[earthwise]

Bazil Meisner was in Pleasantville when we used to visit in the ’90’s. I haven’t contacted him in years, so I don’t know if he is still there. I also made acquaintances with Gordon Lohnes and Claude Silver, neither were in Pleasantville, but nearby. Do you know these fine men?

Carl (using Lisa’a computer as mine was nailed by lightening the other night)

[earthwise]

Kristin – I have not seen this grazing booklet (see below), but it seems interesting and year-round grazing in Alberta Canada should have a lot of info on stockpiled forages!

I will be interested in hearing how your calves look this spring. We have over 4 feet of snow on the ground here (with snow banks 5-89 feet high). Once we succeed in gaining more pasture acreage, we plan to stockpile more forage as well with the hope of feeding stored feed maybe 2-3 months a year as opposed to 5 months. We were grazing into November, but with our limited pasture (right now) we did have to start supplementing by October.

Lisa

Year-Round Grazing Booklet Released

The Agricultural Research and Extension Council of Alberta (ARECA) has released a new publication on year-round grazing that has created broad interest across eight provinces and is scheduled for a third printing before winter. The booklet features five producers selected from areas across Alberta who agreed to share their skill and knowledge as year round graziers over a year of operations. All five were chosen based on their many years of experience adapting and integrating year round grazing systems into their own cow/calf businesses. They represent a wide range of soil types and conditions, and provide real numbers, practical tips and production alternatives.

In addition to the five producer stories, the 43-page publication provides detailed, practical information on watering systems, using snow as a water source, electric fencing and forage species for extending the grazing system. The economics of year round grazing are presented in some detail including a ranking of various grazing alternatives that sets out data on cost per cow per day, savings per day, savings per cow and savings per pound of calf. Copies of the booklet are available free of charge by contacting the Alberta Ag Info Centre at 310-FARM (toll free in Alberta) or 403-742-7901 from out of province. AgriSuccess, Farm Credit Canada, August 10, 2007

[earthwise]

Iron Mike –

I have only seen a couple issues of Rural Heritage, so cannot speak to its content. I do get Small Farmers Journal (smallfarmersjournal.com) and Farming Magazine (PO Box 85, Mt Hope, OH 44660, http://www.farmingmagazine.net). Both magazines are wonderful and tremendous resources. Farming Magazine is a relatively new magazine (about 7 years old) featuring articles by Gene Logsdon, Maurice Telleen, David Kline, Jim Van Der Pol, Wendel Berry and many more.

visit their websites and see if you want some more regular reading!

best to you,

Lisa McCrory
Earthwise Farm
Bethel, VT

[earthwise]

Dear Iron Mike –

This is Lisa McCrory (aka Earthwise). Funny, I answered your questions about 5 days ago complete with what books I would start out with, etc. I sent it to you as a private email, but cannot find it in my sent box….frustrating….so now I am going to pull this together for you again.

Based on your farm vision – a beautiful diversified, mulitispecies operation, I would recommend that you start with a couple books: the first one is ‘Greener Pastures on Your Side of the Fence’ by Bill Murphy. This book is excellent; it discusses pasture ecology, nutrition, pasture plants (species that favor grazing), animal grazing effects on pasture (behavior, forage intake, treading/trampling, seed dispersal, etc), the ins and outs of Management Intensive Grazing (a la Andre Voisin), fencing layout and design (including water systems and laneways), and the various needs and suggested management of various livestock (beef, dairy cows, sheep, goats, poultry, horses, etc). This book can be ordered from the Publisher: Arriba Publishing, 212 Middle Rd, Colchester, VT 05446, 800-639-4178, or through ACRES USA (http://www.acresusa.com).

Another author who is an inspiration and a great example of how you can raise multiple species of livestock in such a way that it complements the needs of each species and builds organicmatter and biological activity in your soils. That author is Joel Salatin and you can visit his website: http://www.polyfacefarms.com/

Joel has written a number of books covering his many livestock enterprises (pastured poultry, hogs, beef, rabbits, laying hens) and also has a dvd out that shows all the enterprises and how they complement and interface with each other over the course of a calendar year (and all the seasons). A picture is worth a thousand words, as they say.

Based upon your description of what you want to do, I would start with these two resources, but there are so many more… maybe we should create a Thread called grazing managemet for this list?

I also think that another facet to good grazing management and ecological farming entails a (w)holistic approach, looking at your farm (and those farming it) as a living, breathing organism and developing a Holistic Goal. This process has been developed by Allan Savory who founded Holistic Management International (http://www.holisticmanagement.com). I cannot speak enough about this method… could do this once we have a grazing management thread perhaps.

A magazine that I subscribe to is called ACRES USA Magazine. It is a monthly publication promoting ecological farming practices and is always filled with wonderful articles on livestock management, land management and more. (http://www.acresusa.com) This outfit also has an incredible supply of books for sale and I encourage you to visit their ‘book store’. They carry all of Joel Salatin’s books and sell Bill Murphy’s book as well.

I also think it is VERY important to get off the farm during the growing season and participate in on farm workshops. In Vermont there are always lots of grazing workshops (or pasture walks) happening, hosted by either NOFA-VT or the Vermont Pasture Network. I realize that you are in PA, and know that there is a GREAT conference happening next week in your state – the PASA (Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture)conference. This organization also hosts a lot of events during the growing season… I will post that event in the calender section. If you manage to make it to even a day at this event, I guarantee you will come home inspired plus blessed with a lot of good contacts and new friends you can learn from and with.

I hope that this helps and I am sorry that my original message got lost in the ether….

Best to you,

Lisa McCrory (Carl’s other half)
Earthwise Farm and Forest
Bethel, VT

[earthwise]

Dear Forum,

Though it is not our desire to control the flow of conversation on this forum, we have found it necessary to Ban one member from this list. We apologize for having to do this, but I am sure most will agree the member had many chances to redirect his energy to something more positive and constructive. The language and personal insults was the final straw.

….And so our community grows and matures….

Lisa

[earthwise]

Welcome Sally –

Great of you to stimulate such a storm of great conversation, and THANK YOU for promoting your wonderful film (http://www.whatawaytogomovie.com) that I think everybody should see.

I hope that this form provides opportunities for people to share not only who they are, but also what they have to offer and where people can learn more.

I hope that our inspiration for conversation can come MORE from positive comments and developments in conversation and NOT from negative attacks.

I too will continue with this thread in the Community section

much love,

Lisa McCrory

[Author]

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