Ranching Progress with Challenges

It seems with every project, you take two or three steps forward and one step back! There's always something to slow progress - sometimes it's self-induced (like equipment failure) and other times it's just nature!! We've watched our fields go from tall 'spent' weeds (wild sunflowers and grass burrs) (just imagine 60 acres like this!!!). Mike levelled the weeds in the corral and along the road with a 'bush hog' (right) and used a 'disk' in the fields to allow a fresh start for choice grasses in the fields! After disking the fields TWICE, he broke up the clods/clumps with a 'cultipacker' to give a manicured field for planting.

The upper pasture (Mike calls it the WEST pasture) was planted on April Fools Day with Coastal Bermuda which should provide good hay in years to come for the livestock we'll have by then. It's planted with a 'sprigger' which plows a trough, drops in the sprig and then covers it. It rained the next day -- PRICELESS!!

The lower field (EAST field) is planted in some native grasses that include Switchgrass which can be useful as an alternative fuel. This field will likely be more for grazing at least in the beginning. Native grasses are planted from seed with a piece of equipment called a 'seed drill' (below). You can see the many 'tubes' where the seed is fed and dropped in numerous troughs made by small plow blades and covered.

The results??? Green fields!!! Again, God blessed us with timely rain!!

So, what about the challenges???? With newly planted grass, one must mow every 28 days for the first few months to cut down the weeds, and it takes time for the grass to choke out the weeds, so --- the lion's share of what's out there to mow is WEEDS!!! And in the process, he's been stuck in the soft soil in the field a few times (required a tow once), had a broken disc, SIX flat tires on the tractor, and a battery that's died THREE times. Retirement is so much fun!!!!