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Pasture Posts #245

Here’s the weekly roundup from Watson Farms and your direct connection to your farmer. Enjoy the latest edition of Pasture Posts!

A Day in the Life of a Grass Farmer

Hey there!

From time to time I get the question “What is a typical day like for you?”

I thought I would try to answer that in this week’s edition of Pasture Posts, so on Friday I took plenty of pictures as I worked through my tasks for the day.

I got started a little before daylight and headed back to our larger of two cattle herds with the vertical mixer. We’re feeding a hay/haylage mix right now along with their pasture due to the drought. This helps them continue to gain well even though the pasture is marginal.

Next I stopped by a small group of new calves that are “in training.” After purchasing them, we make sure that everyone is well trained to the electric fence before turning them in with the big herd. They will stay with us a year or more as we grass-finish them.

After making sure that all the cattle were taken care of, it was about 9:30am and was time to start on the big project that comes every fall: sowing winter annual grasses. These winter annuals like rye, triticale, ryegrass and crimson clover will provide some excellent grazing through the winter and especially next spring.

In the case of the small grains like rye and triticale, we graze these before they form grain in the seed head so as not to compromise our grass-only protocol.

The cattle love the taste of the leaves which have a higher sugar content than perennial grasses.

We’re hoping to get a good stand, and should start to see some sprouts in a few days. The no-till drill does a great job of cutting through the dead summer grass and placing the seed in good contact with the soil at a depth of about 1/4 to 1/2 an inch.

  • Our seed wagon has all the seed that we fill the drill with.
  • The drill holds about 1,000 pounds of seed which will sow about 10 acres. I loaded it 3 times that day.
  • The GPS display tells me where I’ve been and where to drive for the next pass. The drill has a 15′ swath.
  • The double disc openers part the trash and allow the seed to fall into the trench. Direct contact with the soil is important.

I hope this has given you an interesting window into this busy but enjoyable time of year!

Upgrade Your Thanksgiving Feast!

Stock Up on Beef You Can Trust

Our Bulk Bundles are always a great deal, and there’s nothing like having months worth of beef in your freezer!

Check out this ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review from Sarah:

“I’ve been subscribing to their bundle for about 6 months and I am so happy that I did. The quality of the meat far surpasses grocery store meat in taste and appearance. If you do the math, it really is only a modest price increase and well worth it for what you get. Delivery and quality has always been consistent. I’m a happy customer!”

We would greatly appreciate it if you would be kind enough to leave us a review.  It helps first-time customers purchase with confidence.

Check out our Reviews Page!

Shipping Timeline and Store Hours

UPS Orders (all orders ship with insulation and dry ice):

UPS orders normally ship out on Mondays – Wednesdays.

We will try to ship your order on the next shipping day as soon as we have it assembled.

You should receive a text message and email with a tracking link when your order ships.

Farm Pickup (Always Free!): Please wait until you receive an email stating that your order is ready to be picked up (usually 1 business day from when you place your order). Farm pickup is done during store hours:

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday: 10am to 6pm
Saturday: 10am to 2pm
Closed Sunday and Wednesday

Tell a Friend!

It’s now easier than ever to Give $15 and Get $15 through our Referral Program. We don’t spend a lot of money of advertising, but rather we focus on producing products that people love and are willing to tell others about. So we depend on word of mouth to find new customers and ultimately to heal more land.

So in an effort to streamline this process we have made it easier to tell others (via email, Facebook, or Twitter) about Watson Farms. And it’s all automated on the backend, so you don’t have to rely on us to issue the store credits manually. Just head over to our Referrals Page and start sharing!

Start Sharing!

Thanks again for being partners in this endeavor of local, pasture-raised proteins that has truly transformed our farm.  We look forward to continuing this transition while serving you long into the future.

Sincerely,
The Watsons

Pasture Posts is written and/or edited by Matt Watson.