Back issues

Back issues

Graze has covered a lot of ground since its launch in 2000. Issues not listed below are sold out and no longer available. Visit the Topics page to see the breadth of subjects Graze covers, with links to some articles.

Individual back issues of Graze cost $5 apiece prepaid, including postage, for North America customers only. To order back issues, send a check for $5 per back issue to Graze, P.O. Box 48, Belleville, WI 53508.

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Back issues available

June-July 2008

Martins keep cows and soils fed and healthy, and the rest takes care of itself.
Making do at the end of the easy oil era.
Advisors talk pasture irrigation.
Organic forum: What have you done to improve forage quality and quantity?
Methods for calculating meat marketing costs.
McNally: Strengthening the ewe-lamb bond.

May 2008

"Bucket-type" pit parlors work great for small herds.
Discovering a new meadow fescue: Part 2.
New heifer raising strategies paying off.
Advisors detail how they're dealing with higher input costs.
Why grazing is important to organic bottom lines.
McNally: Crossbreeding benefits for flocks large and small.
Raising hogs in the new age of high grain prices.
Van Der Pol: To succeed, we need to plan for seven generations.

April 2008

Young dairy grazing couple goes from zero to $300,000 net equity in five years.
Tips for starting (and keeping) a grass dairy.
Dan Vosberg's rationale for the "modern" dual-purpose cow.
An outline of a self-sufficient, competitive no-grain dairy.
The case for top-down product pricing in a direct-market meat operation.
Organic views of vaccination.
Van Der Pol: Being a patriot to your local community.

March 2008

Grain supplementation still paying on grazing dairies.
Janet McNally's successful experiment with field peas and triticale.
David Surprenant now has irrigation, but what should he plant?
Advisors tell how they employ (or don't employ) annual grazing crops.
Year-round marketing requirements compromising lowest-cost production model.
It still pays to feed cows well and milk them efficiently.
Van Der Pol: balancing profit targets with community goals.

February 2008

Making a comfortable living from a 27-cow grazing dairy with a five-year crop rotation.
Nathan Weaver's plan for attaining production independence.
Advisors tell how they raise dairy calves.
How to start new farms: offer help, but allow independent decision-making.
To really market grass-fed beef, you need the right processor.
The pains and gains of a growing direct market.
Organic forum: soil, forage and manure additives.
Janet McNally on grazing sheep in alfalfa stands.
Van Der Pol: technology vs. humanity in our choices.

January 2008

Charles Fletcher has cut input costs and improved profits by "measuring, monitoring and managing" his pastures.
Dan Vosberg is learning how to graze and cut alfalfa.
Advisors deal with rising nitrogen prices.
Letter from Australia: the cost pinch is being felt Down Under.
How the Wrchotas are adjusting to a changing grass-fed beef market.
Janet McNally on dealing with legume perils.
In search of a no/low grain grazing Holstein.
Improving our rural communities through the "one degree deflection."

December 2007

Discussion group and financial analysis help a veteran grazier improve his profits.
How Janet McNally stopped worrying about animal performance, and started making money.
Eric Grim is monitoring and measuring to get more out of his pastures.
Advisors on where they need to go, and how they plan to get there.
Nathan Weaver's plans for improving his new, infertile, farm.
Grass-fed cheese marketing effort goes no-grain right away.
Organic forum: what's your dry-cow program?
If you want special beef, find a special processor.
Jim Van Der Pol wants a more meaningful definition of wealth.

November 2007

Advice based on 10 years of no-grain dairy.
USDA's grass-fed label: the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Young dairyman plans investments carefully so he doesn't box himself in.
Advisors on how circumstances (mainly weather) forced changes in their grazing plans.
Janet McNally: When to wean lambs a complex decision.
Research shows grazing a learned behavior.

October 2007

Ohio organic dairy makes money feeding no grain in pasture season, with immature barley baleage in winter as only grain source.
Tired of watching grass die, David Surprenant springs for irrigation.
Advisors on building soil organic matter.
Strategies for capturing 90% of all nutrients.
Janet McNally: How proper grazing management made all the difference in a drought.
Organic forum: Can we reduce grain feeding? Should we?
There's no need to supplement pasture with protein.
Van Der Pol: Europeans make the best of tough situations.

August-September 2007

How the Klussendorfs started grazing dairy with no equity.
Principles to follow in getting a grazing start.
Dave Forgey: How to get more young people into grazing.
Advisors talk about fall grazing strategies.
Vegetable CSA offers grass-fed beef marketing opportunity.
Janet McNally: Finishing lambs on turnips.
Van Der Pol: "poor" farmers not so poor.

June-July 2007

The trials of growing grass in the desert
Two ideas for grass management: "Measure, monitor, manage" vs. "understand the grass."
Holly Burley on the "joys" of starting a dairy business.
Advisors: Why do(n't) you graze like they do in New Zealand?
Nathan Weaver forms his plans for today's and tomorrow's realities.
Letter from Australia: The value of a good consultant.
Organic forum: What's your mineral program?
Opinion: organic needs to do what people think we're doing.

May 2007

A workable grass dairy model for the Deep South.
Size neutral thoughts and recommendations.
Taking time off helps farm business focus.
Advisors on how they handle the summer slump.
Vosbergs offer tips for getting cows bred in a tight window.
Sweet Grass Dairy: Award winning and profitable
Weighing the cost-benefit ratio of winter pork production
McNally on options for low- and no-grain lamb finishing.
Van Der Pol: Too much "cheaper," not enough "better."

April 2007

Rebuilding the California grazing idea.
Putting business information into a useable package.
Advisors: Flush season grazing plans.
David Kline on the season's first seedings.
Three views on how grazing should be done.
Organic forum: How do you handle fresh-cow problems?
The real story behind private-label organic milk.
McNally: Gain without grain for lambing and lactation.
Jim Van Der Pol: Farmers as systems thinkers.

March 2007

Raw milk power in California.
Looking for farmer-driven research.
A young grazier's evolving dairy.
Advisors: What's your early spring grazing plan?
Kingshay Trust emphasizes useful information.
Grass-fed beef: With imports coming, it's time to go local.
McNally: Cutting feed costs for late-gestation ewes.
Antioxidants as dairy treatments.

February 2007

A northern Wisconsin dairy outwintering system for 130 cows.
Some simple answers to common grazing questions.
Vosberg on cutting grain costs, part 2.
Advisors on what they've learned about feeding calves to weaning.
Setting up a new grazing dairy in central New York.
McNally: How flexible is your business? An example of an effective, farmer-driven research organization.
Organic forum: What organic research needs doing?
Tom Wrchota's grass-fed, direct-market business: What can be changed, what can't.
Van Der Pol: Trying to figure out year-round, organic pork production; why do we feed hogs better than people?

January 2007

Dan Vosberg calculates how much he can cut back on grain feeding.
Kentucky organic dairy graziers say fescue is the answer.
Can true (no grain) believers be truly profitable?
Advisors explain why they aren't "no grain."
Low-cost parlor produces 50% gain in milking efficiency.
McNally: Employing growth numbers for flock improvement. Iowa college launches grazing-based learning farm.
Van Der Pol tries to cut grain costs for hog production.

December 2006

Building a grass-finished beef industry in the Northeast
Pasture-based custom heifer business satisfies high-producing dairy herd
How to set up a new farm?
Advisors judge older grass varieties vs. the "new stuff."
Organic forum: How serious about compost?
McNally: Beware of high-fiber forages
Van Der Pol: Our pursuit of money is damaging our boys

November 2006

Nichols Dairy's thoughts on two decades of dairy crossbreeding.
The coming wave of differentiated milk.
The benefits of a young farmer traveling and working.
Advisors on the cost-benefit ratio of organic production.
Why labor is so important on grass dairies.
"Grazier-friendly" irrigation systems.
Building a grass-fed cow-calf herd.
States cracking down on raw milk sales.

October 2006

New Zealand investor-owned dairies launched in Missouri.
Making good calf management better.
Advisors explain why they're grazing.
If you want to make money grazing, you need to picture your path.
University of Missouri dairy grazing station working for grass farmers.
Outwintering effects on pastures: some answers, many questions.
Organic forum: How we're reducing our supplementation costs.
McNally: Know when to sell your lambs - or when to hold 'em.

June-July 2006

Reed canarygrass provides drought tolerance.
Kura clover is a permanent nitrogen factory.
Don Boland is learning to establish and manage both.
How startup performance has matched and differed from projections at one grass dairy.
Advisors talk about how they anticipate and prepare for dry weather.
Letter from Australia: Drought, irrigation and "rotation right" grazing.
Do homework on botanical medicines.
Organic forum: What's your fly control program?
How to provide "bird friendly" grazing habitat.
Van Der Pol on why farmer experiments have value.

February 2006

Well-fed, no grain, organic (and profitable) Holsteins.
The real reason organic milk producers have to be better graziers. (Hint: to get that $23.00 breakeven cost down to something more reasonable.)
Eric Grim adjusts his feed ration.
Advisors on their retirement plans.
Nathan Weaver's successful grazing equation.
Former Wisconsin dairyman's letter from Australia: Lots of familiar problems.
McNally talks about mixing grazing with the winter-lambing flock.
Wrchota tells of his grass-fed beef, direct marketing costs and returns. (Part 2)
Organic forum: Graziers tell how they deal with overall soil fertility.
Van Der Pol searches for a better pasture sow.

December 2005

Young grazier learned the ropes before launching grass dairy.
Forgey's drought survival strategies.
Advisors on dealing with their least favorite grasses.
Keeping calves on dairy cows: one grazier's story.
McNally: Old sheepherding ways important to parasite control.
Organic forum: Mastitis control. (Part 2)
More beef CLA from pasture/soyoil than pasture alone.
Pastured beef economic analysis.

October 2005

Young couple doing well on extension agent's "model" starter dairy.
David Surprenant's drought insurance strategies.
Advisors on measuring financial success.
Financial numbers from top grazing dairies.
Calculating the value of pasture irrigation.
McNally: sheep handling facilities.
Feeding forum: How feeding the fall freshening cow is different from feeding the spring freshening cow.
Van Der Pol talks about new energy realities.

August-September 2005

Prograsstinators grazing group focuses on financial analysis.
A Wisconsin grazier moves to Australia.
Eric Grim finds a return on investment for his new buildings.
Advisors detail bloat prevention strategies.
Nathan Weaver says drought can be managed.
Organic forum: How do you get nitrogen to your grass?
$27/cwt. base price for organic milk targeted.
Outwintering/fallowing as a pasture improvement tool.
McNally's tips for moving sheep.

May 2005

Limited land and equipment ownership nets big returns for New York beef grazier.
Putting pigs on your dairy pastures (Part 2).
What makes a really good egg?
Vosberg makes specific kinds of hay for specific kinds of cattle.
Advisors talk about their worming programs.
Rebuilding soils requires patience and organic matter (Part 1).
McNally on the various ways of fighting sheep wormer resistance.
Organic forum: How these four organic producers graze their calves.

April 2005

John Wentz says training a herding dog isn't rocket science.
Dave Surprenant on how he'll repair winter pasture damage.
Advisors acknowledge their biggest mistakes in farming.
How to add a few hogs to your grazing dairy (Part 1).
Final thoughts on parlor retrofits; why Mike Eastman ripped his out.
Janet McNally's innovative ideas for feeding "bum" lambs on pasture.
Feeding forum: How to supplement a cow on spring pasture.
Organic grazing standards may get toughened substantially.
Jim Van Der Pol on how diversity can help multi-family farms.

January 2005

Vance Haugen launches series on how to retrofit a milking parlor into an existing facility.
Dan Beard put a milking facility in an old hog barn.
Dan Vosberg has altered his fall grass stockpiling strategies to match weather realities.
Advisors on their plans for 2005.
Organic forum: Raising calves to weaning.
Jim Van Der Pol tells how to fence and handle sows and cows together.

December 2004

Southern Ohio dairyman successfully grazing cows on fescue and clover.
David Surprenant on the ups and downs of building a new milking parlor in an old barn.
Advisors talk about pasture soil compaction and how they deal with it.
Minnesota trial showed very few soil/runoff nitrogen problems with winter bedding pack.
Janet McNally on dealing with fence-busting sheep.
Dairy feeding experts on whether legumes are really needed.
Concrete cow sidewalks poured fast and easy.

November 2004

New York farmers scale up farmstead dairy processing.
Eric Grim decides outwintering dairy cows has its drawbacks.
Advisors tell how their stock spend the winter.
Nathan Weaver says he needs to re-focus his dairy breeding goals.
"Grass-fed" cheese success propels plant investment.
Dr. Greg Brickner on improving long-term health of grazing cows.
On-farm trials indicate a little grain doesn't affect beef CLA content.
Janet McNally on what's needed to fence sheep.

October 2004

Glenn Moyer puts a rotary parlor in the middle of 270 pasture acres.
Dave Forgey on plans to retire and transition the farm to the next generation.
Advisors' ideas for improving grazing discussion groups.
Once-a-day milking proving popular in New Zealand.
"Organic forum" graziers offer tips for organic milk production.
Janet McNally on the various options for finishing pasture-raised lambs.
"Feeding forum" thoughts on direct-cut silage.

August-September 2004

Ideas for improving "grass-fed" beef quality.
Tom Wrchota says that not all cows need to match the popular "grass-fed" phenotype.
Brian Denman finds that bare-bones grazing didn't work on his farm.
Dan Vosberg says it takes more than money to heal soils.
Advisors on how they wrecked a paddock, and how they fixed it.
Grazing can be different things to different people.
Janet McNally: Weaning lambs on pasture requires thought and management.
Veterinarian says that natural cattle treatments are no quick fix.

June-July 2004

Mike Hansen aims to scale up his pastured poultry operation.
Should pastures be torn up and replanted? What history tells us.
Why changing realities will cause more grazing to happen.
Dave Surprenant plans to shrink his dairy herd.
The advisors on what they've learned about how much grass should be left after the animals graze a paddock.
After a trip to New Zealand, a U.S. dairyman offers views of what can be applied here, and what can't.
Feeding Forum: The good, bad and ugly of sorghum-sudangrass.
Jim Van Der Pol's attempts to develop diverse pasture swards.

May 2004

A dairy grazing cooperative learns about marketing cheese based on higher CLA content.
Organic needs more grazing.
Eric Grim's pains and gains with dairy growth.
Advisors vent their feelings on growing their operations.
Dealing with the problems and opportunities of May pastures.
Van Der Pol's pork marketing project reaches a growth crossroads.
One man's opinion of the characteristics of successful dairy graizers.
Janet McNally on the proper ways to do drift lambing on pasture.
A run-down on drought tolerant annuals for grazing. Ideas for getting started in grazing.

April 2004

A Wisconsin grass-based dairyman visits Argentina.
Wisconsin survey shows grass-based dairies more profitable than conventional dairies.
Prescriptions for pasture walk woes.
Dave Forgey makes a case for more legumes in pastures.
Advisors on how they use mechanical harvesting to control the spring pasture flush.
Charles Opitz on keeping up with spring grass growth.
Janet McNally: Bad mothering isn't always the ewe's fault.
Jim Van Der Pol on noticing what's going on.
Feeding Forum: What's the best way to keep milk solids from dropping on lush spring pastures?

March 2004

Dr. Temple Grandin's ideas on livestock handling management.
Janet McNally's thoughts on livestock guard dogs, and raising them.
Dan Vosberg on the need for planning and an overall vision for successful grass dairies.
Advisors talk about how grazing has proven to be different compared to what they had thought when they started.
One dairy farm's path toward reducing labor requirements.
Different pork markets require different strategies, and so do different pork cuts, Part 2.

January 2004

Grazing network's dairy bull pool.
Does it pay to rest paddocks?
"One-shot" ration pays off—even at $180/ton.
Advisors on how to deal with mud.
On pasture, not all Holsteins are created equal.
Does accelerated lambing make sense for a grazing farm?
Avoiding problems in transitioning dairy cows to spring grass.

December 2003

Aerial seeding of corn and other strategies for grazing year-round in the Corn Belt.
More strategies for reducing labor on family dairy farms.
Dave Forgey says renovating pastures makes sense.
Advisors describe how they need to improve their operations.
Progress on developing biological controls for Canada thistle.
Janet McNally's simplest way to supplement sheep in winter.
How to graze alfalfa for maximum productivity and stand life.
Dairy feeding forum: What's the maximum amount of corn silage that should be fed with pasture?
Van Der Pol muses on Dad's mistakes.

November 2003

Michigan grazier sells cow shares to raw milk customers for more than $4,000 per cow annual boarding fees.
How to reduce labor on grass dairies.
Dan Vosberg finds his soil P and K levels have declined with grazing and purchased-in feed.
How the Graze advisors employ nitrogen in their pastures.
Lessons from a cheese marketing saga, Part 2.
Pastures can be managed to improve both bird habitat and profit.
Janet McNally on what to watch for in winter sheep grazing.
Jim Van Der Pol says we don't buy quality of life with profits.

October 2003

Center-pivot irrigation low-cost, low-labor way to get 300 cows through a Michigan drought.
Is once-a-day milking totally crazy?
Dave Surprenant gets re-motivated.
Graziers talk about how they water cows on pasture (or not).
How to best use fall grass surplus in a wet year.
The story of two regular guys who direct marketed cheese, Part 1.
Rebuilding ewe condition in the fall.
Strategies for dealing with the next drought.
Launch of "Feeding Forum"—ideas for feeding the pastured dairy cow.
Van Der Pol says we oppose factory farms, but aren't we getting what we're asking for?

August-September 2003

A Wisconsin beef grazier's "oddball" cowboy practices.
Should pastured ewe lambs be bred?
Eric Grim's success in liming heavily.
Tips on fall management to improve pastures.
Fringe benefits of moving fences.
Forks Farm's experience in following the Salatin direct marketing model.
Wet weather pasture management.
Turnip grazing, Part 2.

June-July 2003

Champion "grass-fed" cheese maker says it's flavor, not CLA, that sells cheese.
Grass-fed taste has science behind it.
Dave Forgey learned from a tough year.
Graziers describe their fly control methods.
Surprise! Seasonal dairy graziers made more money than non-seasonal calvers in multi-state study.
Calculating dry matter consumption for pastured sheep.
Walk your pastures!
Changing pastured pig behavior through genetics, Part 2.
Fall grazed turnips offer opportunities, Part 1.

April 2003

Holistic management at work on Pennsylvania dairy farms.
Narrow concrete cow lane works in Upper Midwest.
Supporting a grazing research project.
Advisors on converting hayfields and cornfields to pasture.
Be a grass farmer first.
Transitioning from winter rations to pasture.
Teaching ewes to lamb on pasture.
Grazing corn planted to fescue sod pays off.
Making changes to wintertime "extensive" hog production.

March 2003

Molitors outwinter 300 milking cows in Minnesota.
New England Livestock Allaince seeking grass-fed beef genetics.
Mega-Millet did nice job of filling Vosberg's summer flat spot.
Advisors tell how they promote legumes in their pastures.
Opitz on why uneven grazing happens.
The logistics of putting lambs on wheels to ethnic markets, Part 2.
Wrchota on fine-tuning his multi-enterprise marketing business.
Calculating farm investments.
University research aims to satisfy those who pay for it.

February 2003

A small farm stands tall.
Forgey simplifies calf raising.
Advisors justify their grain feeding.
Opitz's case against clipping pastures.
Western water problems open doors to Eastern graziers.
Large-scale pastured poultry marketing challenges.
Why I still plow.
Ethnic markets for lamb, Part 1.
Grazing veterans offer "best" and "worst" ideas.