Micro-grazing Dexter Cattle and Heritage Hogs on 6 acres!
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- Опубліковано 4 вер 2024
- In this video I talk about how we micro-graze our livestock on our 6 acre farm. We use dual purpose crops like sweet corn and cover crops to supplement feeding during the fall and spring months before planting half of the property into vegetables for our farm stand business.
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About Sweet Briar Farm
We are a small farm located in Central/Northern Michigan. We farm every inch of our 6 acres. We breed Registered Dairy Goats, Dexter Cattle, and Heritage Hogs. Clean healthy food is important to us and we like to produce the majority of our food on the farm and we grow and raise enough to sell to local customers. Producing our own food also means we forage for wild edibles such as mushrooms and tap our maple trees in the spring to make maple syrup. In 2019 we added honeybees to the farm and have had as many as 30 active hives producing honey for us.
Our goats include Nubian goats, Mini Nubians, Fainting Goats, and Nigerian Dwarf goats.
Our Heritage Hogs include: registered Berkshires, Tamworth, Kune Kune, and Hereford.
Check out more of our farm life and farm animal videos on our UA-cam Channel! Hopefully you enjoy and Subscribe to our channel. Thanks for Watching!
SweetbriarfarmMI.com
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Mighty happy cattle. Well done.
Many thanks!
Never seen happier cows. You guys are doing great things! Enjoying the beautiful rain today here in MI. Have a magnificent week Mike, Kelsey and children.
We had a down pour as I dropped the kids off at school. But only lasted a few minutes.
Your place may be small but it is beautiful!
It really is! Thank you!
The cattle look like very happy times enjoying forage areas
buying hay brings nutrition on to your soil i think at the right price a good plan
Yes it does. Our soil in our “big field” is very heavy clay on the top. Years of poor soil management washed all the top soil to the low spots.
😂 Now THAT’s some happy dexters!
So, true ♥️
Man I really love your choice of music. its so mellow and cool & fits hand in glove with ur spot. And ur farm, is amazing - its just the right size.
Thank you very much!
You've got a nice set up there! I must admit to being envious of the lower elevation, longer growing seasons and such because ranching up as high as we are is a royal pain! But, its where we began and we have just tried our best to make it all work. The micro-rotation seems to be working well and animals all look great! Keep on trucking! BTW, I LOVED the "bullshirt" ha ha ha ha! I want one! LOL!
I need to get one that says “ sorry for the things I said while loading pigs” 😂
Nice land! I’m about to close on 3 acres in oregon
Awesome
Best of luck!
Your place is so beautiful and expertly managed!!
Thank you! It’s hard to imagine this time of year that we will ever green up.
Great Video Guys as all your animals look extremely good/ happy & healthy.
My favorite farm to watch!!
doing a lot there !! great video
Yes! Thank you!
We Love our Dexters!!! How do they like the corn crop?
Cows Grazing Corn Stalks and Cover Crops: Fall Grazing Opportunities for a Small Farm
ua-cam.com/video/KujDSj9eGD8/v-deo.html
They love the cornstalks.
@@SweetBriarFarmMichiganI thought about planting a small field for dual purpose!
@@AlgiereRanch I make pretty good money selling sweet corn so it is definitely worth it!
@@SweetBriarFarmMichiganthat’s good to know!
🐊🦅🇺🇸❤️
I’m about 5 months in to being a Dexter mom! Mine are still eating hay but soon will be on pasture. I’ve been thinking about different configurations for grazing rotations. I’m also starting cancer treatment which wasn’t part of the original plan when I got my Dexters…! So I’m trying to think of a way to not have to rotate them every day. We aren’t going for perfection this first year but I do hope to manage the land as well as possible. I have a pregnant cow, a bull calf and a heifer calf… so not many mouths to feed! I was thinking about quarter acre pastures for two days at a time (of course I’ll watch actual grass growth and keep an eye on what they eat). But could you possibly advise on a strategy you might employ? We have 10-15 acres for them. Thanks 🙏🏽
Is the entire grazing area fenced with a perimeter fence? There are many different ways you could manage it and that is plenty of acreage for your herd. It really boils down to how you are feeling and how much work you want to do. If/when I am able to buy some more land I would do something like what you are thinking and then adjust the grazing areas (size) as needed. If you don’t think you are going to be motivated to move cows then set up larger grazing areas. Once you do move them you can go in and mow what they didn’t clean up so the less desirable plants go to seed. Best of luck with your treatment!
@@SweetBriarFarmMichigan Thanks so much for the good wishes and advice🙏🏽 Our perimeter fence should be finished by June if all goes as planned…!!!! In the meantime, they are in a one acre fenced area. I’m creating a wagon wheel pasture system for my pigs so they can access shelter, food and water in the middle and I can very easily rotate their pastures. I was almost thinking of a similar approach for the Dexters. We don’t have any mature shade trees but I do have a nice portable shelter they really use all the time! So I was planning on that at the very least for shade for them. But yes, I plan on having a few days at a time where I may not be able to do physical things and rely on others to help me. So it’s best if the animals stay put in those days! I will always have small numbers with pigs and cows… so hoping after a few years I figure out a nice system!
@@SarahPerine sounds like a great idea!
I’ve got an acre could I do a cow calf pair and that’s all?
Nothing wrong with dry lotting cattle. Have a sacrifice/ dry lot and feed hay while resting your grass.
When do your steers go to processor. Age/weight the look good
Minimum 2 years. The first one was on the large end hung at 500lbs. The next one is end of October he will probably be a bit smaller.
ua-cam.com/video/nB7CgnyizMA/v-deo.html
Very nice 500 for a dexter is awesome I’m happy when my full size steers hang at 650
yes it was. I think the average range is 300-500lbs for 2 year old steers.