Raising Grass Fed Sheep on our Ranch - Regenerating the Ranch Episode 3

[@NobleResearchInstitute]

Hey Y'all! Thanks for joining us on this third episode! The sheep have been a lot of fun to add and we are excited about the impact they are having on our operation! Please hit that like button on the video, it helps a ton! More episodes to come! Drop us any questions or comments below. Thanks!

[@gardenersgraziers7261]

YOU DO not need 8 barbs for sheep = Check out Charles Massy Regenerative Grazing Interview with Tim Thompson (KZbin) to see how he is using a few plain wires (not hot) to hold his sheep in Australia = PROVEN

[@mediumrare9051]

Finally, nice to hear something with at least some positivity about ranching/farming.

[@NobleResearchInstitute]

Thanks!

[@garrettnichols2719]

I have been researching for the better part of 9 months of getting sheep. This has only added more fuel to my enthusiasm for getting sheep. I wish you would cover more about how others can get into it and how to start. I know there is so so much more to cover. I would gladly help in any way to anyone who needs it.

[@NobleResearchInstitute]

Hey Garrett! Adding sheep has been a good experience for us so far, and you are right, there is a ton of info to cover. We are working on lots of new things. In the mean time here are a few interesting articles that might be of a little more help. www.noble.org/legacy/going-where-no-sheep-has-gone-before/ www.noble.org/regenerative-agriculture/producer-perspectives/7-lessons-we-learned-when-we-added-sheep-to-our-regenerative-ranch/ www.noble.org/regenerative-agriculture/livestock/how-to-set-up-your-ranch-to-diversify-species-and-income/

[@gardenersgraziers7261]

YOU DO not need 8 barbs for sheep = Check out Charles Massy Regenerative Grazing Interview with Tim Thompson (KZbin) to see how he is using a few plain wires (not hot) to hold his sheep in Australia = PROVEN

[@ladyryan902]

@ Garrett Nichols..hi I know I'm catching this month's later but I follow a channel called The Shepardess.young lady is doing it with her sheep and I watch salad in..lol I'm waiting to find land big enough 😄

[@brettpayton6286]

Appreciate the videos. Great work. As a sheep farmer it was great to see this. Thanks

[@NobleResearchInstitute]

Hey Brett! Thanks so much!

[@JoeCinocca]

Who created & produced this series? The cinematography, editing & voiceovers are amazing

[@NobleResearchInstitute]

Thanks for the great compliment Joe, we have a staff video specialist that is working on producing this series.

[@JoeCinocca]

@@NobleResearchInstitute It’s been a very long time, since I’ve seen something produced this well in OK. Maybe my time in Cali has changed me, but the production values are stupid good. Will there be Seasons or running episodes.

[@NobleResearchInstitute]

@@JoeCinocca Hey Joe! Again, thanks for the compliments! We have a couple more episodes to release yet before the end of the year, but we plan on continuing the series into 2023 for sure.

[@JoeCinocca]

@@NobleResearchInstitute YES!!!!

[@rbu2136]

Agree this was really well done. Thought I was watching a PBS show.

[@dwilliamslamb5417]

So happy to see more and more ranchers use sheep. They are better grazers than cows.

[@kevinlynch8349]

Great video on introducing hair sheep to a cow/calf ranch .

[@NobleResearchInstitute]

Thanks Kevin!

[@testmania]

Beautiful place, love this video so much😁🇲🇨

[@NobleResearchInstitute]

Thanks!

[@mr.chefstv947]

very excellent work, farming is one of the best work ever.. watching from Philippines

[@NobleResearchInstitute]

Thanks! 👍 Much appreciated!

[@ethimself5064]

Something I don't understand: Using these practices with no tilling - how would grain etc farmers manage to plant the seeds? As well as control what else would grow there as in Unwanted anything. My ancestors started homesteading a long time ago and the last of the family farmers is now in a nursing home, age 92. Great Channel⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[@NobleResearchInstitute]

Hey Thanks! We utilize a no-till seed drill to plant all of our cover crops. The same can be used for commercial planting as well. We are actually going to be testing a new method for cover crop planting in an upcoming cover crop video this fall! Stay tuned for that!

[@ethimself5064]

@@NobleResearchInstitute Would this include wheat crops etc?

[@cacosta6294]

@@ethimself5064 yeah John Deere makes no till seeders

[@ethimself5064]

@@cacosta6294 Fk John Deere

[@honeybadger8942]

@@ethimself5064 I hope you inherited the family homestead.

[@iamsecond3625]

Thank you so much for these videos. I've contemplated sheep or gosts for a few months but one of my biggest concerns is I just put in a new 5 strand barb wire fence for my cows. At the beginning of this you said you put in an 8 strand fence but then talked about a single strand hot wire. I'm assuming the 8 strand is perimeter and the hit wire is temporary fencing? I'd rather not add a netwire type of fence because I have a stockpile of barbed wire. Does 8 strands work? Also on the hot wire, what height did you settle on? I saw a video from someone else who said tilting the posts in works well with 2 strands.

[@NobleResearchInstitute]

Hey great questions! So those perimeter fences with the 8 strands is a huge safety for us. They are next to a cliff drop off and so we wanted to make sure nothing would squeeze through. We have seen goats easily jump over our three strand polywire fence that stands about 3 foot tall. We do have some pastures that have barbed wire but most of them are perimeter fences. All of our paddocks are built just using a single strand of polywire with a charger. Some we use portable chargers and some have supplied power. Both work great. If you can buy sheep that have already been trained to single polywire fences, then that is a great way to go. If not you will want to put them in training pins and spend some time training them to it. Currently we don't have videos on that yet, but something in the works for next year. Right now we have found that we can build pastures that will last them a week and then move them to the next one. Realistically the single strand fencing is a mental barrier. They can and do get out on occasion and most of the time go back with the flock. With the single strand we have seen that they will duck it rather than jump it, so lower is better. We have ours around 18(ish) inches off the ground.

[@gardenersgraziers7261]

YOU DO not need 8 barbs for sheep = Check out Charles Massy Regenerative Grazing Interview with Tim Thompson (KZbin) to see how he is using a few plain wires (not hot) to hold his sheep in Australia = PROVEN

[@FatherFigure1776]

I have been set on homestead sheep for a long time. Just need the homestead to put them on. Goals.

[@NobleResearchInstitute]

Good goals to have!

[@iamsecond3625]

And one more question- how do i decide on sheep or goats? Is that the next video?

[@NobleResearchInstitute]

Another great question! The biggest decision maker between the two is to determine what available forage you have. Goats eat more brush and forbes (weeds) and a little grass. So if you have brush that you want to get control of, that is what would work best. Sheep do not utilize brush very well. Their diet is probably 50% grass and 50% forbes. So if that is the type of forage you have available, sheep would work best. We will have a video about our goats but it won't be till later down the road.

[@jamesobryan3258]

I have cattle and goats and added some ewe lambs in August. Goats are harder to keep in. They also have different nutritional needs which, if not met, do create health problems. If you have a lot of brush you may want to start out with mostly goats with a few sheep and as the goats clean out the brush (it doesn’t take long) you will have an adapted sheep flock ready to take over.

[@jamieblevins8488]

I always wonder what the market is for sheep and goat? Where do people sell them? Milk and meat both or one or the other?

[@NobleResearchInstitute]

Ours are usually sold for meat.

[@jamieblevins8488]

@@NobleResearchInstitute like to farmers markets or to stores or something?

[@deborahfox-rogan65]

Are you guys going to harvest the wool?

[@NobleResearchInstitute]

Hey Deborah, our sheep are dorper sheep which are a haired sheep that shed themselves. Much lower maintenance level than wool sheep.

[@bigheadmarkie]

I like your videos! BTW, what brand shirts do you guys wear?

[@elizabethblane201]

Are those St. Croix?

[@NobleResearchInstitute]

Are sheep are dorper.

[@elizabethblane201]

@@NobleResearchInstitute Ah! White dorpers.

[@dennisfarris5960]

Barn kitties in the equipment is a real problem. They go for the warm engine compartment.

[@MrGigi-dz9cv]

Grazers are good for weed control.

[@NobleResearchInstitute]

Yes they are! They have been pretty impactful in helping us utilize the forage that our cows won't eat.

[@nicholaskemp2451]

Also, they produce wool and are delicious.

[@tammytackitt8713]

I've heard an old story if your fence can't hold water they can't hold goats and I have goats and I believe it they will go right straight through barbed wire

[@tdewtx]

You should run the cows, then follow them with the sheep. the sheep eat what the cows won't and it helps with parsites.

[@NobleResearchInstitute]

After we moved them down to our Red River Ranch, that is what we have been doing for the most part. It has been working out great. It also allows the cows to trample down some areas that the sheep may not venture into before, but the cows create some paths for them.

[@dort5436]

American blackbelly are a tougher type of sheep

[@jaycristoval6155]

English is not my first language but the term "learning curve" was used where the word "lesson" was appropriate. I admit, I might not have learned English exactly how it is spoken in America.