Ultra High Density Grazing Cover Crops - April 19, 2024
Last spring I went to Greg Judy's (@gregjudyregenerativerancher) annual grazing school with Ian Mitchell-Innes.
They talked about the magic of ultra high density grazing and how it can totally revitalize farms within a few years. They showed two days worth of pictures, videos, and on farm examples of how this grazing method can exponentially improve soil health. I was completely sold on the value of grazing like this on perennial pasture, but over the past year I began to wonder… could ultra high density grazing have a similar impact on row crop fields?
Today, we are trying to answer that question with a grazing experiment on one of our farms. Our goal is to determine if ultra high density grazing is any more beneficial than the rotational grazing we normally do.
To be more specific we will be grazing a diverse, high biomass cover crop with a mixed herd of cows and calves. This specific herd weighs 27,500 pounds and our goal is to graze at 500,000 and 1,000,000 pounds per acre.
In a few weeks, we will plant the farm in corn. The crop will be maintained like normal throughout the summer. Then in the fall, we will harvest the corn with a yield monitor.
Best case scenario: We'll see a dark green strip where our experiment was on the yield monitor.
Worst case scenario: We'll see a strip of weeds growing this summer because the corn failed to come up.
No matter the outcome, we will soon know what a million pounds per acre looks like, and how that much herd effect changes the soil for better or worse…
00:00 Intro
00:18 Stocking rate vs stock density
01:47 Pen 1: 500,000 lbs/acre, holding pen
02:57 Pen 2: 500,000 lbs/acre, no back fence
04:19 Pen 3: 500,000 lbs/acre, with back fence
07:05 Pen 4: 1,000,000 lbs/acre, with back fence
08:35 Conclusion
Follow Up Videos:
• Comparing Grazing Meth...
#cow #grazing #soilhealth #gregjudy #cows #rotationalgrazing #covercrops #farming #corn #regenerativeagriculture
best video we've seen on the subject
Thank you so much!
Great video. The process is just so labor intensive.
Thank you! Yes, it was a lot of work. If we were going to do this long term, we’d have to have a better fence and water set up.
Yes but you will get a higher return and you will actually massively improve your soil which is critical.
It's definitely lot of work but very insightful, can't wait to start mine
That’s exciting! Let us know how it goes! I’m always looking for more info on this topic!
Great visuals on this video. Keep up the great work thanks, learning heaps.
That’s so great to hear! I really appreciate the feedback!
Great experiment!
Thank you! We are excited to see the results!
Great. Love from Iran
Can't wait to see the result!
Yes, us too! We’ll post updates along the way!
This is the best explained video on this subject . Many thanks.
I really appreciate that! Thank you!
Great job!!!
Thank you!
Fantastic explanation, you put this video together very well. Thanks
Thank you so much!
Superb video! Superb! TFS
Thank you!
Great !
Best video
KZhead loves me, Excellent recommendation, Perfect video, the experimentation, the info, the visual clips. Thanks for the upload, Subbed.
Thank you! We’re glad you enjoyed it!
After watching your video, I think your cattle are well raised. Our company produces solid-liquid separators that can convert animal manure into fertilizer for crop fertilization. If you use fertilizer for grassland maintenance, you can achieve maximum resource utilization. We hope you will carefully consider our suggestion.😄
We do this and it works! Works amazing for soil health
I would love to know more! Do you have a preferred density? And how many acres do you try to graze each year?
Need more such content, thanks
Thanks for watching! Is there anything specific you’d like to see?
@@GiffinFarms well we do exactly that but just at a much larger scale, I just like people showing that stuff like that on KZhead.
That’s awesome! Do you graze perennial pasture or crop ground?
@@GiffinFarms mostly pastures. We use Gallagher geared reels with step in posts
@@daronstahl351 very good! We like the Gallagher reels too.
Daily move or multiple moves per day. Cattle are content, a good sign.
Great job and explanation. I will be looking for some overhead views of that corn, throughout the year.
Thank you! We’re looking forward to that too! We’ll definitely keep you updated!
Love the video. Really appreciate the in depth analysis. Great mix. May i make a couple of suggestions from my experience? First, if you're just taking the top xxx inches you can start grazing much earlier (before everything matures) and move on. Second, if you widened the paddock so everyone could line up like they were at a feedbunk (likely about 2' per COW - not a yearling) then you could strip graze and the trample effect would be less AND, given the rapid moves, your forage would pretty much spring right back up within a day or so. Then it keeps growing, getting those roots down into the soil just as though you had allowed the plant to mature fully. We've also used tumblewheels to move along what really are alleys that we strip graze. We moved five times a day and it took about five minutes per move. Now, there are other technologies that can lift a wire, open gates (love bat latches), etc that can make the whole thing so much easier, Even basically automatic. Don't weaken! You're doing so great! Keep looking for solutions.
I really appreciate the suggestions and the encouragement! Pen shape was something we debated and eventually decided to keep it simple with a relatively square shape, but I would love to try the “feedbunk” style pen! Trying high densities at different maturities would be another great experiment. There’s so many things we still have to figure out. I hope we can implement these suggestions in the future! Thank you again!
Your cows look exceptional. I'm still not sure how you guys can make enough? Here on the Eastern Shore taxes are crazy.
terimakasih telah berbagi
Thank you for watching!
Great video. I have focused on pastures pigs the last couple years on cover crops as my videos suggest. I have recently been strip grazing a cover crop of clovers, rye grass, vetch, chicory, and rye. While watching them graze I considered a temporary test of several hundred thousand pounds per acre to see what happens.
Thank you! I’ve enjoyed watching your videos! I think pigs must be one of the most challenging animals to graze, but you make it look easy. I would love to see a test like that!
@@GiffinFarms sorry I did not clarify. Ive been strip grazing that with crop mentioned with steers and considered increasing the paddock size to see how differently they graze and trample the crop. I’m not sure that I have the stamina to do it with pigs. They are a bit devilish! By the way, your visuals and editing was outstanding. It really helped demonstrate what you were talking about.
@@DowdleFamilyFarms Thank you, I really appreciate that! I'd love to know your results if you decide to run your experiment!
If you have the time for it setting up the system so that you move them about 2 times a day is probably the best in terms of time invested and results you get
I totally agree! Daily moves are far more practical over the long term.
Well done. I do wonder about the long term health for cattle with so little roaming area. I would imagine Greg Judy or Joel Salatin would be able to address those concerns.
Thank you! They would definitely know! I don’t want to speak for them, but as long as the cattle are well fed, watered, and calm, I would expect them to thrive with fast rotations, even at high densities.
Yes cowgirl .... May the Lord bless you ....
Thank you! Same to you!
Awesome how-to video! Hey, I'm a SoilFoodWeb school graduate, where I learned that soaking cow feed with compost extract allows the cows to spread the beneficial microbes throughout your land. Know that properly made compost complies with food grade temperature & time requirements, whereby the bad bugs and weed seeds die off while keeping the beneficial organisms. Also, biologically complete compost will have sufficient ratios of 5 levels of biology, from bacteria and fungi at the smallest size to beneficial nematodes and arthropods at the largest microscopic size. Also, I'm a student of the Crescive Method, where we balance soil minerals using organic amendments like gypsum, oyster shell, feather meal, green sand, etc. It's based on the Ideal Soil V2 and you just do it once, then periodic monitoring to tweak the levels. Each 2 cup basic soil analysis goes for about $24 at Logan Labs. The interpretation of the report is mostly based on the Ideal Soil book. Combine these 2 methods for excellent benefits, according to my studies. My lawn does look great, that's the extent of my practice. I plan to buy a few acres soon where I will use your video tips too.
Hi .could we work together please?
@@wadmaileykeemhanjoseph8913 I'm happy to share my knowlege. But I don' t really practice it except around my house. I need to buy some land. Also, I'm short on time, so, I only do this for fun.
Yes, I understand you.l am working on a project i will let you know!
Экстрактом какого компоста нужна замачивать карма?
@@Spantamano-tg7tn Biologically complete compost that is prepared using either the thermocomposting method or the Johnson-Su method. It is considered biologically complete when it has sufficient ratios of the 5 levels of microscopic microbes. Look up Dr. Elaine’s Soil Food Web Approach or the Crescive Method for more resources.
Awesome video. Have you looked into automatic gate openers (or Batt Latches), fence lifters, tumble wheel fence movers, or virtual fencing? I think if you had these tools, you might be able to continue to use ultra high stock density grazing with a lot less work.
Thank you! We have a few tumble wheels we like to use with strip grazing. They definitely help with time and labor. I agree, batt latches would be super useful in this situation. Virtual fencing would be the dream, but I’m not sure how cost effective it is yet. If we continue grazing at ultra high densities, we’ll need to spend more time on fence and water infrastructure. I really appreciate the recommendations!
Nice video! Looking forward to following y'all's journey. Did you plant these cover crops late last summer/early fall?
Thank you! On this farm, we harvested corn on September 19 and drilled the cover crop on September 24. This was the first time we grazed this field. We have a few other videos of grazing cover in March and early April if you are interested. It grows crazy fast this time of year!
@@GiffinFarms Thank you! The field looks great and your cows are happy.
having the math broke down made the video one of the most informative i've seen. could you add a few more cattle, and increase the pasture size a bit more to make it a once a day move so its easier on the labor side of things? most of the AMP (aggressive multi paddock) grazers say 12 hour moves or 24 hour moves.
I’m glad it was helpful! You could definitely add more cattle and make the pen bigger, but high densities will always require many moves per day. For us, this only works in special circumstances. Normally, daily moves work better for us. In my experience, daily moves are still great for animal performance and soil health.
Great Video. How many moves a day did you do, or how long on each grazing cell?
This small scale experiment only included four pens, three at 500,000 lbs per acre and one at 1,000,000 lbs per acre. If we were going to graze at 500,000 pounds per acre all day, I think we would move the herd about every 45 minutes or 12-15 times during the daylight hours. Of course every field and every herd would require different timing.
#naturalgramma
Would definetly need to work on the farm full time to do this effectively right? I always thought of doing this, concentrate all the body's in 1 small area but wouldn't be able to leave them long in that area..
Yes, most likely. There are a few automatic gate openers (batt latch, pensagro, teeter farm tech) that could move the cows on a set schedule, but they are pretty expensive for a small herd. Fewer moves at a lower density may be more practical.
If that's too much work what else do you have to do that Day.
When you were doing 500,000 lbs, was each pen move duration 45min? If so how many moves a day would that be? If you wanted to move a maximum of 4 moves a day, what would that look like?
Yes, our moves were about 45 minutes at 500,000 lbs. If we were going to continue grazing this way, I think we would have 12-15 moves during the day before letting them rest at night. That being said, I think 4 moves per day would be a great place to start if the plan was to do high density grazing every day. If I want to do the math for number of moves instead of density, I would start by determining how much space the herd will need per day, divide that by 4 pens, and solve for pen size using the same equation as before. In this situation, I would start with 0.75 acres / 4 moves = 0.1875 acres x 43,560 = 8,168 sq ft / 50 ft = cross fence every 163 ft. Of course, we would be ready to adjust the pen size if the cattle seemed hungry or were having too little impact. Keep in mind, you would need to give them more room overnight, either with a larger pen on the 4th move or by pulling your back fences and giving them the whole day’s worth of pens to rest in. In our situation, 4 moves would achieve a density of nearly 150,000 pounds per acre, which is still awesome. Thank you for the questions! If you try it, we would love to hear how it goes!
One thing that you could do to cut down on some of the labor is to not worry about a back fence. I practice managed grazing from May until the first of December or so. It’s been my experience that the as long as the cattle are getting fresh grass on the regular, they don’t worry about grazing the trampled soiled grass until the new growth starts. Usually about 3-5 days after grazing. Great video!
@@jamesobryan3258 Thank you! That is a great point! I agree, no back fence would save some time.
Look up Rick Clark for how he handles his 5k acres selling grain to the granola companies with no inputs no till. I have been copying his farming style at my place. You plant your corn/beans with a no-till planter direct into the standing rye. When the corn/beans emerge and before V1 you then roller crimp (or if you only have an old cultipacker then go "down and back" as that two-pass method will flatten the rye as good as a crimper), the corn/beans stand back up and with mulch below them and a long head start on weeds they shade out weeds the rest of the season, then you roll in with the harvester in the fall.
Rick Clark has some really cool stuff going on! Thanks for the information!
How did u get electric fencing through there. The grass is that tall it would short out?
That is a great question! The cover crop does weaken the current and completely short it out at times, but as long as it has some current most of the time and we keep the herd well fed, they respect the wire. In fact, our fence wasn’t turned on at all that day.
What is the mix of the cover crop please
Triticale 20 lbs Cereal Rye 20 lbs Black Oats 15 lbs Austrian Winter Peas 15 lbs Crimson Clover 8 lbs Hairy Vetch 4 lbs Balansa Clover 2 lbs Rapeseed 1 lb Purple Top Turnip 1 lb
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Hello dear .how are you.? I am Naeem from Pakistan .please inform Me about road grass.
This is jersey cow?
Our cows are mostly black and red angus, plus a few with charolais influence.
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What do you do at night
I don’t have any first hand experience with multiple days of grazing like this, but Ian Mitchell Inness suggested giving them a “whole days worth” of area to spend the night in. You could pull up your back fences in the evening (or don’t use back fences at all) to give them access to the whole pen. He also mentioned penning them in a specific area that needs a lot of help because they will add a lot of fertility with all the overnight trample, urine, and manure.
Beasts looking healthy n fat tats all matters 😊😊
So just ran across this. It is hard to figure out. What exactly you are trying to make a difference in? If it is soil microbes. You would need a baseline. Then sequential testing. From the video the cover crop looks fine. But did you measure it? This is my thing about rotational grazing. And its claims of the grass recovers quicker or is more organic matter. If I cut the grass on my lawn. It is bahai grass. That stuff comes right the hell back. Comes back so high. I have to cut it every two weeks. As far as organic matter. That also would have to be done in sequential order. As it will vary. Say before or after a rain. This is the first video I watched. It is well done. Especially with the graphics. But seriously grass in season. Comes back pretty fast after it is cut. So many variables in this stuff. It is easy to get caught up with antidotal evidence. And believe correlation is causation.
I really appreciate your feedback and I agree with everything you said! I would like to add a few points to consider. First, grazing is differently than mowing because animals eat their favorite plants first and leave the undesirable plants. if there is no rotation, the best plants are eaten over and over until they eventually die and you’ll be left with only undesirable plants. If animals grazed like a lawnmower, taking every plant to the same height, rotations and rest period wouldn’t be so important. And excellent point about all the variables! Honestly, those variables make it impossible to do a perfect on-farm experiment. But I hope an imperfect experiment is better than no experiment at all, as long as the goal is just to better understand our environment and our goals. Specifically we would like identify which type of grazing is best for increasing soil respiration rate and organic matter on row crop ground, and decreasing the risk of nitrogen tie up for the next crop. We are measuring these things with cover crop and soil samples (taken this week) so we can compare each type of grazing. We have soil tests from last year, but I agree there are too many variables for year to year comparisons to be super useful. We’ll be sharing our most recent test results soon! Thank you again for the feedback!
@@GiffinFarms Well it wasn't clear what your goal was. It looked like a planted field of cover crop. Which the animals would eat all varieties of. But I was begging to think you where using the cattle for trampling the grass instead of crimping it. Then come back later and plant into it. It just wasn't clear what your goals where. The soil samples I'm sure are nothing new to you. But is microbiap activity one of your goals to measure? Your ground already looks healthy. Do you know otherwise? Still thought it was worth watching. And went ahead and subscribed. To see what you do next. We all are learning from each other. Cheers!!
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