One Year Of Rotational Grazing: The Results Of What It Will Do For Your Pastures

Congrats on a year in the cattle business! Your place looks great!!

I think the biggest test of your stocking rate will come in the summer when the grass growth slows down. I hope you can make it through without overgrazing. Also its important to remember that hay quality goes down as time goes on especially when the hay is not covered. Only a third of the bales will most likely be eaten but "waste" will help the next years growth.

So, um, those aren't dandelions. I think it's something else in the Asteraceae, but not sure what. However, I'll bet that they also indicate compaction! You're reading the land alright, even if your botany is a wee bit off. You are definitely showing improvement in your land, and that's huge! If I were you-- and I'm not, obviously-- I'd consider a cocktail of cover crop seed. You already have a good supply of grass species, so I'd focus more on cattle-safe broadleaf and legume/Fabaceae crops such as vetch, clover, alfalfa (be careful not to run into the GMO cultivars), kale (I know Gabe Brown loves using this one for forage for cows specifically), maybe buckwheat, etc. Best of luck to you in the future, and hope you make some very nice $$$ from your cattle (or lots of steak nights at home, whichever).

So far, so good. Keep up the good work! I'm curious about your plans for re-seeding. Have you decided on what species to plant? A mixture of legumes, including some deep-rooting ones like sainfoin and alfalfa would help to bring up minerals from deep in the subsoil, and would also help to ensure you have forage in dry conditions. Maybe some warm-season grasses (also deep-rooting) would also be a good idea. Are you planning to overseed the existing pasture (broadcasting, followed by maybe a chain harrow and a roller), or try something else? Even just broadcasting seed before a rain and then grazing the seeded area with a very high stock density would probably do the trick of getting good seed to soil contact. However you decide to proceed, I look forward to watching the experiment!

Cows looking good. You are using more than a acre per cow. What is your neighbor's cow ratio per acre?

Those aren't dandelions. Those look like groundsel. Actual dandelions are good.

Amazing how your almost at 3000 subscribers!!!

Looks great man. You’re doing an awesome job Ryan

How big is each rotational paddock?
And do you move them each day?

If those were dandelions your neighbor would be rich because dandelions are great, an official cure. Dandelion leaves are long and jagged, thus the name, lion's tooth(dandelion).

That's not a dandelion but it doesn't matter the point is still the same.

I don't want to disappoint you but that's not a Dandy lion

I don't know much about cow varieties, but one thing Greg Judy is always stressing is that the legs shouldn't be too long. Cows are easier on the soil if they're lighter. You could try breeding a short-legged bull into your herd, which would turn out stock with shorter legs anyway, and they'll be closer to the grass they're eating, too. It's great to hear about your efforts to start from scratch. Mostly we get to see videos of people who've been doing this for years, so it's great to see the progress you're making growing your soil microbes and the plants that thrive because of them. Your land is now a carbon and water sponge, and it's all good. :)

Looks pretty good considering the trees haven't started leafing out yet- lots of that grass is still dormant!

That’s awesome bud! If you don’t mind me asking , how many acres is each section?

Have you had your soil tested? It'd be interesting to compare soil tests after a few years.

Whatever that weed is (dandelion, groundsel, whatever), it's probably exploding in your neighbor's pasture cuz the cows don't eat it. With continuous grazing they overgraze the edible forages allowing inedible ones to take over.

Thanks for this video. I’ve been trying to decide about how often and how big to do my rotational grazing. Your video was a big help. PS: I have subscribed— much appreciated…

Please oh please don't "diss" Ivermecton. I'm 71. Took it to beat Covid. I'm here to tell you it did. I do understand your principal though. You are correct in not needing wormer if your cows don't ingest pathogens.

How is your worm population.

Great stuff! Are you rotating any other species?

Sorry, but you can't even do basic plant identification.
That's not dandelion.

No sub from me.

I hate to break it to you but those aren’t dandelions my friend can’t say for sure what they are but dandelions don’t have flowers the grow in clusters like that could be another relative in the lettuce family though

Graze at one foot, move at 6 inches! Never allow dirt to show. Move every day?... why??

You’ll have to do a video for a 2 yr update of this management system and the benefits you’ve seen from it.

Thank you very much for sharing your experiences. I am starting out the same way - bringing in a couple cows to manage the grass after letting it rest from overgrazing by sheep. It hade nothing but weeds and sagebrush, now reverting back to grass. I love how you're doing this with minimal cost and risk (the fiberglass fence poles was something I always wanted to try!). Cows are great lawnmowers, fertilizers, cultivators, and friends on the land.

Now you need to follow up with chicken tractors

amazing setup, I was trying something similar with my cattle but I have 2 cows that always escape the electric fencing. I am thinking about putting up a barbed with fence with a gate so I can rotate them every 12 days. With the price of hay, I think the fence will pay itself off in a couple years.

Holy smokes I can't believe you made that video that is not a dandelion

If grass isn’t going to seed or shoulder high on the cattle it’s too many and grazed too often