Farming in the shade

See this picture of diversity? Several species are in bloom, while others are still vegetative. The grasses have mature seeds. The red and white clovers are in full bloom. Birdsfoot trefoil has started blooming, and the alfalfa is in bud. Why does this matter? With a monoculture, the sheep and cattle would have a choice of one food source. If it happened to be in a later stage of growth, there might not be enough protein for the animals’ needs. But a multi-species crop gives choice of forage for different stages of nutrition. Next time you’re near a pasture (or in your lawn!) take note of how many different species you see. 

The sheep have been out on pasture for nearly three weeks now. We have seen the absolutely amazing spring pasture growth spurt that surprises us each year. Such fertility and abundance! Here, I'll show you. Before turning any animals into a pasture, it looks like this. After turning animals into a pasture (the sheep graze each pasture for one day), it looks like this. Still a lot left, allowing the plants to bounce back more easily from the grazing. And this is another pasture that was also grazed for one day, but it was before the rapid spring growth kicked in. This pasture will take a bit longer to recover. We've tried hard to keep the animals moving this first three weeks, having heard that it's best to hit everything once in those first three weeks. We haven't managed to accomplish that, despite our move-them-every-day plan. Managed grazing is both art and science, and there are so many variables that we are always learning something new.

One of our daughters really loves sheep. For the past two summers she's helped us out by moving the sheep to fresh pasture. But this summer she has been in New Zealand doing a college internship on a sheep farm. We sort of knew she was doing a lot of work here during the summers, but I am learning first-hand just HOW much work it is to move animals around. The Farmer helps out when he can, but many times it is me moving sheep, cattle or (college daughter's) horses to fresh pasture. This has been a fabulous summer for pasture growth. Regular, plentiful rains and cooler temperatures have provided us with lush pastures. A couple of our pastures like the one in the photo below have loads of purple clover in them.  The sheep know the drill. Every other day they willingly and eagerly pour through the small opening I make into the next pasture. I then spend time moving the waterer and the mineral feeder to the new pasture, take down the old fence and set it up for the pastu...