A year in the life of a farm

[bgleaton]

Love the videos! I learn something new every time. Keep up the great work!

[unclefish]

Great stuff Rusty! You got any chestnuts from those Dunstans yet? How old are they?

Also what kind of apple trees?

[Beargrasstx]

Does bred late this year on my place. I still have a doe that hasn't dropped yet.

[elgato]

Does bred late this year on my place. I still have a doe that hasn't dropped yet.

My suspicion is I had a number of early born fawns that bred last year creating some late born fawns this year. I'm seeing two distinct age classes of fawns on the farm these days. Just a guess.

I've always believed that June 15 is amply safe to work fields without risking fawns or turkey nests. With that in mind I mowed my clover fields only clipping the top of the clover and taking out broad leafed weeds . Weather is a bit cooler than normal for this time of year and should we get a rain in next week or so clover should show a good blush of fresh growth. Besides I needed some tractor time. Sanity break.

[Tester]

Curious if you ever found the big boy's sheds? Our food plots were so thick almost impossible to find any. Rye grass and crimson finally died and the deer are keeping the arrow leaf mowed down. I'm going to try driving thru them on a grid pattern to hopefully find some.

[AgHntr10]

It's almost the middle of July...I know you have some video/pics of this years bucks, don't hold out on us!

[elgato]

It's almost the middle of July...I know you have some video/pics of this years bucks, don't hold out on us!

LOL, Haven't put cameras out yet. Will start end of the month. I have to pace myself and wait till bucks are well developed before I start inventory.

Interestingly, it is hard to see a buck on the farm this year. Appears I have done to good a job on habitat development and plots. In years past now was the best time of the year to take a late evening ride and see a bunch of bucks in the plots. But now the woods are so lush with undergrowth from years of thinning that we hardly see a thing. That coupled with a food plot approach that creates a giant tall jungle where you cant see anything in the plot makes summer cocktail safaris pretty lean for buck sightings.

I promise to start posting pics once they come in.

[elgato]

I'm about to make some big changes here on the farm. I have hired Dr. Allen Williams as a consultant to help me develop a master farm plan for regenerative agriculture. My intention is to add multi specie grazing stock, multi specie fowl, pigs , fruit orchards, pecan orchard, brambles...everything that will grow in the south. My goal is to take eco health and soil fertility to the next level. And perhaps create an economic model that proves fruitful for others.

I have been managing the farm primarily for deer hunting for over 40 years. But I have been interested for quite a while in what the leading edge pundits were doing to vastly improve their soils and overall eco health of their properties. When I bought my ranch in the 90's I was fascinated with intensive rotational grazing and bought 20 copies go Alan Savory's book on holistic grazing. Gave a copy to everyone in the neighborhood but ultimately never did anything with it.

Subsequently I began studying what guys like Gabe Brown, David Brandt and others were doing in a revolutionary way on their farms. It's what lead me to no till and rotational multi specie food plotting . I have been fascinated with how Joel Salatin manages his farms and even flew to Va. to tour PolyFace farms. So now I want to take my farm deeper into the process. I envision a sort of hybrid regenerative ag/permaculture approach.

At the least it will be a passionate adventure for me. However I also expect it will increase the value and diversity of the farm all while continuing to improve the deer program. Stay tuned. Should be a fun ride I intend to chronicle all along the way.

[Chew]

I'm about to make some big changes here on the farm. I have hired Dr. Allen Williams as a consultant to help me develop a master farm plan for regenerative agriculture. My intention is to add multi specie grazing stock, multi specie fowl, pigs , fruit orchards, pecan orchard, brambles...everything that will grow in the south. My goal is to take eco health and soil fertility to the next level. And perhaps create an economic model that proves fruitful for others.

I have been managing the farm primarily for deer hunting for over 40 years. But I have been interested for quite a while in what the leading edge pundits were doing to vastly improve their soils and overall eco health of their properties. When I bought my ranch in the 90's I was fascinated with intensive rotational grazing and bought 20 copies go Alan Savory's book on holistic grazing. Gave a copy to everyone in the neighborhood but ultimately never did anything with it.

Subsequently I began studying what guys like Gabe Brown, David Brandt and others were doing in a revolutionary way on their farms. It's what lead me to no till and rotational multi specie food plotting . I have been fascinated with how Joel Salatin manages his farms and even flew to Va. to tour PolyFace farms. So now I want to take my farm deeper into the process. I envision a sort of hybrid regenerative ag/permaculture approach.

At the least it will be a passionate adventure for me. However I also expect it will increase the value and diversity of the farm all while continuing to improve the deer program. Stay tuned. Should be a fun ride I intend to chronicle all along the way.

I just watched a documentary on either Netflix or Amazon prime but I can't remember the name of it. It was exactly about what you're talking about but the guy that they hired ended up dying of cancer. I'll try to figure out the name of it.

Edit:. http://youtu.be/UfDTM4JxHl8

[elgato]

I just watched a documentary on either Netflix or Amazon prime but I can't remember the name of it. It was exactly about what you're talking about but the guy that they hired ended up dying of cancer. I'll try to figure out the name of it.

Edit:. http://youtu.be/UfDTM4JxHl8

I saw that as documentary as well. That is the direction I want to go though with a somewhat different environment. Look up Dr. Williams. Very interesting guy. What I especially like is he knows the deep south very well. Got his PHD at LSU , spent time at Tech in Ruston and currently lives in Starkville. { Will overlook that he got his undergrad at Clemson } It is important to me to have a deep understanding of the issues we deal with here in this environment.

[powderburner]

Have you ever gone back and re-read your post on here and thought wow that was a game changer or conversely wow that was a total failure?

I am reading this thinking about Modern Homesteading and how I can use these ideas once we find the land.

[elgato]

Have you ever gone back and re-read your post on here and thought wow that was a game changer or conversely wow that was a total failure?

I am reading this thinking about Modern Homesteading and how I can use these ideas once we find the land.

Interesting question, with the quick answer being I've never gone back reading all the earlier threads. Suspect that would cure insomnia though.

That said as I reflect on all the things I've done over the years that have made the biggest difference several things come to mind. Recognizing that the farm has primarily been managed as a recreational hunting property most of the bigger changes have been to that end. That is why bringing in a consultant to broaden the diversity and approach to the farm is such a big deal to me. I'm envisioning profound land use changes over the next few years. All while only enhancing the recreational component of the property .

With that caveat the most influential changes have been 1) opening up a year round usable road system clearing a minimum of 2 chains wide for all the roads.2) Creating a matrix of food plots across the property with fields large enough to handle any grazing pressure.3) Decades ago committing to raising the nutritional plane for every deer on the property every day of the year 4) After decades of frustration building a fence around the property which captured the epigenetic development of the decades of nutritional enhancement. 5) Connecting with a forester that understood the balance between forest management and wildlife management and thinning some timber every year based on that guideline. 6) 9 years ago buying a no till drill and retiring my plow. Then experimenting with multi specie summer and winter plantings. The result being a steady improvement in the plot soils.

From here I think adding grazing stock utilizing mob grazing...intensive rotational grazing including grazing in the timber will make the next leap forward though I'm going to wait till I have more input from Dr. Williams before I begin to discuss and execute a full blown regenerative agriculture/permaculture program.

But I love a project and this has me really excited.

[Texbow]

I'm late to this thread and have not read every page yet so you may have answered this question already. Have you researched the benefits of Cowpeas vs. Forage Soybeans? I assume the Soybeans you have planted are the forage variety and not the high yield type midwest and other farmers typically plant. Also how did you decide on the type of Cowpea to plant?

[elgato]

I'm late to this thread and have not read every page yet so you may have answered this question already. Have you researched the benefits of Cowpeas vs. Forage Soybeans? I assume the Soybeans you have planted are the forage variety and not the high yield type midwest and other farmers typically plant. Also how did you decide on the type of Cowpea to plant?

I plant iron clay cow peas because they are cheaper than forage soybeans though this year I did plant a few acres of straight forage soybeans. They look great and are attracting a lot of deer. In my summer blends I plant plain non gmo soybeans both for their grazing attraction and to also provide variety to my combination.

we've planted red rippers before and they are great. End of the day I think they are equal for nutrition so its just a question of cost and how well they grow in your soil. Right now they are hammering the cowpeas and sunn hemp the hardest.

[lovemylegacy]

I plant iron clay cow peas because they are cheaper than forage soybeans though this year I did plant a few acres of straight forage soybeans. They look great and are attracting a lot of deer. In my summer blends I plant plain non gmo soybeans both for their grazing attraction and to also provide variety to my combination.

we've planted red rippers before and they are great. End of the day I think they are equal for nutrition so its just a question of cost and how well they grow in your soil. Right now they are hammering the cowpeas and sunn hemp the hardest.

What is a Red Ripper?