how we raise 35 Dexter cattle on 30 acres - without buying hay!
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- Опубликовано: 20 окт 2024
- We feed 35 head of grass-finished Dexter cattle on 30 acres of grassland, including ground for making all our own hay and without using chemical fertilizers except lime. In this video I explain our grazing method to maximize pasture yields, and how we keep our hay fields in peak production via rotating them in and out of pasture ground, composting and spreading manure from our pigs and chickens as well as our cattle, and adding trace minerals to the soil to replace those leaving the farm as beef.
website: justafewacres.com/
Facebook: / just-a-few-acres-farm-...
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email: peterelarson3@gmail.com
To order Pete's book; "A Year and a Day on Just a Few Acres:" www.amazon.com...
Regenerative rotational grazing is the answer mother nature was trying to show us all along! Great work.
Who is mother nature?
@@24June91 The term "mother nature" has been used since the 1500's to refer to nature personified as a creative and controlling force. Sometimes known as Mother Earth or the Earth Mother, a personification of nature that focuses on the life-giving and nurturing aspects of nature by embodying it, in the form of the mother.
@@beverlyf6603 Well, there's no such thing as "mother nature". The person you are refering to is God, the Creator of everything.
@@nikolaoskal7438 including himself?
@Thomas McCarthy The term "mother nature" is a metaphor for Earth and its natural processes, which obviously exists. I'm sorry that metaphor is too complex an idea for you; you must lead a very boring intellectual life.
I am a true novice, know next to nothing about cattle or grazing....but your efficiency seems impressive - 35 animals on 30 acres and no hay import. Bravo! Not to mention no hired hands - just you and the Mrs.
Lovely to see you run Irish cattle. They’re a rare breed here now. Lovely animals.
Oh man. Now I am dreading Samm'y date with the butcher in November. You folks have given him a great life though. He is a very lucky Dexter.
What a super way to run a small farm ,with a great relationship between farmer and livestock not normally seen and so rewarding ,man you really know how to get the best out of your fields i just hope some young farmers are watching this master class ,Thank you lovely video.
I am trying to figure out how to do this. I have 3 heifers and 2 Steers on 11 acres and they are free grazing. I only give them water and minerals.
If you have a go pro, you should strap it to Sammy's head and make "A day in the life of Sammy"
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
Pft why
Great idea. I'll start a cow cam site when I get my cows! Lol. I'm gonna guess most times it will be a screen of grass though. Hahaha
You're like the Jay Leno of farming. Great videos!
We just love your cows they are so beautiful and friendly. You are just so informative on everything Pete we love your videos.
Thank you Gene!
i agree Gene......Pete is very informative
@@thomasdavis4189
And he has such a pleasant and calming personality which make watching his videos enjoyable
After all these years you have learned the rhythm cycle of your farm and keep in touch with what is going on. Experience is a good friend when times get tough on the farm.
Fantastic system.
It can be done and glad to see a real farmer who knows what he is talking about.
Holy cow, you just blew my mind. I'm in N Florida fixing to move to 30 acres in N Alabama, and this just got me really excited.
Cool what part of Florida? Were about 20 mins west of Gainesville.
@@MaynardFamilyHomestead I'm just west of Gainesville! I'll have to check y'all out!
Live Oak
I like learning about the tractors, but the way you show evident care for the animals is really heartening. Your videos embody the axiom "show me, don't tell me" of convincing others. Thanks for what you are doing.
I just love watching you, I ran heavy equipment for a living and 11 back surgeries later I’m pretty much a stay at home grampa. Wish I could do a do over.
I like your videos, they give you a feeling of comfort. Greetings from Eastern Europe (Romania)
Sammy really is a grass puppy!
Love the way you explain rotational grazing on your farm and the soil health balances you incorporate. Keep up the Great video's and thanks for letting all of us walk along .
This video isn’t just enjoyable, It is also very educational, thanks for the vid and tips
Hi Pete; I am grateful that you cover things outside of animal care like the accounting, marketing and even equipment cost and maintenance- as if you are training us to take it over. So many offer the husbandry process, but yours goes the extra mile- without usually needing to buy some expensive stuff being advertised on the show. I’m over 600 miles away or I would certainly love to meet you at the market.
Thank you Greg! Maybe I AM training 21,000 people to come take over the farm work, while I sit on the porch & watch :)
Lime is the most underrated thing in farming, glad you talked about it, very nice setup
Ordered your book, Pete. Thanks for all the great info. I have started this year with Dexter's. Up to 8 on my farm with more on the way. Thanks again!
You are so clear and concise with your explanations, you're a pleasure to listen to!
Just found your channel, I would love to get a few dexters someday. Cannot wait to learn more from you!
Terrific video! I like how much you pay attention to the science of soil and forage management. I like the way you're cycling the pig and chicken manure too. That's a great example of how mixed species farming is beneficial.
Growing up in Alabama, my father and uncle raised 50 pineywoods cows on 300 acres of pine forest and woodlands that we prescribed burned on a 3 year rotation. Pineywoods cattle are a small frame heritage breed that’s been around since first settlement. We used rotational grazing combined with burning to mimic the transitory grazing of bison and elk that were here in the early days. The cattle were grass fed with mineral supplements and moved from pasture to pasture with water, minerals and herding dogs. This was the way cattle were managed in the pineywoods south from first settlement up until the 1950s. We were doing freezer beef back before it became popular! How I miss those days!
You Sir have this business figured out! Thank you for sharing this knowledge. Beautiful looking cattle! Cheers 🍻from Prairie Sunset Ranch☀️
Absolute GOLDMINE information here from Pete. Many thanks for producing this informative video.
Great and very informative video as usual Pete. I really hope that there are some larger farmers who watch your channel so they can there truly is a better way. Keep up the good work!!
This is very great advice! My family and I have started a 30 arce ranch. We are new to the livestock business and only have an small herd of 14 cattle (13 beef and 1 Dairy breed).
Thanks for the advice! 👍🙏
can you make enough money off that to live off as a single person
Great video Pete whenever i have a bad day at work i go on your videos to help me chill out .Best wishes from the UK
Thanks Thomas!
Man knows his stuff. Great video.
Great info Pete! I'll be watching this again!
Watching from Ireland,I've purchased 22acres to farm, love the channel it's full of inspiration for me. Thanks
I follow several cattle raising channels. You impart more information than any of the others. Thank you for your thoughtful and informative videos. I was raised on a farm and we had cattle, but you have forgotten more than I ever knew about it. Thank you for taking the time to do this.
Awesome video, hope to be able to practice this on our farm soon. Cows are looking great!
When you shared the news about the butcher date for Sammy it reminded me of this story. We buy meat from a farmer that raises bulls for breeding. Some do not pass the tests they are put through so they sell them at market price to folks looking to fill their freezer with locally grown beef. The farmer’s wife works as a teacher at a school I do tech work at and their two kids are students there. I was doing tech work in a classroom where their boy was and I told him we were getting meat from his farm and he replied “That bull you bought from us. His name was Spike”
Finished reading your book today Pete, and can highly recommend it to all your other RUclips fans!
Can't help but feel there's a second book to come, bringing us up to date on the addition of the Dexter herd to the farm, and other changes over the intervening years? You can title it Five Years and Five Days on Just a Few Acres!!
I just purchased his book and can’t wait to start reading. I have 22 acres here in Oklahoma and am thinking of getting a few Dexters myself. I have access to a larger portion of acreage next door as well. Might have to do a little joint venture with my neighbor who owns 50 acres next to me, since I have the 5 acre pond that takes up a part of my pasture...
Tremendous knowledge being poured forth here! I am very grateful as a noob to be!!! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Watching your video for the first time and I found it awesome and helpful for those afraid of getting started.
Wow 7th generation farm. Absolutely amazing
just found your channel. you have a system very close to what i'm doing, but you're doing it a lot better with you cattle to land ratio! can't wait to watch more of your videos. very informative and interesting so far.
Your videos are great I really enjoy them you waste no time and put out a lot of information
Nice to see this regenerative farming in practice.
Just a Few Acres Farm Very informative & nice video. I didn’t hear any reference given, but this sounds like a Savory Grazing system. I’m really impressed by your discipline, calm cattle & long term usage of the system. Growing up in Montana Some of our neighbors had tried this but it didn’t appear to last many years. He claims tremendous soil fertility building & Co2 sequestration on arid conditions (high plains). Looks beautifully lush where you are.
That's quite a compliment Tim...Allan Savory is one of my inspirations! I've adapted his & some other folks' principles to work on our farm.
This is the best farming youtube, you are only keeping animals and have machinery you need.
Some of the RUclips homestead films you see people with animals which have no use on the homesteads
Your old videos are as good as you new videos. Wish I had a suggestion for you to make them better. Thanks for making them.
Amazing video. Love the videos. Keep it up
Love watching your videos. They make me smile and they are so informative. Thankyou!
Hi Pete, thanks for sharing. my family enjoy watching your videos.
Thank you Pete.
Perfectly temperament on those cows. Might as well be show cattle/ halter broke. Bravo!!!
Thanks Pete, I always enjoy your videos
I've watch farming on RUclips every day and most of them don't give you a tutorial like you, I definitely love your videos and for that I'm a new Subscriber to your channel, I'm looking for more. Thumbs Up.
Thanks for subscribing Carl!
You're Welcome
Enjoyed the video Pete, lots of great information as always. Wish we were closer to take advantage of all you have to offer.
Thank you for posting the video Sir. The amount of details is greatly appreciated, took many notes. I can tell you have excellent training on people, product and process. Stay Safe & Keep Farming!
You have one real friend,,a cow that's always by your side through out video😀,, that company is far better than hypocritical people or friends around you
Dude I love your videos, the editing is good, good voice and information.✌️
Great video! We have 14 acres and have it planted with mostly alfalfa and some fescue. We plan on getting about 10-15 mini Herefords and this answered a lot of questions for us. ✌️🤓
A Good Explanation of your Regenerative Ranching. Thanks !
Thank you for getting to the point quickly. Great video!
This channel is growing fast!!! I have been commenting on quite a few of the videos, mainly because I am very impressed with Pete’s farm. Also, he’s an IH guy, and I love those old tractors lol. Wish I still had my dads old cub...😞
Hi from Atlanta. and Right on!!!
Wow, thank you for such in depth explanations. Some of the finer points you mention I've never heard before (I'm still in planning stages for my farm/grazing operation), thank you for making these videos!
I think it’s pretty amazing what you have done. Thanks for explaining it to us. Much appreciated!
Really enjoying the videos, thanks!
Great video Pete! Love learning more about your dexter cattle and your pasture and hay strategies
Thanks Pete I always look forward to your videos
Pete, love your videos. For those of us who are hearing-impaired, please remember to enable subtitles on your videos. Thanks.
Sorry, I will remember to do that from now on.
This video is great! We are buying a small farm land this spring and I plan to raise Dexter cattle. I would live to see your farm to visualize the setup for rotational grazing/hayfields! Thank you for this video
Hi Pete - I ordered your book from Amazon last week, and it arrived here in Ireland yesterday. I'm looking forward to reading it, when I can get it away from my wife, who has stolen it to read it herself!!
Have you looked into small parcels that farmers can’t get equipment into, or land in conservation that can legally be grazed? I have a little handful that I am grazing rent free, others I’m paying reasonable / low rents on. I’ve drilled a few wells and put up miles of fencing in exchange, but still very worth while
@@LtColDaddy71 A Year and a Day On Just a Few Acres by Peter Larson
lukagiltrap77 it has to be on tape and I have to be able to listen at 1.5 speed and it not sound like the chipmunks
Well it sounds like you should order another copy! Just kidding...I hope you enjoy it.
Just a Few Acres Farm, I just ordered my copy of your book Pete, yesterday! I can not wait until it arrives. My husband said to me tonight, “isn’t it funny, we woke up this morning and ate breakfast while watching PETE, and now late this evening, having a late dinner, we’re still watching Pete.” My reply: “I don’t think it’s funny, I love this channel👍👍👍👍” - I have watched a lot of farming/homesteading channels over the last few years and by far, your channel is #1! - Keep up the great work..LOVE the CONTENT in all our videos... Giving you a “shout out” from the Northeast Kingdom of VT...😉👍
You can tell this guy cares. Names his animals, knows his land and plants
Great video. Always like getting ideas from others!
Your presentation and articulation are exelent, thank you ,great entertainment
35 on 15 grazed acres sounds great. I have 15 on 15 acres but it's been fallow for at least a decade so I've got to let them rebuild the soil. Lime is on the list and trying to decide which pastures get the winter manure first. Thanks for your insights shows what I can look forward to in the coming years as I revive our soil and build the pastures back up!
Great video I’ve been looking into dexters for a while now probably gona start with a few and see how it goes next year! They seem very docile and that’s what I’m looking for because of my daughters are very young! I like learning from your videos everyday I look forward to watching them after work every day keep up the good work!!
Love this video. Thank you for the time you put into it. Great information.
Pete as always excellent video.
Thank you for the video, good info on grazing and rotations. keep up the good work.
i can understand whole of what he said. his english is very nice
Tons of info! Thank you for sharing all of this!!
I have subscribed and also ordered your book - thanks for both!
Good info, thanks. Sounds like you have a plan to succeed
I really like this video. Thank you for sharing such a wonderful experience. Follow
This is the best RUclips channel!!
awesome! small and very efficient animals!
thank you!! this was definitely enjoyable and informative... the wife and I are thinking about taking the leap to a healthier lifestyle and move out of the urban hell cities are... your video brings us closer to that end... thank you again!
Really appreciate all of the great information. Thanks!
Pete, thank you for producing all the videos. I watch a lot of farming videos and nobody breaks it down like you do... I love it! There’s so much you’re doing on a smaller scale I have been unable to do on more acres, but I’m trying, and you’re my inspiration! I noticed the face flys bothering your girls out in the field. I struggle controlling pinkeye, and feel I’m losing the battle. Is this a problem for you? Could you cover it in one of your videos? Please keep the content coming! Everything you’re doing is appreciated!
I hear feeding kelp helps
Hi Joseph, we had a pinkeye outbreak 3 years ago and found the old saying is true: You can treat pinkeye with antibiotics and wait 21 days for it to clear up, or you can not treat it and wait 3 weeks for it to clear up. It's nasty. Redmond brand salt just came out with a mix of salt and garlic for fly control. I guess the flies don't like the smell of garlic. We're going to try a few bags & see if it makes any difference.
The farm I used to work on used kelp meal for pinkeye. Might of helped a little, but their customers found it gave the meat an off flavor
I have always used salt for pink eye with my cattle.
Hi Pete love your videos, Just want to say hi from Kelowna Bc Canada,,,
Absolutley , you do ti rigth you dont need fertilizer. I have 7 moms 1 bull and 6 babies. The grass got ahead of ne this year. You inspired me to get rid of my Angus and get dexetrs
Very good explanation. Thank you for sharing.
Hello Pete, I've just come across your videos about a month ago. Congratulations on such a great story. You are really smashing the stereotype of farmers being simpletons. Quite contraire mon frère!
Thanks for you wonderful video! Something you said caught my ear... “Plants need sun light, rain and minerals to grow.” Yes. ...and it’s more involved than that. For anyone interested, please consider that the gut of the plant is located in the zone around the plant roots, and just like our gut, there are billions upon billions likely in the trillions of biological life forms present around the roots of the plants in your pastures to perform all the functions (more than than any of us can imagine or articulate) for these plants to grow. Basically, the bacteria and fungi, feed on the simple carbons /sugars/ plant exudates that the plant synthesizes in concert with the process of photosynthesis and pump into the area around their roots as food, in exchange for all the nutrients and minerals it needs from the surrounding environment. The beautiful thing is all the required base materials for required plant nutrients are already present in the environment and soil. The plant also depends on the extended soil food web that include protozoa, nematodes, micro and macroarthropods, worms, etc. to cycle the nutrients and make them available in a form that is ready for plant uptake or that can be held in a stable form in the soil solution and bodies of soil organisms that make up the soil microbiome. Key components to make this system work are healthy, diverse beneficial biological populations, (if starting with bare ground a series of high quality tested soil biology inoculations are important in concert with getting the protective armor (mulch) laid done on the soil surface as demonstrated nicely in this video and plant roots in the ground to feed the newly introduced biology) What happens next is the beneficial soil biology (bacteria, fungi, etc) act as soil the architects, designers and builders, and go to work building the structure needed in your soil for a healthy ecosystem. As the soil structure increases and improves you get more air /oxygen in the soil which supports more of your beneficial soil organisms (the good guys as a rule out perform and out compete the bad guys in aerobic conditions always), more structure for aeration equals more space for water infiltration, deeper roots penetration for more drought resilience and nutrient uptake, increased organic matter and soil carbon storage, etc. As OM / soil carbon increases, we start to see huge benefits, as one study that David C. Johnson out of New Mexico State University shared. We see that after roughly 3% Organic Matter / 1.7% Soil Carbon stored in the soil, your plants stop focusing their energy resources on building carbon in the soil and focus on supporting the biological nutrient mining process and taking care of increasing yields/production without the need for additional inputs (no added fertilizers). Beneficial biology, in healthy structured and aerated soils will typically falls with in a slight alkaline to neutral pH, occasionally slightly acidic. Your beneficial biology will help flocculate your clay collides. A healthy soil food web will work for you supporting healthy plant growth day in and day out as long as you don’t disturb them by tilling soil or killing them with herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, salt chemical fertilizers, or other soil amendment, etc. ...and that’s my current understanding as a Soil Food Web student, studying to be a biological soils consultant and high quality, biologically complete, compost product producer.
Thanks again for the important work you do and for generously sharing.
Remember, without the critical biology that support all of our bodily functions at a rate of roughly 9 to 1 (non-human biology to human cells) and links us all together in our ecosystem(s) we are all dead.
Hi Courtney, thanks for the great primer!
Always educational.
I have really enjoyed your channel and you, Pete, are simply amazing. Thank you for taking us along with you and Hillary as you work the farm. What a wonderful family channel to encourage hard work, a sense of pride and fulfillment.
I'm new to your channel, so informative. We are in process of buying 21 acres in Arkansas for eventually homesteading. We are very interested in Dexter's but I was watching another channel and they talked about johnes disease, now I'm worried about how to avoid that. Any helpful info? Thank you for your podcasts.
Pete again great video you produce organic milk you doing good job you can produce vegetables too
Enjoy your videos always good information.👋
great stuff....gonna miss Sammy when he goes....
Phosphorus:
Try to broadcast buck wheat into one parcel next growing season right before you bring the cattle into that parcel. Try to time it when you have a rain coming within a day or two. The cattle will help the seed get good soil contact by walking on it.
Buck wheat will mine phosphorus that other plants can't and then release it back into the soil two ways. 1 through the cattle manure. 2nd through the decomposition of the remaining buck wheat or whatever the cattle don't consume. Try not to let it flower out too much before grazing, because the nutrient value may drop in the plant during that time and it may not be as palatable.
Some of those cows have some serious looking, forward pointing horns. I dont think I would turn my back on them, but then I'm a city boy. I thought u dehorned. Love your vlog
Hi Robert, yes there are 2 with horns, they had horns when we purchased them to start our herd. We dehorn all the calves born here.