Baymule

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I walked pasture #2 this morning. I found tiny filament strands of fescue coming up. This pic is from the front of the pasture where it is pretty heavily wooded. Little emerald dots are clover.

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I’m pleased to see the fescue coming up here. Bee, you mentioned laying down a layer of carbon. If you will notice, there is a layer of wood chips we spread for carbon, humus and to retain water and protect grass roots from the scorching heat. A few years ago, we allowed a power line cleaning crew to park their trucks on our place at night. In return for having a protected place to leave their equipment, they brought us 120+ loads of wood chips. I’m already there on building the soil with everything I can get my grubby hands on. LOL

Amazingly, under a huge cedar and pine, in the yard where I didn’t sow seed, is the emerald dots of clover. Hooray for wandering sheep who carry seeds in capsulated fertilizer bombs.

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Just to give you an idea of what I have to work with, here is a pic of my soil.

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Pure sand. We have worked hard to get to where we are now. This land was once part of a farm owned by a neighbor’s father. Their house once sat in pasture #2, they moved to a better home around the corner when neighbor was 6 years old. The land laid fallow for probably the last 40 years judging by the trees, maybe longer. There are some trees here that look to be older. The land was divided between heirs, most of whom sold to a developer. The developer cut it into parcels, slapped double wides on them and sold them.

When we bought this place in 2014, it was a repo that sat empty for 2 years. The land was covered in trees, brush, briar vines, lambs quarters, ragweed, goat weed, VERY little, if any grass. The previous owners did little, if anything to improve the place. So my seed bank is weeds. I have a 100 year supply of weeds. LOL

Greg Judy said in an article that he spent a lot of time and money plowing up his endophyte infected fescue and other native grasses to replant with expensive “new” grass seed. He proudly gave a pasture walk and was dismayed when one of the farmers took him aside and told him that his beautiful new pasture would revert back to the original grasses in 5 years. And it did. So he learned to work with what he had and to improve on it.

My point is that I don’t have any pasture to start with. I have no grasses, native or otherwise. I have quite a variety of weeds, as long as the sheep like them, weeds are ok with me. But those weeds are not enough. Rolling out round bales to seed the pastures and see what grows, won’t work, and would be prohibitively expensive. Using the uneaten, trampled hay may take longer to improve the soil, but that I can do.

We spent hundreds on 3 different types of clovers and Kentucky 32 non endophyte fescue 3 years ago. One type of clover did not return, the other two did and are slowly spreading over the property. The fescue is doing the same. Even after the sheep graze it hard, when it dies back, we mow it and it leaves a thick layer that adds to the soil.

I’m building my own seed bank with varieties that will do well here. Yes, I have to suck it up and buy the seed. I have studied, read, researched and read some more to select what I think and hope will grow and thrive with what I have to work with. It’s a continuing journey. It will be fun and informative for us to bounce ideas off each other, compare our methods, climate, weeds, grasses, what works and what doesn’t.
 

Beekissed

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https://www.wormx.info/browseplants

Using a mixed sward of grasses and legumes or legume (high protein) swards; using forage plants containing condensed tannins; and/or allowing access to browse plants can help in control of GI parasites in grazing goats and sheep. Additional benefits can include improved protein availability (and probably minerals) for support of the immune system and improved nutrient-use efficiency (especially protein) in livestock.
 

Baymule

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I have that site saved and have studied it. I believe a good mix of plants, grasses and weeds make for a healthy pasture. I have a patch of sida rhombifolia, it is anthelmintic, deep rooted and they love the stuff. I didn't have to plant it, it was already growing here. I also have a small patch of chicory, they love that too. Acorns have tannins and the sheep hoover up every one they find.
 

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In this video he talks about parasite resistance/tolerance? and also, surprisingly enough, talks about how he doesn't water his sheep out on pasture in the winter months..and even his LGDs, which few would admit. I too have found they consume minimal water in the winter if they have access to good pasture but have never heard anyone discuss this elsewhere. I guess not many folks are keeping sheep out on graze all winter, without hay supplementation. That is my goal, however, with this new venture in sheep...I eventually want to be feeding no hay at all, unless it's in the pens if they are confined for some odd reason for any length of time.
 
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Beekissed

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@Baymule , that is so cool!!! I can't WAIT to see results like that in the hay I've spread out, though mine doesn't have all that good sheep poo on it yet, so I may not get as quick results.
 

Sheepshape

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That 're-greening' is coming on well, Baymule. It should continue to improve over time.

We rely mainly on natural fertilisers, with the pasture seeming to be improving without having the 'monoculture' fields of some of our neighbours caused by too much reliance on fertiliser use and the replanting with only one or two grass seed types. Emerald green, yes, but featureless and boring! Our 'weedy' fields look a lot more interesting.

As we have one or two seriously boggy and poorly aerated areas, there's an annual 'weed wipe' of those areas with a nasty chemical killer which selectively takes reeds/rushes out. I'm not too happy with using such things, but we were being seriously overgrown with an anaerobic bog. I've left one anaerobic bog to allow that wildlife which thrives there to still have a place. It is around our mini-lake and has large tufted grasses in which we get the odd curlew nest....stock excluded!

With climate changing we will, no doubt, have to get used to different types of pasture. However, that doesn't mean that we won't be able to have good healthy fields.
 

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"Look at the spider. My gosh she's FAT. Just look at the FAT. She'll breed back."

Had to LOL at one of the comments to this video....this is EXACTLY how Mr. Judy sounds on most of his vids when talking about his cattle. He's so enthusiastic about what he does that it's contagious and makes me want to go out there and build some spider habitat.

 
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