I have always explained what we do is to raise grass.  We then use cattle to harvest that crop.  The key to using forages optimally is to rotationally graze these forages.  Under rotational grazing the livestock is allowed to graze only one portion of the pasture at a time, allowing the rest of the pasture to “rest”.  To accomplish this the open pasture is subdivided into smaller pastures (called grazing paddocks) and the cattle are moved from one paddock to another.  Moving the cattle allows the resting paddocks to renew resources, deepen the forage root base, support and increase the vigor of the forage species, encourage the growth of native grasses, and naturally eliminate parasite and pathogen problems.

At our farm, Rain Crow Ranch, we have 22 paddocks of approximately 120 ac. each. These large paddocks are used for rotating and grazing our mamma cows with their calves and for the weanlings of 400-800 lbs.  After this time the cattle to be finished are placed on finishing pasture for the last 120-180 days where the paddocks are of the best forage available, smaller and rotated more frequently.

We often have said that what we do is raise grass.  I love grass and of course green is my favorite color.  My favorite lesson to teach my kids in science is the wonder of photosynthesis and how grass makes it’s own food from the energy of the sun storing that food and releasing oxygen.  It is a natural cycle to use cows to harvest our crop of grass.  It is just the way it was intended to be.  When you go with the flow of the life cycle then every phase seems to benefit.  Grassfarmers produce grass and in so doing sustain the environment as we nurture the crop and harvest it with our green machines (grass-fed cattle).  Enough philosophizing…

As we have stepped up our efforts of finishing cattle on grass we have had to increase our efforts to assure having a quality chain of forage throughout all seasons.  The hardest time for us in southern Missouri is the middle of summer.  Dry hill country with a cool season grass base of fescue makes for low quality forages in the summer months.  This time is actually harder for us than the winters that are relatively mild and conducive to wheat grass.