With rain forecast for the next four days (in early May 2020) I take pen to paper to write about cover crops in southeast Australia. Seeding is well underway for these crops along with cereals, pulses, legumes, forages and others. The rain we are receiving across a wide swath of this part of the country […] Read more
Cover crops fit in SE Australia
Report from Down Under: Warm-season crops produced excellent gains on grass-fed beef
Meet your farming neighbours: Craig and Woody Oliver
Craig and Woody Oliver and their sons farm in Victoria, Australia
Every farm has its own story. No two farms (or farmers) are exactly alike. Everyone got started in a different way, and every farm has a different combination of family and hired staff who make the decisions and keep things running. But, in general, even after you consider all of the details, farmers are more alike than different, even when they’re on […] Read more
Another transplanted grazing idea
Report from Down Under: Bale grazing may have a fit in an Aussie summer
Editor’s Note: Keep in mind seasons in Australia are reversed: spring — September to November; summer — December to February; autumn — March to May, and winter — June to August. In my last article, I shared the trials of our swath-grazing attempts on our farm here in Australia compared to what we had done […] Read more
Testing swath grazing in Australia
The climate is totally different, but the season is the same
Editor’s Note: Keep in mind seasons in Australia are reversed: spring — September to November; summer — December to February; autumn — March to May, and winter — June to August. Most graziers, at least in Western Canada, equate swath grazing to images of cows with snow on their back line and with frozen muzzle […] Read more
Cattle marketing across the miles
In the Aussie system, agents handle E-auction
Editor’s Note: Keep in mind seasons in Australia are reversed: spring — September to November; summer — December to February; autumn — March to May and winter — June to August. At our grazing operation, Alcheringa Pastoral in Victoria, Australia, we have generally purchased cattle in late spring, after I arrive in October, and sell […] Read more
Keeping soil biology ticking
Pasture Management: Grazing setbacks happen, but find opportunities to get back on track
Normal weather” at 4 Clover Ranch near Rocky Mountain House, Alta. has been illusive for a couple of years at least and it has created some grazing challenges at the expense of pasture performance. Our planned grazing system, where we look at the health of the grass on an ongoing basis, has responded well over […] Read more
Report From Down Under: Holistic approach is working
Management changes for the growing conditions producing benefits
My wife Helen and I took a six-day course a couple of years ago learning the principles of The Savory Institute’s holistic management as they apply to grazing. In a nutshell, the course taught the process of decision-making and planning that give land managers the insights and management tools to understand nature in the restoration […] Read more
Rain at the right time
A sudden turn in moisture conditions made all the difference
I am back up on 4 Clover Ranch near Rocky Mountain House, Alta., having arrived a week ago and getting our custom grazing operation going with cow-calf pairs trucked in as this is written. Meanwhile back at our Alcheringa Pastoral (Australia), Helen happily reported that our steer sale in late May had gone well. We […] Read more
Grazing challenges in a dry environment
Dung scores and gut fill are important indicators of how cattle are doing
When I arrived back in Australia in late October last year, Helen had organized the purchase of some steers and they were happily grazing on our farm and had adjusted well to the electric fence, skim grazing over the new seeding I had seeded earlier in May. October is springtime and the growth was pretty […] Read more
Restoring vigour to tired pasture
This planned grazing system appears to be returning about $77 per acre
When 4-Clover Ranch, near Rocky Mountain House, Alta. came into existence in 1992, there was one particular pasture close to the farmyard that the previous owner was reluctant to show us. He called it sodbound and needing a good plowing. I hesitated to follow his plowing advice as it had a good southerly slope and […] Read more
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