First steps

One of the first steps toward our goal as a grass farmer must be to improve the soil. Grass cannot grow without Nitrogen, and the soil on our place has been depleted. Of course putting animals on it will help give a N boost, but only short term. Placing chickens in a tractor and moving them around the pasture will give an almost immediate boost as well. I have learned, though, that soils need an active microbial material. This calls for a managed grazing plan.

I am now beginning to learn how to use the herd to heal the land. The cattle can be used to heal ditches, washes, and even clear brushy areas. This has brought me into the realm of Ultra High Stock Density Grazing, or, UHSDG. This is all new to me, and the people that promote this method are giants in the industry. I don't have near the amount of cattle that they have. But it has got me thinking, can this be done with a smaller herd size on a smaller scale?

So, you ask, what exactly is UHSDG? I'll explain what little I know, as this is a learning process for me. (It helps me to digest what I've learned by talking about it.) Basically, it is concentrating a large mass of animals in a small area with a goal of obtaining 60% consumption of forage and 40% trampled forage. The cattle are moved at least 2 times a day with the aid of temporary electric fence, with rest periods between paddocks of 60-90 days. MiG systems allow for movement every 2-3 days, with rest periods about the same. I may be stretching things to get 15-20 day rest peiods, due to the size of my farm. Greg Judy, of grass farming fame, for example, is running 500,000 lbs of beef per acre, getting 2.5-3 lbs of gain per day. I don't have that many cattle, but I am wondering if I cannot accomplish the same on a smaller scale?

The trampling causes a concentrated mass of green matter to be integrated into the soil, giving the soil a fast supply of carbon matter and microbial action. This also feed the worms and encourages the population of dung beetles. Dung beetles are a good indicator of the health of your soil. The more you have the better. It also creates a solar shield which keeps the ground cool and helps to retain moisture. And, no seeding.

Other benefits may include: more forage (Greg Judy measured 1.5 inches of new growth within 24 hours after the cattle left the paddock), manure distribution (this helps with the Nitrogen content mentioned earlier and the large concentration helps hold moisture on and in the ground), faster mineral cycling, plant diversity and higher profits (the less we spend on hay, the higher the profit). There are many more benefits that I will talk about periodically as I begin to encorporate these things into my rotational system.

This winter's goals for me are to get the equipment needed and implement my plan. The equipment is minor; a reel and polywire and tred in posts-preferably the pigtail type around 32 in. tall. I will need to sacrifice a strip of paddock as a lane to the water tank. I'll be ok here. The experts say the max distance a bovine will travel for water is .5 mile. I don't have enough land for that to be an issue.

I will post on this subject from time to time, journaling the progress and the results. I question wheather or not UHSDG will work for my small farm, but I do believe that a MiG system will for sure. I have a plan, now I have to work it. The trick will be disciplining myself to allow adequate growth in Spring before turning the animals loose.