Let the Animals Do the Work

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Let the Animals Do the Work

• Low Input Production at MeadowLamb Farm

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Let the Animals Do the Work

• When ag-extension agents run amok
• Defining goals-what and how
• Livestock Handling 101
• Farming as a creative process

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When ag-extension agents run amok
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Defining Goals

• What
• type of animal?
• purpose would it serve?
• products would come from it?

• Inexpensive
• Not hard to care for
• Manageable size
• Provide a good return on investment
• Improve the farm
• Something we liked!

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What type of animal?

• Robust and healthy
• No shearing
• Excellent grazers
• Good mothers
• Fine meat producers
• Sheep! Our favorite
• Hair sheep-Katahdins and Dorpers

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Ideal breed for MIG
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Easy to handle
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Pasture lambing
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Good Mothers
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Strong flocking instinct
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What purpose do the sheep serve?

• Economically converts grass to meat
• Self-replenishing with extras for sale
• Grass management and pasture renovation
  machines
• Properly managed, sheep cohabit well with
  wildlife
• Aesthetically pleasing

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What products did we expect from our sheep?
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Lambsold direct to taste and quality conscious
consumers
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Improved pastures without a lot of inputs
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Good neighbor relations
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Soil, water, and aesthetic conservation.
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Defining goals-how

• How could we best utilize sheep to minimize
  inputs?

• By letting the animals do the work!

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Letting the animals do the work

• The sheep graze their feed 10 or more months a
  year
• Breeds are selected to require minimal farmer
  assistance and inputs
• Investments in infrastructure kept to a minimum
  by training sheep to temporary netting

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Letting the animals do the work

• Livestock assists with more than just mowing

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Fertilizewithout or bags
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Prepare pasture for frost-seeding
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Rotational Grazing aka MIG

• Quick description of MIG at MeadowLamb Farm
• What everyone asks about MIG
• Lots of information available (See Resources
  List)

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Quick description of MIG at MeadowLamb Farm

• Mowing for fencesometimes

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Setting fence and charger
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Hauling water mineral
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And (purchased) hay when needed
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And moving stock with help from our friends
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How to Know When to Move to Fresh Pastures

• The most common question we hear!

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Look down. Has the present paddock been used as
much as desired, or is there too much forage
left? In general, most new graziers tend to
overgraze pasture. Leave a little more forage
than seems necessary cattle will therefore need
to be moved sooner.
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Look ahead. Is the next paddock ready for
grazing? How fast is pasture growth? Fast growth
may indicate the need to speed up rotation or
harvest some paddocks for hay. Slow growth
signals the need to lighten stocking rate, add
acres, or feed hay.
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Look at the animals. Do they appear hungry, and
are they in good condition? Livestock can let a
manager know when they want to move, but their
desire to move may be too soon for high
utilization. High-performing animals should be
moved more often.
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Look behind. How fast is the last paddock
regrowing? Periods of slow growth may signal the
need to slow the rotation, reduce stocking rate
(by adding grazing acres or by selling or moving
stock), or feed hay. Slowing the rotation (more
days per paddock) increases days per paddock and
makes animals graze closer and gain less. Future
regrowth from these "overgrazed" paddocks will be
slower.
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Look at the weather. Approaching rain can
signal the need to move from pure legume to
grass-based pastures to prevent pugging of the
soil and damage to the legume stand. Animals
should be removed from johnsongrass and
sorghum-sudan type pastures prior to frost.
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Finally, look at the calendar. During the
active growing season (April to October),
residual forage height should be managed to allow
fast regrowth. On fall and winter stockpiled
pasture, graze longer and closer on each paddock
to use forage that otherwise would be lost during
the winter. (retrieved from Rotational Grazing
Jimmy Henning, Garry Lacefield, Monroe Rasnake,
Roy Burris, John Johns, Ken Johnson, and Larry
Turner, http//www.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/id/id143/id
143.htm 2-25-05)
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Livestock Handling 101

• Everything you do with and around your livestock
  has an effect.
• The Golden Rule applies with animals too (most
  of the time).
• Always think through and often walk through every
  move you make with your herd or flock.
• Never handle stock when you are upset or angry
• Handling causes stress and stress affects quality
  and performance. Minimizing stress means
  happier, healthier animals, better quality
  products, and better overall performance.

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A man
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Is good
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a good stockdog
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is better!
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Farming as a creative process

• There are always new, old, better, kinder, more
  efficient, and more interesting ways to farm.
• Read (old and new books), magazines, websites.
• Network in-person and online to get new ideas.
• Dont be afraid to experiment.
• When something doesnt work, its not a failure,
  its a change in direction!

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Experiments at MeadowLamb Farm
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Dexter cattle

• They were cute, good grazers, and helped break
  the parasite-cycle for the sheep, but.
• They were too big to handle without special
  equipment, were expensive to get and to
  reproduce, and did not have a ready market.
• So the Dexters moseyed on.

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Experiments at MeadowLamb Farm
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Jersey-Buff Turkeys

• They were handsome, natural breeders, and
  marketable both live and for meat, but
• They were hard to contain and changing state laws
  made home processing for resale problematic
• So the turkeys flew the coop.

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Experiments at MeadowLamb Farm
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Muscovy ducks

• They are less destructive than regular ducks,
  they hunt insects (especially flies) voraciously,
  they are natural breeders, and very good to eat.
  They dont quack, they whisper.
• They flywell. And dont always stay put.
• So far, we like them as natural pest killers and
  for meat and down. Plus, they are really
  interesting, behaviorally.

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Experiments at MeadowLamb Farm
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Oberhasli Dairy Goats

• Sweet tempered, medium sized, great milkers, and
  beautiful. Compliment sheep by browsing brush,
  trees and weeds in rotational grazing program.
• Somewhat high maintenance, needing shelter,
  twice-daily milking, and more interaction than
  sheep. Selling dairy products in Ohio is
  difficult at best.
• A very pleasant addition to the farm.

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Experiments at MeadowLamb Farm
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Pilgrim Geese

• Heritage breed, natural breeder, excellent
  forager, not too noisy, good for meat.
• Will be used in future experiment on following
  sheep with geese to help break parasite-cycle.
• Processing for sale is an unsettled issue.

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Even the terrier works
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one dog rodent patrol.
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Thank you for joining us!

• Feel free to email debs_at_yahoo.com if you have any
  questions.
• An electronic copy of the Resource List is
  available via email.
• This presentation will be online at
  http//kelpies.us.