New guy

[Finnie]

Hi @Crealcritter !

I guess I wasn't detailed enough... I plan on having the young bull cut so I reckon he would be a steer then. Is this still a problem? Then I was just gonna pasture the three together and when the steer got to butchering weight, then i will butcher the steer. A few of my boys are helping me with a place for them to shelter behind the barn.

Ohhh- I was surprised that your neighbor Gary would sell you a bull! This makes much more sense.

 

[Beekissed]

Some

Here's a view of our 20 acres, after the previous owner paid FS to hog, disc and apply liquid lime 3 1/2 years ago in early spring. House is covered by the blue dot. Thanks Google...
View attachment 78304

Here's how the fencing is run. Red is newer electric set on t-posts spaced 10' apart. Orange is old barbwire or welded wire fence on RR ties and or t-posts, there might be more laying down IDK...
View attachment 78305

Some nice laying land there, CC! Really nice to have a pond, especially that BIG. I'd start planting some trees in those pastures~if you can afford it, it would be among the first things I'd do~ so you can do some silvopasture and preserve moisture on the land. Since your fencing is mostly electric, you could do MIG there easily and it would be a way to put back to your soil instead of having to apply fertilizers and treatments.

 

[farmerjan]

Managed intensive grazing..... meaning that you are going to be actively grazing off a certain area, moving the animals to another area, and then continue rotating them. Most would set up a minimum of 4-8 sections on an area like yours so 1-2 acres each average. It will be determined by several things..... the quality of the land and grass, the availability of water within a reasonable walking distance, and the actual growing season in your area which is dependent greatly on temp but moreso on the rainfall the land receives. Also the number of animals.... known as animal grazing units.... has more to do with the weight of the animals.... a cow that is about 1000-1200 lbs is 1 animal unit..... Early spring the sections should be smaller, and the animals moved more to keep the grasses grazed evenly.... better regrowth.....
Silvo pasture is a fancy term for pasture with trees more or less evenly spaced so that you are actually growing the trees and then having grass between/beneath them to also be grazed. Tress that shade the ground but not so dense as to shade out the grass, will keep it cooler under their tree canopy and helps to preserve some moisture in the ground.
By more frequent rotating, the animals, you get more even benefit from the manure and urine.... they won't find "favorite trees" to stand under all the time which will become almost sterile from too much manure deposits.... or muddy spots from peeing there alot and standing around in the shade.....

If you are really interested in it, check with your county extension agent.... they do workshops here about it several times a year. The best over all magazine is Stockman Grass Farmer...... for any level of grass farming....

 

[Beekissed]

What a MIG? Sorry

Managed Intensive Grazing, CC. It helps you get more bang for your buck on small acreage and helps you do it more economically than other types of farming. It requires more hands on farming~moving the stock more frequently~ but also requires less input from outside resources such as feed, hay, fertilizer, seed, barns, tractors, etc. to improve the soils and grazing potential.

Greg Judy on YT breaks it all down and shows extensive teaching and results on his channel.

 

[Baymule]

Could you put a box blade on your tractor and level off the hog pen?

A 3 sided shed is usually sufficient for animal shelter. Place it where it is accessible from different pastures. Include a “lot” space at the shed for containment. Put water in the lot and you don’t have to place water all over the place.

You also want to put the shelter, lot and loading chute where it is accessible by truck and trailer.

Gates. Lots of gates. When you think you have enough gates, get some more.

 

[farmerjan]

And don't put in anything less than 16 ft openings....1 - 16 ft gate or 2 - 8ft gates.... but getting in and out with any type of machinery is an easier task if the gate is wide enough. Our discbine for mowing hay is 13 ft..... most haybines are at least 9-12 ft..... there is nothing worse than having to hit the gates at the exact angle to get through them.... BELIEVE ME, there are 2 that I cuss every time I have to go through them as the length of the rake and the angle makes a 14 ft gate a NIGHTMARE at 2 places.... If you want a smaller gate for like getting a "lawn mower" or tractor and cart or just walking through that's fine.... but make sure that the gate that any equipment can go through is 16 ft.... you really will be glad you did.

 

[Baymule]

And you might want to put up a permanent outside parameter fence.

 

[Baymule]

How many acres is the green lined area?

The piping the pond water could work, but is the water clean? Some ponds are good water, some are muddy, some get alge and scum in them.

 

[farmerjan]

I see nothing wrong with your ideas. Salvaging water and run into the pond means less mud right below the roofline. Not like you are depriving water to grass or anything. If it will run gravity then what's not to like. Except for some "muscle" to do the piping, I don't see any real negatives to it. It might not be realistic for the winter if you have alot of cold and freezing.... but you can try it and see. If you were having to spend a fortune in money and not time, then it might be something you would want a more proven guarantee that it would work. But again, I see nothing essentially wrong with the idea.

 

[Baymule]

Never clear trees out in the winter-you don't know what you are cutting down. Case in point-we once bought 16 acres, DH cut, chopped, cleared and burned his way to happiness all winter. Spring came. No dogwoods. No blooms. DH was upset, "WHY are there no dogwoods???" Duh, dummy, you cut them ALL down!