Grazing Acres Farm

I just finished making my ATV hay bale mover and now I am putting it to the test. Over the years, we have always hired a local farmer to move our bales but that has come to an end. With this bale mover, I can now place the bales where I want without hiring an additional person or buying a tractor.

Daisy is home! WOO-HOO! Two months ago, I sent 1 cow(Daisy, Black Angus) and 2 heifers to get bred to a Pharo bull in Ashland,Ohio (roughly and hour away). Just a couple days ago, they returned and I am so, so happy to have Daisy back. Sure, I am glad to see the others as well but Daisy is special. She leads the herd and will follow me like a lost pup and that is a huge help to me. Another exciting apart of Daisy returning was her calf coming back home, boy has she grown! Her little grazing buddy has was glad to see her return. Hopefully in the late summer of 2018 we have 3 healthy calves. -Black = Black Angus (w/ 8 month calf) -White Faced =Limo/Angus ( Ryan Tomlinson  is that correct?) -Red = Red Angus/Gelbvieh cross (w/ Pharo genetics) -Black w/ double ear tags = Pharo bull (Sire to up coming calves)

Downsizing the cattle herd for winter is a common practice on our farm. Since I custom graze other peoples cattle and purchase all our hay, downsizing saves everyone money. At this point, I have 130 round bales on hold for this winter and deliveries have started.

As a grass farmer, I am always looking for ways to reduce cost on the farm. One area that I am always investing money is my portable water station. This year, I started using a water hose pressure reducer and a new trough float, watch this video to find how they helped me save money. You will find that most hardware stores only carry the Little Giant tank floats. This is mainly because most people leave their water station in one spot and are not moving it daily. If you attend grass farm shows over the summer some vendors there will sell Apex and Jobe, both rank very high in my opinion. *Products Mentioned:   Apex Trough Float:    http://amzn.to/2zbrnAq   Genova 3/4" Water Seal: http://amzn.to/2xKhea9   Neiko Step-Up Drill Bit: http://amzn.to/2xKPGBQ

Learn how to setup a paddocks to get the most from your livestock herd. When your high density/mob grazing the goal is to create a competitive eating environment, what one head my not eat another will. In this video, I will explain how to determine the paddock size for your herd, regardless the number of head you have. I will also explain why mob grazing works so well if done correctly. The most common problem people make when they try high density grazing is making the paddocks too big. They second problem is they think if they experiment with making smaller paddocks the cattle will starve. You have to get pasted that fear and be willing to experiment and make modification as needed.

     When raising chickens you sometimes get a broody hen, determined to become a momma.  Not always is it the good thing you would think it would be.      During the middle of May one of my Silkies (named Baby) became broody.  We had just hatched a bunch of babies for the farm and didn't really need any more little ones but I gave her two eggs to sit on.  She was very committed and didn't get up much to eat or drink, you could tell she was starting to loose weight.  Two weeks into her sitting my other Silkie (named Momma) went broody too.  Ugh, now I have two and no need for babies. Someone suggested to let them share responsibilities and the babies, which ended up working fine, until hatch day.  Day 21 came and went with no little ones hatching and my Baby had gotten really small, to the point I was worried about her.     I researched what to do, posted in a couple forums and people said a "broody breaker" is what I needed.  Here is what I learned...  A broody b