Good tip on the precipitation requirements, but keep in mind that Gabe Brown of North Dakota grazes native prairie and planted cover crops with (I think) 600 head of cows, while only getting like 8 inches of rain a year (according to him) and no irrigation, and he uses the same grazing concepts as Greg, and sees intense soil regeneration. You just need a greater land to animal ratio. But Greg is right that if you can get affordable land with rainfall over 30inches of annual rain, you have a serious advantage. Pick up that land while you can folks!
I'm that Military guy with a couple hundred acers just a few hours south of you, unfortunately the Army told me that I have to work a couple extra months before I retire. Until then I am enjoying Alaska where I am stationed. When I get down there I will be hitting you up for a starter herd of sheep!
"I can put that water there..." That whole topic is worth a new playlist, I think. I've been looking at land without water, and it seems pretty uncertain where I would get it for grazing.
I retired from the military about 10 years ago and am hoping to close on some land before the end of this month. I'm excited about having my own source of food instead of depending on boxed meat that has been sprayed with ammonia.
It's interesting the stuff I learn from you. Driving home from work today, I saw a cow pasture and they had new born calves in the snow. And I thought, uh oh, he didn't separate his bulls :-/
God bless you for doing this video!!!! And all of them.This one I have been hoping that you would do.I am positive the Lord has a special place in Heaven for you and Miss Jan.
Thanks this is my second year looking for land u just help me decide for a 5 acre half hour from My house I live in Illinois but this 5 acre are in wisconsin God bless me today God bless u mtr greg
Moving this summer to Missouri Ozarks. Looking forward to coming to buy my beginner herd, and learn from you. Luckily, we check mark everything on your list. Just need the animals 😊
I'm trying to imagine making a lite mobile milking stand, maybe hauled by the ATV, etc. & Finding good East Friesian and/or Lacaune sheep without foot issues & milk good for making cheese. I like your view of observing what the neighbors might be able to offer as resources for pasture. Thanks for your sensible planning talks.
Sheep are also a great place to start for someone with no experience with livestock. Cattle are big and potentially dangerous and also require some minimal amount of infrastructure/handling facilities. Sheep can be grown and handled with bare minimal everything. I like my cow herd but I love me sheep flock and dogs! If I HAD to choose between them it wouldn't even be a hard decision. The ONLY obstacle at all for sheep is potential conflicts with neighbors and your guard dogs. They bark a lot, it's what they are supposed to do and have to do if they are going to be effective but neighbors may not appreciate it. I'd add also for leases, get a contract and as long a term one as possible. Also try to have enough land of your own so that if you lose your lease that you have options for your livestock. I know a lot of people that have lost their leases and it ruined the livestock operation they spent years working and building. Livestock are a bit of a "liquid" asset so be sure you at least have time in your contract to deal with moving or selling your livestock if the worst should happen.
Heck Yeah! Right now we backed up to feed our family on our property. Times got crazy and we had to prioritize survival over profit. I want to build the sheep herd and get meat cattle again, but right now I’m focusing on growing what we can now (meat, veg, milk cow etc.) where we are. We’ll expand as we can from the homestead to leasing land . I do love my milk cow. I got one that puts out enough milk to feed us, the chickens, and the pigs on very little inputs. I’m guessing she’ll go all grass in the spring, as she is actually getting fat from beet pulp and a little grain. We bought her bred to calve in the winter, so I put her on a little grain to help her, but I’m thinking if she calved in the spring that would have been just fine, unlike all my other milk cows in the past who went into ketosis if I didn’t shovel grain in the front end at insane rates. That just isn’t natural. Hopefully next year we’ll understand our pastures better to go longer into the winter. Given that this is a new property I’m not unhappy with the progress, but hope to get better. Much love to you and Jan and the boys! Stay warm!😊
I'm sure of point 1, 3, 4! Point 2 is a bit more difficult, still have not gotten to visit the site however it looks promising from the pics online and the few neighbours that live there
Here in New Brunswick people are leaving the Rural areas to live in one of three of the largest cities in the province since 2018 the rural population has shrunk to about 40 percent of the total population so many people who still live in the rural areas are older people .according to the article I read those three cities are worried about infrastructure to handle the influx of people. That the rural areas are just as worried over the changes as well as they cope with the losses. I have noticed that in the USA people that write you and other RUclips producers are dreaming of leaving the cities and living in the rural areas I wonder how many actually end up buying their dream. Your list is all about location the best price, the local weather, Marketing opportunities and animal suitability for the location given the numbers of people who have reached out to you and the others whom this presentation targets it must be a significant number since you have heard from so many who have already bought the land.
There's a migration taking place in the US right now. We wanted a bigger farm land 16 acres and put our house on the market 2 acres. Both the sale and the purchase happened in less than 7 days.
Leasing is great, you can build your operation so you can pay cash for your owned land. I prefer owning, but I’m ok with leasing to get there. Debt is suffocating.
Oh man! The bloody BARNS!! Every newbie farmer I know is always blowing their money on barns, shops, and sheds...and always before they even buy livestock! And they all have to have more than 1 cab tractor, full line of hay equipment, roads and cattle guards. Literally buying the cart before the horse!
Tam you are so correct on those items that people waste money on. My neighbor put in beautiful cattle guards before he built any fence or had livestock. He went bankrupt. He
Great timing, Mr. Judy!: I happen to be shopping for land now. How critical is Kentucky 31 fescue to winter stockpiling? I think I'm outside the fescue belt, but at least we're still over 30 in precip.
My son and I keep telling my husband the things you were saying, he thinks everything should be in place when we buy. That's one reason we have lost properties my son and I wanted (he is 80 so worried about me if he is gone).
Please clarify what you mean by markets, both as it relates to someone wanting to have their own food supply and for someone wanting to get into this professionally. thank you
When you have one herd, how do you manage heifers within the herd ? Are you not afraid the heifers will go in calf too young? Also how do you control inbreeding within the herd ?
on some of your rented farms owned by deer hunters how do you make it work for running cattle on that ground but keeping the hunters happy and holding deer on the place? around here most the out of state hunters that own these rougher farms want all the brush they can have on the farm, cedars, multiflora, hedge etc. This is in west central IL, has made it hard to buy rough pasture type ground since too much demand from out of state hunters
That's a tough situation. We have 4 deer hunter owned properties that we lease for grazing. Your job as a grazed is to provide excellent browse for the deer with your grazing management. 30-40 % clover in every paddock, light clipping 40-50 days before deer season. No livestock on the hunting farms during hunting season, etc. It works, but it takes due diligence and good communication.
I think he had a bad experience there? This video he was saying how you shouldn't raise livestock in areas you pump water from underground, and that's what you do in AZ.
I doubt he had any "bad experiences" there. Something like that just takes time to develop and grow before there's any point in making a trip down there and making an update video. They put in fence and water and I think he probably helped them setup a rotational plan to regenerate the landscape but that's not going to happen overnight. I'd imagine Greg and Jan will revisit it in 2021 and update us when there's something worth updating.
Greg, what is your rent per acre in Missouri? How many acres per cow? What age and weight do you market cattle? Where/who do you market your cattle to?
Leases run from $40 per acre per year to free leases on several of our farms. 2 acres per cow. We direct market 95% of our livestock. The cull animals are sold at local auction barns.
I believe hes talking about cash rent per acre. Thats how much you can rent it to row crop farmers for per acre. The actual sale value per acre is several thousands.
I have one acre and want to run one male 5 females sheep during winter and those same with their young during growing season and cull back to 6 for winter. I'm in Southern Pennsylvania. 14 paddocks during growing season daily move 14 day rest during growing season. 41 inches of rain fall per year. Food for the family. 55 year old Lawyer ill never be a farmer read all your books love what you do. What do you think of that stocking rate? What should I use for 14 paddock gates? Thinking of spring handles for 14 paddock gates. Thank you.
With 1 acre and 6 sheep, you will be overstocked. 14 days is not enough rest period between grazings. You may have parasite issues with that short rotation. Need 35-45 days to break the worm cycle.
@@gregjudyregenerativerancher can i do anything with one acre? Maybe run some mutton during the growing season, harvest them in the fall, and not carry any during the winter. I could reduce the amount to three sheep but 35 paddocks on 1 acre will look like a checker board.
Greg, I saw at a livestock auction in IA sell a Black Angus bull for 53K. Why would anyone spend that kind of money on a bull? To my knowledge he cant breed enough cows to pay for that.
I am one of those guys retiring from Military a MO farm boy myself. Cant wait to put what I have learned from you into practice. Thanks for what you do to educate.
You can definitely grow grass in 10-20 inch rainfall areas too, it is important how erratic it falls though. But If you want it easy, of course look for places with more rain. And you have to use holistic management in those areas with low rainfall because that is the only way to address our planets complexity and if you don't address that in these environments, its gonna kick your ass.
Greg I love what you are doing! But finding land in Texas that receives 30+ inches of rainfall for less that 8k an acre would be a challenge in the current market! You can find $400/acre land? Really? That isn’t possible around most parts of Texas.
When I saw you had your dog in the shop i thought it was Smokey at first. Love that dog!
Dear Greg, everything you said was good sense. Keep spreading the good news. Keep warm and we'll.
Geoff
Hello hope you are doing great
Good tip on the precipitation requirements, but keep in mind that Gabe Brown of North Dakota grazes native prairie and planted cover crops with (I think) 600 head of cows, while only getting like 8 inches of rain a year (according to him) and no irrigation, and he uses the same grazing concepts as Greg, and sees intense soil regeneration. You just need a greater land to animal ratio. But Greg is right that if you can get affordable land with rainfall over 30inches of annual rain, you have a serious advantage. Pick up that land while you can folks!
I'm that Military guy with a couple hundred acers just a few hours south of you, unfortunately the Army told me that I have to work a couple extra months before I retire. Until then I am enjoying Alaska where I am stationed. When I get down there I will be hitting you up for a starter herd of sheep!
How you doing 3 years later? Hopefully well.
@@danielb1877was about to ask the same but saw your post. Maybe he is so busy taking care of his prosperous farm to answer.
Great talk Greg, I think many have adopted you as there mentor, including me. Thank you have a wonderful day.
George you have a great day!
"I can put that water there..." That whole topic is worth a new playlist, I think. I've been looking at land without water, and it seems pretty uncertain where I would get it for grazing.
I retired from the military about 10 years ago and am hoping to close on some land before the end of this month. I'm excited about having my own source of food instead of depending on boxed meat that has been sprayed with ammonia.
Greg, another home run full of sound advise deliver with passionate conviction. Please keep spreading the gospel.
Thanks for the lesson, Sir. You are like a good father. :):):) God Bless Your Farm.
It's interesting the stuff I learn from you. Driving home from work today, I saw a cow pasture and they had new born calves in the snow. And I thought, uh oh, he didn't separate his bulls :-/
Very good! Thank you again Greg. I enjoyed your Edmonton interview released today too. Common sense is refreshing.
Great advice. Nice to see the possibilities in rural America. Thankful for the opportunities and a lot of good options. Exciting! Thank you
God bless you for doing this video!!!! And all of them.This one I have been hoping that you would do.I am positive the Lord has a special place in Heaven for you and Miss Jan.
GREG, thank you for being my adopted mentor, i should have told you this earlier, thank you for the tips
Check list for Kansas farms. #1. Whatever you can find!
Thanks this is my second year looking for land u just help me decide for a 5 acre half hour from My house I live in Illinois but this 5 acre are in wisconsin God bless me today God bless u mtr greg
Hey Mr.Judy
Glad to see you are doing your best to stay warm. Good info once again. Thanks.
Moving this summer to Missouri Ozarks. Looking forward to coming to buy my beginner herd, and learn from you. Luckily, we check mark everything on your list. Just need the animals 😊
Great presentation sir, listening from Cambodia
Thank you for that watching from Ghana I am learning from you to menage my farm in a good way sir.
Thanks for sharing
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Thanks Greg, This was very helpful
I'm trying to imagine making a lite mobile milking stand, maybe hauled by the ATV, etc. & Finding good East Friesian and/or Lacaune sheep without foot issues & milk good for making cheese. I like your view of observing what the neighbors might be able to offer as resources for pasture. Thanks for your sensible planning talks.
St croix are a dairy breed and very hardy.
I too am looking to get a flock of dairy sheep. Thinking of a place that gets 22 in of rain a year. You think that's enough?
I might have to ship you new markers. 😂. Thanks again for all your videos!
You are such an inspiration and very motivational. Looking into possibly doing this. Thank you for your videos.
Martin
Hello hope you are doing great
Excellent. Ozark OKIEs’ agree with this message.
This is great me and my family are looking for a place to get started ranching
Amazing lesson! Thank you for everything you teach us !
Yes, very helpful. Thank you.
Sheep are also a great place to start for someone with no experience with livestock. Cattle are big and potentially dangerous and also require some minimal amount of infrastructure/handling facilities. Sheep can be grown and handled with bare minimal everything. I like my cow herd but I love me sheep flock and dogs! If I HAD to choose between them it wouldn't even be a hard decision. The ONLY obstacle at all for sheep is potential conflicts with neighbors and your guard dogs. They bark a lot, it's what they are supposed to do and have to do if they are going to be effective but neighbors may not appreciate it.
I'd add also for leases, get a contract and as long a term one as possible. Also try to have enough land of your own so that if you lose your lease that you have options for your livestock. I know a lot of people that have lost their leases and it ruined the livestock operation they spent years working and building. Livestock are a bit of a "liquid" asset so be sure you at least have time in your contract to deal with moving or selling your livestock if the worst should happen.
All great points Brent, a written lease protects both parties.
Thanks for all the information you give out. I learn a lot from them.
Heck Yeah! Right now we backed up to feed our family on our property. Times got crazy and we had to prioritize survival over profit. I want to build the sheep herd and get meat cattle again, but right now I’m focusing on growing what we can now (meat, veg, milk cow etc.) where we are. We’ll expand as we can from the homestead to leasing land . I do love my milk cow. I got one that puts out enough milk to feed us, the chickens, and the pigs on very little inputs. I’m guessing she’ll go all grass in the spring, as she is actually getting fat from beet pulp and a little grain. We bought her bred to calve in the winter, so I put her on a little grain to help her, but I’m thinking if she calved in the spring that would have been just fine, unlike all my other milk cows in the past who went into ketosis if I didn’t shovel grain in the front end at insane rates. That just isn’t natural. Hopefully next year we’ll understand our pastures better to go longer into the winter. Given that this is a new property I’m not unhappy with the progress, but hope to get better. Much love to you and Jan and the boys! Stay warm!😊
Thanks for the great lessons.
I'm sure of point 1, 3, 4! Point 2 is a bit more difficult, still have not gotten to visit the site however it looks promising from the pics online and the few neighbours that live there
Contact the county extension agent for the rainfall info
Money in:
1. Livestock
2. Fence
3. Water
Good Man-thank you
Here in New Brunswick people are leaving the Rural areas to live in one of three of the largest cities in the province since 2018 the rural population has shrunk to about 40 percent of the total population so many people who still live in the rural areas are older people .according to the article I read those three cities are worried about infrastructure to handle the influx of people. That the rural areas are just as worried over the changes as well as they cope with the losses. I have noticed that in the USA people that write you and other RUclips producers are dreaming of leaving the cities and living in the rural areas I wonder how many actually end up buying their dream.
Your list is all about location the best price, the local weather, Marketing opportunities and animal suitability for the location given the numbers of people who have reached out to you and the others whom this presentation targets it must be a significant number since you have heard from so many who have already bought the land.
There's a migration taking place in the US right now. We wanted a bigger farm land 16 acres and put our house on the market 2 acres. Both the sale and the purchase happened in less than 7 days.
Great lesson Greg
Thank you
This is my plan, two more years until I get out. I loved your first book, but still want to buy my own place not just lease.
Leasing is great, you can build your operation so you can pay cash for your owned land. I prefer owning, but I’m ok with leasing to get there. Debt is suffocating.
Thanks for this very helpful video
Oh man! The bloody BARNS!! Every newbie farmer I know is always blowing their money on barns, shops, and sheds...and always before they even buy livestock! And they all have to have more than 1 cab tractor, full line of hay equipment, roads and cattle guards. Literally buying the cart before the horse!
Tam you are so correct on those items that people waste money on. My neighbor put in beautiful cattle guards before he built any fence or had livestock. He went bankrupt.
He
Great timing, Mr. Judy!: I happen to be shopping for land now. How critical is Kentucky 31 fescue to winter stockpiling? I think I'm outside the fescue belt, but at least we're still over 30 in precip.
My son and I keep telling my husband the things you were saying, he thinks everything should be in place when we buy. That's one reason we have lost properties my son and I wanted (he is 80 so worried about me if he is gone).
Please clarify what you mean by markets, both as it relates to someone wanting to have their own food supply and for someone wanting to get into this professionally.
thank you
Greg, love your accent. Just my two cents. Try "Parcel" not 'Partial" . ☺
When you have one herd, how do you manage heifers within the herd ? Are you not afraid the heifers will go in calf too young? Also how do you control inbreeding within the herd ?
He line breeds his cows, and has for a bit
on some of your rented farms owned by deer hunters how do you make it work for running cattle on that ground but keeping the hunters happy and holding deer on the place? around here most the out of state hunters that own these rougher farms want all the brush they can have on the farm, cedars, multiflora, hedge etc. This is in west central IL, has made it hard to buy rough pasture type ground since too much demand from out of state hunters
That's a tough situation. We have 4 deer hunter owned properties that we lease for grazing. Your job as a grazed is to provide excellent browse for the deer with your grazing management. 30-40 % clover in every paddock, light clipping 40-50 days before deer season. No livestock on the hunting farms during hunting season, etc. It works, but it takes due diligence and good communication.
When and where are we going to get updates on the Arizona project. I may have missed that informatio
I think he had a bad experience there? This video he was saying how you shouldn't raise livestock in areas you pump water from underground, and that's what you do in AZ.
I doubt he had any "bad experiences" there. Something like that just takes time to develop and grow before there's any point in making a trip down there and making an update video. They put in fence and water and I think he probably helped them setup a rotational plan to regenerate the landscape but that's not going to happen overnight. I'd imagine Greg and Jan will revisit it in 2021 and update us when there's something worth updating.
@@Digger927 healing takes time, sometimes scars are left behind as well
When you are dealing with government agencies, things move slower to get items done.
What about physical problems still look at place no fence no water to set up your way
Got the farm.Just need to make it liveable and get out of this nursing home rehab thing. Sheep are in my future .
How many sheep can I put on 1 acre pasture?
Greg, what is your rent per acre in Missouri? How many acres per cow? What age and weight do you market cattle? Where/who do you market your cattle to?
Leases run from $40 per acre per year to free leases on several of our farms. 2 acres per cow. We direct market 95% of our livestock. The cull animals are sold at local auction barns.
@@gregjudyregenerativerancher why haven't the row croppers bid the rent up there? It doesn't look to be too bad hilly.
Great video Greg. Did you say $400/acre? Up here in wheat and soy bean territory in Manitoba we got land for sale for a few thousand an acre.
Same here, in rural WV.
I believe hes talking about cash rent per acre. Thats how much you can rent it to row crop farmers for per acre. The actual sale value per acre is several thousands.
$4000 per acre in very rural areas that is not row cropped.
How far should you be from a potential Market???
20 to 30 minutes from a population of 25k to 50k
I have one acre and want to run one male 5 females sheep during winter and those same with their young during growing season and cull back to 6 for winter. I'm in Southern Pennsylvania. 14 paddocks during growing season daily move 14 day rest during growing season. 41 inches of rain fall per year. Food for the family. 55 year old Lawyer ill never be a farmer read all your books love what you do. What do you think of that stocking rate? What should I use for 14 paddock gates? Thinking of spring handles for 14 paddock gates. Thank you.
With 1 acre and 6 sheep, you will be overstocked. 14 days is not enough rest period between grazings. You may have parasite issues with that short rotation. Need 35-45 days to break the worm cycle.
@@gregjudyregenerativerancher can i do anything with one acre? Maybe run some mutton during the growing season, harvest them in the fall, and not carry any during the winter. I could reduce the amount to three sheep but 35 paddocks on 1 acre will look like a checker board.
Is 65 to old to start grass farming?
Nope, I'm 61
Did you say $400/acre was expensive?
Or is that cost per year?
That's rent per acre per year in parts of Iowa and Illinois for crop land. That is pricey.
How many sheep can I run per acre?
Check you county extension agent for cow days per acre and just know that 1 cow =4 sheep when grazing
Greg, I saw at a livestock auction in IA sell a Black Angus bull for 53K. Why would anyone spend that kind of money on a bull? To my knowledge he cant breed enough cows to pay for that.
I am one of those guys retiring from Military a MO farm boy myself. Cant wait to put what I have learned from you into practice. Thanks for what you do to educate.
He had money burning a hole in his pocket!
Now to find a location lol
You can definitely grow grass in 10-20 inch rainfall areas too, it is important how erratic it falls though. But If you want it easy, of course look for places with more rain.
And you have to use holistic management in those areas with low rainfall because that is the only way to address our planets complexity and if you don't address that in these environments, its gonna kick your ass.
You said $400 an acre as expensive. I would love to buy 5 acres at $400/acre, or $2,000.i feel sure you misspoke.
Either I miss spoke or you miss heard!
😁👌👍✌🖖😎
Greg I love what you are doing! But finding land in Texas that receives 30+ inches of rainfall for less that 8k an acre would be a challenge in the current market! You can find $400/acre land? Really? That isn’t possible around most parts of Texas.
@@Holy_Buckets ok thank you I was thinking the same thing
What part of Texas are you looking in I’m looking around eastland SW of Ft Worth on I-20
Ben Ivey V I’m in Central Texas, West of Bandera.
400 a acre😮? I payed over 5k a acre and now they want 15k a acre.
Great advice. Nice to see the opportunities in rural America. Thankful for the possibilities and all the different options. Exciting! Thank you