Where’s my Shepherd's Crook, Poem?
Posted 6/2/2008 12:08pm by Eugene Wyatt.
Sunday morning the temperature was in the 60’s and was to be in the 70’s by mid-afternoon; the sun was friendly in the clouded blue sky, the humidity was low and a gentle breeze blew. To work in the fields today was a vacation: you would have paid me to be there. Poem romped in the high grass behind Shade's Tree, she would bound up to see where she was going then drop out of site between bounds to come up again like a porpoise. Fence had to be installed to enclose a new 4 acre paddock of fresh grass, then the sheep had to be moved in their rotation to graze it.
Rotational grazing is the practice of dividing up available pasture into multiple smaller areas, called paddocks, and moving grazing animals from one paddock to the next after a number of days. The grazing animals will return in rotation to a previously grazed paddock when the grasses in it have re-grown sufficiently.
The grazier manages the grazing by determining the number, size, and layout of the paddocks; the number of animals to be grazed; and when to rotate the animals from one paddock to the next. Rotation decisions are based on estimates of the amount of forage in each paddock, soil conditions, present and forecast weather conditions, season of the year, and condition of the animals.
Practically, observations of pasture height (amount of forage) determine when the animals should be rotated. Ideally, they are moved to a new paddock when the grasses are 9 inches in height and they should be moved out of a paddock when the pasture has been eaten down to 4 inches in height. Between those heights, grasses grow best as there is sufficient leaf surface to permit photosynthesis: the conversion of light energy to the chemical energy that nourishes grazing animals. Grasses above 12 inches in height have diminished nutrition for the grazing animal.
Rotational grazing permits the pasture area to carry (to nourish) more animals over the grazing season and it prevents the grazing areas from being over-grazed such that the sward continues to improve (as maintained by grazing animals) from season to season. It is good for the animal and good for the land.
The fence to be moved is a portable electric net. The fence is 34 inches high and 164 feet long. The electric net is supported on insulated plastic posts that have spiked metal tips that are pushed in the ground along a line and usually connected together. A net fence weighs 13 pounds when rolled up for carrying.
When the net fence is electrified by connecting it to a powerful energizer it will contain sheep and keep predators away from them. Animals learn the fence by touching it once. The portability of electric net fencing makes rotational grazing possible anywhere grass grows. No longer needing my lawn mower, I sold it.
Rotational grazing is the practice of dividing up available pasture into multiple smaller areas, called paddocks, and moving grazing animals from one paddock to the next after a number of days. The grazing animals will return in rotation to a previously grazed paddock when the grasses in it have re-grown sufficiently.
The grazier manages the grazing by determining the number, size, and layout of the paddocks; the number of animals to be grazed; and when to rotate the animals from one paddock to the next. Rotation decisions are based on estimates of the amount of forage in each paddock, soil conditions, present and forecast weather conditions, season of the year, and condition of the animals.
Practically, observations of pasture height (amount of forage) determine when the animals should be rotated. Ideally, they are moved to a new paddock when the grasses are 9 inches in height and they should be moved out of a paddock when the pasture has been eaten down to 4 inches in height. Between those heights, grasses grow best as there is sufficient leaf surface to permit photosynthesis: the conversion of light energy to the chemical energy that nourishes grazing animals. Grasses above 12 inches in height have diminished nutrition for the grazing animal.
Rotational grazing permits the pasture area to carry (to nourish) more animals over the grazing season and it prevents the grazing areas from being over-grazed such that the sward continues to improve (as maintained by grazing animals) from season to season. It is good for the animal and good for the land.
The fence to be moved is a portable electric net. The fence is 34 inches high and 164 feet long. The electric net is supported on insulated plastic posts that have spiked metal tips that are pushed in the ground along a line and usually connected together. A net fence weighs 13 pounds when rolled up for carrying.
When the net fence is electrified by connecting it to a powerful energizer it will contain sheep and keep predators away from them. Animals learn the fence by touching it once. The portability of electric net fencing makes rotational grazing possible anywhere grass grows. No longer needing my lawn mower, I sold it.
0 Comments »