Recent content by KevinN

Thanks, that's helpful

I have a small farm and can't afford to injure my pastures by over grazing. Here in central NJ we go into such bad drought conditions in the summer that I have to take the animals off pasture or they will eat them down to earth and the forage can become severely damaged. I usually take them off...

Yes I did that 2 years ago...but I should do it again

I'm in NJ and I have a ridge that has very poor soil. We have a lot of shale. It's on a gentle hillside so there is never any standing water. I have a drill that works well in that area. This is in a larger paddock of orchard grass and tall fescue, none of which wants to grow on that site. I'm...

Thank you. I thought it might be too good to be possible!

Hi Folks, Kevin from New Jersey, long time lurker and for that I thank you for your insights. I have a small farm 15 ac, and I have about 15 hair sheep and 3 cows. I have them in a sacrifice area during the winter where I bale feed in a cheap ring which I move to deposit the organics. Different...

Take a look at the concept of Silvopasture...it's interesting and I'm just exploring the idea.

I've been toying with adding some trees to my pastures. For forage, pasture health, shade and protection. The species most commonly used are black locust, chestnut, mulberry, filbert, forage apple and a few others I can't recall. Any idea if this would affect the flavor of a grass finished...

I have this one for several years and it's bullet-proof. Low center of gravity, good for hills. https://www.scag.com/patriot.html

Well I got a really nice Murray Gray from Hays at Backbone Ranch about 2 weeks ago..Thanks Hays! She is due to calve in March. I have her in a 50 x 50 barnyard and stall. I would like to get her calm before she calves. She will come to a bucket of corn for a few licks now if I crouch down...

I had similar problem with a GFI outside a little exposed to weather. Changed to a GFI circuit breaker in the panel and problem solved...might be a fix for you.

I'm in NJ....a sanctuary state with the highest cost of living, number 2 state with people leaving, a democratic gov named phony Phil Murphy and a pasture full of shale....don't ask.

I have been told it's a bad mistake to let livestock graze pasture too close before it goes dormant. So...I try to leave it 3-4 inches at the end of the grazing season before dormancy and put my stock in a wintering area. Unfortunately, the wintering area becomes a muddy mess and I don't think...

I've been reading about the pros and cons of harrowing to break up clods of manure and spread around the pasture. Some say that cows don't enjoy the smell of manure and will not preferentially eat the bright green grass around manure. They also say that it spreads pest larvae around the pasture...

I was wondering if anyone has experience with hay nets on big round bales. I see them used a lot for horses, but some of the suppliers say they are good for cows also to limit hay waste. There are different size holes in the nets...I was thinking 2 or 3 inch for cows. Kevin