Mob Grazing vs. Open Field Grazing: Our Farm's Experiences
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- Опубліковано 16 жов 2022
- We have tried just about every grazing method under the sun: open field grazing, strip grazing, mob grazing, rotational grazing, and the cut-wilt-graze system. Lets take a walk around the fields with the cattle and look at the pros & cons of each. This year, we've been experimenting with a custom type of open field grazing with our 35 head Dexter cattle herd. How does it compare to mob grazing? Which works better for a small farm? I was surprised at the results!
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-We do not sell live animals
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Just a Few Acres Farm
PO Box 269
Lansing, NY 14882
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Morning chores done, coffee brewed, wood stove stoked. Better sit down and watch Pete do the same thing!
Always more fun watchin someone else do the work...until ya realize you still gotta go do your work😅
The simple life is the good life!
The lush green fields with the fall color backdrop is brilliantly gorgeous. I know you were sharing about grass and stuff, and that's important, especially to those who watch with an eye toward a possible future for them. For me, it's a trip to a time I will not experience personally and I greatly value this time you share with us.
Lori, I long to be a farmer too...but at 63 now I feel like the time has passed me by. I love morning chores with Pete...and working on tractors.
@@jaybreeden8388 Time has not passed you by! I bought my little farm at age 60 😳 and am now a single old lady farmer with a cow, sheep, chickens, garden and grow almost all my own food. Go for it!
@@faithkayes3376 Thank you for the encouraging words! Being named Faith makes it all possible, I am sure. 👩🌾 We are looking for a suitable place to land with adequate room for gardening and a few animals. One day our dream will become reality...I have Faith! 👨🌾
No work jop Italia help me work
@@faithkayes3376 You are from
I'm the farthest thing from a cattle farmer you could get, other than I live rurally, but I loved listening to this. Very interesting and you presented it concisely and informative. Have a great day!
😀 you are not the only one!
This video should be bound into a text book. Im gonna take notes and replay this often. Fantastic pastures. Fantastic information. You are such a leader in this industry. Thank you!
Thanks, Pete for the breakdown of stat data applied to real farming. An honest appraisal of successes and failures leading toward the holy grail of the balanced farm.
I like how you are considering stress to the herd… and farmer as well, as I think quality of life is key in livestock. I would have to imagine all things being equal, a herd with lower cumulative level of stress, on essentially the same forage will yield healthier animals and a better quality end product. It also seems to better fit the way that the cattle prefer to live, a bit more space to roam around and express their natural tendencies. I find it really interesting that there ended up being a net benefit to the pastures and definitely your quality of life it sounds like too. 👍
I love how less stress on the cattle was repeatedly mentioned! This farm is blessed im many ways.
I like Dr. Allen Williams term "adaptive grazing". You hit the nail on the head. Every farm is different and every situation is different.
I graze between 60 and 70 head of angus cross with a rest period of between around 15 days early in the season to around 60 days late summer. Usually 1- 2 day moves. Its working well for me, and that's the thing. Find what you feel is best for your situation.
Considering the low rainfall during the summer, your pastures held up amazingly. The lush growth from the fall rains is so dense.
Thank you for sharing all of this information on the various systems that you have tried on your farm. Also for mentioning that the area that a person farms in will determine what type of methods will work best for them.
It's called management and having a drought plan. He does a nice job. I don't agree with everything he does but he only has so many hours in day.
Pete, you're a model of responsible stewardship, and the cattle seem to appreciate it.
Pete’s cattle LOVE Pete! 💜
Always a great day when you upload.
Good afternoon Pete thanks for uploading this, my day hasn’t been the best I have a stomach ache and when you upload it always makes my day better and since you uploaded it is already making my day better. Thanks Pete!!
A truly intelligent, openminded and articulate analysis of grazing for your farm. And well paced with just the right amount of speculation. Very enjoyable to watch. Maybe your best video. Thanks
Thanks Howard.
@@JustaFewAcresFarm what name brand of hooded jacket are you wearing?
Wow Pete you did all that talking without a drink. My ears are ringing and i myself need a drink. Keep up the great content. Something for everyone. Absolutely brilliant 👏
Always good to see you work with your animals pete
O my lord! the trees in the woods are glorious! So pretty!
You made my day!!! Able to watch some livestock!!!
Nice that, after having to feed hay for a while over summer, you now get to "make that up" by grazing later this fall. The grasses look fantastic! I hope this keeps working for you - less work with a better outcome is what everyone works toward.
Building soil organic matter takes a long time. That's an overlooked insight. One percentage point of organic matter on an acre is 20,000 pounds. Since soil organic matter is 5 percent nitrogen, building one percentage point of soil organic matter requires 1000 pounds of nitrogen per acre. Building soil organic matter takes a long time. Adding carbon to soil is the easy part. Adding nitrogen is a bigger challenge.
Keep explaining things, Pete!
There’s also a system called MIG, Managed Intensive Grazing. It does get much higher yeilds than mob grazing but it takes a certain amount of people per cows who do nothing but take the science of soil fertility, grasses, and grazing, and turn grazing into an art. I’ve never seen it done except on farms that have at most two operations: cattle and sheep. Most graze only cattle.
It’s completely understandable that on a multi-species farm, with cattle, chickens, turkeys, vegetables, fruit, etc., that there aren’t enough hours to dedicate to special grazing systems.
Your fields do look amazing! You have obviously done your homework.Appreciate the sharing.
Yes Pete. We got to do what works in our area and set up. Just because (insert experts name here) does it one way doesn’t mean it’ll work on our farms. Thank You for sharing buddy.
This is what I needed to hear what an awesome share of knowledge
I watch a yt farmer in S Dakota & they have hundreds of acres & hundreds of cattle..
He uses feedlots in fhe winter , but they graze their cattle on grass through the summer .
But his rotation methods allows him to cut hay from alternate fields year to year..
In the fall , he turns them out on corn stubble . This extends his feeding time & allows his hay/pasture to recover before winter sets in..
Then come spring he can turn his cattle out earlier because the grass didnt go dormant cropped to the ground.
He also spreads tons of manure on the fields that need it the most .
His feed lots are partially concrete , so he captures the manure & composts it.
His area is much more arid , but the soil is black . As I understand it , glaciers & enormous roaming buffalo herds greatly benefited the soil.
You are a very wise man! Far wiser than any of us 🤘🏿
You what they say about opinions....You have obviously given a huge amount of time and thought to your grazing method and are going to do what works best for you. It's your farm, your hard work and your livelihood. Keep On!
Hi Pete, I 'am from Australia Queensland and ever nice i watched your videos about mob grazing i can see a big change in pasture health
Thanks mate for the great videos.👍🦘
Love my shirt! My grandson recognized it. Because I told him about your videos.
Work smarter not harder. You have it nailed this year.
Great video. Your humility and transparency are greatly appreciated. I learned a lot.
You always remind me of my grandfather, he used to own a farm like yours except he didn't own chickens and raised angus cows instead. Your mannerisms and the way you talk remind me of him and you remind me of his care for the animals. I'm going hunting with him this winter and he is still going on strong. Tt was sad when he sold the farm, my parents didn't want the farm, so it went to someone else. This is why I hate factory farms and when I have enough money, I think I'm going to start my own. Your videos make me happy and help me relive memories from when I was a kid. It's nice to see your farm above water and I hope it's going well.
love seeing the cows Pete!!! thanks for sharing
Green as a Southerner, I am use to seeing. Change of Colours has me mesmerized indeed. We usually only have this splendor via print, newscast, documentaries or the videos on UA-cam. I promise I am listening Pete. Uh, there’s not a quiz at end? 👍🐂👏 🌎❤️😊
Pete is just a brilliant farmer. I wish our farmers market had people like him. ❤️🇨🇦
Just love your videos. As a former FFA member, I had a Hereford cow & calf as a project and I would record the time on pasture and on feed. We used ground corn and hay to supplement their diet. Back then (early 60's) and even now, everyone wanted corn fed beef.
I learned later that the quality of the meat and the health of the animal go hand in hand. If we'd had the acreage to do so, we'd have pastured a lot more...Keep up the good work Pete and we'll all follow along.
You hit the nail on the head with your comments, the way you're doing it now is less stress on the cows and yourself and less work. And the condition of the grass is great. I'm impressed with your ability to analyze and problem-solve along with your great practical and mechanical skills. That's a rarity these days. I live in Japan and far from the farm life but love watching your videos which are more interesting than most of the crap on the news and the internet.
I didn’t know I was interested in this, but, there you go! I am!
I love how Titus said “Moo” when you greeted him at the beginning of the video. He’s so beautiful!
I have between 12 to25 cows and I have 10 acres split into 2 5 acres pastures and I rotate them once a week and have been doing that for 3 years and it's worked real well
Having tried various systems and various stocking density you now have a wealth of information going forward to make decisions. Sounds like a wealth of education you've gotten over the years.
Thank you Pete for the look behind the curtain on the thought process needed to run a farm. It really helps eliminate the stereotype of the "dumb" farmer by showing all the math and logistics required to make a farm successful.
Look at all the beautiful Fall foliage behind you !! My favorite time of the year. Love time with the animals and your info on them.
Good morning Pete.
They sure do like to let us farmers know that things aren't exactly what they want, a change is at hand for them, mine are like yours. I didn't do all of those, the mob grazing wasn't something I wanted to try, at least at this point. I like you started with open field grazing and tried the strip and modified small paddocks like a pin wheel grazing. I went back to open field with a central water source with two small fields and two larger ones, less work and more beneficial grass growth and less compaction. Great video, liked it a lot, thanks for the findings, have a nice day and week ahead.
Thanks Pete, but to be candid, this makes me think twice about the effort I can sustain versus the size of my herd for the pasture I have available. The science you speak of makes my head hurt.
Do what's right for the animals and yourself is the best. I don't think following everyone else is always the best way to do things if so there would be no need to learn or try new ways.
Those trees in the background are gorgeous considering I'm in the desert there's not a tree like them here I'd love to have that luscious grass.
Always love your videos no matter what the topic but must admit I understand the tractor rebuild better that field utilization. Still a very informative video. Love seeing the cows.
Great to hear your impressions on how things worked out this year. I am so happy that it worked so well especially after watching the tension near the end of first cutting where hay needed to be given to get thru that dry spell.
I have been listening attentively to the mob grazing folks so much that I could not imagine another system working better than the mob grazing model. Glad to see that it is not just a one method only that can treat land with dignity and protect against soil depletion thru organic methods. If we are to win over more farmers to greater land care, we will need multiple good answers. Thank you for being part of the solution.
Your trees in their fall colors are gorgeous!
A very enjoyable video from an actual farmer. It's never crossed my mind that this man is trying to sell anyone a method/book/classes, and that allows for the sincerest enjoyment of the videos.
I love the info videos. I always learn so much. Thank you
Thanks Pete, great info in there.
Thankful that we're back to seeing the animals. I don't mind the mechanics once in a while but I'm an old woman and would never touch a motor. Thanks for the good videos whatever you show.
Thanks Pete for the info.
It proves what works on your farm works for you and what works on someone else's farm works for them.
It's all good. We work with what we have. Time and labor are limited.
Have a safe fall.
Keep Smilin!!!!
Omg I love that I found this channel. My grandparents lived in Lansing my whole life joe and Della Joseph. I’m Christina “Chrissy” Joseph. To see someone to do this from that little community is absolutely great.
Absolutely ❤️🥰
Also my grandfather is Joe ‘Ditty’ Joseph each year the fire department gives a scholarship out in his name.
I think all depends on what works for you. All my 55 years of life we always mob grazed our 45 cows until the end of October and sometimes into November on about 40 acres pasture land. It's what seems to work best for us. By the way, there's a new tower so I won't have to sit in the field on a hill behind the barn anymore. I can visit you in the northeast corner of the house on the second floor. ☺️🎉
Awesome, access to good broadband is rough in many rural areas.
Maybe someday you will get Fiber.
We had been experiencing this on our farm in northern Michigan and recently got Star Link, wow, did that make things easier!
@@Kristian_Saile I'm in Northern Wisconsin.... It's being talked about but nothing has come to fruition in Taylor County that I am aware of just yet.
If you have a local or rural Broadband Provider, I hope residents are pushing them to apply for every grant and planning Fiber.
I work for my local co-op and have a bitbof passion on it, the difference it can make in just not wasting time is amazing but also opens up remote work and can bring people back to their small towns.
Pete I thoroughly enjoy everything you put out, I've no intensions of being a farmer seems like to much hard work, thanks for your output.
Tree fall colors are fantastic in your area.
Thank you, have a blessed weekend stay safe . 🙏
A full explanation of why I see civilization when admiring a well managed hayfield. Thanks Pete!
Good morning Pete
Thanks Pete. Very informative.
Another video packed full of good information. 👍
Evan, I truly respect how you receive mentoring from Pete and how you let us know about Pete. I enjoy both your channel and Pete's tremendously as you continue to adapt and innovate with similar farm sizes with different goals and purposes, while sharing similar visions.
It was helpful to hear the contrast of different methods. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you Pete, very thoughtful information.
Good morning. I just love love love your videos. You are so down to earth and the videos remind me of how I grew up.
Great info, Pete
Great video!!
Thanks for the video, always enjoy watching!
Proof is right there. Those pastures look amazing
Excellent talk.
Always informative presentations...great video!
thanks for all the information of your thoughts, and the video. have a great week.
Another informative video. Thanks Pete!!!
Very informative Pete,yes.
Excellent video. Really enjoyed learning about the different grazing techniques. Thanks for sharing with us!
Thanks, well done! A very thoughtful analysis.
Thank you...
That was a very interesting information.
Well done 👏
Very interesting information. Always wondered the pros and cons of different methods. Thank you. Your fields look lovely!
Very interesting. Love the fall colors.
Brilliant and very informative
I learn something new every video and I love the tractor rebuild
All my very best
I was anxious to see how it worked out for you this summer. Thank you for the information. Always enjoy your videos.
Love it Pete!! Absolutely spot on. Gotta find what works for you. Thanks for sharing.
The best part was at 25:02 Love it.
Very informative Vlog Mike... Thank you for always having an interesting vlog... GBY BOTH ALWAYS 🙏❤️💙🤗✝️
Super Informative Pete as Always... Top Marks Mate!!!!! 🐮🐮🐮👍👍👍👍
Love the beautiful fall colors in the background! Thanks !
Loads of very interesting info, Pete. Thanks for sharing your insight, as well as experiences.
Great info Pete! And the pasture does look nice.
Have a great week there Pete, great video👍👍. Take care
Great info Pete! Hope you have a great day too
Awesome info Pete! Love to see the cows and how they interact with you! Have a blessed week!💗🤗🤗
Pete your record keeping is a great idea & I for one love these videos. Thanks Pete
Very interesting discussion of grazing. Thanks
Pete once again, another great video. Thanks for sharing and keeping it real. I can’t wait to try these techniques on my little 70 farm in Virginia. I’ll be waiting for the next video.
Beautiful area you live in! Trees are gorgeous! Interesting video thanks so much Pete!
that was a very interesting & informative video on your chosen method of farming on a small acre farm ,great work Pete.
Trees are beautiful ! Great video. Blessings !!!
Wow Pete, your farm looks great!
What lovely autumn colour’s on your trees. 😍
Thanks for the update on grazing methods. 👍👏🏼🐄🐄🐄
Great to see you back mate thanks and all the best wishes to you and your family Joe