Real Wealth Ranching

Please remember, I will talk about the best grass management under high to very high stocking rates, the number of productive animals carried on your ranch per year.  Everything will revolve around this.

Under selective grazing, because harvest efficiency is much lower, either a much lower stocking rate is needed, or you will need to graze the whole property and call the leftovers stockpile.  But it is NOT.

The leftovers after selective grazing are much lower in quality, as the cows select the best and leave what they do not like (much lower quality in leftovers!), especially as the Winter or dry season advances. This makes the protein supplement costs MUCH higher and your cows body condition much lower which is NOT in your best interest.

Under Total grazing, at the very high stocking rates needed for profitability and to improve your land the fastest, we leave a portion of the ranch to stockpile, in the growing season, with NO grazing there; in this area the roots grow...

Please remember, I will write about grass management under high to very high stocking rates, the number of productive animals carried on your ranch per year.  Everything will revolve around this.

Because the seedlings of your best species are more palatable and take a long time to put out strong enough roots to resist the pulling action of a cow wrapping her tongue on the seedling when your herd is doing selective grazing, the rest time, under selective grazing, is NOT long enough for them to establish; especially on a drought year and bare patches start to appear (in brittle environments) or undesirable species take over (in more humid environments).

If we want strong and fat roots of our best forage species the rest period needs to be long enough to allow for this.  This means when the basal leaves start to turn yellow; at this point the root reserves allow for another grazing without damage to the roots.

Besides this, the very harmful recommendation to incorrectly name...

Watch the video above for the full interview with Ryan Boyd from South Glanton Farms in Manitoba, Canada or read the transcript highlights below:

Question 1 - Years in Total Grazing vs Selective Grazing

[2:26] Jim: How many years have you been doing Total Grazing vs Selective Grazing?

[3:02] Ryan: We've been selective rotationally grazing for 15 years now so it has been about one year since we really started Total Grazing. It took seeing it, witnessing it in person at your experienced ranch there [Florida] to really for the light bulb to go on and really show us the potential. So when we came home we started in the Total Grazing. We were totally believers after trying it for one summer. We would never switch back now. We still have a lot to learn but it's so much potential with Total Grazing.

Question 2 - Nuffield scholarship. Total Grazing vs other grazing operations

[3:45] Jim: I remember you visited me on February of 2020 and then you left on a Nuffield...

First let me tell you. All I will talk about is related to grazing under high to very high stocking rates, stocking rate being the number of productive animals maintained on a ranch per year, as this is what determines profitability on a ranch.

Selective grazing, by definition, harvests only a portion of the available forage before the cows move on to the next paddock. This means that they move faster around your ranch AND return faster than if their harvest were more Total, high harvest efficiency, which would mean it takes longer for them to finish it before moving on to the next paddock giving a much longer time to return, a longer rest period under Total Grazing.

Under selective grazing the best species get severely grazed while the less desirable or undesirable species get grazed less or not at all!.
This leads to desertification in brittle environments, or to undesirable species or brush taking over in more humid environments, unless serious destocking takes place, and we know...

For ease of management, the less cattle groups the better.

I am often asked how many groups of cattle we need to have for optimum results.

My answer is always: less groups is easier for you and achieves better animal impact.

I have the large group with mature cows, first and second calf heifers.

The weaned heifer group until they get bred, once they are bred, they go with the large group.

The Bulls group, where the weaned intact Bull calves go, 3 months after weaning.

Some months there is only one group, breeding season, and the rest of the year we may have two to three groups.

The only groups we move daily, 4 times per day, are the weaned heifer group and the large group, the Bulls are moved only once every 3-7 days to reduce the workload on us.

To make this easier we use a Kubota side by side where the temporary electric fences are put out and taken off without dismounting.

A word of warning: This is possible, at very high stocking rate, only with adapted genetics that have been...

1.- Conventional genetics have been selected under very high input situation where the goal is maximum production and animals are fed to potential.  This means that when in a real ranch situation at very high stocking rates they would require so much supplement to remain in good body condition that it would be uneconomical.  Besides, they would only harvest around 60% of available forage per graze cycle without losing body condition, even with protein supplement, compared to around 85% achieved with adapted animals selected correctly.  These differences can be what separates a profitable appreciating ranch from a losing money degrading ranch.

2.- At very high stocking rates individual animals cannot select the best parts and move on to a new paddock as that would become overgrazing, re grazing the same plant before it has fully recovered its energy reserves.  This means your cattle require nutritional adaptation to maintain good body condition at very high...

If we start with the end in mind, we need to project our future number of cattle, and water needs, considering that we have increased 3 times the normal stocking rate in the first years.  After that stocking rates can increase further.

1.- Always plan for a much higher number of animals, as your land improves your stocking rate MUST increase to keep conditioning your grass for maximum photosynthesis.  This is important to repeat: as the cow needs the grass the grass needs the cow.  If your ranch demands more cattle to keep up with the extra grass being produced and you do not increase your stocking rate the improvement of your soil may go back.

2.- Build resiliency into your system, pressurized systems can fail, especially in the weekends.  You do not want thirsty cows which would lead to depressed individual performance.

3.- Allow enough water trough space so that all animals can consume water unimpeded, consider timid and dominant animals.  Having the...

While EPDs can be used in some instances, trying to achieve maximum in any trait will not help but hinder reaching our goal of maximum profitability.

As we know now, too much milk goes against reproduction or on the ranch fertility, too large a frame goes against practical fertility and conversion efficiency by reducing relative intake which is defined as the amount of grass a cow can consume per hundred pounds of weight.

The most important trait in a cow is her ability to wean a good calf every year, to do this she needs to be in top body condition with smaller frame animals the ones with best body condition, all other factors being equal.  Observe your herd of cows at same reproductive stage and age, and you will find out this is true as a rule with very few exceptions.

A larger framed animal results from chasing high daily gain, high weaning weight, maximum yearling weight, as the larger frame animal will win in those categories.  These larger frame animals also mean...

When we calculate whole ranch profits at the end of the year it is clear, that the number of pounds of weaned calves sold is more important than selling fewer pounds in the form of higher weight individuals like heavy weaning weights.

To achieve heavy individual weaning weights, we need to use high input genetics with high milk production and those genetics are usually larger frame animals.  We need to ask ourselves: do I want maximum profits while improving my soil and my life? Or do I prefer bragging rights?

A good comparison would be to consider a corn grower.  Does he/she select and manage for large corn ears, or for higher profitability? Is individual corn ear size the determinant of profitability? Or is total production less the total expenses more important?

The same happens when selecting for heavier weaning weights/higher milk producing cows.  They need a very different selection criteria and management than a maximum profitability ranch requires.

Too make...

There are many aspects and ways that genetics play a determinant role in our profitability and improving our land.

Some genetics, especially those that are high production/high inputs, do not help to regenerate our soils and certainly go against maximum productivity per ranch or farm.

Those high input/maintenance genetics require total parasite control, energy feeds, selective grazing, pampering, and result in high individual animal performance but low profitability per acre/hectare or whole ranch.  They also degrade the land by forcing us to do those practices to keep them productive.

When we have adapted genetics selected for maximum profitability per acre/hectare while improving our land the fastest we, and our animals, are much more comfortable and in tune with our goals, we then can bring harmony to our land and lives.

What is needed on the part of our animals?

1.- Climatic adaptation

2.- Nutritional adaptation

3.- Easy keeping/ability to fatten

4.- Docility

5.- High...