Grass Productivity - An Introduction to Rational Grazing

New Release: Andre Voisin's Grass Productivity

SIMPLE questions often help us to understand problems better; and I think it indispensable, at the beginning of this work, to ask a question which appears simple in the extreme:

“What is grazing?”

The answer is generally as follows:

“Causing grass to be eaten by an animal.”

That is correct! But here is another answer which, to my mind, is more realistic:

“Causing the grass and the animal to meet.”

Since this book is almost exclusively concerned with grazing by cattle, I propose the following definition to the reader, requesting him to allow it to become well impressed upon his mind:

Grazing is the meeting of cow and grass.

It is a meeting of this nature, or at least the first steps towards such an end, that I want to attempt in this book.

We will not study the grass and the cow separately. We will always consider them simultaneously and together, in such a manner as best to satisfy the demands of each.

When we think of the cow, we will not forget the demands of the grass. When we examine the grass, we will always bear in mind the demands of the cow.

It is by satisfying as far as possible the demands of both parties that we will arrive at a rational grazing, which will provide us with maximum productivity on the part of the grass while at the same time allowing the cow to give optimum performance.

[From the Introduction]

This is the original text, which showed how what is known today as "rotational", "management intensive", or"mob grazing" can triple the output of any given pasture - which means more than triple profits for a grass fed beef or dairy farmer. This text has been recovered from the original 1959 edition and republished for your use in a modern format - perfect for a digital reference library or a print-based one (or both!)

502 pages.

eBook now available:

Trade paperback (6"x9", 66 pages) available on Lulu and soon on Amazon and all brick-and-mortar bookstores:

Hardback textbook available:

The Cow and Her Grass - Andre Voisin

Classic: The Cow and Her Grass, a Manual of Grass Productivity - by Andre Voisin

This book by Messrs Voisin and Lecomte comes at the right moment. It is a synthesis of M. Voisin's important study, Grass Productivity. This manual presents the chief ideas of two specialists. Since they are also excellent practitioners, they have applied these ideas before recommending them.

Their evocative picture of 'the meeting of cow and grass' poses the true problem of the management of grazed grass.

For the farmer, the production of meat and milk is an act of industrial conversion. The 'machine' is the animal that converts raw vegetable matter into finished food products which are rich in calories and easy to assimilate. This 'machine' is complex because it is a living being; it can be improved--within limits. But its yield depends basically on the quality of the raw materials offered to it for conversion. 

Our farmers bring a jealously guarded care to the cultivation and harvesting of their cereals and commercial plants. Too often they rely on nature to develop their pastures and let their animals use their instinct to get the best harvest they can from them. 

M. Voisin, an experienced chemist and biologist, has applied foreign studies of grazing on his Norman farm for several years. He has removed the errors and, above all, has looked for a more specifically French application that could be adapted to our traditional farming practices.

M. Lecomte, a Veterinary Surgeon, has studied the complex of forage feeding and its influence on yield and animal health, from observation of grassland management, even that of his clients.

Messrs Voisin and Leconte have drawn on the fruits of their conversations and experience and, in this manual, have succeeded in producing a popular version of the fundamental ideas of their studies.

I hope that their words will be heard and followed.

[From the Introduction]

- - - -

Get Your Copy Today!

"The Cow and Her Grass" by Andre Voisin, A. Lecomte on Ganxy

eBook now available:

Trade paperback (6"x9", 66 pages) available on Lulu and soon on Amazon and all brick-and-mortar bookstores:

This book by Messrs Voisin and Lecomte comes at the right moment. It is a synthesis of M. Voisin's important study, Grass Productivity. This manual presents the chief ideas of two specialists. Since they are also excellent practitioners, they have applied these ideas before recommending them. Their evocative picture of 'the meeting of cow and grass' poses the true problem of the management of grazed grass. For the farmer, the production of meat and milk is an act of industrial conversion. The 'machine' is the animal that converts raw vegetable matter into finished food products which are rich in calories and easy to assimilate. This 'machine' is complex because it is a living being; it can be improved--within limits. But its yield depends basically on the quality of the raw materials offered to it for conversion. Our farmers bring a jealously guarded care to the cultivation and harvesting of their cereals and commercial plants. Too often they rely on nature to develop their pastures and let their animals use their instinct to get the best harvest they can from them. M. Voisin, an experienced chemist and biologist, has applied foreign studies of grazing on his Norman farm for several years. He has removed the errors and, above all, has looked for a more specifically French application that could be adapted to our traditional farming practices. M. Lecomte, a Veterinary Surgeon, has studied the complex of forage feeding and its influence on yield and animal health, from observation of grassland management, even that of his clients. Messrs Voisin and Leconte have drawn on the fruits of their conversations and experience and, in this manual, have succeeded in producing a popular version of the fundamental ideas of their studies. I hope that their words will be heard and followed. [From the Introduction] ....

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Why all grass fed meat producers aren't the same.

If you're looking for wholesale grassfed beef around Columbia MO - you need to ask the right questions.

I was reminded of this today when a new client from Kansas City came by to pick up a whole beef. He said that he picked my beef because I was straight up with how I fed my beef.

We only give them as much grass as they want. Of course I do give them some little treats, like wild apples and green pears (and occasionally a piece of corn-on-the-cob) to train them to literally eat out of my hand. And some mouthfuls of sweet-feed (has mollases in it) - which rattles in a bucket and is a nice tool to lead a whole herd at once to a faraway, new pasture.

What the other guys (who lived closer to him) didn't tell my KC buyer was that they unequivocally and only fed their cows grass. They left him with the idea that just maybe some implants or extra antibiotics could have crept in - or that they ended up fattened them out on corn to get them up to processing weight.

And I know of a guy who raises "forage-finished" beef - which is where he brings in various material which cows will eat (and they can eat a lot of different stuff safely) that he feeds this out on his pastures. You see, his back-trail is that he inherited a feed lot. So he had to do something with it.

Sure, this way of raising beef is far more natural. And his marketing is a full time job, since he can raise enough for restaurants and schools.

Our farm has about 25 cows at best, with their bull and the few steers we raise to full size to process. At max, I can process about 10 steers, which is 40 quarters. All I need is clients who I can trust to be valuable clients. Like they trust me to raise quality beef as best I can.

It does seem that such clients might be as hard to find as the quality beef I raise. Doesn't mean I give up - it just means that I keep the welcome mat out. At least until I get enough regulars to fill that list.

The sad part is that I can still simply sell at auction, especially at these prices.

But I continue to refine our production to get more weight and figure out more ways to raise them with less stress (like being fed by hand, so they can get scratched where they want it.)

And our mutual search for high-quality beef - and clients who want to buy in wholesale bulk - continues.

May you find all the great, tender grassfed beef you are looking for.

- - - -

PS. Coming up is another fall steer for processing, and a cow only fed grass for her entire life - who is going to provide about 500 lbs of sirloin-hamburger (all the parts ground into the mix.) So make sure you are on the list. Join by filling out the form on the right...

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A Rough Outline of How to Raise Grass Fed Beef

(Our calves on the mineral block.)

Some simple secrets on how we raise our grass fed beef.

Answered another beef farmer's questions recently and thought you'd want to know. He's from Illinois where cheap corn is available, and wants to raise some grass fed beef.

What I cover below is some secrets I've worked out which aren't generally used in the cattle industry:

• The only supplements I use are salt and minerals in blocks. I do also have tubs of loose minerals with a high iodine content - this has eliminated pink-eye problems. Blocks are from Orcheln's Farm and Home, the loose minerals are from MFA, their "Breeders 12".
• My heifers are bred at 15 months so that they'll have their first calf at 24 months. They are only grass fed.
• After weaning, we let the steers back in with their dams. Any steer which go back to nursing puts their dam on the short list for replacement - as these attributes aren't wanted. It doesn't hurt the calf or dam, but may cause problems when the next calf comes along. Hasn't yet, through.
• I pull out the bull and steers in the spring, when the steers are about 24 months old and the spring calves are dropping. This is to keep the bull company and lets me see what weights I have. I sell the steers and then put the heifers with the bull a month before he's turned out with the rest of the herd. We tried August this year, working on pushing our calving back to May, which is when there is plenty of good grass for milk production and none of the calves get frost-bit like they do in Jan/Feb. Also, we don't have scours here, as no calves are born in a feed lot, but on pasture.
• Following advice I've read, I'm working to get the farm so that it provides enough grass to feed the cows all year round. This is by using management-intensive, rotational grazing - a hot polywire moved every day or two, with a following wire to keep them off what they grazed. We buy our hay from others, which tends to be as cheap as making it ourselves, when you account for the time and machinery repairs. Plus, half the cost is accounted for in the minerals you are getting in that hay.
• We place our hay out for winter where the pasture land is poorest, so what the cows "waste" returns to the land as mulch - and the cows spread their own manure nearby. I use the tractor just twice a year for hay - once to put it away for storage in the spring, and once to put it out for feeding in the fall. This has tended to rebuild poor soil within just a few years.

The whole point here is to make the farm self-sustaining. The underlying secret is to let Nature do the heavy lifting. The major time I invest now is in moving temporary fences and keeping perimeter fencing in repair.

I don't spend a lot of time on the tractor. But I'm starting to invest more time in tree-planting and forest thinning. Several tanks of chain-saw fuel are a lot cheaper than a tank of tractor fuel. Seems trees and grass work together to make the best pasture. The trick is in "hiring" the right kind and enough cattle to help maintain and rebuild the land.

The wealth of the land is in its accessible mineral content. Conventional farming experts have no clue right now on how to rebuild land which their cultivation methods have worn down. Cattle and intensive grazing is the only known method right now.

Green is a lifestyle, not a metropolitan fad.

Good luck with your own efforts down this line.

PS. I'm working to revive some classic books along this line, ones which gave solutions which have mostly been ignored. I'll post them here when I do. (I publish books as an off-farm income source.)

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It's Time to Stock Up On Grass Fed Meat While Our Prices Are Low...

Do you seriously have enough beef to last through the winter?

(photo: Cowgirl Jules)

Check your freezer, because ours is full.

Of course, maybe the problem is that I'm simply not charging our Buyer's Club members enough...

I haven't seen any reason to increase our prices, as I covered earlier.

Unfortunately, this also means that I'm tempted to simply take these steers to auction instead of offering them to you.

Here's the deal: I've got three quarters still in our freezer, as well as about 33 pounds of steaks, roasts, and every cut except hamburger.

So while I'd like to keep it to quarters, I can fill in some extra for Buyer's Club Members. (We also have liver and other cuts not so demanded.)

Right now, the quarters we have are about 70 lbs. each and have all the cuts possible, as they're mixed.

So - while they last, you can get these for $280, which comes out to $4/lb - that includes the processing fees. Since regular supermarket hamburger is approaching this, you can see that is quite a bargain - with the free farm tour.

All you have to do is come to the farm to pick up your meat.

Sign up if you haven't, or email me if you have.

I don't see processing another steer this fall unless there's more requests - so the time is ripe to pick up some beef at below market prices.

Let me know...

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