Don and I attended a Green Hills Farm Project meeting, on April 8th, which was held in the loft of a barn that sits on a Century Farm. Our hosts, Nicholas and Melody, were seeking advice on grazing hair sheep and eventually moving into raising pastured poultry as well. This young, foreword thinking couple is hoping to carry on the tradition of keeping the farm viable and teach their children the benefits and responsibilities of farming stewardship.
The Green Hills Farm Project is a terrific resource for advice. Not limited to grazing, these folks can give you ideas and advice about: watering systems, solar energy systems, mineral mixes, fencing options, soil management, multi-species grazing, input reduction, permaculture, natural parasite control, A2 milk, making Kombucha tea….. For a $30 membership, you can attend any and all meetings which include farm walks to get a visual understanding of the groups focus. Earlier this year, we heard Jim Gerrish speak. Thirty dollars well spent. Come join us. https://www.facebook.com/GreenHillsFarmProject/
As a side note…. The barn loft is set up to accommodate square dances. How cool is that?
Don and I have started adding raw apple cider vinegar to the stock tanks. We have been reading about its usage to aid in digestion and to ward off face flies. In the beginning, we offered the apple cider vinegar as free choice in tubs. The cattle ignored it, and the vinegar attached flying insects; no flies though. This became a concern to me. As the cattle excreted body fluid, would these flying insects become an irritant to the livestock? 
Don rendered lard a few days ago. Not in conjunction with our annual hog butchering, though. We were simply out of lard so Don pulled four bags of chunked-up fat from the freezer, allowed it to thaw, then cooked it down. 
Today, Don seasoned a cast iron pot given to us by my dad. After removing rust from the inside and outside of the pot, he washed it in hot, soapy water, thoroughly dried it, smeared it with lard, then baked it in the oven for one hour at 250 degrees and one half hour at 350 degrees. It is now ready to receive the fixings for beef stew. 
rate is too low for proper trampling. Sure, we won’t run out of grass, however with our infrastructure, it’s difficult to crowd the cattle to graze and trample near these areas. As a result, sprouts and briars have invaded. Right now, we have two, very small, groups of cattle running on roughly ninety acres. Very small meaning a total of twelve.
preference is to run a closed herd and raise our own replacement heifers, however we’ve had very few heifer calves these past years though. Barring the price of cattle, it’s the type of cattle available for purchase that keeps us from purchasing from other Red Angus breeders. Our interest lies in small to medium frames, the ability of the animal to maintain itself on Missouri pasture and produce a calf each year. While browsing the classifieds, I only see “medium to large” frame as part of the description. The attached image is of the only heifer born in 2014; all other calves were bulls.
On my February 4th entry, I commented on an article about genetically modifying bulls to create an endless supply of semen from “superior” sires. This same article also specifically reasoned that heat tolerant bulls could be modified to make them more fertile. Basically, young, healthy bulls would be sterilized then spermatogonial stem cells, from highly fertile bulls, would be transplanted in them. I ended my entry by asking if cattlemen were even asking for this service.
What a jumble. Up until a few years ago, we hadn’t given much thought to our wooded areas. We harvest timber each winter for personal use, however that’s the only traffic these areas get. As a result, a mess of woody plants and briars have just about taken over. This provides wildlife habitat but I feel we need some balance and productivity to this part or our land.