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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?
Transcript generated by Podium.page. There may be some auto transcription errors.
0:00:01 - Cal
Welcome to the Grazing Grass Podcast, Episode 135.
0:00:06 - Dakota
Enjoy the tough times, because they're when you look back at them. They're some of the best times. Those learning curves are hard, but they're well worth sticking with it. Yeah, enjoy the tough times.
0:00:19 - Cal
You're listening to the Grazing Grass Podcast, sharing information and stories of grass-based livestock production utilizing regenerative practices. I'm your host, cal Hartage. 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 feeds to the community all around you. That's why the Noble Research Institute created their Essentials of Regenitive 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 nobleorg slash grazing. It's nobleorg forward slash grazing.
On today's show we have Dakota Blanks of Virginia. We talk about his journey and what he's doing on his farm with South Pole Cattle and Dakota's on this week and this week he is hosting him and his wife, ruth are hosting a South Pole Field Day, so if you're in that area and want to attend, it's the 20th and 21st and you can go to the South Pole website that's southpolecom S-O-U-T-H-P-O-L-Lcom. You can register to attend there. Sadly, this year we're not going to make it. My wife and I are unable to make it this year. Hopefully we make it till next year, which my understanding is it's in Arkansas so it'll be a little bit closer for us. But we talked to Dakota about his journey into South Post, how that's gone and what else he's doing for grass management and then if he's using other livestock For the overgrazing section. We talk about the field day and what to expect there and for the insiders. The bonus segment is about leasing land, which is always an interesting conversation, and let's just go ahead and follow that in with 10 seconds about the podcast. We just mentioned the insiders. We've been doing some work there, changing some things up, trying to get it more useful for our insiders. If you're an insider and you have trouble logging in, just click on Forgot Password and they'll send you a link so you can reset that. I do appreciate our insiders. Thank you for helping support our podcast. Thank you For 10 seconds about the farm.
Last week we were running calves through our working facility, giving them a second round of shots, and we use a product that we really like and I thought I've not shared that with everyone. We use a product that we really like and I thought I've not shared that with everyone. Years ago, when we'd run calves through shoot, cows through shoot, we'd take paper and pencil out there and we'd write them down. And I know some of you have technology and you don't have to worry about it. We're not that big. We're using paper and pencil.
The problem with paper and pen paper and pencil paper gets wet, it tears, manure gets kicked on it or whatever it tears. If you're riding with an ink pen, then you get smears, especially when that manure hits it or your sweat. It just doesn't work real good. So we have a product called Working Sheets and we use that and we write on it with a permanent marker. You wait just a second or two and that permanent marker ink dries and once it's dried it's not going to smudge, manure is not going to hurt the paper. When you get back to the house you have all your data there and then, even better, once you finish with it, just use a magic eraser and you can erase that off and go use it again. They're reusable for a number of times. How many times. I'm not sure. We have a few sheets and we just reuse them throughout.
If you'd like to order some, we have them on the merch link at grazinggrasscom. If you're thinking that's nice, but I don't want to order, you can make your own, just following our rule of trying to be transparent and sherry. I'll tell you how we make them. We print out a paper on cardstock and usually we do a table 20 lines, five columns. That lets us write down cow numbers and their weights or, if we need other information, works really well for us. And then we laminate that cardstock and that laminate causes that cardstock to not be affected by manure, water etc. We use a permanent marker to write on it and then we erase it with Magic Eraser. That's your tip for the week. If you'd like to order some, we have them in the merch at grazinggrasscom. Enough of that, let's talk to Dakota. Dakota, we want to welcome you to the Grazing Grass podcast. We're excited you're here today.
Well, thank you, maddox, I'm excited to be here Dakota to get started, can you much? I'm excited to be here Dakota to get started.
0:06:11 - Dakota
Can you tell us about yourself and your operation? Sure, so myself, my family and I. We live in Appomattox, Virginia, which is south central Virginia. Most people know it. It's where the Civil War ended and the nation reunited, so that's our claim to fame there. Small little town, mostly ag focused, whether it's row crops or cattle Born and raised in this area within about 30 miles of here.
0:06:36 - Cal
No, yes.
0:06:38 - Dakota
Then they're moved a little bit closer every time we've moved. Originally I grew up just south of here, which was in a tobacco family as well, so that's where my ag influence started was in tobacco. That led me to work in a nursery and just doing plant material, which kind of moved me into horticulture, and that's where my love for plants really started, was that kind of job of the wholesale nursery. It was pretty neat to see how all of those things would fit into our landscape. So anyway, I always kept that in the back of my mind. Beyond that, I started working for about 10 years as a professional firefighter. So my days off I did nursery work, and when that came to an end I was moving into commercial produce. So on my days off from the firehouse we were growing a lot of vegetables selling to local businesses. We had a little farm stand on the side of the road. We were doing farm markets on weekends, things like that. But that then led me to realize that might kill me. It was a lot of work.
And this comes from growing up on a tobacco farm and in nursery work, which are both hard work, but the produce is exceptionally hard when you can't find labor, and that's what we ran into oh yeah. Not being able to find labor. So I knew we were going to be moving out of that. We did my wife. She grew up here, uh, close to the family farm in Appomattox which was a dairy farm. Um, it was being leased for 10, 15 years before we took it back over.
Yeah, and when we took it back over, my intention was to raise produce on it, at least be a part of it, and we got here and decided, no, maybe we'll try something different. So we talked about a lot of different things, but with that we were doing some livestock anyway, we were grazing, grazing some pastured pigs, and we had some chickens and poultry. We were doing a couple hundred egg layers things like that Um that we were selling. So the natural transition was to get bigger animals, the whole time.
Yeah, from the chicken to the pig up to goats and those those kinds of things. And the neighbor I was helping on the side a little bit, we said you need to get some cows and I said, well, we're getting ready to lease this farm, might as well get a few. So I think he sold me eight Sam Angus heifers that were bred, oh yes. And he told me he said, just start slow, get in there and see how you like it. They're pretty easy to handle and those kinds of things. They're good cows. And so we started slow and then, I don't know, two or three months later I decided to go ahead and dive on in and so then we bought 150, 160 more.
0:09:26 - Cal
Oh yes, you really did dive in then.
0:09:29 - Dakota
Yeah, so when I do something I go ahead and do it, and that's what we did. So we bought those. I ended up leasing another farm down the road and then another farm and said I think this is where I want to be. Over about two years there was raising cattle. So that led me. I actually left the fire service and started running cattle full time. It was a fun challenge. We'll say that.
Learning these cattle coming from ag side, where the plants just sit in the ground, they stay put pretty easily and we can figure out how to take care of those when they need something Two live animals years ago was a pretty big transition for me anyway. So I decided I wanted to learn as much as possible about cattle. I started going to cattle schools across the country, started just visiting every farm. I could talking to old guys, young guys, anybody who could give me any advice on cattle Started working for a pretty large seed stock ranch as well, and so I got some really good exposure to a lot of cattle really quick. And that was really good for me was I got to see the good and the bad of thousands ahead of cattle really quick.
0:10:42 - Cal
And how did you help with that seed stock operation?
0:10:46 - Dakota
Probably about two years somewhere around there, and but what it taught me the most was what I knew I couldn't do anymore. It was a place we sold some quote unquote some of the best bulls around that you could find, but the inputs there were pretty find, uh, but the inputs there pretty overwhelming. Oh yes, and I was looking at my cattle and we were running more continuously grazing kind of stuff. I'd move them around once a month to a different pasture, things like that. But I knew there was no way that range could be sustainable with the amount of inputs that we were putting through there. And I asked the one to ask them what happens if we just didn't do this. What if we just stopped feeding these things salads or stopped feeding? Oh well, they'd fall to pieces and I thought well, that doesn't make sense.
Right. So looking at it and running back to my operation, I said I think we're going to go broke if we keep doing this.
0:11:40 - Cal
I'm pretty pretty certain about it and looking at it.
0:11:43 - Dakota
so it led me into the grazing aspect. So what can I do first? Well, cows eat grass. Let me learn this grazing concept. So I remember years ago I started going to the beginner grazing schools and learning how to move the cows around.
0:11:58 - Cal
Oh yes.
0:12:00 - Dakota
I just wanted to dive into that. I just wanted to have as much information about that grazing as possible because way back to my ag and horticulture side was I understood grass plants.
I understood how plants what they needed to grow would thrive and survive, and so well, let's try grazing these cattle a little bit harder. So then I said we're going to, we're going to do this thing of. I read one of Jim Garish's books and I'm like I'm going to move these things every day. I'm going to move them every day. We're just going to see what happens and utilize all this grass and man. When we did that, these cattle fell apart.
0:12:35 - Cal
They fell apart so quick. Now you had eight Sim Angus you'd purchased. When you purchased the remaining 150 head or so were those Sim Angus as well, or what so were those sim angus as well? Or what breeds were those? They were mostly angus based commercial commercial.
0:12:50 - Dakota
Yeah, yeah. So we had some registered semi angus and some registered angus, but most of them were just commercial based cattle that some people around would say call them take home cows yeah, that's the good cow right yeah, great big 15, 1600 pounds.
0:13:04 - Cal
Oh, yes, yeah.
0:13:06 - Dakota
So we started grazing them pretty hard and I didn't know how to graze them, but I knew how to do math so I could figure out how much forage was there and how much they should need to survive and raise a calf. So we started grazing them hard and, man, they fell apart. In the first year of doing that, uh, 40% of the cows went open, oh wow. So we took a huge hit on those and at the time cattle prices were low.
0:13:34 - Cal
Well, obviously, because anytime you get like that.
0:13:37 - Dakota
Cow prices are low.
0:13:39 - Cal
It can't happen right now in this market. So that's a hard hit for anyone who has operation Did were you all. Obviously you were able to financially survive that, but that's a tough hit.
0:13:54 - Dakota
Just barely. It was our life savings that we were watching fly out the window. And at that moment I knew I'm drawing a line in the sand and I said if some of these cows can make it, then why couldn't?
0:14:07 - Cal
all of them right.
0:14:08 - Dakota
I love that philosophy right there yeah, and so I was like, okay, now I've got to figure out this genetic thing or why these made it and these didn't. I needed to learn more about the nutrition of them. So I was just soaking it all in and I do feel like that, coming from tobacco, coming from horticulture, I didn't have this paradigm to break of. This is how my granddaddy did it. Oh yeah, because my granddaddy was a tobacco farmer. If I raised tobacco today, I'm probably going to do it the way he did it.
0:14:36 - Cal
Oh, yeah, probably.
0:14:37 - Dakota
Right, but he didn't have cattle, so it was completely new to me and I started asking a lot of folks around me like why can't we just raise them on grass. Oh, they just won't make it, they can't do it. And I thought, well, some of them did it, and so I mean I don't recommend that to anybody just pulling everything away immediately. It's such a hard hit that it's not fair to the cows, sometimes too, quite frankly.
0:15:02 - Cal
Right, that's one of those things where we talk about sometimes when we get on this journey and I mentioned it in the episode that just released last week that sometimes we get on this journey and we see that end goal and we're like we're going daily moves, we're no fertilizer, we're doing no inputs, and we're not. Our animals aren't there already. So sometimes we got to do some things we don't want to do long-term. To get us to the point, yeah, and so even our land.
0:15:31 - Dakota
Our land was this fertilizer addicted land, oh yeah.
And taking a step back. Our first year I put down fertilizer and we went into drought like the minute it came out the back of the truck. Oh yes, and so then our nitrate levels got so high in the grass we couldn't even graze it. We were afraid we were going to kill cattle. Oh yes, and that was the last time we ever used fertilizer. Oh yeah, because I talked with somebody else. I said well, I should have just put $5,000 in a barrel and set it on fire, because that's basically what we just did, oh yeah.
And and so we started grazing tight. The cattle started falling apart. We shipped that 40%. We had another hit of before. It was cool years ago the Corona virus, but coronavirus for cattle. Of the calves we had, we lost about 40% of them to the coronavirus there and it was one of those times where you couldn't think anything worse could go wrong.
It was a very trying time but it led me to figure out that some cows can handle I'm handing them and some cows can't. So that kind of led us to and I was realizing that all the bigger cows were the ones that weren't making it. They were the ones that were being shipped out and it was the smaller frame, more compact cows that could actually handle what I was giving them. Oh yes, and so through the grazing classes, I started realizing like I need something that can fit my environment and these cattle I have did not do that for me. So that's how I got introduced to South Poles was through a grazing class. Someone had them. I was doing a little PowerPoint on them and I wanted to see what they were. So I called the owners of them and I said, hey, I want to see what these things are. Y'all say that they're made for grass, they're made for grazing. I want to see what these things are. Y'all say that they're made for grass, they're made for grazing. I want to come see them.
I remember leaving. It was June and it was like I don't know nine, 9, 30 in the morning and I left. Then all of my cattle were under the trees. It really made me mad because I'm like it was a cool morning. Oh yeah, they weren't out grazing, they were sitting in the shade and it really irritated me. Irritated me and cause I feel like I get paid when that cow's grazing.
0:17:44 - Cal
Right, yeah, she's making you mad.
0:17:46 - Dakota
So that's right. So I drive up a couple hours and I get there and it's all. Their cattle are out grazing and now it's 15 degrees warmer and I said I don't know what they are, but I want those cows, Like that's what I want. And so that's what led me down the path to South Pole, and it's gotten a little bit better every year. I think of it. I have never regretted the decision to look back on those South Pole cows and, uh, we did easy financial thing, which was mostly breed up.
So we started using South Pole bulls on our uh Angus influenced herd and started saving back heifers, and we've just been so excited ever since doing that.
0:18:27 - Cal
so in dakota with the south post just my first experience with south post. I'd heard about him. In fact, I kicked myself now. I'd heard about him years and years ago. Someone up in northern missouri had him and I emailed him. They sent me some pictures of some heifers and I didn't like them.
And this was I don't know. I would say 15, 20 years ago, I'm not sure. It was a long time ago. I'm getting old so I can't remember all that, but it was a while ago and I thought, well, they sound good, but I just wasn't a big fan of the heifers I saw pictures of. And then I kept hearing about it. I'd even contacted a person or two in this area to go look at theirs, but I'd never made it and we decided to go to the field day in, I think in 21, because I think in 2020, it was in Copan, oklahoma, which is about an hour from me, right, which would have been perfect, but no, I started getting serious after the field day, so we ended up going to I think we went to Tennessee that year to see him and I was just shocked by all these single strand electric fence and I've used electric fence with animals, but not with strangers out there, not with everyone around them, and these animals were just so calm From that I was like, oh wow, I've got to get some.
0:19:50 - Dakota
Yeah, and Teddy did such a great job with that and we hammer it out there as disposition is a big deal. Fertility, longevity and docility oh, yeah.
And that was a huge difference you mentioned for us too was when you're working with some commercial cattle that we had. They were pretty runny, oh yeah, they run you up some fences every now and then In fact my wife the other day. We have a ATD calf catcher and it's parked over in the barn so you roll up, capture a calf tag, it work it and mama can be there just slamming the cage the whole time and can't get to you. And my wife asked me. She said when's the last time you used that? And I said it's gotta be six or seven years ago. Now I said when we switched to cell phones is when I stopped using it, you know.
And she said we should sell that thing.
I don't think you'll ever use it again. I said you know I think you're right, yeah, and for our kids to be out there, and we don't want any pets, we don't treat anything as a pet. Um, I don't like rubbing bulls on their heads. They're still bulls. The cows are still cows. But to know that my kids can walk through there and not get completely run over by something and trampled, it's a really nice thing to have. And we've had groups of hundreds up against their herd and, like you said, they just graze and look at them.
They're a little interested and they just go about their business. So that's just been a huge benefit of moving to those as well for sure.
0:21:19 - Cal
So you'd gone up to that farm a couple hours away from you and were impressed with them out grazing. So you started breeding up. And I'm going to, initially, when you say that, I know exactly what you mean, but then I have to remember not everyone listening knows what we mean when we say that. So what do you mean? That you started breeding your cows up?
0:21:44 - Dakota
Yeah. So what we did was I tried to buy the best South pole bull that I could find. I called Dave Roberts, who is Teddy Gentry's farm manager, and I said this is what I'm looking for. What do you have? He said, well, come down and look. So next day or two went down there, looks and said you know what I want, knowing that my cattle were falling to pieces pretty quick, that I want a bull from an old cow oh yeah, the oldest cow you want. And he said, well, we got a pretty old one and she was about 20 years old. I said that's the bull I want. If she lived that long, I think the rest of my cows will.
So we took that bull and we bred up with him, and so we crossed the South Pole bull on our commercial cows and that first generation was 50% South Pole, 50% commercial cows, and they were just fantastic animals. They really were. They got smaller, more compact, they got slicker and they got more docile immediately. And so we kept doing that the first 50%ers and then the next generation. We used a different bull and we would get 75 or three quarters as we um all the way up to a purebred status which can take you seven, seven, eights or 15, six things, depending on if it's a bull or heifer. And, like I said, we did buy some full bloods in after a while, and just cause we wanted a few different types of genetics we were looking for, but the breeding up is just such a fantastic thing.
I think in our breed females are hard to find they're. They're can be pretty expensive right now because a lot of people want them and there's not many of them. But the bulls they can be such a quick improvement for your herd. I always tell people you can buy a sorry bull and get 50 sorry calves. You can buy a great bull and get 50 great calves that year. Oh yeah, so you know you can change your herd quicker with a bull, I feel like, than you can doing anything. So I've never shied away from spending good money on bulls.
0:23:38 - Cal
Oh yeah.
0:23:38 - Dakota
With that and through that we were able to really even though we had commercial cows we could find out which cows adapted to our area, so we weren't buying a lot of cattle from outside of the area. We took the cows that did work, the cows that survived, fed, going to that daily move, grazing that tough grazing, and adapted well to our area, and then we just bred to them and created this adapted herd, and so it was just a pretty easy way of doing it. It takes more time I mean it's six to eight years from getting your purebred animals and so it was just a pretty easy way of doing it.
0:24:08 - Cal
It takes more time, oh yeah.
0:24:09 - Dakota
There's six to eight years from getting your purebred animals. It was very cost-effective for us as well. Uh, doing that and the bulls hold a lot of value, oh yeah.
0:24:19 - Cal
So put you on the hot seat for just a moment. Purebred or full blood.
0:24:25 - Dakota
The best animal, give me the best name. Oh yeah.
0:24:28 - Cal
I like to flop. Yeah, give you the best animal and go with it. Yeah.
0:24:31 - Dakota
I want to move my herd forward, I want to move these cattle forward. I'm not looking at papers, I'm so, and I tell a lot of people too. I buy somebody's program. If we're buying animals, we're buying that person's program. So I really want somebody who runs their cattle a little bit harder than I do, because if they do, I know that they're going to do extremely well.
0:24:50 - Cal
Yeah, yeah.
0:24:52 - Dakota
And so purebred full blood. There's some sorry full bloods out there and there's some sorry purebreds, and there's some great of each. The main thing is finding those adapted cattle that fit your area, that can perform well at your place. Oh yeah, but no, I'm not a stickler, for for those two things there's such a slim difference when you get to them, um, when you. When it all comes down to it, I'm not going to choose for paper.
0:25:20 - Cal
I'm going to choose for the animal, oh yeah.
0:25:22 - Dakota
That's my philosophy and I'll stick to that for sure, Cause I'd much rather have a even a half blood If she's fantastic, I'd rather have her than a really sorry purebred or whatever. I just want the best animals I can have to move my herd forward.
0:25:37 - Cal
Right, yeah, and that makes great sense. It gets really tough sometimes when you spend money for animals and they don't perform like you expect. So you got to be careful and not don't bend more than you can afford to lose Right and that's one thing I will say.
0:25:55 - Dakota
Generally in the South Pole breed, the breeders who have been around for a while. They stuck to their guns on that of if it's sorry, you cull it. If it's aggressive, you cull it. If it doesn't breed, you need to cull it. If it can't walk, you need to cull it. If it's aggressive, you cull it. If it doesn't breed, you need to cull it. If it can't walk, you need to cull it. So that and Teddy's the first one to talk about that is you've got to have a hard, strict culling regimen in order to keep it, and it is. You don't want anybody to lose money, but when you pay a lot of money for something, you didn't know what you bought and she didn't get bred or she raised a sorry calf, or they're crazy. They got to go down the road and it's a hard thing to do sometimes. I know a hundred percent. It's a hard thing to do. Yeah it, yeah. It's just something I like.
0:26:36 - Cal
I tell people you just gotta close your eyes and do it, that's it. Yeah. Now when you started with your commercial herd and you started going these once a day moves, let's talk about your infrastructure. To get there, did you have to go do anything so you could jump in and do once a day moves, or were you pretty well set up so it was easy to transition to?
0:27:02 - Dakota
So, yeah, we did a lot of infrastructure and the way we did it personally so we're connected to the Chesapeake Bay infrastructure and the way we did it personally so we're connected to the Chesapeake Bay, so we have fencing programs that that will assist you in fencing cattle out of the creek to keep the nitrogen from going down to the Chesapeake Bay and harming the bay. So we did one of those practices where we fenced out the creeks and we made I want to say originally six paddocks on the farm.
0:27:29 - Cal
Oh, okay.
0:27:30 - Dakota
So maybe six. At that time we were grazing about 160 acres on this one farm here. So we made six paddocks and we put a well in and we put some waters in. But beyond that I just started buying a lot of polywire and started cutting it down further and further and further. So we were taking 30 and 50 acre paddocks and making them half acre, one acre paddocks of it. That that was a big help. Was that watering system, just to be able to move them?
0:28:00 - Cal
around. Oh, yeah, yeah.
0:28:02 - Dakota
Because otherwise we've got parts of the farm that are three quarters of a mile away from the other end that would never be utilized and truly, on their farm it was always utilized for hay. So people cut the hay and they shipped it out of here. So they took all our nutrients, all our minerals and just shipped them out. Now we put the water system in, we can put cattle on every inch of it and as we need to.
0:28:25 - Cal
So, with your watering system in place, how far are your cows having to walk, at the most, for water?
0:28:32 - Dakota
Probably 800 to a thousand feet most of the time. Yeah, something like that, and so we're wagon wheel set up around the farm basically, but try to keep them within about a thousand feet of each other and you still. You can tell the utilization starts dropping off at that furthest point. Oh yeah, we make them use it now. So it's been a great blessing to have those things put in, for sure.
0:28:58 - Cal
When you put in your water, did you put in permanent watering troughs?
0:29:03 - Dakota
I did so we did. I think I did 21 or 22 Ritchie waters, oh yes, and I like the Ritchie waters, I think they're. We did. I think I did 21 or 22 Ritchie waters, oh yes, um, and I liked the Ritchie waters, I think they're great. If I did it again, I wouldn't oh yeah, wouldn't do that.
0:29:14 - Cal
That was actually my next question, Dakota what you would you do differently with this process. So continue on. That's right, Well.
0:29:22 - Dakota
I would do more pipeline with just risers all over the place I line with just risers all over the place. I've seen some setups like that that maybe I could put more water points in but not actually have a pad and those kinds of things and hook them up and move them around more. That's one thing I would definitely do. I think it's more cost effective that way. I don't like some of the waters how you have for one you can have erosion around it. You have a heavy manure buildup around that one spot, those kinds of things. But yeah, I would definitely do the risers, I believe over the waters Waters have their place and corrals and things like that I feel like.
Then we have them, but out in the pasture I feel like I'd stick close to the just water points. So hooking up hoes and troughs and moving those around.
0:30:08 - Cal
And are you still moving your cows once a day?
0:30:12 - Dakota
Generally once a day. If we have time and we're going to be here a lot, we might move them twice a day. If we're not and I'm super busy, as in we are these last two weeks, three weeks we might be moving them every three days. We try to never let anything sit more than four days oh yeah at that point we good, bad and different.
They need to be moved. At that point, no matter how big the paddock is we feel like, but day is always our goal, at least once a day with your grazing are you shooting for?
0:30:41 - Cal
take half, leave half graze a third. Trample a third leave third, non-selective grazing. What's your goal as you graze?
0:30:51 - Dakota
I think it's primarily grass focused still right now. So we've been in this the last however many years, decade, 12 years, however long it's been is. We took this farm that was just so depleted and such poor soil that I've just wanted to protect it and make it better each time. And we know we do that through cattle. So when we're grazing I think it's different for every spot. So we've got probably 30% warm season grasses here, some warm season pastures versus cool season, so we're going to graze them each differently.
Right now when people come into the farm they're going to see it's shaggy, it's tall, not willing to really go around and manicure everything. I want people to see this is a working farm and this is how we do it. But we've got gamma grass that's waist high and the cattle aren't really liking it right now, but I wanted it to go to seed because I want some of that gamma grass to fill in spots. So I knew I took it further than where it would have been most beneficial for the cattle, but I think it's more beneficial for the grasses and those bottoms that will help regenerate itself more and more every year. So, yeah, it's always different If we've got a real weedy spot or a lot of briars or something. We may just hammer it down to nothing. And then again springtime comes around. We're flashing through there, trying to get through just as quick as we can, trying to move them around the farm, as people call it, chasing grass.
0:32:17 - Cal
Dakota, I love your answer there because I think when we sometimes we get wrapped up on which grazing we want to strive and do, when they're all tools in our pocket or in our toolbox and we want to pick out what works best for this particular paddock, what our goal is, what we're doing there, and it's going to depend like you, let that gamma grass go to seed, or maybe you've got an area that you're wanting to graze down and more of that non-selective grazing they're all tools in our toolbox down and more of that non-selective grazing they're all tools in our toolbox, sure, and you're going to graze fescue based pastures that are heavy fescue, different from switchgrass.
0:32:54 - Dakota
Right, and that's different from the gamma grass, and we've got spots of Indian grass coming back native and we. Everything is different. We do have a good portion of annuals growing right now as well, that we've seeded in that we're just trying to play with and see what happens with it. So you've. The best thing about grazing cattle is that I'll probably screw up today and I'll try again tomorrow.
0:33:16 - Cal
I agree, it'll be okay.
0:33:19 - Dakota
It'll be okay, it'll come back, yeah. So it's really fun. And some things that have changed over the years for me is, I guess too, I've realized we love the cattle and we love our herd, but we love this land too, and so I've got to make it better every day. Every day, I need to make it better for my kids that hopefully they have something to make a living off of when they're older.
But another point is we're also trying to steward the land for the animals that are on it, not just the cattle, oh yeah, so we raise it as people come in. They'll see. The warm season grasses are really tall right now, but I know there's a lot of quail in there at the moment.
0:33:58 - Cal
Oh yeah.
0:33:59 - Dakota
And they're being protected and they're going to have some winter cover. And quail's not something that we have around here oh yeah, but we do. Yeah, them that we have around here? Oh yeah, but we do. We do have several coveys of quail out here and we've got tons of rabbits and tons of deer and Turkey and bear and those kinds of things that weren't here 15 years ago. They just weren't. It wasn't any habitat for them. So we're trying to keep good cattle habitat and we're trying to keep good wildlife habitat as well, to where everything can not only survive but Thrive here on the farm.
0:34:28 - Cal
Oh yeah.
0:34:29 - Dakota
And the more species, the more abundance, the pollinators, all of it. We just, I just I love seeing anything that new that shows up. I'm just super excited about it.
0:34:39 - Cal
Oh yeah, yeah. I love going out here and, like you said, we don't see a lot of bobwhite quail, at least not like we used to when I was a kid but we have a few cubbies here on the farm and I love seeing those. One thing we don't have yet are wild turkeys. I've seen them a mile or two away, but they haven't made it to us, so I'm hoping to get there.
0:35:04 - Dakota
Yeah, that's one of our favorite things to do is spring gobbler.
0:35:06 - Cal
Oh, yes. Now, when you were starting in on this journey, you were doing produce and you were doing some other animals. Have you gone completely to cattle or do you still have some other animals there?
0:35:22 - Dakota
So yes and no. So we moved last year to the farm Um and where we were at we were about 20 minutes away. I was driving here once twice a day moving cows, things like that, so I decided we need to build a house over here and we did and we moved last year. With that, we ended up we had sold all of our pasture, pork, those kinds of things, because I haven't set up areas for those yet.
We sold our chickens and whatnot. So this year is kind of a new rebuilding year for us. 25 will be anyway, and that's to get our pigs back in rotation, to get some more layers on the ground, but we're also going to be adding sheep oh okay, we had sheep in the past, yes, and they did not fit.
They were not adapted, they were just did not work with their program and so we sold them off. And so, after researching for quite some time of where to find the best sheep or who they're from, we're going to jump back in next year on those and I know I'll have a ton of learning curves on those, so I'm trying to move it a little bit slower with those than I did with the cattle. We'll start with maybe 30 instead of 500. We'll go slow there, you go.
0:36:29 - Cal
You know, with sheep I like to think I'm not too dumb, but boy, it was a steep learning curve with sheep. I'm still figuring them out, but they're not many cattle and I know people had told me that, but yet I still tried to manage them like that. So it's interesting. But yeah, that's exciting for you to get to the farm and be there close by so you can. It just makes your management so much easier. We, growing up, our dairy barn was two miles from our house, which is not much, but still that two miles was quite a barrier, because later on I lived at the dairy or next to the dairy and it was just so much easier to go do something. So, yeah, sure, and that 3 am call that.
0:37:14 - Dakota
You look at your phone and you know somebody's going to say, hey, your cows are out, oh yeah, whereas now, if it happens, I just walk down the driveway right much easier. Yes, getting in the truck, driving 20 to 30 minutes looking for them in the dark. Yeah, yeah, so well, dakota.
0:37:28 - Cal
It is time for us to transition to our overgrazing section, which is sponsored by Redmond. At Redmond, we know that you thrive when your animals do. That's why it's essential to fill the gaps in your herd's nutrition with the minerals that they need. Made by nature, our ancient mineral salt and conditioner clay are the catalyst in optimizing the nutrients your animals get from their forage. Unaltered and unrefined, our minerals have the natural balance and proportion that your animals prefer. This gives your herd the ability to naturally regulate their mineral consumption as they graze. Our minerals won't just help you improve the health of your animals, but will also help you naturally build soil fertility so you can grow more nutrient-dense pasture year after year. Nourish your animals, your soil and your life with Redmond. Learn more at redmondagriculturecom. The overgrazing section. We cover a topic in a little bit more detail and going through your story today. You mentioned you have been really busy. Why have you been so busy?
0:38:44 - Dakota
We are getting ready to host the South Pole Grass Gattle Field Day, september 20th 21st.
0:38:52 - Cal
It's quite the event and I'm sad because I'm going to miss it. We had hoped to make it out there but we're not going to make it this year. But I've always enjoyed going out. But as I've gone to the different field days, that is a ton of work, and so let's just talk about that journey to the different field days. That is a ton of work, and so let's just talk about that journey. How did you decide, or how did you all? Did someone twist your arm so you host a field day?
0:39:18 - Dakota
Oh, they certainly did.
Not at all. This was probably five years ago. My wife and I were actually trying to think about this when it signed up. Five years ago I was visiting some friends and some producers down in Florida and they were saying we're looking for people to host field day at this time. They were talking to a board member and I wasn't on the board at that point, so I threw it out there. I said, well, we'd probably host a field day and at this point back then, those field days were 200, 250 people maybe, I guess, somewhere around there.
So fairly small, but just a really great time, and I've always enjoyed going to the field days. You just meet so many people, so many great producers. But it's like I've said it many times like the animals in this breed are fantastic, but the people are better and I truly believe that there's just a lot of good people with it. But we offered up hey, we'd be willing to do that. And they're like, oh okay, well, when I said, well, whenever y'all want, give us a few years. And how does 2023, 2024 sound? No, that's fine, but over these last five years, the breed has really expanded a lot. It's really blown up, so it's a little bit bigger than we said.
Yes, in 2019, but it's just fantastic, so we're excited. It's been a lot of work, but we're praying for good weather and just that everyone stays safe, has a good time. There'll be some really nice cattle here for people to have the option to purchase and some great speakers.
0:40:49 - Cal
So we're going to release this episode next Wednesday, which is the 19th if my math serves me right. Maybe the 18th, I don't know. It's right in there. If someone hears about it then are they still able to come to the field day?
0:41:05 - Dakota
Absolutely. You can register online at South by pollcom, or you can show up the day of, and we'll be glad to have you. We will find a seat for everybody that shows up, we'll find a meal and I think there's something for everybody Beginners, old, experienced cattlemen that have been doing it for 75 years there's going to be something for everybody. Nonetheless, it's just a good group of people to get to know.
0:41:30 - Cal
It is. Let's talk just a little bit about what it's going to look like. Not that I don't know For me, I'm always like what's it going to look like? So in the past there's usually a big tent and that's where the speakers are. The cattle are set up somewhere else. The auction's a little bit different. We'll talk about that in just a minute.
0:41:55 - Dakota
But how's it going to be set up there? Yeah, so basically the same thing. So we've got a one big central barn that we work out of, behind it is the cattle, and we've already got the pens set up.
We did that this week, so the cattle will be in. These will be some smaller pens in the big working area. They'll all be separated by twos or threes per pen so that you can walk a central alley and view the cattle up close, within a few feet of them and get a good look at them Up on top of the hill. We're going to have, like you said, two big tents. We'll have the speakers area all up under one with some big TVs and that's where we'll do our main guest speakers and we'll do the speaking contest and those kinds of things from there, as well as another tent where all the food will be served for the catered lunch or the dinner.
0:42:44 - Cal
With that setup will you have some vendor booths set up as well?
0:42:50 - Dakota
Yeah, I should have mentioned that In the barn we're going to have the silent auction in there, which sometimes we'll have maybe 40, 50 items in there.
Some really cool stuff in there, some one-of-a-kind stuff. There's always Dave Roberts. He always has a painting in there that he does every year and that's a hot item, dave, he's a great artist too. But as well as the barn, we're going to have some vendors set up, so there'll be I don't know how many. We have at the moment six, eight, 10 different vendors that will have some stuff out there that they're showcasing, and some guys with cattle shoots and things like that.
So it'll be plenty to do. The farm itself will be open for tours. We're going to do pasture walks and things like that. We'll hopefully have a kind of a path mode around everything and people can just meander across the farm, see what we see every day.
0:43:40 - Cal
Oh yeah, so you've mentioned a few items there on the agenda. So what's the agenda look like for the two days?
0:43:48 - Dakota
Okay, so Friday morning that's usually when people start showing up. Friday morning's kind of the gathering, people talking, seeing old friends from all over the country, from different countries that are showing up. Well, around lunchtime we'll have some food trucks set up so people can their lunches for that and some food, sit around tables, talk. Obviously it's mainly to view cattle, so we'll have our sale books there. Everybody can take a look at the sale books, match them up to the animals in the pens.
Friday afternoon will be our what we call our breakout sessions. So we're going to be doing some breakout sessions on I see a pasture walk with some forage ID that we'll be doing Hay sampling, I believe, hay test results, how to know how to buy good hay versus bad hay. What are you looking for? We'll do a little introduction to AI, so artificial insemination there, as well as maybe how to pick a bull. People are holding back these animals and what makes a good sire. We'll do a little class on that as well. For Friday afternoon We'll all get back into the tent and we'll talk about some changes to the association, to the rules. We've had any kind of updates from the board as well, as we just went through a new registry process. We want to update people on that as well. We'll follow that up with a dinner served that night and then some bluegrass music. That to end out the evening, and people are welcome to stay and hang out just as long as they feel they need.
0:45:20 - Cal
Oh yeah, so that's got you Friday, and then it continues on Saturday.
0:45:26 - Dakota
Yep, so Saturday will be our two main speakers again. Come Saturday morning we'll probably have some coffee and things available. Check out the cattle, look at them before the auction happens. Saturday morning will be, I believe, teddy's going to get up and speak. Teddy Gentry will speak for a few minutes there first, and then we'll move into. Jim Garrish is coming to speak. Teddy Gentry will speak for a few minutes there first, and then we'll move into. Jim Garrish is coming to speak. There's some great topics from him, as well as Jordan Thomas is going to be doing a nice talk for us. We'll have lunch together and then we'll follow that up with the youth speaking contest and then we're going to wrap things up with the South Pole auction Now with the auction.
0:46:08 - Cal
that was another thing I spoke earlier. First time I saw South was at a field day and I was just shocked by how calm they were. The next thing that surprised me was the auction. Tell us because I have not been around an auction like that Tell us how the auction works or a little bit about that.
0:46:29 - Dakota
Yeah. So this is called a cowboy style auction, which means we're going to start at a number, say we're going to start at $100. You're going to have your number on a card. You're going to hold that hand up high as we go 100, 200, 300. Whenever you hit your limit of what you want to pay, that card drops and the last person holding the car is the one who wins that animal. Pretty slow, it's easy to hear. We've got a great auctioneer that does it for us and things are very clear instead of a fast rolling auction that you may not know what you bought it for. So it's slow enough that everybody can get their bids in and be comfortable with what they bid, but fast enough that we can move on through the auction.
0:47:10 - Cal
I have a funny story. I hate to share it because it shows I'm not the smartest one around. Years ago we used to raise some bottle calves and went down to Sulphur Springs, texas, because I was wanting to buy a set and my dad and grandpa went with me and I could not understand the auctioneer very good. I wasn't exactly sure how much I was paying, except I knew I wanted a load. I went down there with that purpose. It's a six-hour drive for us. I was going to come back with a load and I could tell enough or understand him enough. I knew the range of the prices. I was going to come back with a load and I could tell enough or understand him enough. I knew the range of the prices, but I wasn't exactly sure how much I was paying per calf. And I had. My dad was on one side, my grandpa was on the other side and they'd elbow me. They'd be like, oh, that's a good one, how about that one? And there's calves in there.
They were practically begging me to buy it and I was like, no, and because at the time I still was a little confused about the price I go to pay and I bought a trailer loader or I had a pickup and a trailer load of calves, and I forget how many it was, I think about 25 or something, and I paid about $250 for them. I was shaking my head to some $2 and 50 cent calves but at the same time I did not think they I their baby calves. They're going to take a lot of work. So they're a Jersey and didn't look very good. I'm not going to even go and chance it, but I was completely shocked when I went to pay. I was like how much? So that could well, I was fine, whatever, I knew what I was working with, but I just couldn't understand that auctioneer. Very good, that's funny and sadly I've never been able to buy those calves that cheap again, cause I was able to.
0:48:58 - Dakota
Yeah, I don't know if you ever will, right, those are probably gone, that's probably gone.
0:49:01 - Cal
Yeah, those days are probably gone. Yeah, that's probably gone. Yeah, I'm thinking, dakota, if there's anything else about the field day, we've already talked about how it's structured, how you got roped into it. We talked about if someone doesn't have it on their calendar, but they're free, hey, friday and Saturday it's available there. I think we've covered most everything out there.
0:49:28 - Dakota
Well, the only other thing is that this is a farm. There's things that sting, things that bite, there is things that can chase you. If we're getting a bunch of rain, we're going to get mud. You can get stuck. It's a farm. This is not a Walmart parking lot, so we'll do our best to cater to everybody. If there's handicap needs, let us know. We'll be glad to shuttle you around. We will have some shuttles, some gators running people back and forth, but it's a farm.
0:49:55 - Cal
We hope everybody comes and enjoys it as much as we do every day, Each field day I've been to, like you mentioned earlier, the people's always been so wonderful, so helpful. It earlier. The people's always been so wonderful, so helpful. It's been a really enjoyable activity or trip or field day. And one thing is you talked about all those things. You're still going to have plenty of time to get to talk to people and build your networks and relationships with others. It's a really good time. So I encourage you, if you're close by, to go out there if you're not too close, just start out there sooner.
0:50:33 - Dakota
That's right. That's right. We're taking people from all over.
0:50:34 - Cal
so it's fine. Well, Dakota, let's move to our famous four questions, sponsored by Ken Cove Farm Fence. Ken Cove Farm Fence is a proud supporter of the Grazing Grass Podcasts and grazers everywhere. At Ken Cove FarmFence they believe there is true value within the community of grazers and land stewards. The results that follow, proper management and monitoring, can change the very world around us. That's why Ken Cove is dedicated to providing an ever-expanding line of grazing products to make your chores easier and your land more abundant. Whether you're growing your own food on the homestead or grazing on thousands of acres.
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0:51:58 - Dakota
Oh, there's so many, there is so many. I think one of my favorites is Walt Davis. How to Not Go Broke Ranching oh yeah, that's a big one. I'm very numbers focused on everything that I do and that will help you a lot. There is just. How to not go broke is a really good thing to learn.
0:52:18 - Cal
Oh, it is, yeah, and it's an excellent resource, like you said. Yes, dakota, what's your?
0:52:23 - Dakota
favorite tool for the farm? Probably my hay unroller. I've just got one that goes on the back of the tractor. Oh yeah, but we love. I know some people are against hay and don't want to do those kinds of things and that's okay. I love buying hay. I can still buy it really cheap. I'm buying people's fertilizer off of their farm. I'm buying feed for my animals, even though we could probably graze without it. We can take that hay unroller and unroll it on the poorest ground we have and we can change that ground pretty quick, pretty dramatic, oh yeah. So I'd have to say the hay unroller is probably my favorite.
0:52:57 - Cal
We. We built a little hay unroller trailer. We use Greg Judy's photos and welded up our own, but we just purchased one to go on the back of the tractor. So I'm excited to try that out this year, because the trailer professional welders. But it does come with a guarantee, so we have to go back and re-weld some parts on it yeah, yeah, I gotcha, I gotcha, yeah, I think they're good tools to hang, oh yeah dakota. Our third question what would you tell someone?
0:53:29 - Dakota
just getting started. Soak it in. Enjoy the tough times, because when you look back at them, they're some of the best times. Those learning curves are hard, but they're well worth sticking with it. Yeah, enjoy the tough times.
0:53:43 - Cal
I like that. Enjoy the tough times, enjoy the moments. Don't miss out on them. That's so important because we all get in this and I'm as guilty as anyone that I'm looking forward to that next thing.
0:54:01 - Dakota
And sometimes it's important just slow down. I say sometimes, I would say almost all the time I'm not good at that, I'm terrible at actually slowing down and enjoying the moment.
0:54:06 - Cal
So this is me reminding myself oh yeah, yeah, enjoy the tough times. Yeah, very good advice. And Dakota. Lastly, where can others find out more about you?
0:54:14 - Dakota
Probably through our website at wendyacrescattlecom. We're on there. You can reach out to me. My phone number, I believe, is on there. We've got an Instagram that I believe is Wendy Acres Farm, va. Um, my wife runs most of that, so she'd probably, uh does, post that. I don't even know what's on there, quite frankly. Um, but feel free to shoot me an email. My phone number should be on there. I'm happy to talk to anybody about cows grazing, cattle farming, any of it. I just I love talking about this stuff Well very good.
0:54:51 - Cal
We will put those links in our show notes. Dakota and Dakota, we appreciate you coming on and sharing with us and we hope you have a wonderful field day and maybe the crowd will be even larger than it's been.
0:55:05 - Dakota
Well, I don't know. Let's not hope for too much, let's not hope for too much, let's not hope for too much. But no, we appreciate it. We're excited, we're excited.
0:55:13 - Cal
Very good. I really hope you enjoyed today's conversation. I know I did. Thank you for listening and if you found something useful, please share it. Share it on your social media, Tell your friends, Get the word out about the podcast. Helps us grow.
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