nutrient dense grazing

Nutrient Dense Grazing Lisa McCrory, Earthwise Farm and Forest Beginning Women Farmer Conference March 22 & 23, 2012

Landbase: 158 acres owned, 16 acres rented Open land = 24 acres; 23 pasture, 1 acre crop land

Hand-squeezed Raw Milk certified organic

Hand-squeezed right in the pasture

Draft Animals

Sows and Feeder Pigs

Poultry: Heritage Turkeys, Meat birds, Layers

Layers and Turkeys hatched on the farm

Off-Grid System

Renewable Energy

Organic Vegetables, Flowers

Grazing Management

Grazing has made tremendous improvements on our fields

Key Ingredients to a good

grazing plan: Adequate rest in between grazings

Clipping pastures when needed

Providing water in every paddock

Move the animals often (every 12-48 hours)

Appropriate size of paddocks

Infrastructure Improvements • Water to every pasture

(gravity feed), piping

• Perimeter Fencing and other improvements through NRCS

• Returning tree plantation back to pasture

• Diverting water away from a pasture & barn and capturing it for use

Brontosaurus

Hired in 2010 to chip up the debris (tree tops, stumps, shrubs on 4 acres

or what was white and red pine

Field Management

Clipping when needed

Lime application

Other amendments

Grazing was making a

difference,

But we wanted to ramp it up:

• Become more self sufficient

• Provide a more nutrient dense food for our livestock

• Increase the biological activity in our soil

What I wanted to Address

• Increase Disease &

Pest Resistance

• Increase Plant Species Diversity

• Increase Forage Yields

• Reduce Livestock Health Issues

• Have longer growing season (productive life of plants)

Earthwise Farm and

Forest

Keeping Good Grazing Records : Forward planning and historical records

Important Conversions

Important Conversion Values:

PPM – Parts per million

PPA = Pounds per Acre

PPA = 2(PPM)

There are 2 million lbs of soil in the top 6 inches of soil

500 lbs per acre = 11.5 lbs per 1000 sq feet

100 lbs per acre = 2.3 lbs per 1000 sq feet

20 lbs per acre = .46 lbs per 1000 sq feet

5 lbs per acre = 2 ounces per 1000 sq feet

Macro Nutrients available in natural forms:

Magnesium Sulfate (epsom salts) = 20% Mg, 30% S

Gypsum = 23% Ca, 19% S

Sul-Po-Mag = 22%S, 22% K, 11% Mg

Soft Rock Phosphate = 22% P, 20% Ca

Hi Cal Lime = 38-40% Ca

Dolomitic Lime = 30% Ca, 10% Mg

P2O5: 75 PPM x 4.6 = 350 #/a

Micro Nutrients

Solubor = 20% Boron

Borax = 11% Boron

Cobalt Sulfate = 27% copper

Manganese Sulfate = 32% Manganese

Financials and Nutrients applied

18 tons lime @ $52/ton delivered = $940

2 ton SulPo Mag/Gypsum @ $550/ton = $1100

Micronutrients: Zinc Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Boron, Humates – applied at $75/acre = $750

Total amount invested on amendments for 2011

$2,790.00

Nutrients applied

13 acres of pasture

- 1 ton/acre lime

10 Acres of pasture

- 200# gypsum

- 200# sulpomag

- 10# solubor, 10# zinc sulfate, 15 # Manganese sulfate/acre, mixed with humates, (50% summer, 50% fall application

Contact Info

Lisa McCrory

Earthwise Farm

and Forest

Email: Lmccrory@hughes.net

www.earthwisefarmandforest.com

Phone: 802-234-5524