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Folks,
I know everyone is busy now, it is late at night, I just got home from
a Gideon meeting, and was reflecting on the condition of the paddock I
turned the cows into this morning. This particular field was last
grazed on April 29. It is knee deep in red and white clover. These are
beef cows and calves (about 65 of each). Perhaps the most marvelous
thing about moving them into the field is that they had to cross a
fairly busy highway. Before my wife and I started small paddock
management, our 200+ acres of pasture was divided into 4 boundaries, two
on each side of the highway, all unequal in size, soils, forage quality.
The herd was moved across the highway about every two months, and it
was an all day rodeo. Sometimes it took two days to get the cows and
calves mamied up. This morning it took about three minutes as the
calves were accustomed to following their mothers, since they are moved
every three days and are not afraid of humans since we are among them
daily.
There are at least two dozen things I could relate about the history of
this field. like how we have reduced the fescue percentage of the stand
from 90% down to less than 50 just with grazing, but that will have to
wait for a time when I am more awake.
Kindest regards
Steve
Steve Lucas
Mountain View Farm
Louisa, Virginia
www.ibiblio.org/farming-connection/ruralwri/lucas/home.htm
