A year in the life of a farm

[elgato]

Well, I see the pic didn't even post. OOOPs. I'll report more on this with time.

[elgato]

Nature is brutal. Circle of life though. Every living thing is terminal. Nothing leaves here alive.

Did you score the big ten?

168". He had short brows

[bgleaton]

Well, I see the pic didn't even post. OOOPs. I'll report more on this with time.

Excited to see the results from the goats and cattle and how they improve your deer habitat!

[gingib]

Would love to hear more on the goats, the plan, and how they will benefit? THanks

[elgato]

I know most are focused on deer and deer hunting but here is a follow up to my foray into regenerative grazing.Will be shifting to deer reporting shortly.

Here are a couple of before/after pics. With an open canopy and lots of rain this summer, briars have become in penetrable over much of the farm. Initially I was going to graze cattle in the woods to manage the brush but quickly learned goats are the better option as its too thick for cows. I currently have 130 mamas and am buying another 220 soon. We create 3-5 acre paddocks with electric fence and move them every 3 days. By having more goats we will be able to use larger paddocks cutting down on labor.

The plan over the next couple years is to mob graze the entire farm with goats then slowly transition over to cattle. The goats attack young tallow trees, Sweetgum sprouts, privet, briars and other invasive as a preference . Without that I believe I would get serious encroachment as tallow sprouts especially are everywhere thru the newly opened woods. What we are seeing is nice regrowth of higher quality plants behind the goats as the briars are thinned. I believe over time we will shift the succession over to more highly desirable Forbes and shrubs. At the same time as the cattle are introduced especially they will awaken the microbiology of the soil increasing fertility.

We also experimented with using goats to terminate a couple plots for fall planting with some success. Will play with this more next spring as we transition the farm to a more organic approach.

Cant get the photos to post I'll keep trying

[elgato]

Lot of mental exercise to figure out how to post pics of brush eaten by goats. I have more but suspect you get the idea. Much of the farm becoming too thick and chocked to be useful for deer

Hopefully deer pics easier

[Puncher51]

Wow that is amazing!! Love seeing the pics and learning about your grazing practices!

[GarGuy]

I always figured goats direct competition for deer. Tuned in.

[elgato]

I always figured goats direct competition for deer. Tuned in.

They do and thats been a big concern of mine. I've generally considered goats to be the scourge of the earth cause they tend to create deserts due to overgrazing.

The secret sauce to the way I'm using them is moving them every 3-4 days then not returning them to same place for ~ 9 months give or take. This gives time for regrowth presumably of higher quality succession.

The other reason for moving them on short rotation is it prevents parasite infection. The primary parasite on goats is barber pole parasite which has a 4-10 day germination period thus the goats are never reinfected.

I can alter duration shorter if I see excess clearing but thus far I've been delighted with what I see. Vast improvement and this on woods I would never been able to walk in again the rest of my life without intervention.

[Gumbo Man]

So did it only take 3 days to clean up the spot you have pictured?

[bgleaton]

I wish goats would eat our cedars like they are eating your briar patches! These results are amazing and show that with proper management goats can help achieve your goals without overbrowsing or eating all of the beneficial deer forbs/browse. Please keep us posted with updates.

[elgato]

Farm is on fire this week. I filmed a double drop 12 yesterday afternoon plus had bucks moving all day long . Best guess 4 yr old I think between 175-180. Rattled up 13 bucks this morning including a couple over 170. Perfect weather having drizzled all afternoon into the night with cloudy 45' and breezy this morning.

This lucky lady shot this on my neighbors farm. Nice followup to the 176 she got last year.

Great time of year!

[Gunnyart]

Nice!

[TildenHunter]

That is a beautiful buck! Congrats to the huntress

[HOOKNBULLET2]

Thanks for sharing. Your conservation strategies are inspiring.