Focusing on quality food — and life

Seasonality important to Jako Farm

By Martha Hoffman Kerestes

Hutchinson, Kansas — Quality of life is a major focus for the King family as they direct market a variety of grassfed meat and dairy products in central Kansas.

“The farm is here to work for us and not us for the farm,” explains Daniel King, who manages Jako Farm with his wife, Robyn. They took over the business from Daniel’s parents Ken and Judy in 2015.

To that end, Daniel and Robyn implement an array of time- and labor-saving measures started by his parents that include a seasonal milking schedule and once-a-day milking, nurse cows, frozen milk and more.

February 7, 2022July 12, 2022

Dealing with wet climate health issues

Steps to consider when damp weather is causing problems

By Janet McNally

If you live in a damp climate, or even if you mainly deal with the seasonally heavy rain, you probably already know that wet weather can be a significant barrier to raising sheep on pasture.

Here are some common challenges, and how to cope with them.

Lambing

Cold, wet weather can be a significant killer of newborn lambs. How deadly an all-day rain is depends on the temperature and wind speed.

August 1, 2021October 19, 2021

Why you should avoid grazing coarse stems

Neither animals nor soils will benefit from the practice

By Janet McNally

Recently I heard a fellow grazier advocating that we should be grazing the stems of pasture forages.

His reasoning is that with the leaves gone, the stems pull energy from the roots. With no photosynthesis from the leaves, the plant cannot replace that energy. So the plant is better off with the stems gone. He admitted he was in the minority with that opinion.

May 1, 2020July 21, 2020

Managing the rank growth of summer

By Janet McNally
Hinckley, Minnesota—Years ago I was interested in trying mob-stock grazing that uses higher stocking densities and daily moves.

What held me back was knowing that at some point in early June we would face a tremendous amount of rank growth going to seed and no longer nutritious.

My approach at the time was to have sheep covering every acre in late-May/early-June, biting each plant in an effort to control growth and seedheads. Continue reading “Managing the rank growth of summer”

December 1, 2019July 12, 2022

Finishing lambs when the rain won’t stop

By Janet McNally

Hinckley, Minnesota—Much of the Midwest received an extraordinary amount of rainfall this fall. In Minnesota, meteorologist Paul Douglass reported that most of the state had 10 to 20 inches more precipitation than normal in 2019 through October 25, making this the sixth wettest year on record. Other states also saw huge volumes of rain this year.

While the sheep in these places were knee deep in beautiful green grass, some of you might have noticed the lambs were in very lean condition and not attaining the finish required for slaughter.

October 1, 2015April 18, 2020

The biggest pitfalls to producing grassfed lamb

By Janet McNally

Hinckley, Minnesota — There is no denying that producing a grassfed lamb requires skill and know-how. Grazing is about replacing purchased inputs with knowledge inputs. Unlike grains and stored forages that can be tested and formulated into a ration with a predictable result, green and growing forages are constantly changing.

Therefore it is impossible to offer a cookbook for producing grassfed lambs and expect everyone, everywhere, to achieve the same result. A lot of education is required. Most importantly, the grazier needs to train his or her eye to observe forages and animals so they know when to make changes. This will not happen without just jumping in and getting some experience — hopefully first in the pastures of a mentor, then later in your own pastures. Continue reading “The biggest pitfalls to producing grassfed lamb”