Grazing Acres Farm

I've been practicing different forms of rotational grazing for 5 years now and over this time I've experimented with several types of portable fencing. I've used poly tape, poly wire and have finally settled with poly braid. The reason I have settled with the poly braid is it's strength but before I go into too much detail, lets breakdown the other portable fencing cons. What is poly fencing?  Poly fence is a polythene string or line, these strings are either twisted, braided or woven together to make a bigger much heavier line/rope. Woven in the poly fences is metal wires that carry the fence load making the fence hot. If you look closely at the picture below, you can see the metal wires. Poly Tape Poly tape is woven which makes it very durable. The problem I have with it is that it collects too much rain/ snow because of it's width and once it gets heavy is begins to sag, sometime until it's reaches the ground, which shorts out the fence. For this re...

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.