No grain, but 15,000 pounds of milk

Langmeiers do the job with great forage and well-hydrated calves

Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin — Jim Langmeier and his sons — Joe, Mike and Keith — are humble people who don’t pretend to be doing everything right. Spend some time visiting with these guys, and talk turns to concerns about disappointing milk solids tests, mistakes made with hay crops, and yearling heifers that aren’t up to par. The Langmeiers acknowledge they have a lot to learn about grazing and overall management of permanent pastures.

Says Jim, “We aren’t doing anything special.” Continue reading “No grain, but 15,000 pounds of milk”

December 1, 2011April 18, 2020

Debunking the ‘can’t finish lambs on grass’ myth

By Janet McNally

Hinckley, Minnesota—One of the more rewarding things I do is visit sheep graziers around the U.S. and Canada who do an outstanding job producing a quality product. I’ve been absolutely amazed at the healthy, well-grown lambs with clean backsides and loads of bloom that reach marketable weights on all-forage programs.

lambsdec11 — Photo: Janet McNally. Janet McNally’s May-born lambs were raised on native pastures until weaning, then finished for six weeks on turnips. They were wormed with valbazen August 1 and September 15 for flukes. Average weight for the entire lamb crop was 82 lbs. on November 16, and another five weeks of grazing should put the average to 100 lbs. Including the dam’s feed cost, total per-lamb feed cost from birth to 100 lbs. is $18.

While everyone is almost on their own in exploring what works and what does not, many of these people come to the same conclusions on some things, such as breeds that work and those that do not. Yet they may have a dozen different strategies for addressing problems such as parasites, all of which work. The bottom line is that there are a good number of producers around the country producing quality, grass-fed lambs. Continue reading “Debunking the ‘can’t finish lambs on grass’ myth”

June 1, 2011April 18, 2020

The hidden benefits of feeding less grain

Lower costs and better grazing contributing to improved profitability

By Jon Bansen Monmouth, Oregon—Many years ago I heard the statement that it takes 20 years to become a good grazier. So as we approached 20 years of intensively managed rotational grazing, the running joke around our farm was that I’m almost a good grazier. I shouldn’t have been so smug: As we start Year 21, I feel I’ve learned more grazing lessons this past year than in any other since the very first one here.

What changed? I decided to eliminate almost all grain and stored forage from the milking herd’s diet during pasture season. We’re now down to feeding two pounds of daily grain/cow and no stored forage during the grazing months. Continue reading “The hidden benefits of feeding less grain”

June 1, 2011April 18, 2020

Changing behavior through genetics

By Jim Van Der Pol, Kerkhoven, Minnesota — As was noted in the last issue, changes we have made in our equipment, building layout, and feed production seem to have helped with our hog behavior and health problems. Feed production adds more work, while the equipment (pens) and building layout are small additional capital costs that allow us to work more effectively. Yet we have not entirely solved our problems, and we do not want to spend a lot more money and time adjusting our management and facilities to the hogs.

So we have a question: What could we change about hog behavior through genetics? Continue reading “Changing behavior through genetics”

May 1, 2011April 18, 2020

The pattern of problems and solutions

By Jim Van Der Pol Kerkhoven, Minnesota — One pattern sometimes holds true in several different venues. That is true now of doctoring and farming, both of which are in a pretty advanced state of decay. Thoughtful people in both these areas are wondering how long the current practices and ideas can hold up.

Bruce Lipton, in his book The Biology of Belief, points out that it is conventionally accepted that 120,000 people die in the U.S. each year from adverse reactions to drugs. This would make prescription drugs the third leading cause of death. However, this count is obsolete, having been made in 2000. A 10-year survey of government statistics completed in 2003 shows that the real number may be closer to 300,000, making drugs the leading cause of death, according to Lipton. You will notice, of course, that this number never got talked about in our recent “health care debate.” But it presents the practitioners of conventional medicine with a picture of the dead end they are on, along with the knowledge that change is no longer just desirable, but absolutely necessary. Continue reading “The pattern of problems and solutions”

April 1, 2011April 18, 2020

How much forage can a non-ruminant handle?

With high grain prices the new reality, it’s time to find out

By Jim Van Der Pol Kerkhoven, Minnesota — For years we have fed a little hay in winter to gestating sows by throwing a small bale in their bedding every few days. This is no big deal, especially when compared to the summer pasturing we have been doing for decades. Grain has long remained the major part of the winter gestation ration.

But with major changes afoot with fuel and grain prices, we have decided to look closely and critically at forages with an eye to building a pig production practice that will be more durable going into the future. Sows are the place to start, as their systems seem to handle forage well, and we perceive that they benefit from it. Continue reading “How much forage can a non-ruminant handle?”