How to improve Soil Health and Pasture Production?
If I have a dollar and you have a dollar and we trade, we both still have 1 dollar. If I have an idea and you have an idea and we trade, we now both have 2 ideas. No matter how much experience you have in your field there is always more to learn and nothing seems to yield more than networking.
That’s why we at Hustler Equipment enjoys putting on FREE field days where producers can come together to collaborate with one another and with the subject experts we bring in.
Recently, in southwest Arkansas, United States, Hustler brought together producers to focus on the subject of Improving Soil Health and Pasture Production which is a very big topic! Watch the full video of the event or read a short summary of the day below.
When raising livestock it all starts with our soils. The healthier our soils are the more livestock feed we can produce and therefore the more livestock we can raise and the more profit we can reap off of our land.
Our day at the Hennard Ranch started off with Jeremy Huff, USDA NRCS Arkansas State Grazing Lands Specialist who brought the fascinating rainfall simulator to show the effects that different grazing practices have on water retention and erosion. It was amazing to see how rotational grazing can improve your pastures through much better water infiltration and much less run-off and top-soil erosion.
Then we moved on to Lance Paskewitz from Hustler Equipment who explained and demonstrated how you can implement Bio-Carpeting into your feeding program to really reap those same benefits of rotational grazing through the winter. Bio-Carpeting is a strategic feeding methodology that mimics natural grazing habits and allows you to control animal traffic to reduce hay waste and pasture damage. It was incredible to see how Bio-Carpeting can drastically reduce your Total-Cost-To-Feed and improve pasture growth the following summer!
Ted & Jared Miller from the National Grazing Lands Coalition and Delta Dairy LLC followed on with their presentation of Effective Nutrient Recycling Through Efficient Grazing and Feeding Methods. In their presentation, they went over how Bio-Carpeting changed their operation drastically from being able to run more animal units on their land to significantly reducing their winter feed requirements and summer fertilizer bill. Along with a major increase in organic matter and improved soil health they have also noticed increased forage production which has allowed them to be much more efficient and profitable. You can also learn more about Ted & Jared operation in an article we published last year.
To wrap up the day, Trevor Greenfield from Rio Nutrition presented some ideas on How to Fast Forward Regenerative Agriculture through the use of Rhyzogreen – a product that fuels the microbes in the soil. Their laser focus on feeding the good bugs in the rumen has eventually led them all the way to the very beginning of the food chain to feed the good bugs in the soil. Trevor shared the tremendous results of focusing on soil health and some of the tools it takes to increase soil health and pasture production. Proven on many different soils and many different plant species, including his wife’s tomatoes!
Here at Hustler, farming sustainably is at the heart of everything we do.
Our belief in sustainable farming practices underpins our range of world-leading livestock feeding solutions. If you are looking for farming equipment near you or buying livestock feeding equipment, contact our friendly team today!
