The Birds and the Cows

For some reason the you will have to click on the boxes to make the photos show up. If anyone can help let me know. Thanks

Because of the drastic increase in corn prices over the last year I have decided to try to wean more of my calves on grass, and let them graze to heavier weights than I have in the past. Our current practice has been to place a calf in the feedlot at 205 days of age and leave him there until harvest at about 13 months of age. The cowboy in me really likes going back to weaning on grass. The whole purpose of a ruminant animal like a cow or buffalo is to convert the suns energy through grass into digestible protein. Cheap corn has made me adjust my management to fit my resources and now I'm going back to a system that has worked for thousands of years. OK I'll get off my soapbox and talk about what I did today.

Today on the farm we cut hedge posts. If I'm going to graze more calves I have to have more fence. More fence means more posts.The main reason I was out doing this on a Sunday was to get the posts cut before the birds start nesting in May. Because of this we stop cutting hedge by the first of May so we don't interrupt the nesting habits of the birds that live on Pinhook Farm. The other management practice we apply to encourage nesting is the stockpiling (allowing grass to grow for several months to use later) of pasture. I'll try to explain through the photos how all of this fits together.

Here is a photo of Kevin cutting down a hedge tree. The farm we are working on was recently acquired and had been neglected for several years before our purchase. When land is neglected or abused Mother Nature steps in and protects it by covering it with hedge and locust trees. These thorny trees prevent animals from grazing to close and allow the land to rest. Hedge is a very dense wood and makes excellent fence posts. I'm sure most of you have seen the gnarled crooked posts holding up miles of fence across our state. The green hedge balls that you see for sale in the fall as a natural pesticide for bugs and crickets come from these trees as well. I think you can see in the photo what excellent habitat these trees are for birds. (Don't worry we leave the trees along the ditches and streams. We just clear the open areas.

Were convinced this is the straightest hedge post on the planet :) you never know what a farmer will be proud of.

Many you may have noticed that there is not a lot of mud on the farm. This is because one of our management practices is to restrict grazing on our calving pastures from early May till around the first of August. This practice gives my calves a clean, dry place to be born. It saves on equipment by allowing the cows to harvest their own feed, and it gives the birds nesting habitat.

Birds and cows are part of a natural ecosystem. The flies follow the cows. Then the birds eat the flies. Most ranchers know that a diverse ecology is essential to a profitable cow calf operation. I don't entirely understand how all this works. I just know that my balance sheets tell me so.

The next benefit I get from restricting summer grazing is an abundance of wildflowers and pollinators. These flowers are habitat for bees and other flying insects that spread the pollen that boosts my forage yields. Nature is all about give and take, and she gives so much if you just give her a chance.

I don't know how many different kinds of birds the ranch now sustains. I am fascinated by watching them and someday hope to learn more about them. I hope this little blue bird of happiness is a reminder of the role agriculture plays in protecting our natural resources.