Join us for an enlightening discussion with Blane Stacy, a rangeland management specialist from Northeast Oklahoma, as we explore the intricacies of regenerative grazing and rangeland management. Blane shares his fascinating journey from his early days in FFA to becoming a specialist assisting farmers and ranchers across the state with effective grazing strategies. His dual role as a professional and practitioner on his 80-acre farm provides a unique perspective on the principles of evaluating plant communities for livestock and wildlife management. Through Blane's insights, we uncover the importance of maintaining functional grazing ecosystems and the invaluable lessons learned from his personal and professional experiences in regenerative agriculture.
Listen in as we revive interest in rangeland judging contests within FFA programs, highlighting the evolution and importance of these competitions in fostering knowledge of plant species and ecological systems. We discuss the need for supporting ag teachers and attracting future rangeland specialists, emphasizing how these contests can inspire careers in plant and soil sciences. The conversation extends to the practical aspects of setting up a managed grazing system, focusing on making it family-friendly and flexible, and the challenges of managing infrastructure like electric fencing.
Finally, we examine the critical relationship between rangeland ecosystems and grazing management, especially in Northeast Oklahoma. Blane guides us through the historical role of natural processes like fire and grazing in shaping ecosystems and the balance needed to maintain ecological function. Through examples of high-intensity regenerative grazing practices, we highlight the necessity of managed grazing for ecosystem health. The episode wraps up with discussions on connecting with like-minded grazers and utilizing resources like Walt Davis's "How to Not Go Broke Ranching" to promote effective land stewardship. This episode offers a comprehensive look at how regenerative grazing can benefit both land and livestock, encouraging sustainable agricultural practices.
Links Mentioned in the Episode:
Oklahoma Conservation Commission
Visit our Sponsors:
Noble Research Institute
Redmond
Kencove Farm Fence
NOTE This file was generated by Descript
00:00:00 --> 00:00:04 Welcome to the grazing grass podcast episode 141.
00:00:04 --> 00:00:05 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: I don't know if you've ever seen a
00:00:05 --> 00:00:10 bunch of like minded people geek out at looking at dung beetles in cow manure,
00:00:10 --> 00:00:12 but that's the kind of people we are.
00:00:12 --> 00:00:15 Cal: You're listening to the grazing grass, podcast, sharing
00:00:15 --> 00:00:19 information and stories of grass-based livestock production
00:00:19 --> 00:00:21 utilizing regenerative practices.
00:00:21 --> 00:00:23 I'm your host, Cal Hardage.
00:00:25 --> 00:00:27 You're growing more than grass.
00:00:27 --> 00:00:31 You're growing a healthier ecosystem to help your cattle
00:00:31 --> 00:00:32 thrive in their environment.
00:00:33 --> 00:00:37 You're growing your livelihood by increasing your carrying capacity
00:00:38 --> 00:00:40 and reducing your operating costs.
00:00:40 --> 00:00:46 You're growing stronger communities and a legacy to last generations.
00:00:47 --> 00:00:49 The grazing management decisions you make today.
00:00:50 --> 00:00:55 impact everything from the soil beneath your feet to the community all around you.
00:00:56 --> 00:01:01 That's why the Noble Research Institute created their Essentials
00:01:01 --> 00:01:06 of Regenerative Grazing course to teach ranchers like you easy to follow
00:01:06 --> 00:01:13 techniques to quickly assess your forage production and infrastructure capacity.
00:01:13 --> 00:01:16 In order to begin grazing more efficiently.
00:01:17 --> 00:01:21 Together, they can help you grow not only a healthier operation,
00:01:22 --> 00:01:24 but a legacy that lasts.
00:01:24 --> 00:01:28 Learn more on their website at noble.
00:01:28 --> 00:01:30 org slash grazing.
00:01:30 --> 00:01:37 It's n o b l e dot org forward slash grazing.
00:01:37 --> 00:01:38 On today's show.
00:01:38 --> 00:01:41 We have Blane Stacy from Northeast, Oklahoma.
00:01:41 --> 00:01:42 He is a range land.
00:01:43 --> 00:01:48 Range land management specialist for the Oklahoma conservation commission.
00:01:49 --> 00:01:52 And he also has a small farm, not too far from me.
00:01:52 --> 00:01:54 On today's episode, we talk about his journey.
00:01:55 --> 00:01:59 To where he is now, as well as getting started on 80 acres
00:01:59 --> 00:02:01 and how he's managing his cows.
00:02:02 --> 00:02:03 It's a great conversation.
00:02:03 --> 00:02:04 I think you'll enjoy it.
00:02:05 --> 00:02:06 10 seconds about the farm.
00:02:06 --> 00:02:09 Uh, we have rain in the forecast, hopefully by the
00:02:09 --> 00:02:10 time you're listening to this.
00:02:11 --> 00:02:12 We have some rain falling.
00:02:13 --> 00:02:13 Awesome.
00:02:14 --> 00:02:17 I've been under the weather for the last few days.
00:02:17 --> 00:02:18 I blame my dad.
00:02:18 --> 00:02:20 But it's possible.
00:02:20 --> 00:02:21 I could have caught it somewhere else too.
00:02:21 --> 00:02:23 So I guess I shouldn't do that.
00:02:24 --> 00:02:26 For 10 seconds about the podcast.
00:02:27 --> 00:02:29 If you're not part of the grazing grass community on
00:02:29 --> 00:02:31 Facebook, I suggest you join it.
00:02:32 --> 00:02:35 We've had a couple posts in the last few days that really
00:02:35 --> 00:02:37 stirred a lot of conversation.
00:02:38 --> 00:02:42 And that's, that's the point of it talking to like-minded people.
00:02:42 --> 00:02:46 And being able to bounce ideas off of them, get their viewpoints.
00:02:47 --> 00:02:50 You know, it's so nice to have a discussion.
00:02:51 --> 00:02:54 And understand that we all don't have the same viewpoints.
00:02:55 --> 00:02:59 So if you're not part of the grazing grass community, go to Facebook and do a search
00:02:59 --> 00:03:03 for grazing grass, community, and join.
00:03:03 --> 00:03:06 Now you have to answer a question or two, or you won't get in, but.
00:03:07 --> 00:03:08 Those are easy.
00:03:08 --> 00:03:10 But I suggest you go over there.
00:03:10 --> 00:03:10 Join.
00:03:11 --> 00:03:14 Uh, enough of about my farm and about the podcast.
00:03:14 --> 00:03:15 Let's talk to Blane.
00:03:16 --> 00:03:18 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Blane, we want to welcome you to the Grazing Grass podcast.
00:03:18 --> 00:03:19 We're excited you're
00:03:19 --> 00:03:20 here today.
00:03:20 --> 00:03:21 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: Yes, absolutely.
00:03:21 --> 00:03:22 You know, thanks for having me.
00:03:22 --> 00:03:27 I'm really excited to discuss grass, grass management.
00:03:27 --> 00:03:31 My little operation here in, in a beautiful corner of southeastern
00:03:31 --> 00:03:35 Nowata County, and hopefully give some tips, some tricks, and some
00:03:35 --> 00:03:37 ideas for other people along the way.
00:03:39 --> 00:03:42 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Sounds like a great plan to get started.
00:03:42 --> 00:03:44 Tell us just a little bit about yourself
00:03:44 --> 00:03:45 and your operation.
00:03:45 --> 00:03:48 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: That is a loaded question, and I'll, I'll, I'll
00:03:48 --> 00:03:51 condense it to the best of my ability.
00:03:51 --> 00:03:54 Blane Stacey from New Alluwe, Oklahoma.
00:03:54 --> 00:03:57 I have kind of two different ways I'm going to approach this.
00:03:57 --> 00:04:01 Number one is, I am a rangeland management specialist for the
00:04:01 --> 00:04:03 Oklahoma Conservation Commission.
00:04:03 --> 00:04:06 I work with farmers, ranchers, producers all across the state of Oklahoma.
00:04:07 --> 00:04:11 We do education, outreach, and conservation technical assistance.
00:04:11 --> 00:04:15 What that basically means is, I get, A guy called me and said, Blane, my grass
00:04:15 --> 00:04:17 ain't growing, would you come and help me?
00:04:17 --> 00:04:24 Up to massive scale regenerative grazing management operations looking for ideas,
00:04:24 --> 00:04:31 tips, tricks everything from livestock behavior grass function, grass morphology,
00:04:31 --> 00:04:34 grass ecology but I'm also a practitioner.
00:04:34 --> 00:04:38 My little 80 acre grazing operation, we're about two miles
00:04:38 --> 00:04:40 due west of New Alluwe, Oklahoma.
00:04:41 --> 00:04:44 Most of the time it's a perfect little slice of heaven.
00:04:44 --> 00:04:49 It's a little bit dry today, but we're, I think we've put together a pretty
00:04:49 --> 00:04:55 good program that, I've got more grass than everybody around me, I'll say
00:04:55 --> 00:04:55 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh yeah,
00:04:56 --> 00:04:58 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: The ability to maintain the
00:04:58 --> 00:05:02 functionality of a grazing ecosystem through livestock management
00:05:02 --> 00:05:04 has been repeated over and over.
00:05:04 --> 00:05:08 And not just as an educator, but now as a practitioner, we've been here on
00:05:08 --> 00:05:10 this place just a little over two years.
00:05:11 --> 00:05:12 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: oh
00:05:12 --> 00:05:12 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: this in, in
00:05:12 --> 00:05:17 April of 2022, but I've been involved in grazing, grazing management
00:05:18 --> 00:05:19 pretty much my entire life.
00:05:19 --> 00:05:22 We could go all the way back to eighth grade FFA class.
00:05:22 --> 00:05:26 My father was an FFA instructor at Oklahoma union high school, and I joined
00:05:26 --> 00:05:29 the pasture and range judging team.
00:05:29 --> 00:05:35 So at a young age, had an interest in grass, grazing land ecology.
00:05:35 --> 00:05:39 And what I loved about the, the FFA range judging contest was it didn't
00:05:39 --> 00:05:41 approach things simply from a.
00:05:42 --> 00:05:44 Pasture grazing only scenario.
00:05:44 --> 00:05:46 It, it, in this
00:05:46 --> 00:05:50 contest, you, you had to evaluate the, the existing plant community.
00:05:50 --> 00:05:54 Compare it to what would be considered a historic plant community.
00:05:55 --> 00:05:59 So it taught you not only to use visual evaluation, but compare that
00:05:59 --> 00:06:03 to what the grassland ecosystem would have been 200 years ago.
00:06:04 --> 00:06:07 Then we do an evaluation for livestock management.
00:06:07 --> 00:06:10 How, how good of a spot is this for?
00:06:12 --> 00:06:13 You look at forage production,
00:06:13 --> 00:06:17 forage availability other factors like distribution factors, brush,
00:06:17 --> 00:06:21 canopy cover, distance to water and invasive species pressure.
00:06:21 --> 00:06:24 And then, a portion of the contest, you do the same thing, but evaluate
00:06:24 --> 00:06:26 for bobwhite quail habitat.
00:06:27 --> 00:06:28 So, through
00:06:28 --> 00:06:31 this contest, grew up gaining an appreciation for natural habitat.
00:06:32 --> 00:06:35 Rangeland ecosystems, was fortunate enough to be a state champion,
00:06:35 --> 00:06:38 went on to nationals and was a national champion as well.
00:06:39 --> 00:06:45 From there I guess I caught the eye of the state NRCS rangeland specialist.
00:06:45 --> 00:06:50 At the time, Mark Mosley, he was also one of the co authors of the Judging Manual
00:06:51 --> 00:06:53 he approached my father, he says, Mr.
00:06:53 --> 00:06:56 Stacey, I think I've got something your son would like.
00:06:56 --> 00:06:59 And they had a Ecological Academy, is what they called it.
00:06:59 --> 00:07:04 Basically, it was summer camp for grass and, and soil and range nerds, which I
00:07:05 --> 00:07:05 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: oh yes,
00:07:06 --> 00:07:09 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: So in the, in the summer of 2003, I
00:07:09 --> 00:07:13 believe, we went out to the Black Mesa Ecological Academy, where The Natural
00:07:13 --> 00:07:18 Resource Conservation Service Fish and Wildlife Service, BLM, and Forestry
00:07:19 --> 00:07:21 all work together to put on this camp.
00:07:21 --> 00:07:23 And I thought, you guys get to do this every day.
00:07:23 --> 00:07:25 You get to evaluate
00:07:25 --> 00:07:25 grasslands.
00:07:25 --> 00:07:29 You get to go out and do field evaluations.
00:07:29 --> 00:07:30 So I was sold.
00:07:30 --> 00:07:31 I said sign me up.
00:07:31 --> 00:07:32 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: oh yeah,
00:07:32 --> 00:07:32 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: So
00:07:33 --> 00:07:35 from there the career arc gets a little murky.
00:07:36 --> 00:07:39 There's probably not a job I haven't done at some point.
00:07:39 --> 00:07:43 I've been everything from a, from an environmental technician for
00:07:43 --> 00:07:48 a federal recognized tribe, for the Kaw tribe near Ponca City.
00:07:48 --> 00:07:49 I have been
00:07:49 --> 00:07:53 a NRCS USDA employee as an intern.
00:07:54 --> 00:07:55 I've done everything.
00:07:55 --> 00:08:00 I've in between from day work cowboying to training horses to working at steel
00:08:00 --> 00:08:07 pipe and supply facilities, but always coming back to my love for Rangeland
00:08:07 --> 00:08:09 Ecology and natural Resources management.
00:08:09 --> 00:08:12 I landed with Oklahoma Conservation Commission, so that's a
00:08:12 --> 00:08:13 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: you go to
00:08:13 --> 00:08:14 college at OSU?
00:08:14 --> 00:08:15 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: yes.
00:08:15 --> 00:08:18 I, I did two year stint in Wilberton at Eastern Oklahoma
00:08:18 --> 00:08:19 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh, okay.
00:08:19 --> 00:08:19 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: a
00:08:19 --> 00:08:22 livestock judging scholarship of all things.
00:08:22 --> 00:08:22 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh,
00:08:22 --> 00:08:23 yes.
00:08:23 --> 00:08:25 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: I showed livestock in high school
00:08:25 --> 00:08:27 and, and was very enjoyable.
00:08:28 --> 00:08:31 We'll get into this a little bit later, but the idea of a perfect
00:08:31 --> 00:08:36 animal in a show ring scenario doesn't quite fit with what we're looking at.
00:08:36 --> 00:08:41 As far as an efficient grazing animal in these high intensity grazing scenarios.
00:08:42 --> 00:08:45 If, if we get off on that tangent, we'll, we'll get there.
00:08:45 --> 00:08:50 But from, from there, it was, I wanted to have a career.
00:08:50 --> 00:08:55 In some kind of land resource management and was lucky enough
00:08:55 --> 00:08:57 and even with the conservation commission.
00:08:57 --> 00:08:59 My 1st, 2 years was in water quality monitoring.
00:09:00 --> 00:09:01 I didn't necessarily start with
00:09:01 --> 00:09:05 with the soil, the soil health program, which I currently work for.
00:09:05 --> 00:09:07 So two years of water quality monitoring.
00:09:07 --> 00:09:13 I gained an appreciation for the, the collection of data in that program
00:09:13 --> 00:09:16 because that was a direct gauge of the conservation programs that were
00:09:16 --> 00:09:21 being applied statewide either through NRCS, Conservation Commission, or
00:09:21 --> 00:09:23 our, our state and federal partners.
00:09:23 --> 00:09:24 So
00:09:24 --> 00:09:27 if, if we're having soil erosion, we apply conservation practices
00:09:27 --> 00:09:32 within a watershed, we go collect the water quality data before and after.
00:09:32 --> 00:09:34 If we can show an improvement of that water quality.
00:09:35 --> 00:09:37 Our conservation practices are working and, and
00:09:37 --> 00:09:38 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh, yeah.
00:09:38 --> 00:09:41 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: management was a huge push there kind
00:09:41 --> 00:09:46 of in the mid aughts toward, till about 2010 prescribed grazing was a, was
00:09:46 --> 00:09:50 a conservation practice through NRCS and we were able to track that data.
00:09:50 --> 00:09:54 But in 2016, they said, Blane, we love you and water quality,
00:09:54 --> 00:09:57 but we have an opportunity in soil and soil health program.
00:09:57 --> 00:09:58 Would you like to do that?
00:09:59 --> 00:10:02 And I said, well, kind of explain what I'll be doing.
00:10:02 --> 00:10:04 So, all, all of
00:10:04 --> 00:10:08 2016, they had scheduled some plant identification workshops.
00:10:08 --> 00:10:14 So, all my experience through FFA range judging I, I forgot to
00:10:14 --> 00:10:16 mention that plant identification was also a part of that contest.
00:10:17 --> 00:10:18 You were supposed to
00:10:18 --> 00:10:21 identify 20 plants at any stage of growth.
00:10:21 --> 00:10:24 It could be, we've had contests in the spring or fall.
00:10:24 --> 00:10:27 So you have to be able to identify big bluestem when it's that tall
00:10:27 --> 00:10:29 or when it's full mature and
00:10:29 --> 00:10:30 seeded out.
00:10:30 --> 00:10:32 So that was right in my wheelhouse.
00:10:32 --> 00:10:32 I said, I've.
00:10:33 --> 00:10:34 Sign me
00:10:34 --> 00:10:36 up, be glad to, and, and have it looked back since.
00:10:37 --> 00:10:40 To be honest, didn't really have a good background in what we would
00:10:40 --> 00:10:45 call managed grazing, regenerative grazing through university.
00:10:45 --> 00:10:48 I loved my time at Oklahoma State, but it was a pretty conventional
00:10:49 --> 00:10:53 set of, Management rules, continuous set stock grazing.
00:10:53 --> 00:10:57 We, we hammered to death the, the stock, how to set stocking rates,
00:10:58 --> 00:11:01 but we never approached the, the true
00:11:03 --> 00:11:08 management systems that can be implemented that truly mimic what we
00:11:08 --> 00:11:10 would call the historic grazing pattern.
00:11:12 --> 00:11:14 Don't know how far we want to get off into that, but
00:11:14 --> 00:11:14 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Yeah.
00:11:15 --> 00:11:21 Well, yeah, and you know, I attended OSU a few decades in advance of you and
00:11:21 --> 00:11:26 kind of the same thing looking at inputs and outputs and, and, not really any
00:11:26 --> 00:11:29 grazing management there other than the
00:11:29 --> 00:11:30 conventional set stock.
00:11:30 --> 00:11:32 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: certainly know how to cash flow,
00:11:32 --> 00:11:34 but the, the, a
00:11:34 --> 00:11:38 rangeland I could remember a derogatory term that they use,
00:11:38 --> 00:11:40 they call them native stomp lots.
00:11:40 --> 00:11:41 That's how they, that's how
00:11:41 --> 00:11:42 they
00:11:42 --> 00:11:44 viewed these, these native rangeland ecosystem.
00:11:44 --> 00:11:49 It was just a space to get them a little grass in the summertime.
00:11:50 --> 00:11:51 Dump a little hay out in
00:11:51 --> 00:11:55 the winter time, you're, you're, they were continually overstocked to begin
00:11:55 --> 00:11:57 with, so it was just an input output.
00:11:57 --> 00:12:01 They brought inputs in, they brought in the feed, they brought in the hay.
00:12:01 --> 00:12:05 And they ship the outputs to the, to the peat yard essentially.
00:12:05 --> 00:12:10 So not, not what I would call an efficient or profitable system, but
00:12:10 --> 00:12:14 as long as the banker got his note paid, and you had a little bit left
00:12:15 --> 00:12:18 at the end of the year, not too many people were complaining.
00:12:20 --> 00:12:22 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: The other thing is you're sharing your story there It
00:12:22 --> 00:12:28 jumped out at me is this range land Judging contest or the full name because
00:12:28 --> 00:12:33 when I went through FFA we had land judging we got in there We looked at soil.
00:12:33 --> 00:12:35 We looked at topsoil subsoil
00:12:38 --> 00:12:43 water capability of it But this rangeland sounds really interesting to me.
00:12:44 --> 00:12:46 I'm assuming it's more recent than when I
00:12:46 --> 00:12:47 went through school.
00:12:47 --> 00:12:49 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh, I'm not sure when it
00:12:49 --> 00:12:51 became an official contest.
00:12:51 --> 00:12:53 I remember being very small.
00:12:53 --> 00:12:55 My father was an ag teacher at, at Delaware
00:12:55 --> 00:12:57 high school, early nineties.
00:12:58 --> 00:13:00 He had a, he had a range judging team then.
00:13:00 --> 00:13:05 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh, so it may not be that my, my ag teacher
00:13:05 --> 00:13:07 was interested in that and I wasn't
00:13:07 --> 00:13:08 aware of it too.
00:13:08 --> 00:13:10 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: could be I mean, God bless our
00:13:10 --> 00:13:12 teachers and educators, ag teachers.
00:13:12 --> 00:13:12 They,
00:13:13 --> 00:13:15 they can get spread pretty thin between livestock showing.
00:13:16 --> 00:13:20 Speeches, professional leadership, and then the, the, the students themselves
00:13:20 --> 00:13:22 and their supervised ag experiences.
00:13:22 --> 00:13:24 So I, I've seen that firsthand.
00:13:24 --> 00:13:28 The, the ag teachers, they kind of have to pick and choose what they're
00:13:28 --> 00:13:32 good at or what they're comfortable presenting and coaching teams on.
00:13:32 --> 00:13:36 And truth be told, There's a lot of land judges because
00:13:36 --> 00:13:38 it's a fairly simple contest.
00:13:38 --> 00:13:38 You don't get a
00:13:38 --> 00:13:39 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh, yeah.
00:13:40 --> 00:13:40 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: The
00:13:40 --> 00:13:41 parameters are the same.
00:13:41 --> 00:13:46 You're evaluating soil, texture, permeability, slope, elevation,
00:13:46 --> 00:13:47 and then really all the
00:13:48 --> 00:13:53 other intricacies of that contest are, they're given to the students.
00:13:54 --> 00:13:57 At the contest, you know, all they have to do, it's more of a memorization thing
00:13:58 --> 00:13:59 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh, yeah.
00:13:59 --> 00:14:01 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: they can, if they can get soil
00:14:01 --> 00:14:06 texture and they can get slope and they can get the, the, the day that
00:14:06 --> 00:14:10 they're out there, the physical characteristics with some consistency.
00:14:11 --> 00:14:12 The rest of it's just memorization.
00:14:12 --> 00:14:16 Okay, well, if you, if you see this, this, and this, you mark this.
00:14:16 --> 00:14:21 The range judging was a little bit more, I would say, complex, but you
00:14:21 --> 00:14:23 had to have a broader knowledge base.
00:14:23 --> 00:14:26 Number one, you had to identify 130 plants before you could even
00:14:27 --> 00:14:27 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh, yeah.
00:14:30 --> 00:14:31 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: There's 130 plants on that list.
00:14:31 --> 00:14:34 You may not see them all, but if you go evaluate a
00:14:34 --> 00:14:38 range site, you have to know what big bluestem, switchgrass, Indian grass,
00:14:38 --> 00:14:43 all these pretty common rangeland species look like at any stage of
00:14:43 --> 00:14:47 growth, whether they're three inches tall, fresh green regrowth after a
00:14:47 --> 00:14:50 prescribed burn or into the fall.
00:14:51 --> 00:14:53 After that plant is already senesced, set seed, and turn brown.
00:14:54 --> 00:15:00 So, we've been trying to support our FFA and 4 H programs.
00:15:00 --> 00:15:05 We hosted a workshop in Stillwater earlier this summer, and invited Ag
00:15:05 --> 00:15:08 teachers to just come and experience what the contest is all about.
00:15:09 --> 00:15:13 We had probably a dozen ag teachers from across the state that weren't already
00:15:13 --> 00:15:16 sending teams to the state contest.
00:15:16 --> 00:15:19 Just gave them an opportunity to say, it's, don't be intimidated
00:15:19 --> 00:15:21 by the breadth of knowledge.
00:15:21 --> 00:15:22 If you can, if you can identify
00:15:22 --> 00:15:28 20 or 25 plants and, and cover the main ones and know how to
00:15:28 --> 00:15:31 evaluate spatially grassland.
00:15:31 --> 00:15:33 Mark some stuff on a card.
00:15:33 --> 00:15:34 You'll be fine.
00:15:35 --> 00:15:40 So we're trying to increase the participation on that contest And I'm
00:15:40 --> 00:15:45 not going to let that contest die But the simple fact is we had I think five
00:15:45 --> 00:15:50 teams at state FFA contests this year And of those five teams three of those
00:15:50 --> 00:15:57 ag teachers are either retiring or have already retired and simply support this
00:15:57 --> 00:16:00 one team my father being one of them.
00:16:00 --> 00:16:03 He's been retired for five years from teaching ag, but
00:16:03 --> 00:16:06 he still does one contest.
00:16:06 --> 00:16:09 He helps out with the rangeland judging contest through the FFA program.
00:16:09 --> 00:16:09 So
00:16:10 --> 00:16:10 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: oh, yes.
00:16:11 --> 00:16:14 Well, I will have to bring it up to the, the ag teachers I know.
00:16:15 --> 00:16:19 I know when I went back to education, people asked, they assumed I
00:16:19 --> 00:16:20 went, went back to be ag teacher.
00:16:20 --> 00:16:23 I'm like, no, that's, that's way too much work for me to do
00:16:23 --> 00:16:25 something outside of school hours.
00:16:25 --> 00:16:27 There's just so many activities.
00:16:29 --> 00:16:31 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: definitely, definitely it's If we
00:16:31 --> 00:16:37 could get that comfortability with that contest and that's just getting
00:16:37 --> 00:16:40 those ag teachers exposed to it, I think we can bring that back up.
00:16:40 --> 00:16:45 Because on the flip side of that, we're trying to find replacements for us.
00:16:46 --> 00:16:46 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh,
00:16:46 --> 00:16:47 yes.
00:16:48 --> 00:16:50 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: we're looking for rangeland specialists,
00:16:50 --> 00:16:54 we're looking for plant and soil scientists, those kids that are in FFA,
00:16:54 --> 00:16:59 that are interested in these careers because frankly, we can't find those kids.
00:16:59 --> 00:17:01 Or, or, we're not finding
00:17:01 --> 00:17:05 those type of kids to, to fill our ranks from, from my professional
00:17:05 --> 00:17:05 career.
00:17:06 --> 00:17:10 And then, if we could get a few of them interested in regenerative grazing at the
00:17:10 --> 00:17:15 same time and, and become disciples of this as well we can spread the idea of
00:17:15 --> 00:17:17 regenerative grazing further and further.
00:17:18 --> 00:17:19 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh, yes.
00:17:19 --> 00:17:22 And I, I think that's a really a natural evolution as you gain knowledge
00:17:23 --> 00:17:28 about your rangeland ecology and, and build that knowledge there.
00:17:28 --> 00:17:33 You, you come across regenerative grazing, regenerative ag practices,
00:17:33 --> 00:17:35 and it really strikes your
00:17:35 --> 00:17:36 interest and you dive
00:17:36 --> 00:17:36 in
00:17:36 --> 00:17:37 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: Absolutely.
00:17:37 --> 00:17:37 That's it.
00:17:37 --> 00:17:38 It was yeah.
00:17:38 --> 00:17:41 I, I tell people all the time, if, if, if you, if you read the Bible,
00:17:41 --> 00:17:43 it was sa on the way to Damascus.
00:17:43 --> 00:17:46 That, that was kind of a moment that I had with, with Regener,
00:17:46 --> 00:17:47 with regenerative grazing.
00:17:48 --> 00:17:54 Just a, a truly a, a mind altering moment of we're not trying to make these
00:17:54 --> 00:17:56 cows do anything they can't already do.
00:17:56 --> 00:17:57 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Right.
00:17:57 --> 00:18:00 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: It's, it's, we're, for one, we're
00:18:00 --> 00:18:05 mimicking the, the natural grazing pattern that shaped the Great Plains ecosystem.
00:18:06 --> 00:18:06 I think
00:18:06 --> 00:18:09 part of our discussion here a little bit is going to cover rangeland
00:18:09 --> 00:18:14 ecology, but that's what makes regenerative grazing so awesome.
00:18:14 --> 00:18:21 We're simply recreating the processes that shaped this central
00:18:21 --> 00:18:24 prairie ecosystem, albeit at a much
00:18:24 --> 00:18:25 smaller scale.
00:18:26 --> 00:18:26 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Right.
00:18:26 --> 00:18:27 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: telling,
00:18:27 --> 00:18:31 when I first discovered regenerative grazing, my mindset was, so you're
00:18:32 --> 00:18:36 telling me I can make the ecosystem better and graze more cows?
00:18:38 --> 00:18:41 That, that just was, why aren't we all doing this?
00:18:41 --> 00:18:41 and,
00:18:41 --> 00:18:42 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh, yeah.
00:18:42 --> 00:18:43 Lower your input costs.
00:18:44 --> 00:18:45 Maybe make
00:18:45 --> 00:18:45 more money.
00:18:45 --> 00:18:47 Yeah, those,
00:18:47 --> 00:18:47 those are all
00:18:47 --> 00:18:48 music
00:18:48 --> 00:18:49 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: could shift gears a little bit and,
00:18:49 --> 00:18:51 and, Kind of jump into my operation.
00:18:51 --> 00:18:52 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Yeah, let's do that.
00:18:52 --> 00:18:54 Let's, let's talk about what you're doing.
00:18:54 --> 00:18:58 And just for our listeners Blane is only about six miles
00:18:58 --> 00:18:59 away from me.
00:18:59 --> 00:19:01 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: we're, we're tucked off here in, in, in
00:19:01 --> 00:19:04 what we call the, the Cherokee prairies.
00:19:04 --> 00:19:10 So, we're east of Bartlesville, west of the Ozark Plateau.
00:19:10 --> 00:19:14 There's a little, there's a little kind of a wedge shape of native prairie.
00:19:14 --> 00:19:18 Unfortunately, a lot of it got coal mined back in the late 70s, early
00:19:18 --> 00:19:19 80s.
00:19:19 --> 00:19:23 The, the, the place I purchased here was coal mined back in the late 1970s.
00:19:23 --> 00:19:29 It was after The date where they were required to go back in and restore it.
00:19:29 --> 00:19:33 So, they came in, they stripped mine, they moved all the rubble rock off, took
00:19:33 --> 00:19:37 the coal seams out, replaced the rubble rock, and then put the topsoil back on.
00:19:37 --> 00:19:42 Old historic soils maps tell me that this used to be an Apperson silty clay
00:19:42 --> 00:19:44 loam with a little bit of Katusa soil.
00:19:44 --> 00:19:49 So, we're talking silty clay type, pretty tight soils.
00:19:49 --> 00:19:50 For the most part, pretty tight soils.
00:19:51 --> 00:19:54 That's what we, that's what we deal with.
00:19:54 --> 00:19:57 But I've got 80 acres of my own property.
00:19:57 --> 00:19:59 I've got a brother in law just to the east of me.
00:19:59 --> 00:20:00 He's a rope horse trainer.
00:20:00 --> 00:20:03 He's got a few old retired rope horses.
00:20:03 --> 00:20:07 So I do have an option to utilize some of his grass if I need to.
00:20:07 --> 00:20:09 Some, some of his cows are running with mine.
00:20:10 --> 00:20:13 He was he was gifted some cows as a wedding gift 10 years ago.
00:20:13 --> 00:20:16 And when we finally moved back to the neighborhood, he said,
00:20:16 --> 00:20:18 Blane, you're the grass guy.
00:20:18 --> 00:20:20 I'll turn my cows in with yours.
00:20:20 --> 00:20:25 If we need to turn them out on my side for a period of time, we can do that.
00:20:25 --> 00:20:30 So, in total, I've probably got 120 grazeable acres that I can utilize.
00:20:31 --> 00:20:36 So being a disciple or an educator of regenerative grazing, regenerative
00:20:36 --> 00:20:40 agriculture through my career was, was chomping at the bit to
00:20:40 --> 00:20:41 get started on my own operation.
00:20:41 --> 00:20:47 We closed on this place in April of 22, and then I think when we came and
00:20:47 --> 00:20:51 toured the property, that was the last time it rained that particular year.
00:20:52 --> 00:20:59 In 2022, just a mile to the north where the edge of Ulagal Lake comes
00:20:59 --> 00:21:04 in, that was flooded when we purchased the place, so we couldn't even take,
00:21:04 --> 00:21:09 we couldn't even go up to road 27 because the road was flooded and.
00:21:10 --> 00:21:14 After May 15th, I don't think it rained a bit the rest of 2022.
00:21:15 --> 00:21:15 So the good
00:21:16 --> 00:21:20 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: a few years with really nice spring rains that
00:21:20 --> 00:21:22 once it turns dry, it turns dry.
00:21:23 --> 00:21:26 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: and, and call that a double edged sword.
00:21:26 --> 00:21:28 It, it, it benefited me greatly.
00:21:29 --> 00:21:29 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh yeah,
00:21:30 --> 00:21:30 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: I'll
00:21:30 --> 00:21:31 tell you why.
00:21:31 --> 00:21:36 So I had a, I had a farm service agency cow loan burning a hole in my pocket,
00:21:36 --> 00:21:42 but from the time we closed in April till we moved up here in June, it was
00:21:42 --> 00:21:43 already starting to turn a little dry.
00:21:43 --> 00:21:46 So I simply said, I'm just going to wait and see what happens.
00:21:47 --> 00:21:48 So, two
00:21:48 --> 00:21:49 excellent things happened.
00:21:49 --> 00:21:53 Number one, this grass got a rest and recovery period that
00:21:53 --> 00:21:55 I don't think it has ever had.
00:21:56 --> 00:21:57 This was a lease
00:21:57 --> 00:22:03 pasture before this and when we toured the place it was pretty obvious that
00:22:03 --> 00:22:07 their idea was we're going to take every blade of grass out here, leave nothing
00:22:07 --> 00:22:09 but the bark on the trees.
00:22:09 --> 00:22:14 And we even ended up finding a dead cow from, from the, from the landless sea.
00:22:15 --> 00:22:16 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: oh yeah,
00:22:16 --> 00:22:20 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: So, from April till essentially October,
00:22:20 --> 00:22:23 during the growing season, this got a rest that it probably never had.
00:22:24 --> 00:22:25 And then about the time people were
00:22:25 --> 00:22:29 looking to start to disperse some, some livestock, I had a friend of mine
00:22:29 --> 00:22:33 that lives just up the road named Jeff O'Connor, who had some cattle that had
00:22:33 --> 00:22:35 some Pharaoh Cattle Company genetics.
00:22:35 --> 00:22:39 He was, He was also a regenerative grazing practitioner doing daily moves,
00:22:41 --> 00:22:42 high intensity grazing type stuff.
00:22:43 --> 00:22:47 And he was trying to get rid of some older cows and I was really interested
00:22:47 --> 00:22:50 in the genetics and the cows that were already broke to a system.
00:22:50 --> 00:22:56 So I purchased 10 head from him in October and I purchased some from my father to
00:22:56 --> 00:23:00 kind of put together a little mix match herd and I jumped in head first October.
00:23:01 --> 00:23:05 I think it was, well, if today's the 17th, it was.
00:23:07 --> 00:23:09 It had to have been October 15th of 22.
00:23:09 --> 00:23:12 We had hot wire rolled out ready to go.
00:23:12 --> 00:23:12 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: oh yeah.
00:23:13 --> 00:23:13 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: I'm
00:23:14 --> 00:23:16 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Let's, let's jump to that time, getting
00:23:17 --> 00:23:19 your place ready for cattle.
00:23:19 --> 00:23:23 You, you bought this place, what did you do to get it ready for those
00:23:23 --> 00:23:23 cows coming
00:23:24 --> 00:23:24 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: okay.
00:23:25 --> 00:23:26 One, I was very fortunate.
00:23:26 --> 00:23:31 I have a spring fed pond and I have good six strand perimeter barbed wire fencing.
00:23:32 --> 00:23:32 So,
00:23:32 --> 00:23:34 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: so nice, you, you had a good
00:23:34 --> 00:23:35 working perimeter
00:23:35 --> 00:23:36 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: yes, I didn't have to
00:23:36 --> 00:23:38 worry anything about that.
00:23:38 --> 00:23:44 My biggest concerns were how to implement some kind of grazing paddock and allow
00:23:44 --> 00:23:47 livestock to come back to water and
00:23:47 --> 00:23:51 adding infrastructure, electric fencing to the perimeter fencing.
00:23:51 --> 00:23:57 So, first off, I literally went to Orsland's down the road here
00:23:57 --> 00:24:00 in Nahuatl and bought the biggest solar charger that they had, which I
00:24:00 --> 00:24:03 found out later was not near enough.
00:24:03 --> 00:24:06 To, to do what I needed to do, with running multiple
00:24:06 --> 00:24:13 wires you know, the, the ignorance of, of being a, a new disciple, I guess.
00:24:14 --> 00:24:17 So, the cows that were already broke that I purchased from Jeff
00:24:17 --> 00:24:20 O'Connor, they were a godsend, because they, they helped train.
00:24:21 --> 00:24:21 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh yeah.
00:24:21 --> 00:24:22 They knew
00:24:22 --> 00:24:22 what was going
00:24:23 --> 00:24:24 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: They knew what a hot wire was
00:24:24 --> 00:24:28 They were, they were just fine being in, in smaller spaced areas.
00:24:28 --> 00:24:33 So part of my career mindset is I'm trying to utilize this as a demonstration
00:24:33 --> 00:24:35 farm, not just my own operation.
00:24:36 --> 00:24:37 So I, I like
00:24:37 --> 00:24:44 to tell people I am as scientifically unscientific as possible, I am trying
00:24:44 --> 00:24:51 to implement methods that other people would, lemme rephrase that it's.
00:24:51 --> 00:24:55 I'm trying not to get, be too excessive that people don't want to try it.
00:24:55 --> 00:24:56 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Right.
00:24:56 --> 00:24:56 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: want to,
00:24:56 --> 00:24:59 every, every practice I implement, I run through my mind.
00:24:59 --> 00:25:02 It's usually, is this something my dad can do?
00:25:03 --> 00:25:04 Is this something a, a, a
00:25:04 --> 00:25:09 general 65 year old farmer, retiree, you know, my father, he drives a
00:25:09 --> 00:25:10 school bus for the school still.
00:25:10 --> 00:25:13 So he's got off farm responsibilities.
00:25:14 --> 00:25:17 But are the things that I'm implementing on my operation something
00:25:17 --> 00:25:21 that can be mimicked by anybody else in agriculture production?
00:25:21 --> 00:25:22 But,
00:25:22 --> 00:25:29 I am meticulous in my data collection photos maintaining records and,
00:25:29 --> 00:25:34 and, and having, trying to have some sort of scientific explanation
00:25:34 --> 00:25:35 for anything I try to do.
00:25:36 --> 00:25:37 If that makes sense.
00:25:37 --> 00:25:38 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Yeah.
00:25:38 --> 00:25:40 I think that's great.
00:25:40 --> 00:25:43 And I'll be honest, that's the part I don't do a good job on.
00:25:43 --> 00:25:48 We, we collect a fair amount of data for our cattle, but actually
00:25:48 --> 00:25:52 for the land, I don't do good enough, good enough job doing that.
00:25:52 --> 00:25:56 I've started keeping more records of it the last few years, but that's an area.
00:25:57 --> 00:25:58 And one thing you mentioned there was photos.
00:25:59 --> 00:26:04 Photos are really nice because you can see progression that you've forgotten.
00:26:04 --> 00:26:08 So, you, you can go back and you can be like, yeah, we made improvement here, but
00:26:08 --> 00:26:10 you pull up a photo, you're like, oh, wow.
00:26:10 --> 00:26:12 I forgot we were there.
00:26:12 --> 00:26:18 Are you doing anything to, to make sure you're photograph, photographing,
00:26:18 --> 00:26:20 taking pictures of the same area?
00:26:20 --> 00:26:23 Or are you just doing it as you're out there each day?
00:26:23 --> 00:26:24 How, how are you managing
00:26:24 --> 00:26:25 that?
00:26:25 --> 00:26:26 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: D all of the above.
00:26:26 --> 00:26:28 I, I have, I
00:26:28 --> 00:26:31 try to recreate set point photos.
00:26:31 --> 00:26:32 Thankfully I've
00:26:32 --> 00:26:34 got some pretty obvious landmarks on my place.
00:26:34 --> 00:26:36 I've got a water tower in one corner over here.
00:26:36 --> 00:26:42 I've got a tree line, a very obvious tree line that is repeatable in several photos.
00:26:43 --> 00:26:46 And try to use those as my, as my points of reference.
00:26:46 --> 00:26:48 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Which is a great way to do that.
00:26:48 --> 00:26:54 Find something that's, that's not changing or that's, that's notable enough, a
00:26:54 --> 00:26:57 landmark there that you can put in your photos and you know where you're
00:26:57 --> 00:26:58 looking each time.
00:26:58 --> 00:27:00 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: so, so, just kind of, just any general
00:27:00 --> 00:27:05 day, if I'm rolling out a new stretch of hot wire to build a new paddock,
00:27:06 --> 00:27:09 Again, super unscientifically scientific.
00:27:09 --> 00:27:15 I will hang a wire, I will count down two fence posts, and hang a wire, and
00:27:15 --> 00:27:21 go, my pasture is a quarter mile across by half a mile long where I
00:27:21 --> 00:27:23 do the bulk of my intensely managed
00:27:23 --> 00:27:24 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh yeah.
00:27:24 --> 00:27:26 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: I don't have quite the infrastructure
00:27:26 --> 00:27:30 I need on my brother in law's place, so we might give them bigger
00:27:30 --> 00:27:33 paddock size, but I usually utilize him for winter grazing anyway.
00:27:33 --> 00:27:33 Bye.
00:27:34 --> 00:27:34 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh yeah.
00:27:35 --> 00:27:37 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: So active growing season, I just step
00:27:37 --> 00:27:42 off two fence post lengths and hang a hot wire and go across the pasture.
00:27:42 --> 00:27:47 Now I've done the exact calculation, it comes out to like 885 acres.
00:27:47 --> 00:27:50 So 24 head
00:27:50 --> 00:27:54 of adult cows, any given stage of gestation, if they've got
00:27:54 --> 00:27:55 calves on them, if they don't.
00:27:55 --> 00:28:00 So I know exactly how many livestock I've got, I know the exact amount
00:28:00 --> 00:28:03 of square footage doing daily moves.
00:28:03 --> 00:28:06 However I'm just like anybody else.
00:28:06 --> 00:28:07 I get home late.
00:28:07 --> 00:28:11 I'm working my career outside of the farm where I get home at 9
00:28:11 --> 00:28:11 p.
00:28:11 --> 00:28:12 m.
00:28:12 --> 00:28:16 I might unintentionally, intentionally say, I'm going to leave those
00:28:16 --> 00:28:17 cows in there an extra day.
00:28:18 --> 00:28:20 Is it going to hurt anything?
00:28:20 --> 00:28:22 Eh, but I'm going to take pictures of it.
00:28:22 --> 00:28:24 I'm going to note it in my records.
00:28:24 --> 00:28:29 You could, you could bring up the aerial photography from my ranch
00:28:29 --> 00:28:31 that's been updated on Google recently.
00:28:32 --> 00:28:35 And I actually see the grazing strips across my property and I can
00:28:35 --> 00:28:36 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh yeah.
00:28:36 --> 00:28:36 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: to
00:28:36 --> 00:28:39 exactly where I did that double grazing event.
00:28:41 --> 00:28:42 Just based off, just based
00:28:42 --> 00:28:45 off the change in, in, in the, the color of the grass.
00:28:45 --> 00:28:47 And I've got follow ups
00:28:47 --> 00:28:50 of that where you can't tell there was any difference.
00:28:50 --> 00:28:55 Even though it was a essentially a double grazing event, pretty excessive.
00:28:55 --> 00:28:58 I took it down probably more than I should have.
00:28:58 --> 00:29:01 But learning from some other guys who utilize ultra high
00:29:01 --> 00:29:02 density grazing.
00:29:03 --> 00:29:07 They might say, well, yeah, you took, you had a little bit excessive
00:29:07 --> 00:29:11 utilization, but that's going to have a myriad of other positive benefits.
00:29:11 --> 00:29:16 Either you look at you know, the, the flush of root exudates that come
00:29:16 --> 00:29:21 after a grazing event that feed the microbiology that allow for a more
00:29:21 --> 00:29:22 rapid recovery of that plant community.
00:29:23 --> 00:29:27 So that, that all being said, I'm doing daily moves 24 head
00:29:27 --> 00:29:29 of cows on about an acre.
00:29:31 --> 00:29:32 There's, there's some
00:29:32 --> 00:29:36 spots in the property as I graze closer to my house.
00:29:36 --> 00:29:40 I've got to do a little bit of a shift and shake it around some wooded areas.
00:29:40 --> 00:29:44 What I've done with my watering point is I've got one pond in the corner.
00:29:44 --> 00:29:47 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: But before you get there, Blane, I do want to go there.
00:29:47 --> 00:29:50 I just want a little clarification on your daily moves.
00:29:50 --> 00:29:56 Are you running, are they in a, not a half mile, are they in a quarter mile long
00:29:56 --> 00:29:56 strip?
00:29:57 --> 00:29:57 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: Yes
00:29:57 --> 00:29:58 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: I thought that's what you were
00:29:58 --> 00:29:59 saying.
00:29:59 --> 00:29:59 I just wanted to make
00:29:59 --> 00:30:01 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: yeah, it's, it's a, it's
00:30:01 --> 00:30:02 a quarter mile wide.
00:30:02 --> 00:30:05 I don't know if we'll be able to see this on, on, on the camera, but here's
00:30:05 --> 00:30:07 a map I have of my property and I'll try
00:30:07 --> 00:30:08 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh, I
00:30:08 --> 00:30:08 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: without a
00:30:08 --> 00:30:09 glare.
00:30:09 --> 00:30:15 You can see on this side, this is an area that I had not grazed yet, and you can
00:30:15 --> 00:30:19 see the strips as we come across.
00:30:19 --> 00:30:23 That double grazing event was back about right there.
00:30:23 --> 00:30:25 You can see a little bit of a difference in color variation.
00:30:26 --> 00:30:26 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh,
00:30:26 --> 00:30:27 yes.
00:30:27 --> 00:30:28 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: We're getting a little bit, we're getting
00:30:28 --> 00:30:30 a little bit of glare on, on that, but.
00:30:30 --> 00:30:31 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Yeah.
00:30:31 --> 00:30:31 Actually.
00:30:31 --> 00:30:32 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: this area
00:30:32 --> 00:30:35 of photography is invaluable not just from
00:30:36 --> 00:30:39 a planning standpoint, but you can kind of track track change
00:30:39 --> 00:30:41 over time, just, just through when
00:30:41 --> 00:30:43 Google updates their area of photography.
00:30:44 --> 00:30:46 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: And one thing on that, that's really minor,
00:30:46 --> 00:30:48 your lines are pretty straight.
00:30:48 --> 00:30:52 I, I've got an 80, I've got least, and I've got a high tensile
00:30:52 --> 00:30:53 running down the middle of it.
00:30:53 --> 00:30:57 So, I'm only going eighth of a mile on any of my strips.
00:30:58 --> 00:31:02 And some days I get out there and I'm thinking Was I drinking
00:31:02 --> 00:31:04 before I made that strip?
00:31:04 --> 00:31:06 Because this one I don't
00:31:06 --> 00:31:06 know.
00:31:07 --> 00:31:07 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: That
00:31:07 --> 00:31:08 was me, that was me
00:31:08 --> 00:31:08 last year.
00:31:09 --> 00:31:10 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh yeah.
00:31:10 --> 00:31:12 So, So, how are you doing it so your
00:31:12 --> 00:31:13 lines are so good.
00:31:13 --> 00:31:15 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: I've got a little Honda Rancher foiler,
00:31:15 --> 00:31:20 I've got a set of binoculars hanging on the handlebars, and I'm thankful
00:31:20 --> 00:31:23 I've got just enough of a gentle slope for the majority of the property.
00:31:23 --> 00:31:26 I can see to the To the other side.
00:31:26 --> 00:31:27 So
00:31:27 --> 00:31:27 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: oh,
00:31:28 --> 00:31:28 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: the way
00:31:28 --> 00:31:33 I utilize my my paddock setup is so there'll be a lane that the
00:31:33 --> 00:31:36 cows are already in and I will have
00:31:36 --> 00:31:39 the next two grazing paddocks already set up.
00:31:40 --> 00:31:41 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh,
00:31:41 --> 00:31:41 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: So,
00:31:41 --> 00:31:45 so I go out there five o'clock in the evening, get off work.
00:31:45 --> 00:31:48 Come in, it's time to move the cows to the next paddock.
00:31:48 --> 00:31:51 I'll prop a hot wire up with a piece of PVC pipe.
00:31:52 --> 00:31:54 When they see me coming on the four wheeler, they know it's
00:31:54 --> 00:31:55 time to roll to the next paddock.
00:31:56 --> 00:32:00 So, they'll go into the next paddock, I'll lower that wire, and then I'll
00:32:00 --> 00:32:03 immediately roll up the back wire.
00:32:03 --> 00:32:06 that was behind the paddock that they were just
00:32:06 --> 00:32:06 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Right,
00:32:07 --> 00:32:07 that
00:32:07 --> 00:32:07 they just left.
00:32:08 --> 00:32:09 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: And then I'll go hop out another
00:32:09 --> 00:32:14 two, two grazing paddocks ahead or so and put that wire out.
00:32:14 --> 00:32:18 So I just get my binoculars out, look across that field and say, okay,
00:32:18 --> 00:32:22 there's, there's the reel hanging on the fence from the last wire.
00:32:22 --> 00:32:28 It's going to be close and just kind of eyeball it and let it rip.
00:32:28 --> 00:32:29 Away we go.
00:32:29 --> 00:32:30 If we got a
00:32:30 --> 00:32:33 little bend or a little, little bit of little curve or angle in it,
00:32:33 --> 00:32:37 doesn't, doesn't hurt my feelings but I just know as long as I stepped off
00:32:37 --> 00:32:42 those two fence post lengths, that's about 30 feet wide for, for, for my
00:32:42 --> 00:32:44 fence post spacing.
00:32:45 --> 00:32:49 And take her across and I've got the paddock set up for the next two days.
00:32:49 --> 00:32:54 And the reason I keep a couple paddocks set up out in front is, you know, I get
00:32:54 --> 00:32:58 tied up, have a late evening, or I've got a couple days where I'm out of town.
00:32:58 --> 00:33:01 I'm trying to set this up where my loving wife, she can run out
00:33:01 --> 00:33:05 there on that four wheeler, prop a hot wire up, and move the cows.
00:33:06 --> 00:33:06 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh,
00:33:06 --> 00:33:06 yeah.
00:33:07 --> 00:33:09 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: That's another aspect of regenerative
00:33:09 --> 00:33:15 or mannish grazing is it's got to be wife friendly and my wife.
00:33:15 --> 00:33:16 She's she's she's
00:33:16 --> 00:33:18 very interested in the goings on.
00:33:19 --> 00:33:21 She loves working with the cow.
00:33:21 --> 00:33:24 She loves being out there outside do anything to help.
00:33:24 --> 00:33:28 So, Having it set up to where she can manage it on her own
00:33:28 --> 00:33:32 without a lot of assistance or input when I'm not there, it, it
00:33:32 --> 00:33:35 is' invaluable 'cause we can continue the operation with,
00:33:35 --> 00:33:36 with, with minimal interruption.
00:33:37 --> 00:33:40 Now it depends on, she's a school teacher, so she gets home.
00:33:40 --> 00:33:44 She, if she's just beat after a long day at school, she can just
00:33:44 --> 00:33:46 go prop the wire up, move them, and, and not worry about anything
00:33:47 --> 00:33:47 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh yeah.
00:33:47 --> 00:33:49 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: And then I can come back the next day,
00:33:49 --> 00:33:52 and they still have another paddock set up that they can move into.
00:33:52 --> 00:33:54 I just have to go move two wires instead of one.
00:33:55 --> 00:33:56 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh
00:33:56 --> 00:33:56 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: me 30
00:33:56 --> 00:33:58 minutes instead of 15 minutes.
00:33:58 --> 00:34:02 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Now did, did you say on your lanes that you're giving them
00:34:02 --> 00:34:03 on your paddocks, you've got a lane set
00:34:03 --> 00:34:04 up back to
00:34:04 --> 00:34:04 water?
00:34:05 --> 00:34:08 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: Yes, so, I'll get my picture back out if we can
00:34:08 --> 00:34:10 keep from getting too much glare on it.
00:34:12 --> 00:34:16 So I have a pond here on the southwest corner.
00:34:18 --> 00:34:21 So I have a water lane set up along the perimeter fence on
00:34:21 --> 00:34:23 the south side of my property.
00:34:23 --> 00:34:24 So every, every one of
00:34:24 --> 00:34:28 these grazing strips will come down here and I have a piece of PVC pipe.
00:34:29 --> 00:34:30 That props up the water alley.
00:34:30 --> 00:34:32 Essentially, it's my water gate.
00:34:32 --> 00:34:36 So they'll graze down the strip, come back here, and I've got a water point
00:34:36 --> 00:34:39 with a tank at the overflow of my pond.
00:34:40 --> 00:34:43 And they can come back, graze, Go to water.
00:34:43 --> 00:34:48 I usually start my grazing on the east side, so that allows my water alley to
00:34:48 --> 00:34:50 recover as well as my grazing strips.
00:34:51 --> 00:34:52 It is a
00:34:52 --> 00:34:58 sacrifice area and I utilize it as such, but it's about 20 feet wide water alley
00:34:58 --> 00:35:02 that those cattle can come down the grazing strip, go to water, and come back.
00:35:03 --> 00:35:07 But that's had some unseen benefits as well.
00:35:07 --> 00:35:08 It's an excellent fire break.
00:35:09 --> 00:35:09 I've got
00:35:09 --> 00:35:10 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: yeah.
00:35:10 --> 00:35:10 It would
00:35:10 --> 00:35:10 be
00:35:10 --> 00:35:12 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: We're one of the last properties
00:35:12 --> 00:35:13 before you get down to Ulagal Lake.
00:35:13 --> 00:35:15 There's a lot of public hunting area.
00:35:15 --> 00:35:20 And, not to talk bad about anybody, but we get some derelicts and degenerates
00:35:20 --> 00:35:24 that either throwing cigarettes out the window or lighting fires on purpose.
00:35:26 --> 00:35:30 I sleep at night knowing that if I got a south wind, I'm And somebody throws a
00:35:30 --> 00:35:34 cigarette out the window, it's going to burn up to that water alley and go out.
00:35:34 --> 00:35:35 Because those livestock have
00:35:35 --> 00:35:36 trampled that down.
00:35:36 --> 00:35:41 Most of the time it's pretty bare soil, closer to the pond.
00:35:41 --> 00:35:44 The plant community that's further away from the pond, it can recover
00:35:44 --> 00:35:46 just as well as the grazing strips.
00:35:47 --> 00:35:48 And I've actually
00:35:48 --> 00:35:53 had the ability to utilize that as a little bit of an extra, or
00:35:53 --> 00:35:54 a little bit of a grazing patch.
00:35:57 --> 00:35:57 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Yeah.
00:35:57 --> 00:35:59 That works really good for you utilize it.
00:35:59 --> 00:36:00 Have that lane going to the pond.
00:36:01 --> 00:36:01 Now, did I.
00:36:03 --> 00:36:09 You, you're running your poly wire from fence to fence and you're using a PVC
00:36:09 --> 00:36:10 pipe to prop it up so that they can
00:36:10 --> 00:36:11 get in that alley to
00:36:11 --> 00:36:14 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: Yes so back to the issue
00:36:14 --> 00:36:15 of having enough power.
00:36:16 --> 00:36:20 I utilized a, I started with a solar PARMAC charger.
00:36:20 --> 00:36:22 It was one of those, it's like two and a half joules of
00:36:22 --> 00:36:25 stored energy, and I think if
00:36:25 --> 00:36:29 I only had cows that were already previously hot wire broke, I
00:36:29 --> 00:36:30 think it would have been okay.
00:36:31 --> 00:36:32 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh,
00:36:32 --> 00:36:32 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: Invariably,
00:36:32 --> 00:36:36 you always have a couple gals in the bunch that they're just not team players.
00:36:37 --> 00:36:40 They're gonna, they're gonna exploit the loopholes.
00:36:40 --> 00:36:41 They're gonna find the low spots.
00:36:41 --> 00:36:45 They're gonna, they're gonna figure out that I can get underneath that
00:36:45 --> 00:36:47 wire and it only hurts for that much.
00:36:48 --> 00:36:48 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh, yeah.
00:36:48 --> 00:36:51 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: So, but once one of them starts
00:36:51 --> 00:36:54 figuring out, they start teaching those bad habits to the rest of them.
00:36:54 --> 00:36:59 So, I, I fought that for pretty much all of 20, the fall
00:36:59 --> 00:37:00 and into the winter of 2022.
00:37:01 --> 00:37:02 So, combined with,
00:37:02 --> 00:37:05 we didn't, we weren't getting good electric current through grounding
00:37:05 --> 00:37:07 because the soils were so dry.
00:37:07 --> 00:37:12 I end up having to run a double wire every time I moved, and because
00:37:12 --> 00:37:15 of that, I essentially only had two paddocks set up at a time.
00:37:16 --> 00:37:17 So, sometimes
00:37:17 --> 00:37:22 if I couldn't get to them or had to, couldn't set up an additional paddock I,
00:37:22 --> 00:37:26 I was utilizing it a little bit heavier than I wanted to, but it was still
00:37:26 --> 00:37:27 during the winter going into the spring.
00:37:28 --> 00:37:28 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh,
00:37:28 --> 00:37:33 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: So, in summer of 2023 we were
00:37:33 --> 00:37:37 blessed with average moisture depending on if, when we got it.
00:37:37 --> 00:37:45 And I, I went ahead and splurged for a Speedrite 6000i charger, energizer,
00:37:45 --> 00:37:45 with the
00:37:45 --> 00:37:46 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: And that's got the
00:37:46 --> 00:37:46 remote.
00:37:46 --> 00:37:48 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: Always buy the remote, that, that thing
00:37:48 --> 00:37:50 is the best thing since sliced bread.
00:37:50 --> 00:37:52 I'll tell anybody who will
00:37:52 --> 00:37:52 listen.
00:37:52 --> 00:37:56 A side note though, my charger just quit working about three days ago.
00:37:57 --> 00:37:58 Not sure what happened.
00:37:58 --> 00:37:58 I
00:37:58 --> 00:37:59 ran some tests.
00:37:59 --> 00:38:03 It did some blinking like things and I'm gonna probably end up having
00:38:03 --> 00:38:07 to send it back to Datmars to have it either repaired or replaced.
00:38:07 --> 00:38:09 It's still under warranty.
00:38:10 --> 00:38:13 Don't know what happened there, but up until then it was working wonderfully.
00:38:14 --> 00:38:14 And
00:38:14 --> 00:38:18 then what I did was I, I did an offset high tensile wire along my perimeter.
00:38:18 --> 00:38:19 I did that for two reasons.
00:38:19 --> 00:38:24 I, I could have ran one right across the center of the property long ways and,
00:38:24 --> 00:38:29 and could have done grazing off one side, off the other side, and made it work.
00:38:30 --> 00:38:35 But the, the width, the quarter mile width of the property I still think I'm
00:38:35 --> 00:38:41 getting fair to decent utilization without having to deal with another permanent
00:38:41 --> 00:38:44 wire that if I don't like it, I got to
00:38:44 --> 00:38:46 spend a lot of time taking it back down.
00:38:46 --> 00:38:48 So the, the high tensile along
00:38:48 --> 00:38:52 the perimeter is essentially just a anchor point that I can go anywhere
00:38:52 --> 00:38:58 I need to and not have to worry about moving a solar charger closer or farther
00:38:58 --> 00:39:00 away or worry about re grounding it.
00:39:01 --> 00:39:06 I've got I've got six of those six foot ground rods in the ground at the house
00:39:06 --> 00:39:09 hooked up to the high tensile wire.
00:39:09 --> 00:39:13 I've got six jewels of, of pop everywhere I need it.
00:39:13 --> 00:39:17 And, and that's been, that's been the, the best investment I've made so far.
00:39:18 --> 00:39:18 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh, yeah.
00:39:19 --> 00:39:25 Well, a good energizer will change your opinion of rotational grazing.
00:39:26 --> 00:39:26 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: Absolutely.
00:39:27 --> 00:39:29 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: poor one will cause you to give it up faster than
00:39:30 --> 00:39:33 you thought you would, and a good one will make you continue longer than
00:39:33 --> 00:39:34 you thought you might.
00:39:34 --> 00:39:36 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: through, through conversations with other
00:39:36 --> 00:39:39 producers, either, either producers that had been doing it for quite a while.
00:39:39 --> 00:39:39 Yeah.
00:39:40 --> 00:39:43 You know, the opportunity to go to a lot of these grazing management
00:39:43 --> 00:39:48 conferences through my career not only to help facilitate me as an educator,
00:39:49 --> 00:39:53 but to take stuff home for my own operation, you know, to hear the, the,
00:39:53 --> 00:39:56 the gurus like Jim Garish and Greg Judy,
00:39:56 --> 00:40:01 who Have forgotten probably more than, than I've learned, but having,
00:40:01 --> 00:40:06 having Jim Garris speak in an event up in Kansas two years ago and he, he wrote
00:40:06 --> 00:40:11 the blueprint on here's what I do, here's what you probably need to do, everything
00:40:11 --> 00:40:17 from fencing design, anchors, high tensile to the, the energizers you need.
00:40:17 --> 00:40:21 So having the ability to listen to him flip the switch,
00:40:21 --> 00:40:22 it says I was undergunned.
00:40:22 --> 00:40:25 I didn't have enough electric power going to deter these
00:40:25 --> 00:40:25 livestock.
00:40:26 --> 00:40:27 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Yeah.
00:40:28 --> 00:40:29 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: Kind of a little bit of a side benefit.
00:40:29 --> 00:40:33 It keeps the whitetail deer from, from testing it as much.
00:40:34 --> 00:40:35 Once they figure out, once they
00:40:35 --> 00:40:37 figure out they run through it one time and it lights them
00:40:37 --> 00:40:39 up, they don't just sprint
00:40:39 --> 00:40:40 across my pasture anymore.
00:40:40 --> 00:40:42 They kind of, you know, they'll
00:40:43 --> 00:40:43 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: right.
00:40:43 --> 00:40:44 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: their
00:40:44 --> 00:40:45 sweet time trotting across there.
00:40:45 --> 00:40:49 And I hope they still do that here in November when gun season rolls around.
00:40:49 --> 00:40:50 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh, Yeah.
00:40:50 --> 00:40:50 Yeah.
00:40:51 --> 00:40:52 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: ulterior motives
00:40:52 --> 00:40:54 and extra benefits, I guess.
00:40:54 --> 00:40:56 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: yeah, yeah, slow him down.
00:40:56 --> 00:41:00 I, I know when this lease property, when I first put up my wire,
00:41:00 --> 00:41:02 yeah, I had some deer issues, but.
00:41:03 --> 00:41:04 But now I don't have any.
00:41:04 --> 00:41:09 But, and I put it down the center, but going, doing it again, I
00:41:09 --> 00:41:13 think I'd do a perimeter and with longer runs, I was thinking, well,
00:41:13 --> 00:41:17 that's less walking, except now my wire's not quite where I want it.
00:41:17 --> 00:41:21 And I'm thinking about splite or cutting it right in the middle so I
00:41:21 --> 00:41:23 can have some different lanes going.
00:41:23 --> 00:41:28 So yeah keeping that area open so you can make adjustments
00:41:28 --> 00:41:29 as you need to in the future
00:41:29 --> 00:41:30 works really good.
00:41:30 --> 00:41:32 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: You know, don't, don't don't build yourself
00:41:32 --> 00:41:37 into a box that you can't get out of, I guess would be a good way to put that,
00:41:37 --> 00:41:43 so, that, and I'm not, I'm not running any particular brand or kind, I'm a,
00:41:44 --> 00:41:48 I'm a mix match kind of guy, I, I, I utilize several different brands of post,
00:41:48 --> 00:41:54 I've, I've got O'Briens on my, what I call my semi permanent, So my, my, my
00:41:54 --> 00:42:00 water lane and I've got a couple wires that I leave just for, okay, if I need
00:42:00 --> 00:42:03 to hem them up in the corner to get them to the lot, leaving that one wire
00:42:04 --> 00:42:08 in one particular place is easier to catch them on a, you know, on a terrain
00:42:08 --> 00:42:10 feature where the, where, where they
00:42:10 --> 00:42:12 already like to go back to shade.
00:42:12 --> 00:42:16 I leave one wire up just to kind of, if I need to catch them and spill
00:42:16 --> 00:42:19 them in that alley, I, I utilize that.
00:42:19 --> 00:42:23 But I've got, I've got Gallagher Reels, Tarragate Reels,
00:42:23 --> 00:42:25 O'Brien Post, Gallagher Post.
00:42:26 --> 00:42:27 Speed right, charger.
00:42:27 --> 00:42:31 It's all, it's just, I've put together kind of a blend of what works for me.
00:42:32 --> 00:42:33 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh yeah.
00:42:33 --> 00:42:33 I got
00:42:34 --> 00:42:35 two questions on that.
00:42:35 --> 00:42:39 First one's a real simple numbers question about how many reels are you
00:42:39 --> 00:42:44 using each day or not using each day, but you're needed out there for your
00:42:44 --> 00:42:45 cattle setup.
00:42:45 --> 00:42:46 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: Since I'm a pretty small
00:42:46 --> 00:42:49 operation, I have six reels total.
00:42:50 --> 00:42:50 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh
00:42:50 --> 00:42:53 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: I try to have four of those out
00:42:53 --> 00:42:56 in my grazing pattern every day.
00:42:56 --> 00:42:59 So, four reels means I've got three lanes set up.
00:43:00 --> 00:43:04 The lane they're in, the lane they'll go into tomorrow, and then if I don't
00:43:05 --> 00:43:11 have time to go, set it up, they'll have a reel to go into the, the third day.
00:43:11 --> 00:43:13 And then I usually keep one
00:43:13 --> 00:43:13 hanging.
00:43:13 --> 00:43:16 I've got a little mini reel hanging on the four wheeler if I just need to,
00:43:17 --> 00:43:20 if I just need to make a spin out and get around a cow that's gotten out.
00:43:21 --> 00:43:22 You want to talk fringe benefits.
00:43:22 --> 00:43:28 You know, if you leave some thatch out there in your grassland and that hot
00:43:28 --> 00:43:33 wire is laying about 12 inches off the ground and that cow that knows what it is.
00:43:34 --> 00:43:37 Even though it's not up there at that 36 inch height where she normally sees it,
00:43:38 --> 00:43:44 if I just jump on that four wheeler and make a big circle around her, and just re
00:43:44 --> 00:43:49 and just hold on to it, and that wire kind of wants to swing in around her, she'll
00:43:49 --> 00:43:50 tuck tail and go back where she needs to
00:43:50 --> 00:43:51 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh yeah.
00:43:51 --> 00:43:54 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: So, you know, utilizing that cow psychology.
00:43:54 --> 00:43:58 And then I, I, I've just got one reel hanging at the house as a
00:43:58 --> 00:44:00 spare if I need to, if I need to
00:44:00 --> 00:44:06 go do something squirrelly different cross fence something, or really
00:44:07 --> 00:44:11 what I use it for most often is if my neighbor's cows get on to me.
00:44:11 --> 00:44:13 I can just
00:44:13 --> 00:44:18 do kind of a quick alleyway to one of the either gates on either end that,
00:44:18 --> 00:44:23 that adjoined myself and my neighbor get his cows back where they need to go.
00:44:24 --> 00:44:24 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh yeah.
00:44:24 --> 00:44:27 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: Another negative of managed grazing is
00:44:27 --> 00:44:31 when you've got grass and your neighbor doesn't, your fences all start to lean.
00:44:31 --> 00:44:33 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Or start leaning in.
00:44:33 --> 00:44:33 Yeah.
00:44:33 --> 00:44:34 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: start getting that little bit of
00:44:34 --> 00:44:35 an angle on it.
00:44:35 --> 00:44:39 I've got a neighbor, he's a great guy but he's, he's kind of one of
00:44:39 --> 00:44:42 those, if there's a blade of grass out there left at the end of the growing
00:44:42 --> 00:44:44 season, it's something he's wasted.
00:44:45 --> 00:44:47 He's got the prettiest patch of broomweed in the county.
00:44:48 --> 00:44:49 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: oh yeah.
00:44:49 --> 00:44:52 Well, at least your fences aren't leaning out.
00:44:53 --> 00:44:57 We have a couple fences along the road leaning out and it drives my dad
00:44:57 --> 00:44:59 crazy because they're leaning out.
00:45:00 --> 00:45:05 But, it wasn't the goats, it wasn't the sheep, it wasn't the cattle that did that.
00:45:06 --> 00:45:09 I had a few llamas and the llamas will stick their head through
00:45:09 --> 00:45:11 that fence and push on it and it's
00:45:11 --> 00:45:16 it's goat wire So they will stick their head through it and graze
00:45:16 --> 00:45:19 I'm down to one llama now, and I don't think she'll get replaced.
00:45:19 --> 00:45:25 She'll finish out her time here but those are the animals that pushed
00:45:25 --> 00:45:31 our fence leaned it over some and Dad cannot stand those fences leaning.
00:45:31 --> 00:45:36 Well, I don't want to see any leaning fences either but It drives him crazy
00:45:36 --> 00:45:40 And, and that llama will reach out there and you can see how far she can reach on
00:45:40 --> 00:45:42 the bar ditch, and why is she doing that?
00:45:42 --> 00:45:43 Beats me.
00:45:44 --> 00:45:45 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: Because she can.
00:45:45 --> 00:45:47 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: She can, yeah, because you know, it's, it's
00:45:47 --> 00:45:48 about like a horse reaching out there.
00:45:48 --> 00:45:50 She's got quite the reach on it.
00:45:51 --> 00:45:51 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: yeah,
00:45:51 --> 00:45:54 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: The other thing about your lanes, before we move
00:45:54 --> 00:46:00 on to our overgrazing section, shade, do you have enough trees out there?
00:46:00 --> 00:46:03 Do your cows, is shade a factor for
00:46:03 --> 00:46:03 you?
00:46:03 --> 00:46:05 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: Yes I've got shade.
00:46:05 --> 00:46:08 So, my 80 acre block, I've got shade on one end and I've
00:46:08 --> 00:46:10 got shade on the other end.
00:46:10 --> 00:46:11 I've got nothing in the middle.
00:46:11 --> 00:46:19 So, as such, I try to utilize those unshaded areas during, Spring, fall,
00:46:19 --> 00:46:23 time where, where the thermal impact's not going to be as big of an issue.
00:46:24 --> 00:46:25 I mean, I'm not going to
00:46:25 --> 00:46:30 say you're not going to catch a 95 plus degree day in May where as soon as they
00:46:30 --> 00:46:33 get done grazing in the morning, they're all going to wad up in the, in the water
00:46:33 --> 00:46:35 alley where there's, you know, I've
00:46:35 --> 00:46:39 got some hackberry stuff growing in, in the fence row just along the perimeter
00:46:40 --> 00:46:43 that depending on the time of year will, will catch a little bit of a southern
00:46:43 --> 00:46:44 lean and, and provide some shade.
00:46:46 --> 00:46:50 Again, it doesn't really bother me if they're hanging out in that water
00:46:50 --> 00:46:54 alley because it's, it's a fire break and it's, it's, it's already
00:46:54 --> 00:46:56 established sacrificed area anyway.
00:46:57 --> 00:46:59 So I try to, I try to plan my grazing.
00:46:59 --> 00:47:05 If I'm, if I'm making a move through the property, they're grazing the open
00:47:05 --> 00:47:10 areas that have limited shade during the non impactful days, spring and fall.
00:47:11 --> 00:47:12 When it's,
00:47:12 --> 00:47:16 it's 105 and hot, I got them on either end of the pasture.
00:47:16 --> 00:47:18 It kind of, kind of depends on where we started.
00:47:18 --> 00:47:22 I maybe make it a nice pattern across there, and if it turns
00:47:23 --> 00:47:25 105 and it's hot, it's muggy.
00:47:25 --> 00:47:33 I may skip 20 days worth of grazing strips and get them into shade and utilize that.
00:47:33 --> 00:47:36 And then kind of start over at square one where they have shade
00:47:36 --> 00:47:37 on the other end of the property.
00:47:38 --> 00:47:39 And so,
00:47:39 --> 00:47:40 Always a factor.
00:47:41 --> 00:47:43 Just, just kind of got to play that with the weather.
00:47:43 --> 00:47:46 The, the good Lord deals you a good hand or a bad hand.
00:47:46 --> 00:47:49 You just kind of got to, got to make lemonade out of lemons.
00:47:50 --> 00:47:50 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Right.
00:47:50 --> 00:47:52 And have the flexibility to do that.
00:47:52 --> 00:47:53 Yes.
00:47:54 --> 00:47:58 Blane, it's time we transitioned to our overgrazing section sponsored by Redmond.
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00:48:28 --> 00:48:31 This gives your herd the ability to naturally regulate their
00:48:31 --> 00:48:34 mineral consumption as they graze.
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00:48:39 --> 00:48:44 but will also help you naturally build soil fertility so you can grow more
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00:48:55 --> 00:48:55 com
00:48:57 --> 00:49:00 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: And we're going to take a deeper dive into something
00:49:00 --> 00:49:03 about your operation or, or you.
00:49:03 --> 00:49:05 And today we're going to talk about rangeland equality.
00:49:06 --> 00:49:09 I almost said equality, but maybe that's the wrong word.
00:49:09 --> 00:49:17 Rangeland ecology and restoring ecology Ecological.
00:49:17 --> 00:49:22 Boy, you know, once you get past one or two syllables, I have trouble.
00:49:22 --> 00:49:25 So, so we're gonna talk about rangeland
00:49:27 --> 00:49:28 ecology.
00:49:28 --> 00:49:29 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: Yes, yes.
00:49:29 --> 00:49:34 So, like we said in the beginning I wouldn't be where I'm at today without
00:49:34 --> 00:49:38 my love for the rangeland ecosystem.
00:49:38 --> 00:49:43 It just, I don't know what it sets it apart from other grazing
00:49:43 --> 00:49:48 scenarios, grazing systems go to other parts of the world.
00:49:48 --> 00:49:53 There's just, nothing's really cool about Bermuda grass and fescue.
00:49:54 --> 00:49:57 That's, those are the two major grass bases that we have
00:49:57 --> 00:49:58 here in northeast Oklahoma.
00:49:58 --> 00:50:01 And nothing against those, those species.
00:50:01 --> 00:50:03 They make great forage for livestock.
00:50:03 --> 00:50:06 You know, fescue's got its issues you gotta deal with.
00:50:06 --> 00:50:09 Bermuda grass has some Issues as well.
00:50:09 --> 00:50:13 You know, Bermuda grass behaves as well as you take care of it.
00:50:13 --> 00:50:16 It's kinda like, I, I joke with my producers, it's kinda like,
00:50:16 --> 00:50:20 my ex-girlfriend, she, you, you kept spending money on her.
00:50:20 --> 00:50:21 She kept looking really good.
00:50:23 --> 00:50:25 So with, with native Rangeland, it.
00:50:26 --> 00:50:32 It's, it's what shaped this ecosystem for, for eons were two, made two
00:50:32 --> 00:50:35 major impacts, fire and grazing.
00:50:36 --> 00:50:41 So, we've worked with partners through my professional career, but they
00:50:41 --> 00:50:45 had a, you know, their conservation mindset was one of exclusion.
00:50:45 --> 00:50:49 We're going to remove all impacts, and there's no better way to screw
00:50:49 --> 00:50:53 up an ecosystem if you remove all the impacts that, that shaped it.
00:50:54 --> 00:50:55 So we've got some
00:50:55 --> 00:50:59 nature conservancy partners that have some property in South Central
00:50:59 --> 00:51:03 Oklahoma that when they were donated the property, there was the stipulation
00:51:03 --> 00:51:06 of, well, we want to set this aside.
00:51:06 --> 00:51:08 So we don't want to have any cows out here.
00:51:08 --> 00:51:10 We want to just have wildlife.
00:51:11 --> 00:51:15 And the ecosystem is, is, is, is essentially in suspended animation.
00:51:15 --> 00:51:19 It's not functioning correctly because they've removed that grazing impact.
00:51:20 --> 00:51:20 So,
00:51:20 --> 00:51:21 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Yeah.
00:51:21 --> 00:51:22 It wasn't created
00:51:22 --> 00:51:23 without that grazing
00:51:23 --> 00:51:24 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: yes.
00:51:24 --> 00:51:25 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: yeah.
00:51:26 --> 00:51:32 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: So, marrying a You have two worlds, or
00:51:32 --> 00:51:37 at least in my world, of, of grazing systems management and rangeland ecology.
00:51:37 --> 00:51:39 You can't have one without the other.
00:51:39 --> 00:51:44 So, most of the listeners have probably heard this in some form or fashion.
00:51:44 --> 00:51:47 The Great Plains were shaped by bison.
00:51:47 --> 00:51:50 Massive migratory herds of bison.
00:51:50 --> 00:51:54 There were historic accounts of the Great Southern Buffalo Herd.
00:51:54 --> 00:51:57 Six to seven million animals estimated.
00:51:57 --> 00:51:59 And they would move as a mob.
00:51:59 --> 00:52:04 They would move across this ecosystem, creating a tremendous impact.
00:52:05 --> 00:52:08 Ninety to one hundred percent of forage utilization.
00:52:10 --> 00:52:13 If you've seen the movie Dances with Wolves, where this buffalo
00:52:13 --> 00:52:17 herd stampede, if they didn't eat it, they certainly trampled on
00:52:17 --> 00:52:20 it, urinated, and manured on it.
00:52:20 --> 00:52:25 So, it, it was just a tremendous impact, but then that long rest
00:52:25 --> 00:52:30 and recovery period that these grazing lands essentially evolved
00:52:30 --> 00:52:35 with, allowing that plant community to recover, and not, but they all
00:52:35 --> 00:52:38 didn't recover with the same species.
00:52:38 --> 00:52:41 It's what we call ecological succession.
00:52:41 --> 00:52:46 So after a major disturbance, you would have the early successional species.
00:52:46 --> 00:52:48 We usually call them weeds.
00:52:49 --> 00:52:50 So, if we
00:52:50 --> 00:52:55 took a tillage scenario, so a farmer's out there plowing the ground, or he plows
00:52:55 --> 00:53:02 up sod, Use the pioneers, for example, that first succession of plants that tried
00:53:02 --> 00:53:05 to come back and repopulate were weeds.
00:53:05 --> 00:53:09 They were tall, rank, nasty stuff that probably tasted bad to
00:53:09 --> 00:53:12 livestock, probably had stickers,
00:53:12 --> 00:53:13 pokers, and thorns on it.
00:53:14 --> 00:53:19 That plant was bioengineered to resist grazing impact to allow
00:53:19 --> 00:53:23 recovery for the next succession.
00:53:23 --> 00:53:25 You know, the mid successional species.
00:53:25 --> 00:53:27 We start to look at species like side oaks, grama.
00:53:28 --> 00:53:31 Several other different grass, forb, and legume species that
00:53:31 --> 00:53:35 their job was to fill in the gap after the weeds had done their job.
00:53:35 --> 00:53:41 And then the, the tertiary or, or the, the secondary succession of the mature
00:53:42 --> 00:53:47 blue stems, switchgrass, indiangrass, at least for a tallgrass prairie scenario,
00:53:47 --> 00:53:48 where, where I'm at in northeast
00:53:48 --> 00:53:51 Oklahoma was historically tallgrass prairie.
00:53:52 --> 00:53:58 So, utilizing the, the methods of, of High intensity regenerative grazing,
00:53:59 --> 00:54:04 whatever term you choose to utilize, adaptive multi paddock grazing, if you
00:54:04 --> 00:54:06 want to use total grazing, high density.
00:54:07 --> 00:54:09 We're shooting for the same target,
00:54:10 --> 00:54:10 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Right.
00:54:11 --> 00:54:14 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: truly the recreation of this
00:54:14 --> 00:54:18 method of grazing restores the function of that ecosystem.
00:54:18 --> 00:54:22 Everything from the growth and regrowth of these grasses, who are
00:54:22 --> 00:54:24 ecologically evolved to tolerate.
00:54:25 --> 00:54:28 a fair amount of grazing as long as they get an appropriate
00:54:28 --> 00:54:30 rest and recovery period.
00:54:31 --> 00:54:33 I recently had the opportunity to
00:54:33 --> 00:54:38 go through and vet the Noble Research Institute's Essentials of Grazing course,
00:54:38 --> 00:54:44 and they do a wonderful job of reinforcing the idea of there's no way you can harm
00:54:45 --> 00:54:47 a grass base in a single grazing event.
00:54:48 --> 00:54:53 You can, you can turn a million pounds of livestock onto an acre
00:54:53 --> 00:54:58 and let them, I don't want to say demolish it, but, but excessive
00:54:58 --> 00:55:01 utilization, but as long as you get those cows off of that impact and
00:55:01 --> 00:55:07 allow appropriate rest and recovery, grass, water, sun, everything relative.
00:55:07 --> 00:55:09 Give it 60 to 90 days.
00:55:10 --> 00:55:12 I tell my producers, don't mow your yard for 90 days.
00:55:12 --> 00:55:13 What happens then?
00:55:13 --> 00:55:17 They say, oh, my grass is thick and rank and well, that's what
00:55:17 --> 00:55:18 your pasture could look like too.
00:55:19 --> 00:55:20 Utilizing the
00:55:20 --> 00:55:20 same methods.
00:55:20 --> 00:55:22 What do we do with our, when we mow our yards?
00:55:22 --> 00:55:28 We have a tremendous impact and a long rest and recovery period.
00:55:28 --> 00:55:31 Now, we're just trading a cow for a lawnmower, but the impact is
00:55:31 --> 00:55:32 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh, Yeah.
00:55:32 --> 00:55:33 It's the same thing.
00:55:33 --> 00:55:35 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: We're recycling those nutrients.
00:55:36 --> 00:55:39 Where we see in a lot of our set stock, continuous grazing
00:55:39 --> 00:55:45 scenarios, a lot of the, the highly palatable species get grazed down.
00:55:45 --> 00:55:48 The unpalatable species increase and overtake.
00:55:48 --> 00:55:52 We're talking species like broom sedge bluestem, perennial and
00:55:52 --> 00:55:58 annual threons long spike tridens here in northeast Oklahoma.
00:55:59 --> 00:56:03 If you're in some wetter areas, it might be prairie cordgrass, but there's a whole
00:56:03 --> 00:56:08 suite of species that, they belong to the ecosystems, they're native species,
00:56:08 --> 00:56:13 but as you continually, selectively remove their competition, that being
00:56:13 --> 00:56:17 the high quality, high palatability species, that's when they start increasing
00:56:17 --> 00:56:19 overtaking, and when it gets to be such a
00:56:19 --> 00:56:22 problem, we hear farmers say, well, how do I kill it?
00:56:22 --> 00:56:28 I said, and It's essentially, it's not how to kill it, it's what management
00:56:28 --> 00:56:32 scenario have we been in for 20 plus years that caused this to be such a problem.
00:56:32 --> 00:56:33 So
00:56:33 --> 00:56:33 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh,
00:56:33 --> 00:56:33 yeah.
00:56:34 --> 00:56:36 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: for a lot of years, or at least
00:56:36 --> 00:56:40 in my collegiate professional development, you know, it was it
00:56:40 --> 00:56:42 was we were addressing symptoms.
00:56:43 --> 00:56:45 We weren't looking at the causes of these
00:56:45 --> 00:56:45 problems.
00:56:46 --> 00:56:51 So the more I studied and the more I learned about regenerative grazing as an
00:56:51 --> 00:56:56 ecosystem function, not just a grazing management plan for, for the sake of
00:56:56 --> 00:57:01 pure profitability or, or management or reduction of input costs, whichever
00:57:01 --> 00:57:03 avenue you want to approach that from.
00:57:04 --> 00:57:07 It's truly the restoration of that ecosystem function that
00:57:07 --> 00:57:08 allows those native grasses.
00:57:09 --> 00:57:14 To one, provide a forage base, two, do their ecosystem function
00:57:14 --> 00:57:16 below ground with the soil.
00:57:16 --> 00:57:18 We talk a lot about soil health.
00:57:18 --> 00:57:22 It's, it's, it's, the impact of grazing, removing the tops of
00:57:22 --> 00:57:27 those plants, triggers a flush of root exudates below the soil.
00:57:27 --> 00:57:34 So those, those roots are leaking out sugary liquids to attract microbes.
00:57:34 --> 00:57:38 Those microbes break down process cycle and recycle nutrients.
00:57:38 --> 00:57:42 And as long as there's an appropriate rest and recovery period where the
00:57:42 --> 00:57:46 plants can then grow, put out solar panels, then put carbon back down
00:57:46 --> 00:57:52 into their roots, we could talk about how the carbon cycle is affected.
00:57:53 --> 00:57:55 We could talk about how the water cycle is affected.
00:57:55 --> 00:58:01 If we have the ebb and flow of the root reduction after a grazing event and then
00:58:01 --> 00:58:05 the root regrowth, After that rest and recovery period, you know, we're talking
00:58:05 --> 00:58:09 about fracturing soil profiles open to where they can hold more moisture.
00:58:10 --> 00:58:12 We're in a D3 drought right now.
00:58:13 --> 00:58:17 We mentioned earlier that you know where your few blades of
00:58:17 --> 00:58:18 green grass are in your pasture.
00:58:19 --> 00:58:20 Well, I know
00:58:20 --> 00:58:25 exactly where my green grasses are in my pasture, and excluding the low lying
00:58:25 --> 00:58:29 areas that gets a little bit of sub irrigation from the pond, I can tell you
00:58:29 --> 00:58:31 exactly the grazing event that occurred.
00:58:32 --> 00:58:38 In certain areas and how it relates to the greenness because I've got a few
00:58:38 --> 00:58:45 strips where just on Accidentally on purpose I double grazed a water
00:58:45 --> 00:58:49 alley just to see what would happen so I got home late one night and I
00:58:49 --> 00:58:53 said, I'm just going to leave those cows in that strip an extra day and
00:58:53 --> 00:58:54 they'll either herd it or they won't.
00:58:55 --> 00:59:01 And I've got a nice visual strip of, it's not much of a difference, but
00:59:01 --> 00:59:07 that grass is just a tiniest shade of green greener than the strip before it
00:59:07 --> 00:59:08 or the strip after it.
00:59:08 --> 00:59:11 So, so seeing a little bit of a tangible benefit from that.
00:59:12 --> 00:59:17 Just kind of reinforces the fact that you, you can't hurt these, these grassland
00:59:17 --> 00:59:19 species in a single grazing event.
00:59:19 --> 00:59:20 They can handle it.
00:59:20 --> 00:59:23 They can take a licking and keep on ticking, but you got to give
00:59:23 --> 00:59:25 them that rest and recovery.
00:59:25 --> 00:59:31 And then we, then for, for the rangeland ecology purpose, we talk about intrinsic
00:59:31 --> 00:59:37 benefits, wildlife, earthworms, the, the biology that comes in.
00:59:37 --> 00:59:41 And, and we still don't have a good grip on the total.
00:59:42 --> 00:59:47 soil biome as far as the ecological functions of different microorganisms,
00:59:47 --> 00:59:48 bacteria, fungus, protozoa.
00:59:49 --> 00:59:54 We just know that if we do the grazing, the correct management in a correct
00:59:54 --> 00:59:59 fashion, we get the benefits from it, even if we don't know how it works.
00:59:59 --> 01:00:01 I tell people, I drive my truck every day.
01:00:01 --> 01:00:05 I don't know how to work on the engine, but I trust it to work.
01:00:05 --> 01:00:08 As long as I do the maintenance and take care of it.
01:00:08 --> 01:00:10 I change the oil, tune her
01:00:10 --> 01:00:14 up every, every couple of years, make sure all the fluids are topped
01:00:14 --> 01:00:18 off, but I trust that system to work as long as I do the maintenance.
01:00:18 --> 01:00:23 And that's, that's grazing management and rangeland ecology in a nutshell.
01:00:23 --> 01:00:27 If we do the management and the maintenance, it'll continue to work for
01:00:27 --> 01:00:30 you in a pretty efficient, Thanks so much.
01:00:30 --> 01:00:35 I don't say low input, but reduced input manner that ultimately we can run,
01:00:35 --> 01:00:39 either run more cows on smaller acreages and put more money in our pockets.
01:00:40 --> 01:00:44 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Yeah, which, you know, we have these noble goals
01:00:44 --> 01:00:47 and and everything, but at the end of the day, if you're not getting
01:00:47 --> 01:00:48 more money in your pocket, you're not
01:00:48 --> 01:00:49 going to be around to
01:00:49 --> 01:00:49 do
01:00:49 --> 01:00:54 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: That was, that was what I fought with when I
01:00:54 --> 01:00:58 first entered my career in conservation because we were so exclusionary.
01:00:58 --> 01:01:02 It was almost like, you could get government conservation
01:01:02 --> 01:01:09 assistance, to do nice things at the expense of your operation.
01:01:09 --> 01:01:11 Yeah, we'll, we'll go, we'll go
01:01:11 --> 01:01:14 plant you some range plants, but then you have to exclude grazing
01:01:14 --> 01:01:15 as part of your conservation plan.
01:01:15 --> 01:01:16 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh, yeah.
01:01:16 --> 01:01:16 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: And, and
01:01:17 --> 01:01:19 I know it's to, to establish those species.
01:01:19 --> 01:01:22 You don't want to over, you don't want to graze those species before
01:01:22 --> 01:01:23 they're, they're ready, of course,
01:01:23 --> 01:01:24 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Right.
01:01:24 --> 01:01:26 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: but again, those exclusionary
01:01:26 --> 01:01:32 practices just never did sit well with me when, as a, as a producer.
01:01:32 --> 01:01:35 You know, I was always of the mentality of if we're having to
01:01:35 --> 01:01:38 exclude anything, is it doing any good?
01:01:39 --> 01:01:40 Whether it's excluding
01:01:40 --> 01:01:44 the grazing or exclusion of species that should be in the ecosystem
01:01:44 --> 01:01:48 that we've removed through essentially poor grazing practices.
01:01:50 --> 01:01:50 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Right.
01:01:50 --> 01:01:50 Yeah.
01:01:52 --> 01:01:52 Well, Blane,
01:01:52 --> 01:01:55 it's time for us to transition to our famous four questions
01:01:55 --> 01:01:57 sponsored by Kencove Farm Fence.
01:01:58 --> 01:02:01 Cal: Kencove Farm Fence is a proud supporter of the Grazing Grass
01:02:01 --> 01:02:03 podcast and graziers everywhere.
01:02:03 --> 01:02:07 At Kencove Farm Fence, they believe there's true value within the community
01:02:07 --> 01:02:09 of graziers and land stewards.
01:02:10 --> 01:02:13 The results that follow proper management and monitoring can
01:02:13 --> 01:02:15 change the very world around us.
01:02:15 --> 01:02:20 That's why Kencove is dedicated to providing an ever expanding line of
01:02:20 --> 01:02:23 grazing products to make your chores easier and your land more abundant.
01:02:24 --> 01:02:27 Whether you're growing your own food on the homestead or grazing
01:02:27 --> 01:02:32 on thousands of acres, Kencove has everything you need to do it well.
01:02:32 --> 01:02:37 From reels to tumblewheels, polytwine to electric nets, water valves to
01:02:37 --> 01:02:41 water troughs, you'll find what you're looking for at Kencove.
01:02:41 --> 01:02:45 They carry brands like Speedrite, O'Brien's, Kiwitech,
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01:02:47 --> 01:02:50 Kencove is proud to be part of your regenerative journey.
01:02:51 --> 01:02:54 Call them today or visit Kencove.com.
01:02:54 --> 01:02:59 And be sure to follow them on social media and subscribe to the Kencove YouTube
01:02:59 --> 01:03:06 channel @KencoveFarmFence for helpful how to videos and new product releases!
01:03:06 --> 01:03:07 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: They're the same four questions
01:03:07 --> 01:03:09 we ask of all of our guests.
01:03:09 --> 01:03:13 And Blane, to get started, what's your favorite grazing grass related book
01:03:13 --> 01:03:14 or resource?
01:03:14 --> 01:03:16 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: My favorite would probably
01:03:16 --> 01:03:18 have to be my first one.
01:03:18 --> 01:03:20 A recommendation from a friend.
01:03:20 --> 01:03:25 I had not quite fully shifted into a regenerative mindset.
01:03:25 --> 01:03:29 I was on board with the idea of soil health as it related to crop
01:03:29 --> 01:03:32 lands, cover cropping as part of my career.
01:03:32 --> 01:03:36 But I wasn't a farmer, so I wasn't getting a lot of crossover.
01:03:36 --> 01:03:40 So, I had a friend of mine, he was utilizing cover
01:03:40 --> 01:03:42 crops as a grazing resource.
01:03:42 --> 01:03:46 And I've actually got the book sitting right here just because of it.
01:03:46 --> 01:03:50 How to not go broke ranching by Walt Davis.
01:03:51 --> 01:03:51 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh,
01:03:51 --> 01:03:53 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: I had an excellent opportunity to
01:03:53 --> 01:03:58 get to listen to him speak at an event in Ada, Oklahoma, and it was
01:03:58 --> 01:04:00 right before he had passed away.
01:04:00 --> 01:04:04 So, to have the opportunity to listen to him, to gain that knowledge.
01:04:05 --> 01:04:06 to have this resource.
01:04:07 --> 01:04:07 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh,
01:04:07 --> 01:04:08 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: Walt
01:04:08 --> 01:04:13 does an excellent job of breaking down basically everything we've discussed
01:04:13 --> 01:04:15 so far, but in a, in a, in a set of
01:04:15 --> 01:04:18 terms that anybody can, can understand and utilize.
01:04:20 --> 01:04:24 Where we get a little disconnect, excuse me, some disconnect from
01:04:24 --> 01:04:29 let's say our research partners with our universities and the ranchers
01:04:29 --> 01:04:31 out there putting it into practice.
01:04:32 --> 01:04:35 Verbiage and terminologies and, and.
01:04:35 --> 01:04:39 The way research papers are written, Walt breaks down those barriers,
01:04:39 --> 01:04:44 puts it in a, in a, in a set of words that anybody can understand and
01:04:44 --> 01:04:46 anybody can utilize and take forward.
01:04:47 --> 01:04:47 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Yeah.
01:04:48 --> 01:04:48 Excellent.
01:04:48 --> 01:04:49 Excellent resource there.
01:04:51 --> 01:04:52 Our second question.
01:04:52 --> 01:04:53 What is your favorite tool
01:04:53 --> 01:04:54 for the farm?
01:04:54 --> 01:04:58 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: My favorite tool, well, outside of the
01:04:58 --> 01:05:03 basics, you know, the, the utilization of an ATV or the poly reels or the
01:05:03 --> 01:05:09 souped up fence charger I think everybody needs to invest in a set of shears and
01:05:09 --> 01:05:14 a gram scale to do grass clippings.
01:05:14 --> 01:05:16 Because how do
01:05:16 --> 01:05:20 we know how many cattle we can run, or how do we know how long we
01:05:20 --> 01:05:24 can leave livestock in a paddock if we can't do forage evaluations?
01:05:24 --> 01:05:31 So, there are several resources like the NRCS Web Soil Survey if you
01:05:31 --> 01:05:36 utilized a pasture stick to do forage estimation and evaluation, those are all
01:05:36 --> 01:05:37 great methods.
01:05:37 --> 01:05:40 But I think everybody needs once a year.
01:05:40 --> 01:05:45 To go out and do an actual hoop grass clipping, because that gives
01:05:45 --> 01:05:51 you as accurate of a measurement of infield forage at that time, that
01:05:51 --> 01:05:53 snapshot in time, as you can get.
01:05:53 --> 01:05:58 So, I've got what essentially Equals out to a tenth of a meter hoop
01:05:59 --> 01:05:59 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh,
01:06:00 --> 01:06:00 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: Just
01:06:00 --> 01:06:04 a scale and I'll put a little, little, I usually use a soil sample bag and I'll
01:06:04 --> 01:06:08 cut all the grass in that hoop, stuff it in, or stuff it in that bag, I'll weigh
01:06:08 --> 01:06:12 that bag beforehand, and then my little gram scale, weigh it, and then extrapolate
01:06:12 --> 01:06:17 that into pounds of forage per Now I know how much grass I have per acre.
01:06:18 --> 01:06:21 Then it's just a math problem of how to set up my paddocks,
01:06:22 --> 01:06:27 or figure out the length of time I need to run livestock in a particular area.
01:06:27 --> 01:06:33 So, for instance, I've gone out, if you utilize the Web Soil Survey, it
01:06:33 --> 01:06:37 says my ground makes about 3, 800 pounds of grass per acre on an average.
01:06:38 --> 01:06:39 average year.
01:06:39 --> 01:06:43 Well, I haven't had an average year since I've been here.
01:06:43 --> 01:06:43 It's, they've
01:06:43 --> 01:06:44 been, there
01:06:44 --> 01:06:49 was dang dry, there was dry in the early part of the year, then wet
01:06:49 --> 01:06:53 in the second part of the summer, and I had a really good weed
01:06:53 --> 01:06:55 flush, but not so much grass grow.
01:06:56 --> 01:07:00 And then this year I had an excellent early spring and early summer,
01:07:00 --> 01:07:03 and then it turned off dry and hadn't rained since 4th of July.
01:07:03 --> 01:07:04 But having, having the
01:07:04 --> 01:07:08 ability to go out and get those snapshots of your forage availability.
01:07:09 --> 01:07:14 In any type of growing season, you know, I'm probably overstocked as
01:07:14 --> 01:07:18 we sit today because I didn't get the regrowth I expected after my
01:07:19 --> 01:07:19 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh, right.
01:07:19 --> 01:07:19 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: event.
01:07:21 --> 01:07:23 Having the ability to import a little hay.
01:07:23 --> 01:07:25 I've got a brother in law right next door.
01:07:25 --> 01:07:27 He's got a 20 some odd acre hay meadow.
01:07:28 --> 01:07:29 He keeps some hay for his horses.
01:07:30 --> 01:07:33 But since his cows are running on, his cows are running with mine, it's
01:07:33 --> 01:07:36 just kind of a combined operation.
01:07:36 --> 01:07:40 I, I, the only hay cost I have is I got to fill up the diesel tank for
01:07:40 --> 01:07:42 dad when he comes and cuts the hay.
01:07:42 --> 01:07:43 He's got some hay matters near
01:07:43 --> 01:07:44 us.
01:07:44 --> 01:07:47 As soon as he finishes up with some custom work, he comes
01:07:47 --> 01:07:48 and bales our 20 some acres.
01:07:49 --> 01:07:53 And, you know, it's just dad doing us a favor, but having, having the
01:07:53 --> 01:07:55 ability to measure forage is essential.
01:07:55 --> 01:07:59 So outside of all our other tools that we have available, get you
01:07:59 --> 01:08:01 a scale clip and a, and a hoop.
01:08:02 --> 01:08:03 to to do grass clippings.
01:08:04 --> 01:08:08 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: And, and I'll be honest I've never done that, but I,
01:08:08 --> 01:08:10 I, think I ought to try it and see, see,
01:08:10 --> 01:08:11 what it tells me.
01:08:11 --> 01:08:13 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: And, and, and another benefit
01:08:13 --> 01:08:16 from that is once you start doing enough of those grass clippings,
01:08:16 --> 01:08:18 you can start calibrating your eye
01:08:19 --> 01:08:26 to, okay, if, if I, if I visually see about 12 inches of, let's say, mixed
01:08:26 --> 01:08:31 Bermuda grass fescue, and you know that about 12 inches every time I've trimmed
01:08:31 --> 01:08:34 it or, or, or harvested it in my hoop.
01:08:35 --> 01:08:38 This is well, it's coming out to about 4, 500 pounds and you go
01:08:38 --> 01:08:44 out there and do a cut and you're Either way high or way low, you say,
01:08:44 --> 01:08:46 okay, did I do something incorrect?
01:08:46 --> 01:08:48 Am I truly that low?
01:08:48 --> 01:08:49 Do I need to repeat that?
01:08:49 --> 01:08:53 So it just helps calibrate or tune your, your, your,
01:08:53 --> 01:08:57 your optical illusionist, your eyes out there to to make sure you're
01:08:57 --> 01:09:01 still seeing and, and, and getting pretty close to where you need
01:09:01 --> 01:09:02 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh, yeah.
01:09:03 --> 01:09:03 Yeah.
01:09:03 --> 01:09:04 Excellent.
01:09:05 --> 01:09:07 Our third question, what would you tell someone?
01:09:07 --> 01:09:08 Just getting started.
01:09:09 --> 01:09:11 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: Find your people.
01:09:12 --> 01:09:20 I, I, I could not I wouldn't be in this operation or be excited about this type
01:09:20 --> 01:09:25 of regenerative grazing if I didn't have a group of people just like me that are
01:09:25 --> 01:09:30 so excited to talk about soil improvement, to talk about rangeland or grassland
01:09:30 --> 01:09:34 function the intangibles outside of ag production.
01:09:35 --> 01:09:37 Don't get me wrong, we wouldn't do this if we didn't love it.
01:09:37 --> 01:09:43 The cows, the operation, just being in agriculture, providing
01:09:43 --> 01:09:44 that service to the world.
01:09:44 --> 01:09:49 But, I don't know if you've ever seen a bunch of like minded people geek out at
01:09:49 --> 01:09:53 looking at dung beetles in cow manure, but that's the kind of people we are.
01:09:54 --> 01:09:54 There are,
01:09:56 --> 01:09:59 there are resources available at our conservation offices.
01:09:59 --> 01:10:03 There, there's people that are, are willing to help but the social
01:10:03 --> 01:10:11 media age, the one good benefit, if it really has any, is we've been
01:10:11 --> 01:10:15 able to find those communities that we wouldn't have found otherwise.
01:10:15 --> 01:10:16 Similar
01:10:16 --> 01:10:18 to the Grazing Grass podcast group.
01:10:18 --> 01:10:23 We've got listeners coming in from all different parts of the world chiming
01:10:23 --> 01:10:26 in, talking about what works for them, what doesn't work for them, finding
01:10:26 --> 01:10:28 people in your areas.
01:10:28 --> 01:10:32 We had a podcast listener, I've been about a year ago now that
01:10:32 --> 01:10:36 listened to my counterpart, Meg Dreske, when she came on the podcast.
01:10:36 --> 01:10:37 And
01:10:37 --> 01:10:41 this producer reaches out to Meg and says, I'm interested in some conservation
01:10:41 --> 01:10:45 assistance really interested in the things that she had spoke about.
01:10:45 --> 01:10:48 And Meg, she's our counterpart in western Oklahoma.
01:10:48 --> 01:10:51 So she says, I'll get you in contact with Blane.
01:10:51 --> 01:10:54 He's our eastern Oklahoma grazing land specialist.
01:10:55 --> 01:10:56 You want to know something crazy?
01:10:57 --> 01:10:58 Clint Dawson lives.
01:10:59 --> 01:11:01 Three quarters of a mile down the road from me.
01:11:01 --> 01:11:03 So this, this producer
01:11:03 --> 01:11:05 through the podcast found somebody and he's, he's right down the road.
01:11:05 --> 01:11:06 He's my neighbor.
01:11:06 --> 01:11:07 When, when we purchased our
01:11:08 --> 01:11:10 current properties, we purchased them from the same guy.
01:11:11 --> 01:11:12 It was all part of
01:11:12 --> 01:11:13 a, just a dispersal sale.
01:11:14 --> 01:11:17 So finding those people in your community that we would never have
01:11:17 --> 01:11:20 found any other way without connecting.
01:11:20 --> 01:11:21 through social media, through
01:11:21 --> 01:11:24 podcasting, finding those people.
01:11:24 --> 01:11:27 Once you got your community around you, they're going to be your biggest
01:11:27 --> 01:11:31 cheerleaders, they're going to be your biggest shoulders to cry on, they're
01:11:31 --> 01:11:32 going to be your support system.
01:11:32 --> 01:11:37 So find your people and everything else will fall into place.
01:11:38 --> 01:11:39 They'll give you advice.
01:11:39 --> 01:11:40 They'll give you suggestions.
01:11:40 --> 01:11:41 The works.
01:11:43 --> 01:11:43 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh, yeah.
01:11:43 --> 01:11:44 And what's that saying?
01:11:44 --> 01:11:49 You're the average of your five closest friends, the people you hang out with.
01:11:49 --> 01:11:52 And so often, those are people we work with.
01:11:52 --> 01:11:56 But just think about the people you hang out with and what they are doing.
01:11:56 --> 01:11:57 Is that where you
01:11:57 --> 01:11:57 want to
01:11:57 --> 01:11:58 be?
01:11:58 --> 01:11:58 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: That's
01:11:58 --> 01:12:00 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: In, in anything.
01:12:01 --> 01:12:02 Yeah.
01:12:02 --> 01:12:05 That's the reason I think my wife doesn't want to hang out with me as much.
01:12:05 --> 01:12:06 So I'm, I'm working on that,
01:12:06 --> 01:12:10 but yeah,
01:12:10 --> 01:12:12 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: extremely interested in it.
01:12:12 --> 01:12:14 But, but there, there is a limit.
01:12:14 --> 01:12:16 I was sitting on the couch on my phone.
01:12:17 --> 01:12:21 And I have an app on my phone called the Soil Web App, and you can, you
01:12:21 --> 01:12:23 can look at soil's descriptions.
01:12:23 --> 01:12:27 Anyway, I'm scrolling through my phone, and she says, what you reading?
01:12:27 --> 01:12:28 And I said, soil's descriptions.
01:12:28 --> 01:12:29 She went, ew.
01:12:30 --> 01:12:34 So, there's a limit, but you know, take that with a grain of salt, I guess.
01:12:35 --> 01:12:38 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: yeah, well, I invited my wife out to lunch tomorrow.
01:12:38 --> 01:12:42 I said, why don't we just go out, eat lunch somewhere tomorrow and instead
01:12:42 --> 01:12:44 of saying, Hey, that's a great idea.
01:12:44 --> 01:12:45 Or I'd love to.
01:12:45 --> 01:12:47 She's like, what farm are we going to?
01:12:47 --> 01:12:49 Or what livestock are you looking
01:12:49 --> 01:12:49 at?
01:12:49 --> 01:12:49 Yeah.
01:12:50 --> 01:12:52 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: I'll tear your motives, I gotcha.
01:12:52 --> 01:12:56 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Well, since you brought it up, there are some livestock
01:12:56 --> 01:12:59 involved, but you know, it's just a minor
01:12:59 --> 01:12:59 portion.
01:13:00 --> 01:13:00 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: That's it.
01:13:01 --> 01:13:01 That's it.
01:13:02 --> 01:13:04 It's, you know, it's funny you say that.
01:13:06 --> 01:13:10 Greg, Judy, Jim Gares, those guys, you know, they say they're grass farmers.
01:13:11 --> 01:13:17 The livestock are the tool that we utilize to create the grass
01:13:17 --> 01:13:19 that we want, not vice versa.
01:13:19 --> 01:13:20 So that's
01:13:20 --> 01:13:22 always, that's always, that was
01:13:23 --> 01:13:28 another turning point of my mindset is We don't grow the grass to feed the
01:13:28 --> 01:13:30 cow, we feed the cow to grow the grass.
01:13:31 --> 01:13:32 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Yes.
01:13:32 --> 01:13:32 Yeah.
01:13:32 --> 01:13:36 The cattle are the tool you're using or whatever livestock
01:13:36 --> 01:13:37 you're choosing to go with.
01:13:37 --> 01:13:37 Yeah.
01:13:38 --> 01:13:40 And lastly, Blane, where can others find
01:13:40 --> 01:13:41 out more about you?
01:13:41 --> 01:13:43 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: As far as social media, I've, I've, I've
01:13:43 --> 01:13:47 got one social profile on, on Facebook.
01:13:48 --> 01:13:52 For my professional career, the Oklahoma Conservation Commission you can reach us
01:13:52 --> 01:13:55 for outreach, education, or assistance.
01:13:55 --> 01:14:00 So through the Oklahoma Conservation Commission website, if you want
01:14:00 --> 01:14:02 to email info at conservation.
01:14:03 --> 01:14:03 ok.
01:14:04 --> 01:14:11 gov for general information, or you can reach me, my email is Blane.
01:14:12 --> 01:14:12 stacey.
01:14:13 --> 01:14:16 At conservation.ok.gov.
01:14:17 --> 01:14:20 Like I said earlier, I, I'm kind of the defacto Eastern Oklahoma
01:14:20 --> 01:14:23 Grazing Lands guy for our program.
01:14:23 --> 01:14:24 I'm not limited by that.
01:14:24 --> 01:14:27 I've got producers I still continue to work with scattered
01:14:27 --> 01:14:29 out throughout Oklahoma.
01:14:30 --> 01:14:34 But our program, the Oklahoma Conservation Commission Soil Health Program.
01:14:34 --> 01:14:38 We've got five soil health specialists scattered throughout the state.
01:14:38 --> 01:14:39 Meg Gresky is
01:14:39 --> 01:14:42 in Cheyenne, Oklahoma, so way out west.
01:14:43 --> 01:14:47 We've got an urban soil health specialist in Oklahoma City and Tulsa.
01:14:47 --> 01:14:52 We've got a soil health specialist, Josh Anderson in Ardmore.
01:14:52 --> 01:14:55 So we're scattered out throughout the state to provide assistance to producers.
01:14:55 --> 01:14:59 Also, your local conservation district if you're in Oklahoma.
01:14:59 --> 01:14:59 so much.
01:14:59 --> 01:15:03 Other states have different conservation programs, but the root
01:15:04 --> 01:15:08 of our services start at your local conservation office in Oklahoma.
01:15:09 --> 01:15:13 If soil health is something you're interested in, managed grazing, That's
01:15:13 --> 01:15:18 always what I recommend as your first stop shop, because if they don't have what you
01:15:18 --> 01:15:20 need, they're going to call me anyway.
01:15:20 --> 01:15:24 But it's a good opportunity to get involved with the local conservation
01:15:24 --> 01:15:26 district, get signed up for programs.
01:15:27 --> 01:15:30 I always tell people, if you want to win the lottery, you've got to buy a ticket.
01:15:30 --> 01:15:33 If you want to be eligible for financial assistance, you've
01:15:33 --> 01:15:35 got to go in there and sign up.
01:15:35 --> 01:15:39 The, the nature of, of, of Conservation assistance is we don't
01:15:39 --> 01:15:40 have enough money to help everybody.
01:15:40 --> 01:15:45 So you got to get your name in the hat for that as everything else.
01:15:46 --> 01:15:49 The only other place you could probably find me is in the standings
01:15:49 --> 01:15:54 of the saddle bronc riding for the Cowboys Rodeo Association.
01:15:54 --> 01:16:00 I, I do, I do moonlight as a, I I tell people I am a amateur grazing artist and
01:16:00 --> 01:16:02 a semi professional saddle bronc rider.
01:16:03 --> 01:16:03 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh,
01:16:03 --> 01:16:04 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: And the only
01:16:04 --> 01:16:04 reason I
01:16:04 --> 01:16:09 bring rodeo up is because I have met so many regenerative minded grazing
01:16:09 --> 01:16:11 people through the sport of rodeo.
01:16:12 --> 01:16:12 And
01:16:12 --> 01:16:15 most of them have been right here in, in Northeast Oklahoma.
01:16:16 --> 01:16:19 There's been a couple young men that I didn't really know them that well, I,
01:16:20 --> 01:16:22 but we were all, we, we, we rodeoed.
01:16:22 --> 01:16:27 And was on the way to a rodeo in Arkansas and he asked me, he said,
01:16:27 --> 01:16:28 Blane, what do you do for a living?
01:16:28 --> 01:16:33 And I kind of hemmed and hawed and I said, well, I do some grazing consultations and
01:16:33 --> 01:16:38 I work for the Conservation Commission and we do grazing management planning and he
01:16:38 --> 01:16:40 goes, So have you ever heard of Greg Judy?
01:16:41 --> 01:16:42 And just immediate
01:16:42 --> 01:16:43 sparks go to flying.
01:16:43 --> 01:16:45 We didn't talk about rodeo the rest of the trip.
01:16:45 --> 01:16:45 We were,
01:16:45 --> 01:16:46 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh, yeah.
01:16:46 --> 01:16:48 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: grass nerds there and back.
01:16:49 --> 01:16:53 And so, and, and this, this guy, he's, he's building me a
01:16:53 --> 01:16:54 Greg Judy style bail unroller.
01:16:54 --> 01:16:56 His name is
01:16:56 --> 01:16:57 Zane Bowman.
01:16:57 --> 01:17:00 He's building me a bale unroller that I can utilize this year.
01:17:00 --> 01:17:00 So,
01:17:01 --> 01:17:02 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh, very good.
01:17:02 --> 01:17:03 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: I've made several contacts just
01:17:03 --> 01:17:05 through the sport of rodeo.
01:17:06 --> 01:17:11 The guy that pointed out how to not go broke ranching, he's a pickup man
01:17:11 --> 01:17:13 for a rodeo company up in Missouri.
01:17:13 --> 01:17:15 But he just recently moved down to Okema.
01:17:15 --> 01:17:17 So he was the one that,
01:17:17 --> 01:17:19 that, that told me, he said, have you read this book?
01:17:19 --> 01:17:19 And I said, no.
01:17:20 --> 01:17:23 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: And I can picture that, Blane, getting bucked
01:17:23 --> 01:17:27 off, he's coming by to get you off that horse, and you have that conversation
01:17:27 --> 01:17:29 as he takes you over to the side.
01:17:30 --> 01:17:30 Yeah.
01:17:30 --> 01:17:32 Yeah,
01:17:32 --> 01:17:33 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: grass at your house?
01:17:33 --> 01:17:33 I said, it's good.
01:17:33 --> 01:17:34 Is it good at your house?
01:17:34 --> 01:17:34 Yeah, it's good.
01:17:34 --> 01:17:36 That's usually about all the time we've got.
01:17:37 --> 01:17:37 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Yeah,
01:17:37 --> 01:17:38 yeah, well, I'll talk later.
01:17:38 --> 01:17:40 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: Yeah, it's the before and after
01:17:40 --> 01:17:43 talks at rodeos that he's working at, that I'm competing, ultimately end
01:17:43 --> 01:17:45 up talking about grass and grazing,
01:17:45 --> 01:17:46 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh, yeah.
01:17:46 --> 01:17:48 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: a core part of our personalities.
01:17:48 --> 01:17:51 It's almost like the rodeo portion is just a sidebar.
01:17:53 --> 01:17:53 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh,
01:17:53 --> 01:17:54 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: I utilize,
01:17:54 --> 01:17:58 I utilize the rodeo as a, as a little bit of an extra income.
01:17:58 --> 01:18:00 You know, some people go golfing on the weekends.
01:18:00 --> 01:18:00 Some
01:18:00 --> 01:18:01 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh,
01:18:01 --> 01:18:01 yeah.
01:18:01 --> 01:18:03 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: You know, go to the casino.
01:18:04 --> 01:18:08 I've been fortunate enough that, I don't know if you can see, I've got, I've got
01:18:08 --> 01:18:10 about four of those championship saddles.
01:18:11 --> 01:18:12 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh, yes.
01:18:12 --> 01:18:13 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: they've, they've blessed me the
01:18:13 --> 01:18:17 last several years, and I've been able to utilize that rodeo money
01:18:17 --> 01:18:18 to put it back in my operation.
01:18:18 --> 01:18:19 So, I,
01:18:19 --> 01:18:22 I, I bought a new four wheeler last year with Rodeo money.
01:18:23 --> 01:18:29 I paid for my infrastructure my high tensile and my fence charger, and all the
01:18:29 --> 01:18:30 accessories that go with it last year.
01:18:31 --> 01:18:34 I paid for it by riding bucking horses.
01:18:34 --> 01:18:35 Now, I am 36 years
01:18:35 --> 01:18:37 old, and I'm the oldest guy back there.
01:18:37 --> 01:18:43 So that is coming to an end fairly quickly, but we'll the only, the only
01:18:44 --> 01:18:44 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: so.
01:18:44 --> 01:18:46 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: I'm gonna, I'm gonna shift into
01:18:46 --> 01:18:48 more of a administrative role.
01:18:48 --> 01:18:51 I'd like to become a rodeo judge and still be
01:18:51 --> 01:18:53 involved with it but a lot less
01:18:53 --> 01:18:54 wear and tear on the body.
01:18:55 --> 01:18:57 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Yeah that that would probably be a little easier
01:18:57 --> 01:19:00 on you on your body and recovery
01:19:00 --> 01:19:01 the next day Yeah,
01:19:01 --> 01:19:03 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: And , I'll try to end with, with this story.
01:19:03 --> 01:19:04 So
01:19:04 --> 01:19:05 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: okay.
01:19:05 --> 01:19:07 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: I left the rodeo part of it till the
01:19:07 --> 01:19:11 very end, but I truly cannot tell my story of of where I am at in my
01:19:11 --> 01:19:13 professional career without rodeo.
01:19:14 --> 01:19:19 Because in 2007, I took an internship with the NRCS.
01:19:20 --> 01:19:22 in Pawnee, Oklahoma.
01:19:22 --> 01:19:25 And there was a rangeland specialist that worked in the office.
01:19:25 --> 01:19:26 His name was Joe Villalma.
01:19:27 --> 01:19:29 And he was a cowboy.
01:19:29 --> 01:19:33 We were both interested in the western lifestyle, rodeoing.
01:19:34 --> 01:19:39 The only rodeoing I had done previous to this was, I tried to be a bull rider.
01:19:39 --> 01:19:42 I was way too tall, wasn't any good at it.
01:19:42 --> 01:19:46 I'd go enter a few bull ridings, get bucked off, and that was,
01:19:46 --> 01:19:47 that was the end of the year.
01:19:47 --> 01:19:52 So, one day in a conversation, just, he just mentioned, you know, you, you
01:19:52 --> 01:19:54 ought to try riding saddle broncs.
01:19:54 --> 01:19:58 Because, number one, there's just not that many saddle bronc riders anymore.
01:19:58 --> 01:20:02 I don't know if it's just the cost of equipment to get started.
01:20:02 --> 01:20:03 And, and that's a pretty
01:20:03 --> 01:20:04 steep learning curve.
01:20:04 --> 01:20:07 It took me five years before I could even really stay on
01:20:07 --> 01:20:08 a, a horse that was bucking.
01:20:09 --> 01:20:13 And, and, and go through all the motions and, and make a successful ride.
01:20:13 --> 01:20:14 So, but but at
01:20:14 --> 01:20:16 that time he put that bug in my ear.
01:20:16 --> 01:20:18 For some reason it stayed there.
01:20:19 --> 01:20:22 End of the summer, I had some money saved up from, from my internship.
01:20:23 --> 01:20:27 So I bought a Bronc riding saddle and started entering rodeos.
01:20:28 --> 01:20:35 So fast forward to February of 2014, I broke my shoulder.
01:20:37 --> 01:20:41 Mississippi at the big pro rodeo there and at the time I was working
01:20:41 --> 01:20:45 at a pipe yard so I couldn't work, I couldn't ride a horse, I couldn't
01:20:45 --> 01:20:46 ride broncs, couldn't do anything.
01:20:47 --> 01:20:51 So I just so happened to be sitting at the table looking at job listings and I found
01:20:51 --> 01:20:53 the Oklahoma Conservation Commission.
01:20:54 --> 01:20:54 So if I
01:20:54 --> 01:20:56 hadn't broke that shoulder I'd still probably be working
01:20:56 --> 01:20:58 at that pipe yard today.
01:20:58 --> 01:20:58 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh.
01:20:59 --> 01:21:02 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: I would not have a rodeo career without
01:21:02 --> 01:21:06 conservation and I would not have a conservation career without rodeo.
01:21:06 --> 01:21:11 So those two, those two parts of me are, are inseparable in any case.
01:21:11 --> 01:21:15 So if you don't like talking about grass, we can talk about rodeo.
01:21:15 --> 01:21:18 If you don't like talking about rodeo, we'll talk about grass,
01:21:18 --> 01:21:20 but either one, we'll never run out of stuff to talk about.
01:21:21 --> 01:21:22 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Oh, yeah.
01:21:22 --> 01:21:25 It's interesting how things work out in life.
01:21:26 --> 01:21:29 Blane, I'm really glad we got you on here.
01:21:30 --> 01:21:32 You know, I mentioned to you in the email, I've been planning to
01:21:32 --> 01:21:33 get you on here for a long time.
01:21:34 --> 01:21:38 But, I tried to monitor how many Okies I have on here, so that
01:21:38 --> 01:21:40 we don't have, so it's not too
01:21:40 --> 01:21:42 Oklahoma centric.
01:21:42 --> 01:21:47 So Try and space them out, but really enjoyed the conversation today and
01:21:47 --> 01:21:48 appreciate you coming on and
01:21:48 --> 01:21:49 squadcaster-6ja7_1_10-17-2024_175547: absolutely.
01:21:49 --> 01:21:52 Again, if you're, you're interested in any kind of conservation technical
01:21:52 --> 01:21:57 assistance, Outreach or education our soil health program, the Oklahoma Conservation
01:21:57 --> 01:22:01 Commission, or if you just want to talk grass and grazing I'm an open book.
01:22:01 --> 01:22:06 I, I, I'm, I'm actually hoping to shape and maintain my operation
01:22:06 --> 01:22:10 as a demonstration farm to utilize for folks to come in and view.
01:22:11 --> 01:22:12 cal_1_10-17-2024_175547: Very good.
01:22:12 --> 01:22:13 Very good.
01:22:13 --> 01:22:14 Well, thank you, Blane.
01:22:14 --> 01:22:17 Cal: I really hope you enjoyed today's conversation.
01:22:18 --> 01:22:19 I know I did.
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