The Old Ram-Australia
Herd Master
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- Jan 18, 2011
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In exploring this topic I think it would be of value to understand what constitutes a productive/profitable pasture.
Remembering that it’s the stock that eats the grass it’s wise to think about what it is the animal needs from the forage it consumes. For a pasture to be productive it seems to me to need the following.
1. Dirversity of species.
2. The ability of the soil to hold and retain moisture.
3. Fertility with adequate amounts of minerals/trace elements.
4. Soil health with a biology that is alive and active.
5. Shelter from the prevailing winds, be they hot or cold.
1. In Australia we are fortunate to have almost of our lands not subjected to months of snow, but we certainly have the other extreme of hot and dry and frequent times of lack of rain. There is a distinct need to have a wide range of both C3 and C4’s of perennial species so soil disturbance is kept to an absolute minimum and to maintain sufficient height so that the next seasons crowns are protected from the extremes of the current one.
2. When we first purchased our current farm is was really quite “run down”, sure in some areas loads and loads of fertilizer had been added over the years by previous owners, but by the time summer came it was generally a stretch of brown where ever you looked. It was not until 2008 when we undertook the “big” change in thinking that I realized that one of the major problems we had was to hold moisture in the soil profile rather than to have it all escape down the drainage lines and off of our farm. I undertook to read and understand the concepts of Peter Andrews “Natural Sequence Farming” to gain an insight of the importance of retaining moisture in the profile when it rains and having a system of “slow release” down the slope controlled by gravity. I have found that if you increase the penetration of moisture at the highest point of the catchment you have the battle half won. There is plenty of research to show the difference between rain drops hitting bare soil and it hitting a surface covered with grass. Generally speaking the rain hitting bare soils “pools” and runs across the surface gathering speed and taking any loose material with it. This was very much the case on our place. Our solution was to change how our fence lines needed to run, enabling better control of livestock grazing. I suspect that our outcomes are similar to the way that beaver ponds manage the snow melts and slowly release the water downstream over summer.
3. The reality is that the very best soils are unlikely to be used for grazing there is more money to be made from cropping. For almost 40 years we have been using a natural mineral mix to support the livestock’s health outcomes it has always been my contention that you feed it to the stock rather than broadcast it all over your paddocks and it is far cheaper and you are sure the benefit is being obtained by the stock.
4. Carrying out what is considered normal practice is a sure way to “kill” most if not all of the life in your soil. Ploughing, weed spraying and the application of artificial fertilizers all combine to set back the natural processers that nature has developed. It is an interesting exercise to fence off an area in the middle of a paddock and not graze it for at least 12 months. We did it in a 40 ac paddock and the area was about 4 acs, we now use this area to spread seed by wind and water to increase diversity in the surrounding paddocks. We now graze this paddock at non-critical times to increase the natural fertility of the paddock.
5. A barrier of say 20mts wide be it a mix of trees species can reduce the damage from searing (much like the hedgerows of old) heat or freezing cold winds and benefit the stock sheltering beside it and if the species to the outside are thorny like Pyracantha or English Hawthorn it can be a predator deterrent as well.(the thorny the better).
The method we used to repair out eroded creek is available as a Power Point it was put together by a faculty at Utah State from our 7 years of monitoring and text, its available for free but it is a 6 MB compressed file ,if you message me I will endeavor to get a copy to you…T.O.R. .....The photos show the same view except 1 is upslope and the other is downslope
Remembering that it’s the stock that eats the grass it’s wise to think about what it is the animal needs from the forage it consumes. For a pasture to be productive it seems to me to need the following.
1. Dirversity of species.
2. The ability of the soil to hold and retain moisture.
3. Fertility with adequate amounts of minerals/trace elements.
4. Soil health with a biology that is alive and active.
5. Shelter from the prevailing winds, be they hot or cold.
1. In Australia we are fortunate to have almost of our lands not subjected to months of snow, but we certainly have the other extreme of hot and dry and frequent times of lack of rain. There is a distinct need to have a wide range of both C3 and C4’s of perennial species so soil disturbance is kept to an absolute minimum and to maintain sufficient height so that the next seasons crowns are protected from the extremes of the current one.
2. When we first purchased our current farm is was really quite “run down”, sure in some areas loads and loads of fertilizer had been added over the years by previous owners, but by the time summer came it was generally a stretch of brown where ever you looked. It was not until 2008 when we undertook the “big” change in thinking that I realized that one of the major problems we had was to hold moisture in the soil profile rather than to have it all escape down the drainage lines and off of our farm. I undertook to read and understand the concepts of Peter Andrews “Natural Sequence Farming” to gain an insight of the importance of retaining moisture in the profile when it rains and having a system of “slow release” down the slope controlled by gravity. I have found that if you increase the penetration of moisture at the highest point of the catchment you have the battle half won. There is plenty of research to show the difference between rain drops hitting bare soil and it hitting a surface covered with grass. Generally speaking the rain hitting bare soils “pools” and runs across the surface gathering speed and taking any loose material with it. This was very much the case on our place. Our solution was to change how our fence lines needed to run, enabling better control of livestock grazing. I suspect that our outcomes are similar to the way that beaver ponds manage the snow melts and slowly release the water downstream over summer.
3. The reality is that the very best soils are unlikely to be used for grazing there is more money to be made from cropping. For almost 40 years we have been using a natural mineral mix to support the livestock’s health outcomes it has always been my contention that you feed it to the stock rather than broadcast it all over your paddocks and it is far cheaper and you are sure the benefit is being obtained by the stock.
4. Carrying out what is considered normal practice is a sure way to “kill” most if not all of the life in your soil. Ploughing, weed spraying and the application of artificial fertilizers all combine to set back the natural processers that nature has developed. It is an interesting exercise to fence off an area in the middle of a paddock and not graze it for at least 12 months. We did it in a 40 ac paddock and the area was about 4 acs, we now use this area to spread seed by wind and water to increase diversity in the surrounding paddocks. We now graze this paddock at non-critical times to increase the natural fertility of the paddock.
5. A barrier of say 20mts wide be it a mix of trees species can reduce the damage from searing (much like the hedgerows of old) heat or freezing cold winds and benefit the stock sheltering beside it and if the species to the outside are thorny like Pyracantha or English Hawthorn it can be a predator deterrent as well.(the thorny the better).
The method we used to repair out eroded creek is available as a Power Point it was put together by a faculty at Utah State from our 7 years of monitoring and text, its available for free but it is a 6 MB compressed file ,if you message me I will endeavor to get a copy to you…T.O.R. .....The photos show the same view except 1 is upslope and the other is downslope
