If you keep grazing animals or plan to, then getting the most from your pasture is worth the effort, both for you and the welfare of your herds or flocks. I’ve been pasturing beef cattle on 40 acres on Manitoulin Island, Ont. since 1989, and I now get five times the productivity from this patch of ground compared with when I started. Most pastures have a lot of room for improvement, precisely because people don’t usually consider “pasture” as a managed crop. But the fact is there are huge gains to be made to boost the output of most pastures and improve animal health, all without expensive equipment, tillage and reseeding. If you have a farmer’s heart, and would love to make agriculture part of your life, then let me show you what’s worked for me.
What Makes Good Pasture?
The ideal managed pasture is a blend of grasses (timothy and orchard grass are the main ones at my place) and legumes such as trefoil and clovers. These provide high levels of protein. I see myself as a kind of orchestra conductor, but instead of musicians, I’m directing plants and animals to work
