What A Sacrifice Pasture Is And How It's Used

During the dormant seasons when the weather turns for the worst I use our easiest accessed pasture as a sacrifice pasture. A sacrifice pasture is a pasture your willing to let get trampled either during winter or during periods of heavy rain. These pastures take a lot of abuse but always recovery with longer rest periods.
Hello folks, My name is Jason Chrisman, I manage grass fed cattle, pastured poultry and keep bees which I sell. We lease organic farm land for the cattle and poultry to graze in a rotational formation. I've learned a lot to this point and want to share the knowledge I've gained, so please subscribe and feel free to comment or ask questions. Check out my beekeeping channel here: / jasonchrismanbees
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[@mountainlakecattlecollc3366]

Doing a great job! As a rangeland manager and grass-fed operator, no one wants to ever show sacrifice pastures, and it is annoying. I always show my sacrifice paddock first, and explain that this can either be rotated each year, or kept the same; but new grazers need to know they will still have to feed in some climates. So, thank you!

[@GrazingAcresFarm]

Glad you enjoyed the video. Your right, no one shows the sacrifice pasture but they should, it's apart of how this system works. I wish I would have mentioned how it the sacrifice pasture can be rotated to a different pasture. Hopefully people read your comment. Where do you located?

[@mountainlakecattlecollc3366]

@@GrazingAcresFarm Absolutely agree! It's a vital part! I'm in Northern California. I work all over the State and in Oregon.

[@michaelcallas8138]

Kassandra Dickerson

[@mountainlakecattlecollc3366]

@@michaelcallas8138 Yes?

[@kiddfamilyfarmllc9962]

Looks like your channel is blowing up, Good job man

[@GrazingAcresFarm]

It's trying to blow up or something. lol The funny part is when I released this video KZbin flagged it because of the word "Sacrifice". I had to request a manual review which luckily only took 24 hours.

[@kiddfamilyfarmllc9962]

Grazing Acres Farm figures man

[@othmarvohringer]

Sacrifice pastures close to the main farm/ranch house is a great way to winter cattle. Dragging is very important to bring the sacrifice pasture back to glory. Usually, a sacrifice pasture is well fertilized and dragging makes sure the manure is spreed evenly throughout the pasture. Great video and explanation.

[@michaelcallas8138]

Othmar Vohringer

[@michaelcallas8138]

Othmar Vohringer

[@GrazingAcresFarm]

@Michael Callas Can I ask why your tagging people?

[@thefranks8726]

Thanks for this great information! My husband and I are planning on having a few steers once he retires and we can settle down, so I’m learning a lot from your channel (as well as others) while I can. Kind Regards :)

[@HeritageFarmsTexas]

Great tip on dragging. I have a similar pasture and it looks rough. I’m going to try this technique.

[@GrazingAcresFarm]

Thanks. This works well for me.

[@sharonriley948]

Hey jason , Good to see how you are managing the pastures....Rick in Pa.

[@arnoldmayer6914]

Doggone grass looks better than some corn fields I have seen @

[@randymaylowski2485]

Yeah that is a good idea, but the thing is its hard for people who don't have much or enough acres to be able to gaze without being in the same pen or pens and without feeding hay. But inerways good video.👍

[@emilmoldovan1789]

Very nice!! I like your way to work with nature!

[@ChrisTessmer]

Spreading out the cow pies so they can dry out faster really helps keep down the flies and other annoying bugs as well.

[@GrazingAcresFarm]

Very true!

[@CliffsideStables]

Thomas Victorian and you could put guineas in the fields.

[@wolfkremen]

@Thomas Victorian That's right, 20-30 chickens will take care of that and nearly eliminate the need for dragging.

[@Digger927]

Another nice vid Jason! I just registered for Greg Judy's grazing school May 2-4th!

[@GrazingAcresFarm]

Thanks Brent! I bet Greg's grazing school will be a blast. I have looked at several local grazing classes and I can't justify the cost. We have a local guy that has Greg friend Ian visit his farm and give classes every year. They want close to $500 for a 2 day class which I think is nuts. I know Ian is a wealth of knowledge but everything he is teaching is on KZbin for free. Maybe I am looking at it backwards but in my eye that $500 is 2 skids of mineral salt. Now I did go see Joel Salatin speak a couple years ago but he's not money hungry, it was completely free and that's how I think it should be. I think to get more people going the grass fed route there needs to be people teaching the methods for free. Does that make since? I am sure you will have a great time and learn a ton. I am not trying to putting down his class as it is a wonderful thing.

[@Digger927]

@@GrazingAcresFarm Yeah I hear ya, the cost is pretty outrageous but it's something I want to do and I never take a vacation so that's how I justify it in my mind, lol. I agree though, I could have used that money elsewhere then again I waste money on frivolous crap all the time. I'll just sell some stored grain. lol

[@flatwoodsbeefarm1015]

Great video.

[@kiddfamilyfarmllc9962]

Good Job

[@bigjcountry1491]

thanks for the info

[@alexpaulson4597]

Nice drag! I use a very, very similar one on my driveway to smooth everything out! Works great! Since I am merely learning about cattle; after seeing all of that tall grass I couldn't help but wonder if ticks are ever an issue. If they are, how do you combat that problem? Nice view up there, sort of reminds me of the glacial hills in my neck of the woods! Thanks for sharing! Take care!

[@GrazingAcresFarm]

Thanks! I made that drag last Fall to knock down weeds and it worked well for that too. I do see a few ticks here and there on the cattle but it's not too often. If I do I usually just pluck them off. They seem to have a herder timer burying their heads in the skin of the cattle than they do our skin. I don't do anything besides that. I wish chickens would eat ticks but I don't think they do. The real tick problem is with the care taker when he enters the pasture everyday to move the herd. It's nothing to walk out with 4-5 ticks crawling on ya. When I was very young I had Rocky Mountain Stopped Fever from a tick off out family dog. I guess I was very sick and could have died. Crazy huh? Stupid tick! lol Yes, we have a great view at the farm. I would love to have a house up there.

[@alexpaulson4597]

I was thinking that cattle are a bit more impervious to ticks with their thicker 'hide' so to speak, but I have never heard that addressed before so I had to ask. Yes, ticks on the care taker is for sure a bigger issue! That's crazy you got sick from one! Glad you didn't have any long term repercussions from it! I used to look for Morel mushrooms on my property a lot, but I was finding way too many deer ticks on me in the recent years, even when you sprayed your clothes with deet (never mind the mosquitoes!!) I'm getting too old for that kind of hiking anyway! haha!

[@GrazingAcresFarm]

You had to mention morels. lol We are a few weeks away from them popping up. I can't wait! Do you not hunt them anymore? People go crazy for them here. I have seen them sell for $70 a pound. I eat all the ones I find but a lot of people sell them. That where the poachers come into play. To be honest though, I'm really not allowed to hunt them at the farm. The first year I did, I called the landowner and told her the farm was loaded with them. About 2 weeks later she brought our a bunch of her family and they hunted for hours to find nothing. lol She said, I picked them all but after everyone left I found more. I really don't think they know where to look for them and I am not sharing my spots. lol So now, I hunt them and only tell my wife and no one is the wiser.

[@alexpaulson4597]

Yes, yes I did! haha! I'm jealous, there is still snow on the ground in my hunting grounds so it will be awhile for me! I still forage for them but I don't hunt them like I used to. The mosquitoes and ticks are one thing, but my back has a hard time walking for miles on rough terrain these days. So, I have a couple of close spots that I will check sometimes, but I usually don't come up with much without putting the miles in. I have heard of people selling them too and I think that is crazy, I would much rather just eat them as well! That's kind of funny about the landowners failure to find them, they do have their spots and can camouflage very well! Even though I am very rural, when walking through the woods with my son, we call them "frogs" just in case there are any prying ears. "I found some frogs over here!!" haha. We've been doing that because I am aware of poachers myself. I came across some people on my property in one of my "spots" a few years back who claimed they were looking for snakes. I told them I would rather have snakes than mice and sent them on their way. Craziness! Right when you think you live in the middle of nowhere, right? lol

[@nickjqz]

If you had a barn that could house all of your cattle do you think it would be better to house them there during the wet muddy season and then you wouldn't need a sacrifice pasture?

[@GrazingAcresFarm]

No. Being organic it's important to us to keep the livestock on pasture so they can fertilize. If they are in a barn then more resources are needed to get the manure back to the pasture. I don't own a tractor and not looking to invest in one.

[@bobcrone6151]

All those management ideas but I don’t believe you said how many head you worked thru that pasture? You may give herd numbers in other vids but not everyone views every vid.

[@allenferry1268]

What was the tall grass just starting to head out and do you know how many cow days that pasture gives or head per paddock in that photo?

[@GrazingAcresFarm]

I was told the grass is Johnson grass en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson_grass . That video was 2 summers ago and I can't remember for sure but I think there was 42 head. This pasture can easily support 42 head in the growing season for 2-3 days. Keep in mind this is only grazing the top 1/3 of the plants then moving. Have you seen this kzbin.info/www/bejne/qYDKXqSkg9Srh6s

[@robert5109]

I just found your channel a few weeks ago and I have enjoyed your videos. I do have some questions, how many pastures do you use and how many acres per pasture and how many cows on these pastures . We use one 50 acre pasture for 25 cows sounds like we should be dividing that 50 up into smaller pastures.What size would you recommend and how long to run the cows on each. Thanks keep up the good videos. (North Indiana).

[@GrazingAcresFarm]

Thanks! I am glad you enjoy my channel. Our leased farm is 176 acres but only 130 or so is actually grazable. Each of our pastures vary in size anywhere from 5 to 25 acres, we have 9 pastures total. I currently only have 38 cows but we will be back up to 60 cows plus calves this grazing season. we are currently looking for more cows to buy and add to our herd. If your just open grazing your 50 acre pasture, I would surely think about breaking it down into smaller sections with poly wire. There is huge benefits to the soil plus it will create rest periods so you always have something to graze. I am not sure if you have seen this video of mine but it explains breaking down a pasture and how to start kzbin.info/www/bejne/qYDKXqSkg9Srh6s. Is your herd grass fed only? Are they dairy or beef cattle?

[@robert5109]

We do grain the cows some in the winter non GMO shell corn. They are Angus Cross cows. We finish a couple calves and sell the rest as feeder calves. Thanks for the reply I will check out your other video.@@GrazingAcresFarm

[@michaelcallas8138]

robert5109

[@michaelcallas8138]

robert5109

[@fishrrelaxing9361]

Set the chicken free in that paddock and they will do the same exact thing while also eating all the fly larva

[@rockycassidy1813]

👍🏻

[@JamesOBrien2253]

5:40 whats the name of the tall grass

[@GrazingAcresFarm]

I was told it's Johnson grass, we never planted it so it must be something that came in some of our purchased hay. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson_grass

[@cleburne-dfwseptic6843]

@@GrazingAcresFarm yes johnson grass, cows will eat like eastern gamma grass but needs to be managed during times of drought and when haying as it can kill?

[@texasgrazer9854]

I have usually have 6 groups of cows to sacrifice for 24 hours for up to 45 days then for 12 hours a day for about another 60 days till we can graze 24 hours. I always try to pick my least fertile paddocks, we have about 60 paddocks altogether but we spray to kill off the grass to remove any unwanted grasses and then in the spring we plow them and sprigg them with tifton 85 and then in 2 years they are usually the best fields. Check out my channel

[@GrazingAcresFarm]

Wait a minute.... Your spraying to kill weeds where the cattle later eat? Have you been paying attention to what's in weed killer? That crap is deadly! I know, I know, some people do not believe the reports but let me tell you as a beekeeper it is deadly. Bees pollinate every 3rd bite we eat and I have seen these chemicals wipe out a bee hive in a hurry. Even once the cattle are allowed to enter these areas there would still be residue in the soil from it. It makes no sense to me why people are using these weed killers in their pastures. The neighboring farm sprays the edges of his hay fields which is for his cattle. I can't make any sense why anyone would want their cattle to eat toxins so they can later eat them. Alright my rant is over. lol But seriously I encourage you to read more about these weed killers. There are ways to kill weeds without these harsh chemicals. I will check out your channel!

[@cdf01]

How are things in Ohio? Need an update.

[@GrazingAcresFarm]

I'm working to put together my next video now. Update coming soon!

[@johndowe7003]

Why not disc it?

[@GrazingAcresFarm]

Because that requires expensive farm equipment that we do not want to own and maintain. Farm equipment doesn't make money livestock does.

[@johndowe7003]

@@GrazingAcresFarm well you don't need to buy a million dollar machine, an old tractor with a disk would be great to have . Just to mix in the organics into the soil so you get a better yield in grass. You could get a machine and a 6footer for less than 2k. It's a great investment to have. The ranch I'm working on has about 1000 steers in a 6000acre pasture and they run a pasture aeretor for their cows and it does work from what I've seen. A smaller lot like yours should benefit I. Hell, you could just get someone to do it for you for cheap

[@GrazingAcresFarm]

@john dowe I do understand what your saying and my first couple years managing this farm I thought the same but now I think differently. It doersn't matter how little you spend on equipment it still breaks and that not anything I want to spend my money. I actually have a small 6' plow that my atv would pull but I think plowing would disturb the soil more than I want. Seems to me that would great harm the grass we currently have there but maybe I am wrong. Sounds like your working on a huge farm. Where is it located?

[@johndowe7003]

@@GrazingAcresFarm south texas, the ranch i work at is 130000acres (it used to be 170k) i work on 10 pastures that are 6000 acres each being feedlots that grow some of the best cattle in south texas. we dont disk the land the guy just runs it over with a JD6030 and a humongous aerator the guy that does it runs over 10ft trees with it and it breaks them to shit and the buffel grass grows like crazy. they only do it once a year and it makes a huge difference. but you get what you put into it. to me a 150$ disk is worth it. plowing is too aggressive and you really only need to break up the soil 4-6 inches for grass to grow well. wasnt saying buyin a million dollar machine but 100-300 investment is pennies compared to the gains you receive. i personally seen a lot of stingy guys that never reach their full potential cause they dont wanna "spend money" . you reap what ya sow. not knockin on how you do things man, was just trying to help a fellow out. you tend to pick up better ways of doing things when you been around people that know what their doing and are massively successful. i personally thought that aerator thing was garbage until i saw all the grass coming up in the spring and i was really impressed.

[@GrazingAcresFarm]

@john dowe You ever hear of Greg Judy? He's very successful and doesn't own the first piece of equipment besides his atv. He has several videos explaining why a tractor or farm equipment is NOT needed. If your working in feedlot your supporting conventional farming which is fine if that's what you believe in but I do not, I am all bout grass fed only and there is just no reason to own a tractor. I haven't needed one in 5 years why get one now? I can move round bales with my atv so I don't see a need. Watch a couple of Greg's videos if you haven't ever seen them, maybe he can explain it better.

[@roscorude]

Dung beetles

[@GrazingAcresFarm]

What about dung beetles?

[@roscorude]

@@GrazingAcresFarm dung beetles like the intact piles, spreading early in spring is probably ok as witnessed by your grass coming back on good soil. Myself I need to keep my beetles employed!. Yes it can keep fly large down. But I want beetles, so I use tree swallows for fly control.

[@BruceClithero]

@@roscorude I heard Greg Judy talk about using tree swallows. It really works?

[@roscorude]

@@BruceClithero we have small holding with 3-4 ruminants on depleted soil(topsoil scapped and sold previous owners). Our plan is adding carbon and manure to the soil using natural forces, dung bettles bring manure deeper into soil. we researched fly control and spreading chemicals on animals was out since that just leaches into the soil your trying to fix! chickens will eat larve keeping Flys down but then they eat my beetles! Onto tree Swallows, a pair alegedly eats like 3k flying insects a day and are cool to watch. I asked greg about dragging my pasture, he suggested tree Swallows and letting bettles work, I agree. Im making more houses right now a goal of 40 more surrounding my pasture, we shall see if it benifits, mainly keeping fly stress down on animals. I do love the look of GAF 's grass in summer at 4feet after long rest and speading his winters bale grazing remains. Cant hardly argue with success! Tree Swallows work better than chemicals, we do what the logos asks of us we will succeed! En arche en ho logos...!

[@GrazingAcresFarm]

@roscorude I don't want to disturb the dung beetles. I figure with us still having cold nights (29°F right now) that they would not be harmed. I don't plan to continue dragging as it's too time costly but I have done it in the past. Last year, I see a lot of the little tunneler beetles, it was very exciting. As far as the swallows they do help with flies. Our farm is surrounded with Amish farms and each farm has several of the swallow hotels. I guess the could be purple martins too but either way they both eat a ton of flies. It's also a beautiful site to watch the group of birds fly over the herd as they both eat in harmony.

[@danielthomason5685]

Dragging is a bad idea, because you foul the whole field...its about 90 days from time a cow potties in a spot till they est there again...90 percent if the nitrogen is in the pee the poop has mostly your other....you do right on most you do...bu tg doing things right like you want to do....dont drag unless you gonna keep cows off for 90 days

[@GrazingAcresFarm]

I don't think it was a bad idea because I plan to keep it out of the rotation for awhile. It's interesting that it takes 90 days for the cattle to have interest.

[@michaelcallas8138]

Daniel Thomason