Isaac our ranch manager discusses grazing management during our extreme drought.

Isaac our ranch manager discusses grazing management during our extreme drought. When it stops raining with 95 degree F temps every day you need to go into drought management mode.
If you want to keep your farm profitable every year, check out my 3 grazing books that I wrote on our website: greenpasturesfa...

[@tentamalaska]

You won the lottery with Issac.

[@T1up4me12385]

No doubt. Hard to find an employee with passion and loyalty.

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

You are correct!

[@dallayogini]

Issac is such a blessing!!! He is always humble, hardworking, and inventive. Whenever he makes an appearance, I learn something new. Thank you for sharing your knowledge!! God bless the entire Green Pastures team!!

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

Thanks for your comments!

[@andreasherzog2222]

Isaac is also very creative. Moving them every 30 mins and then going back to 3 times a day is a very methodical way to figure things out. Chapeau!

[@markodeen4105]

Great to hear from Isaac. It's been fun to see him grow since he came to you as an intern.

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

We agree!

[@georgeheller2281]

Bravo, that's what great management looks like. You have a great team of well rounded forward thinking young men. Looking real good, have a wonderful day!

[@jeannedigennaro6484]

Great job, Isaac and crew!

[@Green_Heart_Family_Farm]

"The only people who make mistakes are those out doing work" is a quote an old coworker of mine taught me. It's all part of the process!

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

Well said!

[@nicholasmacinnis1486]

Very smart young man. This type of farming is the way of the future!

[@deshonetheautoadvisor6685]

900 acres 🤯🤯 Sheesh, great job Greg, I know this wasn’t overnight. You’re an example worth following

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

It took years of hard work and doing without to build our grazing operation to what it is today. You need a vision and written goals, then get started!

[@markmiller2612]

It was nice to see Isaac! Hadn't seen him in a while. He is learning more and putting it into action. Thanks Isaac and thanks Greg you guys work well together. God bless all at Green Pastures.

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

More to come!

[@MrNteresting]

Love learning from you all. So grateful for finding you in the beginning to help prevent bad habits.

[@bryanblackburn7074]

The amazing part with moving the cattle 3 times a day is that 2nd move in the afternoon you are able to take advantage of the higher Brix in the forage, which accounts for higher gains for the livestock. Greg a very informative video bringing in your Herd Manager Isaac to discuss his plans of managing the grass and herd through this drought you are experiencing while you were away teaching your grazing schools. Great job Isaac, Ike & Jackson.

[@philnorris3507]

what a smart young man! We can see why you held onto him as your manager. That was the smartest decision you made that year. Greg 😄

[@pjfdayton]

On my little space of land I have rabbits that graze. It's almost as calming to watch the rabbits graze as it's watching Greg's cows graze

[@bryanblackburn7074]

It's too bad you are not getting any rain Greg? I was hoping you were getting some of the rain that we've been getting lately? We've been getting gully washers up in Central Illinois on a regular basis. Matter of fact, it rain last night into the wee hours this morning while I was going to work at 4:00 am. Maybe I need to come down again and bring you some more rain? Cattle still are looking good Greg.

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

Bring us some rain!!

[@petereldracher5660]

You guys are a blessing to this broken world. Thanks to your example I am managing 16 acres of a neighbors land with mostly a different neighbors yearlings and a few of our dry cows and heifers. They are on daily moves, 45 to 50 day recovery. The landowners are tickled by the care that their land is getting from the cattle and that i cleared their fences and the cows are never out. The cattle owner loves the condition on the animals and says the grass behind us is better than the grass the rest of his cows are eating on his farm. My Dad couldnt believe the grass that was up to his shoulders the day he had to help me with a move. And for myself I sure like seeing that i have another two weeks of grass ahead of me that recovered with no rainfall becasue of what was left behind. And the clover that comes through the trampled spring grass! I get hungry out there sometimes! We have gotten beautiful rains in the last week and if it doesnt rain for the rest of the summer we'll probably be ok. I hope to meet ya'll someday and walk the fields and sit by a fire for an evening.

[@XiaoFury]

Here in southwest TX, our Spring was great. It rained beautifully...but now it's Summer, and since June we've been parched. High triple digit heat. Praying for rain, hope you guys get some, too.

[@marvinbaier3627]

Another great video! I love hearing Isaac and you talk about farming. You know you have a great one manager and an excellent boss when you can trust each other. You let Isaac do what he thinks is right like moving 3 times a day and you can leave for a month and you trust him what is right for the farm. I know making mistakes helps the learning curve in the future but you also have to learn from other people’s mistakes too. Im going to try something new this year or next spring. I’m not sure when I can plant it. I’m thinking it’s a spring planted plant. I’m going to plant Sainfoin in a 2 acre area with some grass.

[@tedbastwock3810]

Issac is so impressive. Love the 30 minute move experiment. I understand the fire lit by Ian. Impressed he went to 3 daily moves while you were gone. Does he give them 3x larger division on the evening move considering they are there 3x longer? I assume so. Are the sheep still on a bi-daily move? Greg! hurry up and get yourself a welder like you mentioned before, and some accompanying tools and machines and start inventing some more cool stuff that makes this work even more efficient, your incredible bale unroller design is just the beginning for you. I have an idea for a tedder to pull behind an atv, or, better yet, pull directly behind the unroller. Just imagine the man hours save yearly by unrolling and spreading in one fell swoop. Its about 5 down on my current build list, but I was thinking of a vehicle differential turned 90 degrees to run a pulley that runs an array of rotating v-rakes. Anyway, tl;dr already, glad to see another farm vid back on the channel, best to you all.

[@edobrien512]

I love learning all these things about cattle that I never knew, like I just assumed that they were mindless four-legged lawnmowers, but they are adapted to select the most palatable parts of the plant, and therefore get the most nutrition from a diet, as you have said would starve us. I miss the Sunday night meetups that they would post in the past, I hope Isaac can do more videos in the future.

[@savageairsoft9259]

Great management!

[@SHOE53]

It most be nice be able to leave the farm have somebody like Isaac in charge you must sleep well at night.

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

Isaac is a gem; we are very fortunate to have a young passionate man that is always thinking of ways to improve our grazing operation.

[@jeannedigennaro6484]

Those are some gorgeous cattle.

[@revhankreid5843]

Very good content! Glad you are back, Greg! Very interesting stuff, that high density does! Put some small calves or hair sheep in an #aluminumchickentractor Move them 12 times a day! It will open yours eyes to our waste of our resources! Natural Gramma LLC Hank & Laura Reid

[@triciahill216]

Isaac is the Man!

[@DH-eg8nt]

Never heard about the PH and fly resistance I learned a from this episode thanks!

[@drumhillerfarms6858]

I have had to change my grazing pretty Significantly this year. I have had to change to a non-selective style grazing because we are so dry here in Michigan we have only had about 3 inches of rain since May I am amazed at the rotation I can get and how well the regrowth is when you’re not laying a mat of grass down over the soil. Don’t get me wrong we’re still leaving grass behind and not leaving bare soil.

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

As long as your leaving the soil covered when you leave, you should be fine. Hope we both get some rain one of these days.

[@T1up4me12385]

Issac Judy…..the next best!!!

[@robertensign8786]

You midwestern folks definition of an “extreme drought” cracks me up. I’m not poking ya or anything. Just always cracks us western ranchers up. Anyways, good video and great looking cows and pastures.

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

I guess it all a matter of perspective😊

[@tommybounds3220]

Thank you for the video. Isaac and you and Jan make a great team.

[@kennethzartman7046]

Love watching y'all, if I remember correctly insects breath though pores in their skin meaning the oil probably making it difficult to breath. That's if I remember correctly didn't fact check myself so maybe its fake news😏 HAVE A RAINY DAY

[@johnlittle184]

Next level grazing for a warming climate.

[@davidhickenbottom6574]

We have had record rain fall in New England and know one around me has grass anywhere near what you have in a drought. It's all Columbus method here maybe move them once a summer

[@brettpayton6286]

You guys have had good rain. Come up to NW Macon county. I've dumped out out 2.25" since end of march. 2/3 of that came last week. I love following along Greg. With sheep though how do you save an not over graze with sheep on daily moves? If I give them a bigger area yes they will leave more but you will find area that are hit extra hard. If I tighten them up they will darn near take it to the ground. Without seeing what basic advice could you give that would help? Thank you

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

Keep them rotating and cut your animal numbers by 30% if you have no regrowth. The cutting animal number decision should be done in the first 30 days of no regrowth.

[@brettpayton6286]

@@gregjudyregenerativerancher thank you. That will be happening next weekend. May lambs will be coming off the moms. So that should help tremendously. Thx

[@jeannedigennaro6484]

Cows are shiny like a brand new car😁

[@CelestialBow]

Great video, thanks. I am curious about what you were saying about the warm season grasses effecting ph keeping flies off? Could you can elaborate on that?

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

If your ph in the urine goes above 8 in an animal, the flies will attack that particular animal. Warm season grasses crank out very palatable forage during the summer slump period of cool season grasses. This lowers the ph.

[@CelestialBow]

@@gregjudyregenerativerancher Thanks! Interesting - so the palatable stage of grass has a lower ph? Any articles that I can read more up on this?

[@markpiersall9815]

This video shows benefit to three daily cattle moves versus two. Wonder if daily moves for the Sheep rather than every other day could result in benefits as well. Looks like this pasture needs spotted with thornless Honey Locust and Swamp White Oak trees. Silvopasture's benefits are greatest in hot dry weather.

[@markpiersall9815]

Consider rows oriented North to South with trees planted 25 feet apart and the rows spaced 30 feet apart.

[@valeriestevens5250]

@@markpiersall9815 Wouldn't that result in too much shade for the grass to grow? Also, would it result in less protection during winter storms? I thought that for winter protection, you wanted a line of trees on the North side of a pasture. What am I missing?

[@markpiersall9815]

If you are growing medium sized timber for Silvopasture a 7 x 8 grid of 56 trees is recommended by some of the Missouri Forestry information. If just planting for timber one would plant 200 or 400 trees per acre. Orchards and timber plots are planted in North to South rows to maximize the collection of solar energy. If you need a windbreak, use evergreens and plant them close together being mindful of prevailing winter winds in your location.

[@markpiersall9815]

Also one will not be harvesting all 56 trees in forty years. Some will be crooked, damaged by disease, animals and storms. Hopefully you can harvest three dozen in forty years. The other score will have been previously removed for firewood.

[@valeriestevens5250]

@@markpiersall9815 Thank you very much for the information and clarification. Appreciated.

[@valeriestevens5250]

Greg, I know the drought sucks for you, but for us viewers, it's been a great education in how to farm during adverse conditions. Now a question; isn't milk week toxic? Or is it OK in small amounts?

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

Milkweed has never been an issue with our cattle or sheep. But we only have isolated plants. If you had a pure stand of milkweed, it might be an issue!

[@charleswalters5284]

It's got a bit of toxins, not so much. Monarch butterflies have to eat it exclusively to concentrate enough to become toxic themselves. Those bright high contrast colors say "i'm not hiding, 'cause i'm poison; i dare ya' to try to eat me". I bit some aphids once, bright yellow with red eyes and black legs, last time i ever tried that!

[@valeriestevens5250]

@@charleswalters5284 LOL! thank you for the information, but why on earth did you try to eat an aphid? They are so tiny I'm surprised you could taste it.

[@valeriestevens5250]

@@gregjudyregenerativerancher Thank you very much for the information. Appreciated.

[@charleswalters5284]

@@valeriestevens5250 the morning glories on my fence were so fat when i would reach to open the gate, the leaves would be right in my face ( you couldn't see where the gate was and when it opened, it looked like the bushes were opening up, everybody liked it ) and there were all these aphids that the ladybugs weren't eating, so i bit some, yuck! After that i left them alone. The morning glories didn't seem to mind anyway.

[@matthewpeckham9035]

I thought in a previous older video, Greg’s drought tactic was to give them a larger space. If anyone has any insight I would appreciate it! Good luck with rain

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

In droughts, you combine your herds into one. Then you reduce your stocking rate. Then you slow them down by giving them smaller areas. Your trying to buy more time to allow for a rain.

[@jeannedigennaro6484]

Interesting about moving even more often than 2 times per day.

[@kennethmiller8415]

Isaac mentions 1 million lb stocking density. Can you provide an example calculation or link to an example article? I've done a Google search and can't find anything equivalent to 1 M lb stocking density.

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

Chad Peterson in the sand hills of Nebraska years ago grazed for a couple weeks at 2 million lbs per acre. To calculate, it is simple math. Livestock weight in lbs divided by 42,560 sq ft (1 acre)

[@sebastianehl624]

Great inspiration. I´am trying rotational grazing myself, but I dont´t know how to leave so much grass behind yet. I tried it this summer, but before I get back the grass didn´t so much grow as just dried and get old. I just wander how long rest periods do you have on this paddock?

[@jamiemyers1622]

Great video. Thank you for discussing the struggles of a drought. My question is when we “tighten” them up to buy time, I feel like we are over grazing on the smaller paddocks. For me it is hard to slow them down and leave the proper amount of forage for regrowth. Is this a scenario where you sacrifice an area so that you don’t sacrifice/damage the entire farm?

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

You must cut your stocking rate on your livestock herd. This allows you to slow down without overgrazing as badly.

[@jeannedigennaro6484]

“You know your coworkers”. 😁

[@brianjayne1903]

Do you use a back fence

[@LomeleloGala]

Good job Greg but I have question do the bulls save their mother.

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

Don’t understand your question??

[@LomeleloGala]

Let me put it this way do you allow you bulls to mate with their mother.

[@LomeleloGala]

What type of breeding do you use in you cattle

[@wallacewimmer5191]

😊

[@ilzitek2419]

❤

[@scottkufahl5830]

How many days of rest are you giving your grass till the next grazing cycle ?

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

It all depends on how much moisture we receive and fast it grows back after being grazed. This field had 60 days rest to recover with basically no rain.

[@paulbraga4460]

how long has it been since the last rain there?

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

Since March 1st, around 6”, we normally are around 20” by this time of year.

[@bobjarrard]

Does Isaac want to get adopted? Bob in Nevada

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

No, Isaac wants to put down roots here :)

[@MowFaux]

16:42

[@C.Hawkshaw]

shot caller big baller