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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?
Welcome to Grazing Grass episode 101.
You're listening to the
Grazing Grass podcast.
Sharing tips and journeys of
grass based livestock production
utilizing regenerative practices.
We hope you gained something from it.
Every Wednesday we have an episode
with a guest, and then Friday
we have a variety of episodes.
I'm your host, Cal Hardage
Cal: /You're growing more than grass.
You're growing a healthier
ecosystem to help your cattle
thrive in their environment.
You're growing your livelihood by
increasing your carrying capacity
and reducing your operating costs.
You're growing stronger communities
and a legacy to last generations.
The grazing management
decisions you make today.
impact everything from the soil beneath
your feet to the community all around you.
That's why the Noble Research
Institute created their Essentials
of Regenerative Grazing course to
teach ranchers like you easy to follow
techniques to quickly assess your forage
production and infrastructure capacity.
In order to begin
grazing more efficiently.
Together, they can help you grow
not only a healthier operation,
but a legacy that lasts.
Learn more on their website at noble.
org slash grazing.
It's n o b l e dot org
forward slash grazing.
/
on today's show, we are going
to talk about I almost said 100.
We're going to talk about 5 things
I've learned from 100 episodes
of the Grazing Grass podcast.
Doing 100 things would
have taken a lot longer.
This is the introduction of
our new format for Fridays.
It'll change, but sometimes
there'll be a solo episode where
I'm talking about a subject.
It may be a question I'm answering,
or we may bring on a guest for a more
pointed discussion about a specific topic.
Anyway, we're going to try it.
I'd love for you to give me some
feedback and let me know how it lands.
So today, we're talking about 5
things I've learned from 100 episodes
of the Grazing Grass podcast.
And let's jump into it.
The first thing are our journeys.
Each one is unique, yet
they all are the same.
I know that sounds crazy in the
end, but we all go through the
same steps as we gain knowledge.
However, that journey is unique to
you, and what you're going through.
You know what I found?
There's a few ways we end up here.
We may be a first generation
farmer coming to the farm and
we're learning how to do this.
We may be a farmer that's been
doing this for a long time and we're
starting to realize maybe our paradigm
needs to shift just a little bit.
Or maybe you're coming back to
the farm and you're coming back
with some new ideas, but why
did you chase those new ideas?
Why'd you get into them?
There's a few reasons for it.
One that's been echoed on numerous
episodes is health concerns.
You had a health scare or something
along that line caused you to evaluate
what you're putting into your body.
And in that journey, you
discover regenerative ag and
managing animals that way.
Usually through a grass fed beef
or grass finished beef pathway, but
there's some others through health
concerns that lead you into this.
Another way, which I think is probably
the three is a lesser one, is just
to leave the land in a better place.
You're looking at the practices
you're doing and you're noticing
that My land's not improving and
you start down that rabbit hole.
Why is it not getting better?
Why is it going the wrong way?
Because, as Alejandro likes
to say, you're either getting
better or you're getting worse.
Which is it?
And thirdly, you're trying to make
more money, be more profitable.
And that's really the path I came
to regenerative practices through.
Not necessarily about increasing
my income, but lowering those
costs associated with production.
A lot of times when we look at
regenerative practices and what we're
doing, it's a lower cost model than
a lot of the conventional models.
So I came to it with the mind that
I champion the low cost production.
and that means on the back end I make
more profit when I sell my animals.
Even if I'm choosing an animal
that may not be, bring the
highest price at the sale barn.
So those are the three ways I've seen.
If you have another way, and there's going
to be more I'm sure, feel free to leave
a comment in our Facebook group about it.
And then once, once we've came to
this or we've been made aware of
regenerative ag and Some of the
practices and how do we learn about it?
The big ones, I like to say the big three,
you've got books, podcasts, and YouTubes.
Those are all individual activities
and they allow you to learn at your
speed, your pace, wherever you are.
And a little caveat there, books are
not quite that easy, but they are.
In addition to those, you
have conferences and schools.
And those are three more good ways,
but let's focus on those first three
ways books, podcasts, and YouTube.
I love YouTube.
I love podcasts.
Obviously, I wouldn't be doing a podcast
if I didn't love it, but podcasts
and YouTube are passive activities.
I can be doing something else
as I listen to a podcast.
I can be working on the farm, driving
down the road, Or for YouTube, I can
have it as my main focus, or I can
be doing something on my laptop as
I'm kinda watching YouTube, which
that one drives my wife crazy.
Are you watching this or not?
I am, but it doesn't
require my full attention.
So both of those are passive
activities, and that doesn't mean we
still can't get a lot out of them.
It does mean they're passive and we can
do them as we're doing other things.
So my time available to absorb
information through a podcast or
through YouTube is greatly increased.
I can do it as a passive activity, and
that's really where podcasts shine because
you can be out in the pasture listening
to a podcast as you work on the farm.
YouTube's a little bit tougher, especially
if the app wants to keep the screen on,
doesn't work so good in your pocket.
Now, the great thing that's a
halfway median between podcasts and
books are audio books, and for me
in my journey, I'm just now getting
into audio books, but audio books
give you some of those benefits.
Some of them gives most of the
benefits that podcast gives.
Now books on the other hand
are not a passive activity.
They require active learning,
active reading, active activities.
You're not going to be able to do another
activity while you're reading a book.
Reading books is my favorite way, however,
my time that I can dedicate solely to
that is limited versus what I can do with
watching YouTube or listening to podcasts.
So most people get started in one
of those places before they start
discovering some conferences and schools.
And one thing I didn't say was websites
out there with a lot of information.
And that kind of falls into
those online resources.
The second thing I've learned from
doing 100 episodes, find a community.
One of the big reasons I
started the podcast was because
I was not finding community.
As I looked around at the farms near
me, I was not seeing people doing
what I was doing, and that I felt
like limited my opportunities for
improvement because I needed those
opportunities to talk to others.
So I started a podcast as a way to
communicate or talk to these individuals
doing more of what I wanted to do more of.
And then I just happened to share
the episodes with everyone else.
I think those interviews are wonderful.
Not because I did them.
I just think the general concept of
it, sharing about someone's journey.
and what they're doing.
Our goal with the podcast is
that you take that next step and
whatever that next step may be.
And when we share these journeys,
you may have identified with one
journey more than another journey.
And when we hear something, we have
to hear it multiple times before
we really get started with that.
I find, I think if you read They say
seven times you need to hear something
before it really clicks with you.
I think in my particular case,
it's more like a hundred times.
But, at some point, it clicks
and you're like, Oh, why
didn't I think of that before?
And then when you stop and reflect,
you're like, Oh, I have, I just didn't.
It's not what spoke to me.
That's one reason I'm a supporter
of re reading books, because I feel
like each time you read a book,
you pull something different out of
it, especially those dense books.
The opportunity to go back through
it, you'll find something new.
Community is very important, so I
suggest find a local grazing group.
Find a pastor walk, a
conference, a school to go to.
Now If you're already at this
point, you probably have started
looking at those, but those provide
great opportunities for networking
and finding people in your area.
I attended a deal with Alejandro
Carrillo yesterday in Vinita, and I met
someone that lives four miles from me.
And another gentleman about six miles.
I knew his place was there, I just
hadn't got a chance to meet him.
But, regentive farmers are out there.
Sometimes they're not on the roads
we travel so we don't see them.
So those schools, conferences,
give you a option.
a great opportunity to network and find
those individuals that are close to you.
The other thing is, you don't
necessarily have to go somewhere.
There is a great online community,
and one thing I've found about
the Regenerative Ag niche is the
wonderful community that goes with it.
And there's quite a few Facebook
groups that you can join.
We started a group called
the grazing grass community.
I encourage you to join in.
The goal is it's a safe place
for all learners and we can have
civil conversations, debates,
and about different items.
Share what you're doing.
It's really important to me that
we have a safe place for beginners
as well as advanced learners.
Advanced learners and any
stage in between there.
And that's my goal with the
grazing grass community.
And also as we communicate and
form those bonds, it may work out.
There may be other benefits,
but I really think that online
community is so very important.
And I think when I started this
podcast, that was one of my goals
was to build that community.
But in that process, I found
other communities out there.
So I encourage you to find some.
Maybe in a future episode I'll talk
about the Facebook groups that I'm
part of that you may be interested in.
The third thing I've learned
is the value of mentorship.
So 100 episodes, so many people
mentioned, find a mentor.
I mentioned numerous times on
this podcast, I'm a listener of
the BiggerPockets podcast, and
they're big on find a mentor
also for real estate purposes.
Finding a mentor is a little
bit more difficult than just
saying, oh, I found a mentor.
You've got to find someone in your
area, or at least someone that has the
time that you can contact it, maybe
further away, doing what you want to do.
But we have to remember being a
mentor takes time, so we have to be
respectful of that person's time.
So if you can provide value, and that's
one thing BiggerPockets talk about.
If you're wanting someone to help mentor
you, first provide value to that person.
And then develop the mentorship.
And I think that's a really good
way to get started with that.
So by providing value, you can
build up on that relationship.
At some point I've thrown out the idea or
the thought that we ought to have a list
of some regenerative farmers that might
be interested in helping one another.
But jump on that grazing grass community
and ask questions get out there and
discuss it the fourth thing I've learned
from a hundred episodes of the grazing
grass podcast is to get started and that
means take that next step close the gates
Increase your paddocks move your animals
more often if you're not moving them
just moving them once this week Once in
a couple weeks is a step And most of the
time we just need to take that first step.
Because it's so easy as we're learning,
as we're looking at others and what
they're doing, we have to remember
where we are in our journey versus
where they are in their journey.
Don't compare your day old journey or
month long journey or six month old
journey to someone who's been doing
this for decades or even five years.
They're in a different spot
in their journey than you.
But take that next step,
whatever that next step is.
And as we've learned, we've
gained that knowledge, a lot of
times we get analysis paralysis.
How big do we make the paddock?
How far do we set the tread in post?
What equipment do we need?
Those questions are important to get
answers for to help you get started,
but at the same time, you don't have
to have those answers to get started.
Granted, some of those answers
really are beneficial to get started.
If you get the right equipment
in place, it really helps you.
But how far you put the posts
apart, go out and try it.
Did it work?
Great.
If it didn't, modify it and do
it a different way the next time.
And one of those big questions
we get asked a lot is how big
an area do we graze for one day
or for a week or for three days.
It's hard to say because
context is so much.
What's the quality of your pasture?
What plants are in the pasture?
What livestock are you grazing with it?
Where are you located?
So many things there.
My suggestion, you make a paddock
and you go back the next day and see.
And one great thing before you
move animals in there, What's the
average heighth of your forage?
What's your average density or cover?
And you can figure that out with
a grazing stick or a yardstick.
And figure that out and estimate
how much dry matter you have
there for your animals, and
what do they need, and try it.
Now, I'm just saying, get started, and
now I'm giving you more information.
If you're ready to get started and
you're like, oh wait, Cal just said this,
don't worry about it, just get started.
That's more important, you can figure
out the answers for this later.
And that leads us to our fifth
thing I've learned from 100 episodes
of the Grazing Grass Podcast, and
that's make time for reflection.
So let's say you measured, you decided
I'm gonna move these, livestock into
this paddock and I'm going to leave
them however long you decided was there.
Did they graze as much as
you thought they would?
In fact, when you look at what percentage
of plants were taken or what percentage
of plants have a bite taken from
them what's the average height now?
And then if you took that time to figure
it out ahead of time, what, how much dry
matter is there and how much you thought
they would consume, how was your figures?
Were they close?
Were they not?
Did what you do work?
You don't have to do all that
math to say, yes, this worked.
Or to say, no, it didn't.
But what do I need to do today?
And that's a great thing.
You put your livestock in too
small an area and you come back and
they've grazed it to the ground.
You know when you get out there, those
animals are going to be greeting you.
They're going to be bawling at
you as soon as they see you.
And you'll know right then maybe I
should have done something different.
So that was 24 hours.
Increase their paddock for the next day.
That's a great thing if
you're doing daily moves.
Now if you're doing a little bit
longer grazing times, you've got to be
a little bit more proactive and make
sure you're out there checking them.
But reflect upon what you're doing,
and Make adjustments and move forward.
So those are five things I've learned
from a hundred episodes of the podcast.
I could have actually made that into a
hundred things I've learned, but but
the episode would have been way too long.
So I tried to pick out
five important things.
Our journeys are unique,
but they're the same.
Community is so very valuable.
Finding a mentor can really help you out.
And by all means, get started
wherever you are, get started.
And then once you're started,
reflect upon what you're doing.
I think those five important
takeaways are really beneficial.
And like I said at the beginning, this
is a little bit new format we're trying.
Let me know what you think about it.
And then if you'd have a question
for me, or a topic you'd like
to cover, shoot me an email, and
we'll see what we can do about it.
Anyway, I appreciate you listening,
and as always, share our content.
If you haven't left a
review, leave us a review.
That really helps us.
Let me clarify, it helps if
it's like a 5 star review.
If you are thinking you should leave
a 1 star review, I'd rather you email
me, and don't worry about the review.
Until next time, keep on grazing grass.