Resources
2020 Pasture Walk at Big Springs Farm
This year’s pasture walk will be held on October 16 at 10 AM central time. Every pasture walk, for the past 21 years, has been a great success because every event has been energized by the people who attend, discuss, question, and brainstorm. We expect this year’s pasture walk to be a time to convene […]
The Evolution of a Multi-Species Grazing Operation
The Goal of Big Spring Farm: "An easily managed, low input grazing operation that improves production and the environment while being consistently profitable” Greg Brann. Brief History of Big Spring Farm 2005: The Big Spring Farm is named for a boiling cold...
Monthly Browse Management For Goats
This is a timeless, indispensable resource that I put together a few years back for NRCS and Gallahger Fence. This calendar helps you to prioritize your grazing and forage management tasks for goats. With so many components within the wholistic management schedule,...
Monthly Grazing and Browse Management for Sheep and Goat
This is a timeless, indispensable resource that I put together a few years back for NRCS and Gallahger Fence. This calendar helps you to prioritize your grazing and forage management tasks for sheep and goats. With so many components within the wholistic management...
Monthly Grazing Management for Cattle
This is a timeless, indispensable resource that I put together a few years back for NRCS and Gallahger Fence. This calendar helps you to prioritize your grazing and forage management tasks for cattle. With so many components within the wholistic management...
Fencing for Serious Graziers
Electric fencing offers two major advantages over other types of fencing. One is cost. The cost to install a four-strand, barbed-wire fence is about $5,000 per mile. The cost to install a typical, single-wire, electric fence is about $1,600 per mile. If necessary,...
Water Points
Water the most important nutrient! It's the largest quantity requirement for beef and dairy cattle (e.g. 15 gal/day = 125 lb/day). Water is commonly the weakest link in grazing systems. Water placement impacts grazing (overgrazing and under utilization) and nutrient...
Timely Tips – June
We are at the change of seasons. A time to contemplate and plan for summer forage. Note in the graph above, as temperatures hit 80 degrees F. or higher cool season forage production decreases and warm seasons forages kick in high gear. I encourage you to make warm...
Grazing Annual Cover Crops
“Can we graze cover crops?” The answer is yes, with an “it depends” attached. It depends on soil conditions, the growth stage of the cover cro,; the reason you planted cover crops, and whether you're involved in a conservation plan or program that requires other...
Managing Pastures for Horses and Mud
Living in mud creates an unhealthy environment for a horse. Mud harbors bacteria and fungal organisms which cause diseases such as abscesses, scratches, rain scald, and thrush. Mud is also a breeding ground for insects, especially filth flies. Insects are annoying at...