Tag: farm management
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Low-Stress Cattle Management
Jared from Strong Roots Farm has created a great video on everything you need to raise cattle. He puts a lot of emphasis on low-stress management, and for good reason! Stress can really impact your bottom line. It affects the health of your cattle, as well as the taste and texture of beef.
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Small Herd Spring Considerations
As breeders of dual purpose cattle, it can be hard to find all-encompassing management information. Over the years I have pieced together info and practices from beef and dairy offerings. This is a solid article about managing a small beef herd in the spring, and offers some helpful insight. Is it catered to Dexter cattle…
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Cameras built specifically for farms and ranches
Technology continues to improve the way we can do things on our homesteads, farms and ranches giving us advancements in how we can monitor our precious Dexters. Here is a company that offers a solution. https://anywhere.cam/pages/solutions/farm-and-ranch
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Make the Jump to Full Time Farming
Do you have the Homesteading/Hobby farming down, and now you’re wondering what’s next? Is making 100% of a living on the farm a dream? Joel Salatin talks about the essentials, an ingredient list if you will, for transitioning from weekend farming to full-time farming.
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Cattle and Kids Safety Tips
What an idyllic picture kids and animals paint. County fairs are full of animals, including cattle, being lead around the show ring by their young owners. The homestead dream, complete with family milk cow, gives off major romantic vibes. But what does it actually take for children and cattle to interact safely on the farm…
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Tips for noobs
What are your best work-smarter-not-harder tips for homesteading? What do you wish you would have known going in? https://permies.com/t/94068/Tips-noobs
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Calving Management
Calving Management: Nutrition, Timing, Profit [embedpress embedpress_embeded_link=’https://open.spotify.com/episode/2rTw4AiE2jj8gJU8GhQJvF?si=HfeJDFy5Q269P5R-CjfBfA’ prefix_nftcreator=’false’ prefix_nftprice=’false’ prefix_nftlastsale=’false’ label_nftbutton=’false’ loadmorelabel=’false’ label_nftrank=’false’ label_nftdetails=’false’ instafeedFollowBtnLabel=’false’ instafeedPostsCountText=’false’ instafeedFollowersCountText=’false’ instafeedPopupFollowBtnLabel=’false’ instafeedLoadmoreLabel=’false’ cPopupButtonText=’false’ adWidth=’false’ adHeight=’false’ adStart=’false’ adSkipButtonAfter=’false’ embedpress_protection_message=’false’ embedpress_lock_content_error_message=’false’ embedpress_password_placeholder=’false’ embedpress_submit_button_text=’false’ embedpress_submit_Unlocking_text=’false’ embedpress_lock_content_heading=’false’ embedpress_lock_content_sub_heading=’false’ embedpress_lock_content_footer_message=’false’ height=’300′ ep_parallax_effects_transition_for=’false’ ep_parallax_effects_transition_duration=’false’ ep_parallax_effects_transition_easing=’false’ embedpress_pro_embeded_source=’default’ instafeedFeedType=’false’ instafeedAccountType=’false’ embedpress_pro_embeded_nft_type=’false’ embedpress_audio_video_auto_pause=’false’ spotify_theme=’false’ emberpress_custom_player=’false’ custom_payer_preset=’false’ embedpress_pro_video_start_time=’false’ embedpress_pro_youtube_end_time=’false’ embedpress_player_color=’false’ embedpress_pro_vimeo_auto_play=’false’ embedpress_pro_vimeo_autopause=’false’ embedpress_pro_vimeo_dnt=’false’ embedpress_pro_youtube_auto_play=’false’ embedpress_pro_youtube_mute=’false’ embedpress_pro_youtube_display_controls=’false’ embedpress_pro_youtube_enable_fullscreen_button=’false’ embedpress_pro_youtube_display_video_annotations=’false’…
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Planning Farm Succession
The hard, but important conversations around family succession on the farm. With the price of land and start-up costs at an all time high, it is more difficult than ever to get into farming. In this podcast, Elaine Froese, and her guest, Walt Moore, talk about the key aspects of keeping a farm in the…
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Winterizing Your Homestead Irish Dexters
Winterizing Your Homestead Irish Dexters [embedpress embedpress_embeded_link=’https://open.spotify.com/episode/25s4jtghkxQ2h8y3EHSpoh?si=c15Qon8XRCma-uvuZLRkXg’ prefix_nftcreator=’false’ prefix_nftprice=’false’ prefix_nftlastsale=’false’ label_nftbutton=’false’ loadmorelabel=’false’ label_nftrank=’false’ label_nftdetails=’false’ instafeedFollowBtnLabel=’false’ instafeedPostsCountText=’false’ instafeedFollowersCountText=’false’ instafeedPopupFollowBtnLabel=’false’ instafeedLoadmoreLabel=’false’ cPopupButtonText=’false’ adWidth=’false’ adHeight=’false’ adStart=’false’ adSkipButtonAfter=’false’ embedpress_protection_message=’false’ embedpress_lock_content_error_message=’false’ embedpress_password_placeholder=’false’ embedpress_submit_button_text=’false’ embedpress_submit_Unlocking_text=’false’ embedpress_lock_content_heading=’false’ embedpress_lock_content_sub_heading=’false’ embedpress_lock_content_footer_message=’false’ width=’900′ ep_parallax_effects_transition_for=’false’ ep_parallax_effects_transition_duration=’false’ ep_parallax_effects_transition_easing=’false’ embedpress_pro_embeded_source=’default’ instafeedFeedType=’false’ instafeedAccountType=’false’ embedpress_pro_embeded_nft_type=’false’ embedpress_audio_video_auto_pause=’false’ spotify_theme=’false’ emberpress_custom_player=’false’ custom_payer_preset=’false’ embedpress_pro_video_start_time=’false’ embedpress_pro_youtube_end_time=’false’ embedpress_player_color=’false’ embedpress_pro_vimeo_auto_play=’false’ embedpress_pro_vimeo_autopause=’false’ embedpress_pro_vimeo_dnt=’false’ embedpress_pro_youtube_auto_play=’false’ embedpress_pro_youtube_mute=’false’ embedpress_pro_youtube_display_controls=’false’ embedpress_pro_youtube_enable_fullscreen_button=’false’ embedpress_pro_youtube_display_video_annotations=’false’…
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Avoiding Injury
There have been more times than I care to admit where I did something dumb while working our Dexter cattle. In those situations I am always grateful we have chosen to raise Dexters. Even if I sustain an injury, it is much less severe than if I had been handling a full size cow. Having…
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2025 Agricultural Trends
Reviewing trend predictions at the beginning of 2025. I would say these have been pretty accurate. What trends have you seen in the past year?
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Tips for Small Farm Management
Tips from a 10 year small farm veteran. Short and sweet and full of experienced, honest wisdom.
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Chores to Keep You Warm in Winter
There are some chores and activities that are more effective in the winter months. Like, for instance, the soil’s freezing and thawing causing seeds to be drawn in, and seeding to be more productive. Some farm tasks are just more enjoyable in the chilly winter air (who wants to split wood in the summer heat?).…
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Grazing Through Snow
Here is a great video from Greg Judy about the benefits of grazing cattle through snow. He includes tips on keeping water from freezing, looking out for parasite issues, and keeping your operation profitable.
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Building a Solid Foundation
This podcast sent me into a few fits of laughter with the speaker’s dry humor. Obviously this experienced vet has been around, and has seen a few things. And while Dexter cattle (including the bulls) tend to be smaller and easier to handle, I highly recommend implementing the recommendations in this podcast. Not only will…
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USDA: No payment for heifer retention
There was a lot of speculation about a heifer retention program to deal with the screwworm issues.
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Top 10 Farm Management Apps Farmers Love in 2025
Farm management apps have changed how farming is done today. These tools help you make smart choices for better farming. Features like weather updates, task schedules, and inventory checks make work simpler. These apps also give live updates and tips to improve farming. They help you work better and farm in a way that helps…
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A Conversation on Grazing
A little on the long side, but packed with great info on everything from experimental crops for grazing, to various methods of bale grazing.
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Selecting a Bull
Someone recently asked about selecting a bull calf with traditional Dexter characteristics. Many breeders more experienced than me have covered this topic, but having bred Dexters for quite a few years now (and made plenty of mistakes) I am adding my two cents to the topic. Selecting a bull calf starts before they are even…
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Do you have 100 days of grazing left?
Save money by using your cattle to graze remaining forage on hay fields. There are numerous benefits, including cost savings, fertilization, and soil/plant nutrient storage.
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Slow is Fast
“Slow is fast”, this is the phrase my dad says at least once or twice every time we work cattle. There are some things you just can’t rush, and cattle are one of them. While we have found our Dexters are easy to move and work with, here are some tips to become more proficient…
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Hay on the Brain
It’s hay season, which is always a hectic time of year in our area. You may not be ready to think about hay or winter, but you can usually get the best deals buying it right out of the field – and now is the time to do that! Here is an article on tips…
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Working with Nature
How systems-based research can help inform our farming practices, from creating more regenerative systems to helping with water retention in drought affected areas:
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Control Weeds Naturally
As livestock farmers a large percent of our work goes into pasture and forage management. Invasive, non-local weeds can be a big pain, and some are even damaging to our animals (poisonous) and local forage. This article addresses simple, natural solutions to weed control on the farm. We have always had the most success by…
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Chondrodysplasia
Article I Fact or Fiction This is the first of our articles on chondrodysplasia in Dexters. Also called chondro-carriers, shorties, or dwarfs. these terms refer to the same cattle, and will be interspersed throughout the article. Keep in mind, they all mean cattle who are carriers of the dwarf gene. Per Miriam Webster chondro means…
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Willow for Grazing
Are cows that eat willow better for the planet? A Queens University research project aims to find out if Willow can make farming more carbon neutral. One aspect of Agroforestry uses trees as forage for livestock, and is gaining in popularity. Willow contain anti-parasitic compounds, they can be a great buffer around water sources, and…
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Chasing Fads will Leave You Behind
A great podcast by Working Cows, interviewing Bart Carmichael and Pat Guptill of “Principled Land Managers.” Bart and Pat talk about the importance of vision and principles in farming. Practices are flexible can change based on the land, animals and resources available, but having solid principles can set you up for success no matter where…
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Basics of Record Keeping
Keeping records is an important aspect of running a successful livestock business. It is even more imperative if you are raising pedigreed and registered animals. But, how do you know what details will be helpful and what details will just add more work to your already full plate? This article is a practical guide to…
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Utilizing Summer Annual Forage
https://crops.extension.iastate.edu/post/maximizing-forage-production-summer-annuals
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Small-scale beef production
Below is a great article for those getting in to beef production on a small scale. Thinking through resources, knowledge, budget, production, marketing, as well as talent and interest level. There is a great quote from the last point: “You are much more likely to be successful if you are interested in and passionate about…