Creating Pasture From Wooded Land | Regenerative Ranching

[@dwightjackson3180]

Enjoy watching your videos and using soil health to raise your cattle. I'm a row crop farmer in NE arkansas, so it's nice to see the way other people make their living from the soil. Keep up the videos

[@cliffhonnasregenerativerancher]

Thanks for commenting and watching!

[@nedhill1242]

That is a gorgeous piece of property. But like you said, it took years of hard work! That guy with the excavator, goodness gracious, he didn’t learn how to do that yesterday! It’s always a pleasure watching a pro operate a piece of heavy equipment! You truly have built something special. But definitely a lot of hard work and sacrifice. Like you said, you might not get rich, you certainly won’t get rich quick, but you’ll have a very rich life!

[@cliffhonnasregenerativerancher]

Well said! I’ve had a very rich life with a wonderful wife, 6 kids, and the privilege of doing what I love!

[@nedhill1242]

@@cliffhonnasregenerativerancher Your father was a wise and smart man. Then again, in my experience, most of the old time farmers and ranchers were pretty darn smart! But he recognized that you were book smart and had a lot of talent and didn’t want to see you waste that on the ranch because I think he probably saw the trend of bigger and bigger government and more and more regulations killing small farms & ranches, but I really love what I see right now with homesteading and more and more people wanting to return to a simpler life. Not an easy life. Because nothing is easy about living and working on a farm. But it is a better simpler life. Did you know Matt Carriker back in your teaching days? Because he graduated from Texas A&M vet school and is now a KZbin superstar with around 20 million subscribers on his three channels and of course one of them being the biggest pew pew channel on KZbin. FYI in case you were not aware pew pew is how you have to say that other three letter word that us southerners & country boys love but is a no no on KZbin. LOL

[@ericbradley4204]

I really enjoy improving my property in the same ways that you do. Great video

[@cliffhonnasregenerativerancher]

It is my favorite thing to do for sure. Enjoy!!

[@sagecrockett693]

Good quality video. Very informative. And you look like you're having a good time doing it!

[@cliffhonnasregenerativerancher]

I really enjoy cattle and being out on the land. Always refreshes my mind and spirit!

[@Bulldawg1958]

Excellent video and information ! Thank you !

[@cliffhonnasregenerativerancher]

Thanks for watching!!

[@kylebrumfield3515]

This is such a great video. Thank you. Quarterly updates on that same spot would be great to see the progression through the seasons to have a baseline of what could be done.

[@cliffhonnasregenerativerancher]

Will do!

[@danielphillips1094]

I just planted a small patch of cheyenne II. I believe it has started sprouting after just shy of a week. Excited to see how it does. I'm focusing on bahia and cheyenne bermuda. Overseeding into mostly centipede.

[@cliffhonnasregenerativerancher]

What is centipede and what part of the country are you in?

[@danielphillips1094]

@@cliffhonnasregenerativerancher centipede is a common warm season lawn grass. I live in southeast GA. Bahia, oak and yaupon are prevalent here as well.

[@nicholasmacinnis1486]

You've got a beautiful property there Cliff! Working on a similar project on my property in Nova Scotia Canada. I'm really optimistic about the type of farming you are doing.

[@cliffhonnasregenerativerancher]

Thank you! We are very fortunate! How cold is it up there?

[@nicholasmacinnis1486]

@@cliffhonnasregenerativerancher It hasn't been too bad so far this winter. We had some light snow cover for the last two weeks, but it all melted this morning after a drizzle. I still have some cattle eating stockpiled forage. Night-time temperatures have been around 26-28 degrees Farenheit, getting around 30-34 during the day. I'm expecting a couple colder months coming up.

[@cliffhonnasregenerativerancher]

Have you started feeding any hay yet?

[@nicholasmacinnis1486]

@@cliffhonnasregenerativerancher Yes, I've been rolling out some bales on an degraded piece of pasture since Dec 15, which was the latest I started feeding hay since I got into cattle four years ago. Most farmers in my area start feeding hay around Oct. 20 - Nov. 1.... So i'm pretty happy with my practices. A fellow farmer in my area didn't feed hay until Jan 6 last year, which most people around here thought was a pipe dream. We both watch Greg Judy and have been adopting better practices to promote winter stockpile feeding.

[@cliffhonnasregenerativerancher]

That’s awesome! Good for you!!

[@KurtvonPlonski]

cliff just recently found you on youtube. i am over in milam county doing similar clearing and was wondering if you could share who you take your mill able lumber to?

[@cliffhonnasregenerativerancher]

Email me at [e-mail].

[@Lou-xd9ef]

Damn good operator!

[@bandit4true]

Do you every think about replanting some trees once you have removed the dead ones. Trees are important for the environment and can help with shaded areas for the cows.

[@cliffhonnasregenerativerancher]

We have planted trees off and on over the years. I have intentionally left areas where I haven’t cleared swaths of trees/brush so the cattle have shade. It’s always a bit of a trade off as far as clearing enough so the grass will grow versus leaving trees. I try and do both.

[@SteffanRhoads]

I like the vid, ty. I don’t understand why most don’t seed their grassland: you can go back as far as “The Clifton Park System of Farming and Laying Down Land to Grass” - Robert Elliott talks about regenerative farming ~1898. And see that seed mixes have been used for grazing. And now Gabe Brown and UnderstandingAG also get that seed mixes (with a great number of different varieties) are what make soil healthy. Doing that might also help keep your trees alive. And what the heck are the hoop structures for? 🙂 The mix enables the plants, their roots, to feed bacteria & fungi which in turn break-down the even rock to feed themselves and the plants so mixes are highly desirable. I can provide what I’ve gleaned from Elliot but I’m sure UnderstandingAG has good lists. It is important to mix depths of roots and species, even flowers (I can’t wait to grow some sorghum-Sudan to see how high it grows here in central cal). I love Gabe Browns vids especially how long/deep daikon radish can grow.

[@cliffhonnasregenerativerancher]

The hoop things are hay bale rings that I use to use before I started unrolling hay. I like the seed mix thought. Will try a few bags and see if any will grow. My sod is pretty dense, so not sure it will grow if broadcast but will see. I don’t want to disc anything and disturb the soil. Thank you!

[@Kberrysal]

Have you looked into seeing sainfoin grass

[@cliffhonnasregenerativerancher]

I have not. I will look into it! Thanks!

[@cliffhonnasregenerativerancher]

I looked online and seed supplier said on website it’s not recommended for this Southern climate. 😩

[@Kberrysal]

@@cliffhonnasregenerativerancher depending on the species you get From what i have read 📚 online it said it will do good in Texas, seed it and see what happens

[@cliffhonnasregenerativerancher]

Any idea of a source? I would like to try it for sure!

[@davemi00]

I’ve found keeping Tree Stumps 3’ high until they can be removed Is Smart medicine to Save equipment.

[@cliffhonnasregenerativerancher]

I agree! The stumps are easy to remove with the trackhoe!

[@jerrylansbury9558]

Ive removed a many a trees in my time. Learned.... always keep the entire tree in piece.( unless your cutting parts out ) He has a back hoe large enough to remove the entire tree........stack them side by side and burn the entire pile one time ! This way you dont have much to clean up.

[@tomrobertson3236]

I'm just retired and an not a rancher . I do have a PhD from KZbin University. Lol. I prefer a Savanah look . A tree every 100 ft is 43 trees per acre . Also prefer "good" trees . Like locust and nut trees like walnut and oak . Have noticed cows love the shade Am seeing more ranchers come up with portable shades . That way fertility can be controlled where the cows drop it . On your bucked up logs noticed a ring stain just under the bark . My experience locally says disease. We also have root rot where all the root hairs are gone and tree falls over . ( pac NW)

[@cliffhonnasregenerativerancher]

We are in what’s called the Post Oak Savannah region of texas. Except for the invasive Yaupan I showed, it’s awesome when the good trees are kept and the under brush removed so we can grow good grass amongst the trees. I do suspect disease as well. We are sad with each tree that dies.

[@jimmyjohnson7041]

If there are cattle........the cause soil compaction. Most trees can tolerate only a bit of compaction. They will die over say.......15 yrs. Bur Oak........ Red Cedars can tolerate compaction. And there are others. The only ones Ive worked with. Dont plan to plant trees in a pasture area. Most likely they will die over time !

[@davemi00]

Dead trees can easily go unnoticed inside of a larger Stand of trees.

[@cliffhonnasregenerativerancher]

Very true and then hard to get out!

[@jimmyjohnson7041]

I may have mentioned it before.... and I know I have commented to Greg Judy.... how to remove brush cheap and easy ! But..... Greg Judy is stuck on himself and still harps on Glyphosates as if he hasnt notice the world has changed around him relating to his small world. Cheap and easy to use.... Pathfinder II ( roman numeral two ) Yes.......expensive.....but far cheaper and simpler to use then a back hoe !!! One squirt using a hand pump bottle......and brush......trees are dead with in two weeks ! Its a contact treatment. Not toxic to other trees around it. The bigger problem is.... the dead trees your relating to.........were most likely killed from vined that climb or climbed the trees and smoother it ! If sun reaches the ground its 80% more likely to be killed by vines. simple solution..... use a corn knife and chop them off.......then treat the base of the vine with Pathfinder. I just had a neighbor threaten to sue me because many of the trees were dead along and bordering my ......and his fence line. He claimed I treated and killed them. The trees were loaded in vines !!! When I pointed it out to him.... he told me he was sorry for the misunderstanding. Bottom line....understand first whats killing a tree !

[@cliffhonnasregenerativerancher]

Thank you for the tip! We didn’t have any vines on these trees, so that’s not why they died. I have seen that happen though as well. It is expensive to remove dead trees for sure, no matter how you go about it.

[@UnStrungHero]

Cliff, is that your dog? I wondered what breed it is.

[@cliffhonnasregenerativerancher]

That’s my son’s dog. She’s half German Shepherd and half Blue Lacey.

[@UnStrungHero]

@@cliffhonnasregenerativerancher I had to look up Blue Lacey, she looks a little like my catahoula/hanging tree healer. Thanks, I learned something today.

[@cliffhonnasregenerativerancher]

@@UnStrungHero 👌🏼😎