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By Tamara Scully, Progressive Forage Grower
Contract grazing might be the norm in the western U.S. But in the Northeast, it is an innovative, fledgling concept. While there are contract-grazing operations, some of which have been operating for decades, this business model is not commonplace in the region, and those entering into contracts to graze livestock are often on their own to fail or succeed without much input or guidance.
Burgeoning support for the contract-grazing industry in the Northeast has come from what may be a surprising source: the craft butchery, farm-direct, grass-fed beef purveyor. With much of the nation’s population and a good portion of its wealth centered in urban areas along the Eastern seaboard, local meat is big business. Consumers want to know where their meat was raised, how it was raised, and they want it to be from local, small farm producers who raise the meat on pasture.
As an example, Ryan Fibiger, head butcher and chief executive officer of Fleisher’s Craft Butchery, brings local farm-to-table meat to the East Coast consumer. He’s looking for consistency of product, quantity and tenderness, and says, “If we had more product, we could sell it. We can’t find enough product to sell. Fleisher’s Craft Butchery is looking to purchase livestock to be contract grazed on small farms where “honesty and transparency” in the food chain are a given value.
Similarly, Meg Grzeskiewicz is the custom grazing coordinator for Chaljeri Meats, a grass-fed meat producer and purveyor. In this role, she is responsible for finding graziers to raise livestock for the company. She seeks out graziers both for cow-calf pairs and for stockers. They are moving toward year-round production for both groups, she says, and looking at innovative feeds such as fodder for winter feeding. They are looking for graziers who understand the pasture ecosystem and soil ecology, and know how to utilize livestock to improve soils while using pasture forages to add gain to their cattle.
Read more about this concept at Progressive Forage.
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When plants are overgrazed, they are constantly required to draw from carbohydrate reserves to produce new growth. Once the reserves are depleted, the plant dies. This is why it is important to know when to destock to avoid overgrazing.
Dr. J. Alfonso Ortega, with the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, Texas A&M University – Kingsville, says, “The three most important variables to monitor in range management are rainfall or moisture, quantity and quality of the standing forage crop, and animal body condition scores.
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Monitoring these variables and establishing triggers for each of them will help to be proactive when making management decisions rather than reactive.”
In a recent article forProgressive Forage Grower, Robert Fears exams these three “triggers for destocking pastures” in depth. Read more: Triggers for Destocking Pastures.
For additional information on grazing management to ensure soil health and plant health, read: Producers Optimize Soil Health for Grazing Land Success.
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By Kindra Gordon
As fall approaches, it’s time to consider your fall and winter feeding program. Gary and Amy Cammack have operated Cammack Ranch Supply near Union Center, S.D. for 35-years – so they are well-versed in knowing what equipment adds value to a ranch operation. The couple also runs a large, commercial cowherd and have incorporated many of their favorite equipment tools into their own operation.
What are the items they wouldn’t want to ranch without? Topping the list is a bale processor. Gary explains that it cuts the hay in the bale shorter, so that cows will consume it better. He estimates it improves utilization of the bale by about 15%. And, there are less long stems on the ground, which Cammack has sometimes seen kill out grass if too much waste is left. It can also be a beneficial tool for conservation. On winter days with no wind, Cammack especially likes to use a bale processor to feed on ridge tops or areas with poor soils. This helps concentrate cow manure and plant litter from the bale in those areas to help build soil organic matter.
The Cammacks will also use the bale processor to feed over the top of a cow trail. Cammack explains, “Our home place is sandy soil, so when a cow trail develops and we process a bale over the top of it, the manure and bale nutrients get grass growing back in that area.”
Read more about the Cammack’s ranch tactics, including V-windbreaks, at the Angus Beef Bulletin.
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In ranching, like any business, achieving success, or something less, hinges on the choices you make.
According to Nebraska rancher Homer Buell, it depends on how you choose to use ranch resources. Buell explains how he and his brother came to share management of Shovel Dot Ranch and grow the north-central Nebraska operation originally established by their great-grandfather. He says they chose to utilize their most abundant resource, Sandhills rangeland, to produce home-raised yearlings and market them through a well-established local auction market. While their feeder cattle typically are sold during late summer, Buell explained how the yearling enterprise lends marketing flexibility.
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When forage supplies are limited by drought, choosing to market calves reduced forage demand and allowed cow herd numbers to remain relatively constant. “Grass is our biggest resource, and we have to manage it well,” states Buell. “To do a better job we used grazing management software. It was a good move for us.”
Learn more about their ranch efforts here.
Additionally, George Haynes and Dick Wittman have some sage advice, thoughts and experiences on succession planning for farm and ranch families. Ninety percent of family businesses fail to pass to the third generation, reports Wittman. With that sobering fact, he asked, “Is that destiny or a choice? “You get to choose,” he says, encouraging those in family businesses to be proactive in working with family to establish a succession plan for the next generation. Involved in a family operation in Idaho, Wittman, who also works as a succession planning and business consultant, shared that his family is preparing for its 10th transition since 1980 to bring family members into the operation.
Wittman emphasizes that communication among family members is integral to the succession planning process. To read more about that process: Generational Transfer
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