof. No time or patience here for that level of drama. My sheep do all I need in that department when we have stock density dialed in.
Do you ever have to worry about your bulls and rams getting aggressive? We have 4 rams and while they've all been well behaved so far, we still never take our eyes off them when we go in their pastures.
It’s always a great idea to keep an eye on them. Our bulls/rams are not aggressive, but two exceptions we’ve noticed: 1. Petting a ram’s head consistently was one of the stupidest things we did early on and 2. When the males get around the females in heat they can be a bit unpredictable, still not aggressive, but certainly unpredictable.🤠
God economy is everlasting...wow. Imagine the exponential growth of a fruit and the number of seeds inside to plant multiply trees that will bear more multiple fruits. Never ending supply of food. All we need to do is love God and trust Him alone.
Thanks! I have 4.22 acres plus the use of my neighbors 2 acres. Just looking for ways to best utilize it for my 2 dairy cows, 7 goats and 2 kunekune pigs plus a few turkeys and chickens.
Honestly, haven’t had ticks here since we first purchased the place almost 8 years ago. Chickens not only rid this place of every single tick, they made delicious eggs from them that we ate!
@@birchfieldfarming Wow, I'm in central Missouri and have them, I can be outside, don't have grass as high as yours and only in it for a short time, with pants on and found 2 on my upper legs, 1/32" big. I have had them so small, smaller than a printed dot, that went right thru the fabric of my socks. Had to pick off more than a dozen and had mosquito like marks for a couple of weeks on each foot. We have a lot of deer here. Where do you live?
@@birchfieldfarming Maybe I'll try but when I leave to travel there is no one to take care of any animals. What do you do if your whole family goes away for a week or so?
@@birchfieldfarming This may be the reason why the neighboring farms have cow patties that are still there 2 years later. We don't use dewormers either and within 24 hours our cow patties are broken down by the dung beetles. Bryan's Healthy Harvest near Seguin, TX
You know you can just listen and then watching him talk.. as many news people do as well, isn’t an issue! Listen mostly, and watch occasionally! We all have free will!
Religion pushed? That’s the thing… if you don’t like it, you don’t have to watch! You can play something else. Odd that you’re saying you’re Christian, and being negative about this man’s reflections of how Gods Words can beautifully intertwine with life! God bless your journey!
Our little homesteading family of 7 grow much of our food and we always pray that we’ll learn to rest from our work and learn to work from a place of REST. God is so good. The boundary lines have fallen for us in pleasant places. Prayers from Nova Scotia 🇨🇦