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The Grazing Grass Podcast features insights and stories of regenerative farming, specifically emphasizing grass-based livestock management. Our mission is to foster a community where grass farmers can share knowledge and experiences with one another. We delve into their transition to these practices, explore the ins and outs of their operations, and then move into the "Over Grazing" segment, which addresses specific challenges and learning opportunities. The episode rounds off with the "Famous Four" questions, designed to extract valuable wisdom and advice. Join us to gain practical tips and inspiration from the pioneers of regenerative grass farming.
This is the podcast for you if you are trying to answer: What are regenerative farm practices? How to be grassfed? How do I graze other species of livestock? What's are ways to improve pasture and lower costs? What to sell direct to the consumer?
Track 1: Welcome to the Grazing
Grass Podcast Episode 92.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
I think there's room at
the table for everybody.
And I think that everybody can learn
something from every type of farmer,
Cal: You're listening to the Grazing Grass
Podcast, helping grass farmers learn from
grass farmers, and every episode features
a grass farmer and their operation.
I'm your host, Cal Hardage.
Track 1: On today's show we have
Angela Boenisch of Highview Pastures.
On today's show we talk about her
journey into goats, meat goats,
and rabbits, and layers in cattle.
She's doing a lot there and exciting
and find out what she's doing.
For the overgrazing section, we talk
about summer slump bale grazing.
I know we've talked a lot about bale
grazing, but I don't think we've talked
much about summer slump bale grazing.
So it's an excellent episode.
Stay tuned.
You don't want to miss it.
Before we get to Angela,
10 seconds about my farm.
And we're going to follow the pattern from
last week a little bit about the podcast.
If you support the podcast
by listening, we thank you.
Obviously you're listening or
you wouldn't have heard that.
Thank you.
Also, you can support
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Sharing our episodes on your social
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We appreciate the word of mouth.
Also, we have our merch that
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Not too much there, but a little bit.
And you can support us through Patreon.
And through Patreon, it's
a monthly contribution.
It's not very much, but it does
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And by being a member of the
Patreon, there's some added benefits.
If you go to the Grazing Grass website
and click on support, that's grazinggrass.
com, click on support, you can go to
our Patreon and see what we have there.
Also, I took a segment out of today's
episode because we ran a little bit long
and we got off on some meat rabbits.
And while that is not as grazing
grass related as I'd like for it
to be, so I took that segment out
and I pushed that over to Patreon.
Enough of that, let's talk to Angela.
Angela, we want to welcome you
to the Grazing Grass Podcast.
We're excited you're here today.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
Yeah, thanks.
I'm excited to be here.
Cal: Angela, to get started, can
you tell us a little bit about
yourself and your operation?
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937: Sure.
We've been at our place now for almost
four years, three and a half years.
And we've been growing the operation.
We're fairly small.
We have like 40 breeding does,
mainly Boer goats, some savannas.
Track 1: yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937: we,
I just brought a bunch of cattle to the
processors, so we're down to 12 head.
Um, and then we also raise meat
rabbits, and I have a vegetable,
CSA, um, and laying hens.
So just a little bit of everything,
but certainly the goats are the
centerpiece of the operation.
Um, and then we do also sell vegetable
seedlings every spring or well
Track 1: Oh yes.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
Um, we sell vegetable seedlings
and then also like compost and
garden amendments that way.
Track 1: Oh, very nice.
Now, you said you three and a half
years that they're doing this.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
Yeah, so we, um, at our old place, we
just run an acre and a half and we, I
grew up in dairy and a hog operation.
My husband lived in the country.
They had some lang hens,
horses, that kind of stuff.
Um, and then we actually both worked
on dairy farms in high school.
And then we, after we graduated and
we had a baby, and we were just like
working, you know, 12 to 14 hour
days, 12 days in a row with two days
off is not okay for being a mom.
Track 1: Oh, yes.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
So we both went away from the farm.
You know, he, he worked there for a
little while longer, but then we both
went to college and, you know, had kids
during college and did that whole thing.
And, um, but once our kids got
older, we felt bad that we give
them that agriculture experience.
Um, my parents were still farming
initially when my kids were
younger, so they could go over
there and, and, you know, milk cows.
They weren't really old enough at
that point, but they could see, they
could be around it and they would feed
calves and do all that.
Um, but the highway went through their
farm, so they had to sell their livestock.
And, um, I just, we always felt like
we, you know, someday we'd want to, but
by the time we can afford to actually
do, you know, move to a place where
we could do some farming, just hobby
farming, that was always the goal.
Um, you know, we, our kids
were gonna be too old.
And so my son actually begged and
begged and begged for a rabbit.
And that's how we got started.
Um,
Track 1: So, so the rabbits
were the gateway animal.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
was the gateway.
Yes.
And actually I did not want rabbits.
They freaked me out.
I thought they were so gross.
And, you know, growing up
with cattle, I just thought.
I was so freaked out by animals
with pelleted manure that I, I
just was like, that is not okay.
Track 1: It's not normal,
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
not normal.
I'm used to like cow manure.
So
I, I was just like, I
did not like rabbits.
I did not want 'em.
So I finally said, sure you
can get rabbits if we raise
them for meat and eat them.
And I thought he'd be horrified.
And he goes, cool.
Okay.
And he was eight years old at the
time and we had started homeschooling.
So I made him do research and put together
a business plan and he actually started
selling rabbits, um, to restaurants.
And
back when Craigslist was like
useful, before it was all scammers,
he would like put
ads on Craigslist.
And, um, he actually sold quite a few and
we started showing 'em, and not, not a
lot, but county fair and we went to a few
local Arba shows and, um, and
I believe it was then that.
Uh, following fall,
then we got laying hens.
'cause uh, we thought,
well, I said, well, why not?
You know?
I mean, now we got, now we've
got farm animals, you know.
Track 1: Oh, right.
Yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
um, and then it must have been in
2016, 15, somewhere around there.
I can't quite remember.
We got our first goats.
I really wanted, I had had
some health problems and, and had
really, um, done a deep dive into,
you know, eating clean and cutting
out all processed foods and, you know,
found out what some of my issues were.
And so we were really trying
to clean up our diet and
Track 1: Oh yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
kind of getting some milk
from a friend under the table.
Some raw milk and, um.
I really wanted, oh, well, at one point
they were out of cow's milk and she's
like, well, I got a quart of goat milk.
And I was like, well, that
sounds awful, but I'll try it.
I thought, if nothing else, we'll
use it in something, you know, to
Track 1: Oh yes.
Yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
we loved it.
It was better.
We expected it to taste Goldie,
and it didn't, and it tasted
better than the cow's milk.
We enjoyed it more.
Um, so then I started talking about
wanting to get goats and, uh, to
which my husband was adamantly
opposed and like very opposed.
He, he still wanted to have
kind of a nice looking yard.
And I was like, let's
turn every corner.
Let's turn every corner of this
place into housing livestock.
And he was like, Hmm, not so much.
So, um, once we convinced
him that we, you know.
To get go.
It's like, then it was just, you
know, all downhill from there.
Then we started
looking for land and the goats
for, for many years were just, were
were really just for meat for us.
And then I would
milk 'em after I wean the
kids for a little while.
Um, and, and that was it because we've
always had meat goats, um, instead of
dairy goats, but, which is nice 'cause you
don't have to milk them if you're gone.
You don't have to come home at
10 30 and milk a goat yet 'cause
they're fine if you don't.
So, um, but yeah, that's kind of how we
started with the rabbits and chickens.
And then once we, oh, and then
I started doing a very small CSA
at our old place and then it was
finally like, let's get outta here.
I'm done with this acre and a half.
We started looking for land and uh, this
farm run now is 25 acres, but actually is.
Way more than we were
initially looking for.
Um, and, and, the plan was actually
really just to do a CSA and still have
livestock just for home consumption.
Track 1: Oh yeah,
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
do a steer two every year.
And, and we love goat meat, so we
always would have goats to butcher.
And, um, and the rabbits,
we eat a lot of rabbit meat.
Um, and then I was like hoping to
build more of a CSA and, uh, we.
I actually did not want this property.
And my husband fell in
love with it and it was way
out of our budget.
So I was like, fine, let's make an offer.
They're not gonna take it.
Well, they took it.
Track 1: And there you are.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
we lowballed 'em and they took it.
So here we are.
Track 1: Well, at least
you low-balled him.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937: Yes.
So we stayed within our budget,
Track 1: Oh, well, good.
Good.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
because we, we offered 'em what our budget
could handle, not expecting to get it.
So that completely changed our plan.
'cause I was like, well, I can't manage
25 acres with just a market garden, so
now, now we're gonna have to increase the
goat herd and, you know, get some cattle.
And, and really that's how it was born.
It was, it was.
Kind of out of necessity
to manage the land.
Um, and that kind of led me into what
do we do with this piece of land that is
in such poor condition, extremely poor
condition.
They had, I think the last time they,
'cause it was rented out as farmland.
Um,
Track 1: Oh,
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937: to
us purchasing it, the neighbor rented it
and I think they must have harvested, uh,
corn in the pouring rain because it was
just rutted.
Oh, it was, you couldn't
drive anything over it.
It was just awful.
So it was like, how on
earth am I going to,
Track 1: oh yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937: land?
And that's where, that's kind of what
started us with increasing the livestock.
Track 1: Oh yes.
Yeah.
And at that time, were you, um,
familiar with regente practices?
Was that something you kind of
dove into as you got into it?
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
so no, like regenerative is not a word
that I was in any way familiar with.
Um, I, I knew that I'm kind
of a minimalist, right?
So I, I knew I
wasn't gonna raise things, quote
unquote, conventionally, right?
And I already had the, I, I grew up
in conventional dairy, and I, I do not
think they're the boogeyman, right?
I mean, I,
Track 1: Right, right.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937: how
everything works, but I thought, well,
you know, with just a handful, like, I
wanna, I wanna raise things differently.
I, if I have all this land, I
want to utilize it as pasture.
Right?
That only makes
Track 1: Oh yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
So we, I mean, we really
went back and forth and.
Like the first thing was just, we
don't even know how to fix this land.
It is just, nothing grows except weeds.
And it was just like, how do we
even smooth it out and keep it
from like, I, how do we work it
to get it, you know, like fix it.
I knew I didn't wanna spray
the whole thing with Roundup
Track 1: Oh
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
I didn't wanna moldboard plow,
so I started like reaching out to
Extension and um, I had just found
working Cows podcast actually, and I
Track 1: Oh, yes.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
to Clay Connery and said like,
do you have any suggestions?
And he actually forwarded me to a
consultant who was very, very nice and
did a consultation with me over the phone.
Um, and that, that conversation left
me with more questions than answers
Track 1: Oh yes.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
because he just threw so much
at me and I just was not in that
like regenerative mindset yet.
So I.
Track 1: Oh yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
I just had so many things to
research, but he said, start
YouTubing Gabe Brown, like Jim
Garish.
He gave me all these names that I'd
never heard of and it was, it was
starting, I think Gabe Brown, he's
very easy to listen to and he's
Track 1: Oh yes.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
You know, just throws a lot at
you, but very understandable.
And those, I stayed up watching YouTube
videos till like one or two in the
morning for like three weeks straight
and I fall asleep in the recliner and
my husband's like, are you staying
down here sleeping with Gabe tonight?
Or are you coming up to
Track 1: Oh
yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937: it
it, you just go down this rabbit hole
Track 1: Oh yes.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937: an
obsession and like my house is a pigsty.
'cause all I did was watch
YouTube videos for a couple
Track 1: Oh yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937: it
gets your mind turning and you can't stop
thinking about, well, well we could do
this or we could do that, or, you know.
So
Track 1: Oh yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
that was my turning point, was
finding those YouTube videos and.
We didn't do everything
right, that's for sure.
Track 1: Oh yeah.
Yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
that, that is where kind of that
regenerative mindset came from.
I got zero help from Extension,
or even I had, well, and after
I found those Gabe Brown videos,
I thought I'll reach it to NRCS.
Well, his suggestion was to,
uh, probably spray it all with
Roundup and dis it to start
fresh.
And I was like, I feel like I
said in my last email, that was
specifically what I didn't wanna do.
So
Track 1: oh,
right.
Yes.
Yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
so, um, the consultant that I had
talked to, really, I mean, his
whole thing was like, it's not gonna
be good in the beginning thing.
It's not gonna be good in the
beginning, but the best thing you
can do is just get livestock on it.
'cause they will heal
it, you know, try to get
roots in the ground, try
to get grass to grow.
Your cows will eat weeds like.
Use 'em.
And
Track 1: Oh yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
that's all they ate for
the first two years.
Track 1: Oh, yes.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
and lots of weeds, but now they're not
that picky because they enjoy the weeds.
Track 1: Yeah, and they've trained
all their offspring to eat that.
So you're just building
or reinforcing that cycle to eat those?
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
I definitely see all the
calves are far less picky than
Track 1: Oh yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
princesses as I call
them, the, the older ones.
Track 1: Oh yes.
So on your cattle, what kind
of cattle did you go with?
Because you've listened to the podcast?
I'm always interested in what breed.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
They're a hodgepodge of
Track 1: Oh yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
I could get.
So my first two steers, we actually.
Bought them, uh, as calves at,
but at our old house, knowing we
would be moving here that summer.
So
Track 1: Oh yes.
Yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
My son milk cows on the farm next
door and they do beef on dairy.
So those
Track 1: Oh yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
crosses and
Track 1: Oh, I
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
they were fantastic.
They, they were, they actually,
they grew really, really well.
They had a great rate of gain.
Um, I processed them
at 18 or 19 months old.
Now, since they were bottle calves,
they were on a grain starter
Track 1: Oh yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
probably seven or
probably eight months old.
Um, but after that they
were weeded, weed fed,
Track 1: Oh yes.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
you know, weeds and hay.
That's all they had.
Um, they, they both hung at
like 750 pounds hanging weights
Track 1: Oh yes.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937: 19
months, and I was pretty impressed with
that for a Holstein Angus cross, uh,
Track 1: Oh, yeah,
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
very limited, uh, good grass to eat.
So, but yeah.
Um, I've got an old Angus cow
that I bought from somebody.
I've got two, they're black.
Who knows?
Track 1: Oh
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
a little, a little Maine angio in 'em.
Maybe some Semial.
There's probably some Angus
in 'em, we don't know.
Um, I experimented with, I have
one heifer that I retained.
Um, she was from one of those mutt cows,
um, and she is half, um, red Devon.
So she's real, real short and stocky.
So these cows I have are quite
large, so I am breeding them
with much smaller this year.
I had a bunch of low lines born.
Track 1: Oh yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
So I'm trying to decrease that and then
I'll save back the heifers that I like.
Um, and probably, well,
one, one cow for sure.
I'm selling because, um,
she's a kicker and I am
sick of getting kicked,
Track 1: yes.
Yeah,
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
she eats too much hay and she kicks.
That's a bad combination.
Track 1: yeah.
That's two strikes.
You're out.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937: Yeah.
But I am really liking how these
low lines are looking so far.
Um, I mean, they're only a couple, you
know, I had I had some born in May or
June and then some born in late summer.
Um, and so far they, they actually are
larger than I was expecting, so I don't
Track 1: Oh yes.
Oh, very good.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
how much that low line is gonna
bring down the size, um, or
not, but, we'll, we'll see.
They're in the running for retaining,
so,
Track 1: Oh yeah.
Well, very good.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
get whatever I can
access.
Track 1: Yeah, that's, we did that for
many years and my dad has limousine cross
that we're, we've been breeding to some
smaller breeds to bring down size, whereas
for my herd, I'm working with much smaller
cattle and he's still not quite there.
But most anything you bring in is gonna be
that larger frame 'cause everybody else is
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
Because that's what everybody has.
Track 1: yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
Also have to go with personality.
I don't have a shoot, I
have headlocks, but if I need
Track 1: oh, yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
is a lot easier to treat a, you
know, treat a friendly cow who
is not gonna be crazy on you.
Or, you know, if I could, if
they're having trouble and they need
assistance calving to just do it in
the pasture, because you can walk
up to 'em and they trust
you, it's so much easier than
bringing 'em up from the back 40.
When you're home alone, you know, it just,
so I, I really do, although that sounds
very hobby farmer ish, um, I really do
value their temperament and I really am
going to, you know, be more selective in
only keeping back the, the very friendly
ones, which sometimes is annoying too,
because they're almost too friendly
and they plow you right over, you know.
Track 1: oh, yes.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
it, for me, it makes my life easier.
I am home alone a lot, and if I can just
deal with them in the pasture and not
have to worry about trying to get 'em up
and walk 'em across, you know, multiple
pastures, it's so much easier for me.
So I care less about the breed.
I'm trying to get the size down,
but I care more about their
temperament and their personality.
Track 1: I think that's so important.
And I think I've mentioned this on the
podcast before, but there was a few
reasons we went away from limousine
and we have really docile limousines
compared to others that I see because we
selected bulls for that for a long time,
but probably, I don't know,
it's probably 12 years ago now.
Time flies.
Uh, dad was loading out steers
that were eight, 900 pounds and he
was doing it while he was at work.
And when they get that big, they just got
crazy and he loads the trailer and they
hit the front of that trailer and turned
around and he couldn't get the door close
quick enough, and it knocked him down.
But he had a hold of the
door, so he pulled out of
the, pulled him outta the way.
I don't know how he didn't get hurt.
I mean, other than a few
bruises and his ego, uh, nothing
stepped on him or anything.
and and really that coupled with
a couple other things, but that
was really the, the moment where
like, we've got to do something
different here and we really focus.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
yourself.
Track 1: It's not, it's
not, I can't get hurt.
Um, dad doesn't need to be getting hurt.
And, so we started really focusing on
disposition then, and coupled with some
other things, we looked at some other
breeds, but, um, cattle are super calm.
We have not, not to pick on limousine
because I like limousine, but my
grand, my grandpa has limousine
and my uncle's helping him.
They loaded a couple calves and
we've got corral system, corral
system that it, we've got scales.
So they unloaded them here
and he had a steer get out of
our corral system, which is
built, I think, super nice.
In fact, we went back in, added
a bar so it doesn't happen again.
I.
But I'm like, why my grandpa's 97?
Why is he messing with
cattle that are crazy?
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
right.
Track 1: And, and I know when I
say that, not all limousine are,
but my grandpa's limousines are.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
They were, yeah.
Track 1: Yeah.
It's like, whoa.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937: Yeah.
And I, I worry, I probably don't worry
enough about it, and maybe I'm not
as careful as I should be sometimes.
My, I am, however, uh, accident prone,
Track 1: Oh
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
my husband worries about me a lot, so.
It really bothers him knowing, you
know, he was gone one day and I
needed to, to breed this one cow.
And he's like, you are not
breeding her while I'm not here.
She is insane.
Like, there's no way,
you know, she'll kick you.
And she did.
Um,
Track 1: Oh yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
I don't know why I didn't have the
nose leader on her in the first place,
Track 1: Oh
yes.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
but you know, he, he, he does not like
that I, you know, breed cows when he
is not around, but it's like, well, I
can't necessarily wait till you're home.
So,
you know, it, it, it, having those docile
ones just makes such a big difference
and it gives him peace of mind knowing
that I'm not laying there somewhere.
Track 1: Oh yeah.
Yeah.
I, I think that ought be a top,
um, criteria for most people.
Um, you know, now with your cattle,
you got those, you, you had to land
that really needed some repair.
Did it have infrastructure for
you or do you have to go in and
do some infrastructure work?
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
Uh, yeah, the, it was nothing.
We had, uh, we couldn't even like, get
onto the property because there was
this big kind of like tree line with
a steep decline or down to the road.
Um, so we had to, you know,
clear that out, make a driveway.
I mean, it
was, it was just a field.
Our land is, we have like four, three
or four-ish acres of woods, and the
rest was just all open tillable land.
Track 1: Oh yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
we, well, and when I say we, my
husband and my son, and the help
of a few family members who.
Were wonderful and sacrificed to help
us built our own house and the barn.
Um, my husband is a very talented,
um, in construction, so he did pretty
much everything, um, himself, and
I just like, when I want something,
I draw a picture of it and he just
Track 1: Oh, that, that
makes it really nice for you.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
yeah, I want a barn this size.
And he says, okay.
I'm very spoiled.
I I bring him notebook,
uh, pages with pictures
on them and say, I was thinking
you could build this for me.
And he
makes it happen.
So he does a really great job.
Track 1: Well, excellent.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937: So
we do have a a barn and it is not big
enough really, it, as we increase, we're
gonna need more hay storage and more
pen space for livestock for in winter.
So we do have plans to expand, but we
are not quite sure where we're going
yet with the expansion in terms of
numbers.
So we're gonna, we're
gonna work into that.
But he needs his shop first
so he can have his own place.
'cause right now we're constantly
moving his stuff 'cause it's
in the way of hay or whatever.
And so we move stuff around a lot.
It's like the Tetris game, you know?
Track 1: Oh, yes.
Yeah.
One thing I don't think we talked about
quite yet, um, where are you located?
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
uh, we're Cascade Wisconsin, so we're
like north of Milwaukee, like 45
Track 1: Oh, yeah.
So
you all have a real winner to work
with as opposed to what I have.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
I mean, we should have a real
winter, but this is our, I mean.
2019 was a normal winter and I think, or,
or 19 into 20 was like a normal winter.
And every winter since that, since we've
lived here, has been very warm, very
Track 1: Oh, yes.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937: very
moist, very little snow, lots of mud.
I am not used to that.
I mean, the ground is not frozen here yet.
That should happen by, you know,
the second week of December.
We shouldn't be dealing with mud.
We have a little snow on top of mud right
now, and it's been very difficult to deal
with this because you, you kind of plan
like, good, as soon as the ground freezes,
they'll kick 'em back out on pasture.
They can roam around and they'll,
you know, there's a little green
grass under there and they'll,
um, you know, they'll pick through it.
It's not, I would say not
nutritionally significant, but
they're pooping on the pasture.
That's one less thing I have to clean.
It's one less,
Track 1: Oh yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
clean out there.
It keeps them nice and clean.
But right now I can't let 'em out there.
I don't have a big enough land
base to, to let them all out.
They would just destroy it,
it would just be all mud.
Track 1: Maybe you'll get there.
Now with the, the goats, are you
on the goats in the same pastures,
paddocks with your cattle, or
do you manage them separately?
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937: Both.
Uh, so the goats, I start
them in the pasture.
'cause I usually have a kiting
group right around that time.
And it's
just so much easier if they can
access the barn because if I,
if I need to feed, you know.
If it rains.
'cause we haven't had rain
since we lived here yet either.
Um, but typically in May, you know,
the grass can be a little washy.
Um, then I can
feed some hay in the barn for dry
matter and they can bring their kids
back to the barn or the kids will
stay in the barn and they can go out
and graze and they just come back
and forth and then the water's right
there and it's just super easy for me.
Track 1: Oh yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937: I
start them in the pasture and they, I
let them be a little more selective, but
they pretty evenly just take the tops
off of everything and then I can run the
cattle through there like 10 days later.
Um, 'cause the goats just
eat the tops off everything.
And you can't, you can't even
tell they've been in there.
Track 1: Oh yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
you know, it's back to where it was.
And then I run the cattle through, and
that's part of my parasite management too,
because
Track 1: Oh yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
of those eggs have hatched out from the
goats and then the cattle go through
and hopefully eat some of those.
And for humongous, which is the
primary concern for goats, they
can't survive in cattle, so the
cattle stop the growth cycle.
So I actually let the cattle eat
it down quite low to try to get
those, like on that first round.
Track 1: Oh yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
and then I, in our woods, um, I,
I'm the only person I've ever met
who is able to get their goats to
stay in one strand of polywire.
That is a requirement to live here, one
strand and 11 inches off the ground.
And I use step and post.
And I put them everywhere.
They eat the lawn, they eat around
buildings, they eat in the woods.
They eat the fence line.
So the goats, once they've gone, uh, on a
light rotation through the pasture, they
then start working on all the other places
that the cattle don't have access to.
Um, and then this year, our neighbors
actually bought their land the
same year we did, but they didn't
move in until this past winter.
So this year, um, I was doing kind
of the edge of their property.
He said last year that I could
graze like those fence lines.
'cause he has mostly wooded.
He's
Track 1: Oh
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
got, I think, he has five acres
tillable and 20 acres wooded.
So I, and.
I actually run the goats through his
entire property everywhere except the
little chunk that his house sits on.
Um, the goats
have grazed that off and then
they get one his woods is,
um, he has paths in his woods.
So I at least have a nice clear
path to run the polywire through so
I don't have to use as many step-in
posts like on the side of a hill.
So that is very, very nice.
Um, 'cause I have nice paths
that I can drive the four-wheeler
through and it's clean and
I'm not going through trees
and weeds and all that.
Um, but there was a tornado that came
through here in, I think it was 2018,
the right after we bought the property.
It came through our property and
his property, but he had a lot
of trees taken out, which really
Track 1: Oh
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
up the canopy.
So now he has way more brush and stuff
growing in his woods than he did even
five years ago because the canopy was
opened up so much by all of those trees
that were taken out by the tornado.
So it actually is like offered a
lot of forage for the goats in there
Track 1: Oh yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
thick and it's nice for him too.
'cause if he does wanna work on getting
some trees out, you know, you got clear
all this brush just to get to them.
Well, the goats took care of it.
It's unbelievable how,
how different that woods looks
after you run the goats through it.
So I, it's really nice that we clear
it out for him and he likes how
tidy it looks and, you know, it's,
it's just so much nicer to work in.
Track 1: Oh yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
it gives us 25 acres more
of forage for the goats.
So just one time around in the woods for
the goats, if you over browse that, you,
you won't have that browse next year.
So they get one swipe through
the woods and that's it.
Um, and then they're back
to the pasture for like a
fall, a fall round.
Track 1: Now, one thing you mentioned
about your single wire and step-in
posts, how close are you putting
your stepping posts together?
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937: Uh.
Well, if the ground is flat,
which it typically isn't, um, for
the goats, I do like 15 paces.
So
what, that's probably different
for every person I count
while I walk and then step 'em in,
you know, between 14 to 16.
Um, and I usually kind of pace those
out and then I'll go back and where we
have little hills or lumps or whatever,
then I'll just shove other ones between.
And now some of the places that
we have grazed, we're grazing
more regularly on our property.
We've just put T posts
in, like in the corners.
So those kind of stay
there and are a little more
permanent.
And then I just move my polywire reels
around with the step in posts between
Track 1: Oh yeah.
I was, I was anticipating maybe a
little bit closer spacing on those.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
I'm training.
Or I have real young kids, then
I will put them much closer
until they have the hang of it.
Track 1: Oh, yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
once, once they, once they're all
trained, they, they don't mind, I
could keep them in with dental floss.
I have already run out of
Polywire and just used Twine.
Track 1: Oh yes.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
don't even have the fence on.
Most of the time they just, I just put
it on the first 'cause I've had to, you
know, if I've got cattle in this one
and, and a breeding group in this one for
goats and bucks over here, well I only
have, you know, three energizers that
I move around with 'em with a battery.
And because I don't have a
electric perimeter fence,
Track 1: Oh yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
So I have nothing to like hook it to.
So if I need the, if I need the
energizer somewhere else, I just take it.
And my, my old does they all
stay in, they're, they're totally
Track 1: well.
Very good.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
two weeks before without any electric.
And as soon as one gets out, you're
like, oh, I'll put it back on.
You put it on
Track 1: Oh yeah.
Turn it
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
all they need.
Track 1: Well, very good.
One thing with your goats, I think
you have Boer goats, correct?
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
mainly Boers.
Um, we started with two Boers that
were, um, it was a family that did a lot
of showing, and these were definitely
not the, their cream of the crop, you
Track 1: Oh, yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
um, but they, they worked
wonderful for us because we, we,
aren't necessarily looking
for that show type.
Um.
And when we got them, we, we, the
kids do, did show at the county fair,
like to get the experience and stuff.
Um, but I think we were really
blessed to start with two does.
They had great parasite
resistance, they had really good
milk supply, good feet and OTs.
Um, you know, we, they didn't
look so great when we got them,
but over time they looked better.
Track 1: Oh yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
Um, but I think we were just
really lucky to start out with some
great maternal does who they raised,
they always raised triplets on their
own and they did such a good job.
And that became our
foundation stock and then we
Track 1: Oh, very good.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
So, you know, great fertility, we've,
we, we were lucky I think, to start
with some of the, the right ones.
Um, and then I do also have some Savannah.
They're Savannah, some of 'em are Savannah
bore crosses, some are Savannah, you
know, with like a little bit of Kiko in
Track 1: Oh, yes.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937: I'm
hesitant to get more than what I have
because they're often, they take the color
outta your herd pretty quick so that white
is real dominant and you can't
just take a group of white ones to
the sail barn because they like to
sometimes sell 'em as dairy goats.
So
Track 1: Oh yes.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
yeah, I, you know, you can put 'em in a
group with boars, but you don't wanna just
take a group of Savannahs unless they.
And you have to remind them that
they're Savannahs, the lady I
bought them from told me about that.
She's like, make sure when
you take your scrape list to them, you
know, at the sale barn that you write on
there, that they're Savannah Boer crosses.
So they don't sell 'em as dairy
kids because then they, even though
they look the same and they weigh
the same, they'll they'll bring
less per pound at the sale barn.
Track 1: Well, and that's
interesting about Savannahs
and through the sale barns.
I hadn't even thought about that.
So you wanna keep some of that traditional
marking of those bore goats on them?
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
'cause you want 'em to look Boers.
Group with Boers it, selling a
whole lot of savannahs will, can
sometimes get your price down.
Track 1: Yeah.
Gotta be careful with that.
Do you like your savannas
outside the white hair coat.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937: Yeah.
Um.
I, and I've only had
them for about a year.
I've actually only had one
of the savanna's kids so far.
So
it, it's hard for me to really judge it.
'cause I've only had
'em, I, I bought 'em in two groups,
so, but they're, the rest of 'em
are all due, um, in a month here, so
Track 1: Oh, okay.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
later.
So far
Track 1: Yeah.
Well, I see savannas, uh,
for sale different times.
I'm just not familiar with them.
I've had Boer goats in the past and, um,
they didn't work good for my management.
So I've got Spanish does now,
the, the Spanish goats are really good.
I had kikos that worked really well.
Um, the Boer goats for me, and this is a
great point, you, you got some foundation
does that worked wonderfully for you.
And I think a lot of times whenever
we get started, at least for me,
I, I decide I wanted some goats.
I found some goats, so I went and
bought 'em and in hindsight, I should
have done a, some more research because
the goats I got in just did not have
the maternal instincts they needed to.
I, I probably could have figured that out
if I'd done a little bit more research
and made sure I know one farm, I bought
some, some goats from, they were managed
so intensively that I should have.
The people are super nice.
I liked their goats, but I should
have known right off, I'm not going to
manage 'em as intensively as they are.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
right?
Track 1: So, so you gotta be aware of
that when you're buying your, in those
initial animals and getting started.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
Right.
And I've had a lot of other
people tell me that they have
had trouble with their Boers.
That they're, that the kids are
dumb and like can't figure out
how to drink when they're born
and that the mothers are terrible.
And I've just never experienced that.
Track 1: Well, I'm glad you have
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
at all.
I did have one.
Um, it was a retained doe from, uh,
one of those original two and she.
not, she did not.
She was like terrified of them.
She was like scared of
her kids when they were born.
And she was like in the corner shaking.
And I was like, what is going on?
Like, why are she had zero maternal
instinct right off the bat.
And I put her in the headlock like
six times a day and held her legs
in, in the air while I, so she
couldn't go anywhere, you know,
I held her back legs up so
those poor kids could nurse.
And then I kept a camera out there
so I could keep an eye on 'em.
And it took five or six days
and she finally took them
and she gave them just
enough time to drink.
She didn't love them, but
she didn't hate them either.
And against my better judgment, I
don't know why, but I bred her again.
Track 1: Oh,
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
since.
Now she's seven
years old, seven or eight years old.
She's love, she raises
triplets every time.
She loves all of her kids.
So I don't know what got outta
whack there the first time.
But I, I was very happy 'cause I was
prepared for bottle kids that second time
Track 1: Oh, yes.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937: now.
I would never do that.
Track 1: Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
I agree with my original boars.
If, if they kitted without
me here, it was a, a wreck.
Um, I felt like I had to be out there.
Yeah.
And that's one, one reason
I started looking elsewhere,
um, for different breed.
And I thought I could probably find
Boers that would work for me, but
everywhere I looked, I didn't see
people managing Boer goats in my
area, like I wanted to manage 'em.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
Because they're not out there.
I have
never, I've never met somebody who's
managed their Boers the way I do now.
Right.
And, and of course I did things
different in the beginning.
Um,
and when you only have three or four,
of course they get babied, right?
Um,
Track 1: Oh yes.
Yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
the more you get, the more they gotta
stand on their own four feet, you know?
But, there's kind of two groups.
There's the people that have three
or four, they breed 'em, they
don't know what to do with the
kids 'cause they really don't have
a production system down and then
they're just trying to get rid of 'em.
Or there's the opposite end, which is,
the show people and neither of those
groups of people manage them anywhere
close to how I do and how I want to.
Track 1: right.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937: it is
difficult because when you buy 'em in, and
I have bought some from show foundation
because that's my options, right?
I'm like, well, I can
Track 1: Oh, yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
to my bucks and hopefully get kids
that I will be satisfied with, right?
And then retain out of those kids.
Um, but they fall apart
when you bring them home.
I mean, they just
melt into a puddle and it takes.
I have found that they come back
around, it takes I think like
nine months to a year for them
to their body to like adjust.
Well they have to lose
weight for one 'cause they
Track 1: right?
Yeah, they are.
Yes.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
They're used to getting a ridiculous
amount of grain and a ridiculous
amount of protein in their diet.
And it take, and their, and their and
their feet are horrible because they're
growing so much hoof because they're on
heavy grain diets.
And then they,
you know, they all have
just terrible laminitis.
And so it's a process,
like, it's a lot of work.
They
look, they look like a million
bucks 'cause they're showy.
But then you bring 'em home and like
it in three months time you're like,
oh gosh, they look like a wreck.
But eventually I.
I get 'em back,
Track 1: Oh yes.
Yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
it takes a while.
It's very difficult to, um, and I also
find their offspring, anything born here,
even if they're from those showy does,
anything born here always does well.
Right?
Track 1: Does
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937: part
of that might, might be my buck genetics,
but part of it is probably just the way
they were raised, you know, and they're
used to that environment.
Track 1: Yes.
Now, now one thing you mentioned
earlier, you milk some of them
after you wean the kids off I
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
Yeah, like just the ones that aren't
gonna kick me just for home consumption.
Not
Track 1: Oh,
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
and I'm just milking 'em by hand.
I take a quart here and there to have,
you know, in our coffee, nothing.
And I haven't as much in the last
couple years when we lived at the old
place and I had a nice milking stand,
and those two first does were really
wonderful about letting me milk them.
So I milked a lot then, and, and the kids
were home yet then, so we, we made a lot
of like goat milk, ice cream and some
goat cheese and stuff like that,
but life has been too busy for that.
But I will occasionally, I will
occasionally milk some here
just after the kids are weaned.
Especially I have some that even,
even at a hundred days, they're
producing quite a bit of milk.
So sometimes I'll
just strip 'em out to.
Just like relieve a little
pressure if it looks like
they're,
Track 1: Oh yes.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
too much milk yet.
But, um, yeah.
It's just for home consumption.
Track 1: I, I've, I've
threatened on the podcast before.
I'd love to get some dairy
animals and, um, I've, I've
talked to my wife about it and.
Dairy cattle, cow's, milk, they're
fine with, I mentioned about
goats, and they're not sure.
My daughter
and wife, they're not sold on that.
And I've also mentioned hair, not
hair, sheep, sorry, dairy sheep.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937: So
I got my name down for a cross heifer.
So that, uh, my, my hope is that if
I do a Jersey Hereford cross, that
if I have a day where I don't milk
that, that calf can take care of it.
And I
also like the idea of, as I increase
the goat herd over time, if I
would end up with bottle kids, I
really need a source of other milk.
Track 1: Now, um, moving on from the goats
and the cattle, are you moving your layers
out through your pasture or do you have
a chicken coop you're keeping them in?
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
Yeah, so we have them.
In a chicken trailer.
Um, again,
I drew, drew a picture and
my husband made it for me.
He
Track 1: Oh, very good.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
old trailer on Craigslist to buy
and then, um, made, you know,
made a traveling coop for them.
So we do put them in the pasture
and they follow the cattle,
Track 1: Oh, very good.
Yeah.
Do you have enough that you're
selling eggs with your CSA or is
it just your own consumption with
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937: yeah.
I sell them out of like
a self-serve refrigerator
Track 1: Actually, as you said that,
I'm like, yes, because I was thinking
earlier, I wanted to ask you how that was
going, that self-serve selling of them.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937: Yeah.
It, it goes well.
And I think people like that.
They don't have to talk to me or you
know, like there's people all over with
signs out that say Farm fresh eggs.
But the reality is like if you don't
know somebody, you're not gonna like
walk up to their front door and.
Like, hi, do you have eggs for sale?
I mean, maybe.
I don't know.
But that, that's not my personality.
I wouldn't do
Track 1: right.
Mine
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
Um, so like when I, you know, put ads
on Facebook and stuff, or not ads,
but like, when I post in a group, a
local group and just say, we have eggs.
They're in a self surf fridge.
Uh, please contact me the first
time you come so I can show you
where they are and what to do.
And then you never have
to talk to me again.
They drive in, they go, they go in
there, they take their eggs, they put
their money in a jar and they leave.
I mean,
Track 1: Oh
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
I don't even, the jar's
not even nailed down.
I, I figure if you need eggs that
bad that you're gonna steal 'em,
like, I guess take 'em because
I, I just haven't had a problem.
And they just write their name,
how many they took on a clipboard,
so I know, you know, for.
Inventory, like how many
I sold, um, you know,
Track 1: Oh yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
out my profitability.
Um, and yeah, so that works pretty good.
I do have a couple CSA people
who will get eggs, you know, with
their vegetables, but mainly it's
just, uh, the selfs surf fridge.
And then any overflow I have from
the garden that doesn't go out, um,
in CSA boxes, then I will put those
also in that fridge and just people
can just grab what they want, write
down what they took, and I just have
prices on everything and
they can self-serve that way?
Track 1: Oh, very good.
One more thing before we get to the over
grazing section, with your pullets, are
you buying day old chicks and growing them
and getting them to lay?
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937: Yeah.
And then I, I grow extra ones.
And I raise pullets for other people.
'cause if you can scale that, it
brings your cost of production down.
And, you know,
Track 1: Oh yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
heat lamps anyway, you might as well
raise 200 of 'em if you know, instead
of 40 for yourself or whatever.
So, um, I do sell puls.
I, I do not like poultry at all.
So it.
This, this year I was not in the mood
for raising pullets 'cause I raised them
in our greenhouse over winter so that
Track 1: Oh yes.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
warmer.
It's unheated but I have kind of a
brooder that I keep covered and keep
heat lamps in there and then as they get
Track 1: Oh yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937: they
can come in and out of there as they like.
Then I grow 'em over winter so that
I'm getting spring pullets instead of
fall pullets because that's
my preference.
And then I typically just sell them, I
stockpile eggs and then like sell 'em
right around the first of the year.
They're easy to get rid of.
And then I actually usually don't have
chickens January and February because
my pulls should be starting to lay in
March, but I didn't do 'em this year.
There's too many other things to focus
on, so I'm much to my chagrin and
I'm overwintering chickens this year.
Track 1: Oh yes.
And what breeds do you
go with for your layers?
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
I get a variety of pullets to,
for the chicken loving folks
and I get all production reds.
You got,
I don't like 'em enough to.
I don't care what they look
like, they gotta pay the bills.
So if they, if they,
aren't
Track 1: right, exactly.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937: and
I get, I, I will keep like a handful of
Easter Eggers or like a, a leghorn or
whatever, just so I can put one green
egg and one white egg in every dozen.
And it
gives it a little variety.
But the Easter Eggers, I won't
over winter 'cause they don't
produce anything in winter.
And I do keep light on them, so I get,
I get pretty good production in winter.
Um, 'cause I keep their light on a timer
so that that works out pretty well.
It really doesn't drop that much,
Track 1: Oh yeah.
Well, very good.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937: Yeah.
Track 1: Well, Angela, it is time for
us to move to the overgrazing section
where we take a little bit deeper
dive into some aspect of your farm.
And today we are going to talk
about summer slump bale grazing.
So when we say that, what
are we talking about?
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
Well, the summer slump, it's, you know,
towards the end of summer where you're
not getting a lot of rain, you're dry,
you've really, you know, razed down your
pastures and you don't have any grass.
Now, it hasn't rained
since we've lived here.
So our summer slump has been
big and long every year.
We've, you know, we've been
in drought for, for so long.
So, I basically park, kind of park
'em in an area that looks, you know,
a, a poor portion of the pasture,
whether that means there's not much
growing there or something I don't
like that's growing there that I
want 'em to destroy.
And I just polywire 'em into
that area fairly, fairly tight.
And then I bale graze in
there and they really just.
S stay in there for about 30 days and
kind of destroy it and it's dry, right?
I mean, it's, they're
not ruing it up, but they're
definitely kind of killing up things
that I don't want, you know, and
they graze it really, really short.
I have found, when I bale graze in winter,
I, you get all these dead spots in spring.
I've tried everything,
no matter, no matter how thin you spread
it, if you roll out a round bale or
if you put, you know, big square bale
sections down, that residue, it just keeps
everything from recovering in spring.
So you get thistles or whatever,
once you know, weeds wanna
grow there, or you just get a
burnt out spot where nothing grows.
It looks nice around it,
Track 1: Yes.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
I'm not saying it's wasting it because.
Yes, you're adding fertility, but it
also steam seems like one step forward,
two steps back, you know, when I, when I
bale, graze in, in winter.
Um, but what I find when I bale
graze in August is that gives all
of that grass time to recover.
And it never completely, it
never completely dies out.
So I
will place, I'll place a round bale
or even a, a big bale, um, like
a big square bale in the field.
They finish it, you know.
Then I move them off of it.
And then I come with the chicken
tractor and I park the chicken
tractor right over the top of that.
Um, usually like four or five days later.
'cause I'm also trying to get a little bit
of, um, like fly control with it, hoping
that if there's fly eggs in
there, the chickens will eat 'em.
Um, and the chickens break up
any of that residue that's there.
I mean, it's still on the ground, but
now it's not in a big mat on the ground
and all the grass continues
to grow up through it.
if if there is any grass there, you know,
if it was in a bear spot, obviously not.
Um,
but then in those spots, because I'm
already putting those bales in a, in
a, a cruddy portion of my pasture that
I'm trying to restore, I then take, uh,
in September I take winter wheat and.
Grass seed and blend them together.
And I sprinkle it throughout where
that bale was and that residue
keeps the ground really moist.
Um, so that everything germinates.
And then
I've got grass seeds starting to grow
and winter wheat, and now I'll have
that winter wheat there in spring
when I bring 'em through to graze.
So I'm not wasting out
like this burnt out spot
Track 1: Oh yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
growing because it got all
trampled and you know, the hay gets
matted and nothing grows there.
So now I'm not like wasting that.
And I just get, I don't use like
winter wheat seed, I just get bin run
wheat for like $6 for a 50 pound bag
Track 1: Oh yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937: I'm,
and it works.
It works just fine.
So I feel like it.
It seems everything seems to
recover so much better when I'm
bale grazing in August than versus
when I'm doing winter bale grazing.
Now.
It
did rain one one time this year while I
was, one time in August when it rained.
Um, and I did leave it, they were ready
to get fed, but I didn't like move the,
the bale ring to a new place because it
was getting muddled up and they were,
you know, making the ground muddy.
So I didn't want 'em to
destroy yet another place.
Track 1: Oh yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
that, um, that circle actually
caught right up with the rest of 'em.
Um, and I've got winter wheat
growing in it and it looks great.
And when you go out in that back
pasture where I bale grazed 'em
during the summer slump this
year, that whole pasture is just.
Brown,
Track 1: Oh
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
you can see where I set every single
bale, it looks like a million bucks.
The grass seed came up wonderful.
And I'm like so happy with how it looks.
And so this is my second year doing that.
When I did it last year, I had 'em in a
much smaller area and that was very bare.
We have very, we have no
tot soil in some places.
We're in the Kettle Marines, so
there's a lot of like glacial deposits.
So we like, we
have like basically a gravel pit in
the middle of one of our pastures with
like, uh, an eighth
inch of topsoil over it.
Um, and it was on that hill that I
really wanted to get grass growing.
'cause not, I mean,
you would get a little bit of green
stuff growing on there in like May and
June and then it was done for the year.
There's a really odd species of
grass that grows on top of that.
I have, I can't identify it, I don't
know what it is, but the grass, the
cattle love it and they eat it down.
They
like down to the soil.
Um, but I wanted something other than
just that weird grass growing there.
I did the same thing last year.
I didn't have the chickens on it 'cause.
I couldn't figure out how to get the
tractor on there without it rolling
away or tipping over, you know, it
wasn't the best place to put it, but
just seeing what a difference their
urine and manure and that waste made.
And just seeing this year how
much grass is growing on this
really sandy area with no topsoil.
I mean, it, it looks better
than the rest of the pasture.
So it was
like, ooh, that, I mean, I, I was hoping
it was gonna work, but I, I didn't know.
Right.
But after I saw it for that first
year, it really just completely
renovated that portion of the pasture.
So that is kind of gonna be my new
way of renovating portions is kind of
that, that summer slump bale grazing.
And that allows me time, you know,
when it's not raining, I, I'm
either gonna have to feed hay now,
or I'm gonna have to feed hay.
In, you know, later in fall, early winter.
So, you know, I figure why, why not just
do it so it can recover a little quicker?
And, um, it gives my, the rest of
my pastures time to catch up, um,
and grow a little taller so I can
get another full graze off the farm
instead of kind of, if I ran 'em
back through in August, I'd be done.
You know, and they would be eating
basically a lot of, um, golden rod
at that point, which they don't
particularly care for.
Track 1: With the, the summer slump
bell grazing, I think it's a wonderful
idea and it's something I don't
see anyone do, like Pete on just a
few acres on his YouTube channel.
I love Pete.
He does, you know, during the summer when
he gets low on grass, he brings those
cows into his lots and he will feed hay.
If we're short on grass, we're
not helping our situation.
We either got a destock
or let's pin up, pin 'em up, sacrifice
paddock, and feed some hay and let
the grass recover out there if we're
getting too short because it's dry.
And I see so many of my neighbors that.
Maybe they should try it too.
I haven't done it, but I love the idea of
it and I think that if I get into a place,
like you said, let's take that summertime
when it's dry, feed some hay out there,
ground's gonna recover a little bit faster
than when we're doing it in winter, but
we're still gonna have to feed the hay.
We're just changing the
timing of feeding the hay,
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
Right, exactly.
And hopefully getting a little
more out of the forage that's
still in the pasture.
That could be grazed.
I mean,
the hope, the hope is always
that eventually it'll rain.
Unfortunately,
Track 1: Right.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
it hasn't done that in the last three
years, but some year while I am bale
grazing in August, it will probably rain.
Track 1: Yes.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
Inevitably it will have
to rain at some point.
Track 1: It'll have to.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, wonderful.
Angela.
Angela, let's transition.
I, and you know, I listen to my
podcast, I edit them, and I'm
like, I say transition every time.
Let's move on to the
famous four questions.
Same four questions we
ask of all of our guests.
Our first question, what is your favorite
grazing grass related book or resource?
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
So I thought about this a really long
time, and I don't have anything like
super different than anybody else says.
My, my favorite book
would be, uh, dirt to Soil
Track 1: Oh,
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
Brown.
Um, I think
besides the sy part of that, that book,
just like, you know, when you grow up
on a farm and you see struggles the
way your parents struggled and like
that whole, his whole personal story
just like resonated with like, oh, the
struggles that you have in farming.
Right.
You know, and I, I, it was a good
story and a good way to explain,
you know, why those things
led him to make these changes.
But I mean, I would say
that's my favorite book.
I am, I am trying so hard to read.
What's the one that they make
you read for Ranching for Profit?
I can't, I can't,
Track 1: Oh,
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
uh, the turnaround.
Yes.
Um, I am an audiobook person.
I fall asleep instantly when I read, so
I ha I, I pick up that book, I read
two pages, and then I, I get too
sleepy to, for my brain to comprehend
and that that book is intense.
So I, I really
need to just start over.
That is on my winter goals list, is to
start reading in the morning instead of
returning emails and doing, that's
when I do my emails and my invoicing
and stuff, and I really wanna read,
get through that book and start
working on working through some of
those numbers that they have in there.
Um, but in the way of
some of my most favorite.
Resources aren't necessarily grass
related, um, but very helpful in
the way of, uh, like for goats.
The University of Maryland small ruminant
program, they have an excellent, they
haven't done any, they have a YouTube
channel and they haven't done any
webinars in like seven or eight years.
But they have very good webinars,
lots of very good series that
you can go and listen to.
If you search in YouTube, university of
Rhode Island Parasites, you'll find it.
They have an extremely good video.
It's, it's, they have several
small ones, shows you how to
do a f matcha score, shows
you how to run your own fecal samples.
That that's how I learned to do that.
Uh, but they have one that for sheep and
goats is the best video I've ever seen.
It takes everything you thought you
knew about parasite control, you
know, from management to treatment.
And it, it just kind of incorporates
everything and, and pulls all
that information together.
So, especially if there's anybody new out
there, like looking for a good resource
on parasites, that is a, a fantastic
video that University of Rhode Island has.
And I also really like the
YouTube channel, , Sandy Brock.
She's a.
Track 1: Okay.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
Sheep Farmer, sheepishly me
is the name of her channel.
And she is just a conventional,
um, production system.
It's all confinement, but
I think there's room at
the table for everybody.
And I think that everybody can learn
something from every type of farmer,
whether it's what you do or don't
wanna do or how you manage things.
Um, you know, there, there are things,
the way she treats some things on the
advice of her veterinarian, that my
veterinarian thinks is like, hmm, not
not the way she would do it, and that's
fine, but also if it's working on her
farm, in her system, that's great.
I learned so much and it, and it makes
me think about things, well, I do it
this way, you know, it, it just, it,
it's not necessarily a grass resource.
You know, a grass
related grazing resource.
But, um, I, I find a lot of value in
watching things, not just about how
I do it, but the way other people
do it, because I think you can still
learn from everybody in other systems.
Track 1: I, I think you're
exactly right with that.
Um, we can learn something from everybody
and and whether or not that's what you
don't do or actually, you know, a lot of
people say, well, the only thing I'm gonna
learn from someone is how not to do it.
I think if you dig deep enough there's
something there that you'll wanna do.
I think so.
And, and maybe those resources
aren't directly related to growing
grass, but they are related to the
animals that we use to harvest grass.
So I think those are excellent resources.
Um, the Maryland one I'm familiar with,
uh, university of Rhode Island, I was
not so I will have to look that up.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937: If,
if you go to their YouTube channel, they,
they don't have one that's specific to
their small ruminant program, so it's
really hard to like navigate.
So you just have to find
it in the search bar.
Just
type like in, in YouTube, just
find University of Rhode Island
parasites and it should come
up as one of the first videos.
Track 1: Oh, wonderful.
Excellent resources there.
Our second question, what is
your favorite tool for the farm?
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
So this also is nothing fantastic,
but it's our four-wheeler.
Um.
Just with, with managing the goats
on the neighbor's property and lots
of hills and terrain and stuff.
Um, I couldn't do it without it.
I mean, our four-wheeler
actually broke about a month ago.
And my, I had goats, I still had my bucks
all up, um, on my neighbor's property.
And the four wheeler broke down on his
property and I knew he could see it
out his back door.
So I, I text him and said, well, just so
you know, the four wheeler's sitting there
because it's broke, like, don't
wonder what's going on, you know?
Track 1: Y
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
he said, oh, I know you need it.
Why don't you come up
and, and use our a TV?
We're not using it.
It's just sitting in the shed.
It'll be there all winter.
So we've, you know, we, like, I
can't imagine hauling water up
to the bucks on the neighbor's
Track 1: Oh yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
without a four wheeler.
Right.
It's just so much easy.
It just makes everything easier.
You know, I, I do a lot of walking
with or without it, so, uh, I
don't feel lazy using it at all.
Track 1: Excellent resource.
I, I think I mentioned this just a
few episodes ago when we, or when I
was thinking about this podcast and
I wanted this same four questions
to finish the podcast up, and I just
thought it'd be a nice little piece.
This was my least favorite
question because I just thought.
I don't know what, and it, it turns out
it's my, I don't know if it's, yeah.
It may be my favorite question to
ask because the answers, because
I don't give much guidance.
I don't feel like it's kind of
wide open and it's interesting
where people go with that.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
Yeah, I agree.
And when I listen to the answers
of a lot of your guests, I
think, oh, I love that too.
You know, like we,
we, a lot of us have a lot of the same
favorites, but how do you choose one?
You know?
'cause my
runner up is either a toss up between
the skid loader or my lineman pliers.
You know, like,
I can't choose,
Track 1: Yes.
Yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
many favorites.
Track 1: There, there is, it's, it's
always interesting to get that answer.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937: Yeah.
Track 1: Our third question, what would
you tell someone just getting started.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937: So I,
I don't know if I have any great advice,
but I think, I think for a beginner.
You watch a lot of videos, you do a lot
of research, and you think, oh, I got it.
This is the way I should,
I should do it, right?
Like, this is what the gurus
are doing, this is what, you
know, and it might not work.
And, and that's okay.
You know, because finding
out what doesn't work helps
you improve in the future.
So I would just say, you know, bottom
line is be open to new things and don't
be afraid to try new things within reason.
I mean, you're gonna take a financial
hit when something doesn't work,
but you also won't know if you don't try.
You know, a lot of the things that I
find works for me is because I found out
what absolutely does not work for me.
So
it, it's, it's hit or miss, like
with the summer slump bale grazing.
You know, last year was
the first year I did it.
It looked horrible.
I actually thought I had made
a huge mistake going into fall.
Last year because I had spread seed,
not, I thought none of it was viable.
I thought I had wasted it,
but then I see it this spring
and I'm like, oh, it's gorgeous.
Track 1: Oh yeah.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
it, it's, it's, even if you think, oh
gosh, I don't know if I should do this.
Um, just try it, you know?
And if you do something that works
for somebody else and it doesn't work
for you, that's, that's fine too.
You know,
it's just not always gonna work.
And don't be discouraged because things
can be discouraging when you feel like
you're throwing money away on something.
It doesn't work.
It is discouraging,
but it's the way it is.
You'll get there eventually.
Track 1: Yes.
Excellent advice.
And Angela, lastly, where can
others find out more about you?
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937: So
our farm website is highviewpasture.com
and we do have a Facebook
page that's Highview Pastures.
Somebody bought highviewpastures.com
before I could get it, and they
don't, don't even have a
website, so it's annoying.
Track 1: Yes.
angela-boenisch_1_01-07-2024_150937:
So we're Highview pastures
with an S on Facebook.
Track 1: Well, very good, Angela.
Appreciate you coming on
and sharing with us today.
I've enjoyed it.
I.