e101. Five Things Learned from 100 Episodes

Welcome to Grazing Grass episode 101. You're listening to the Grazing Grass podcast. Sharing tips and journeys of grass based livestock production utilizing regenerative practices. We hope you gained something from it. Every Wednesday we have an episode with a guest, and then Friday we have a variety of episodes. I'm your host, Cal Hardage

I'd love for you to give me some feedback and let me know how it lands. So today, we're talking about 5 things I've learned from 100 episodes of the Grazing Grass podcast. And let's jump into it. The first thing are our journeys. Each one is unique, yet they all are the same. I know that sounds crazy in the end, but we all go through the same steps as we gain knowledge. However, that journey is unique to you, and what you're going through. You know what I found?

There's a few ways we end up here. We may be a first generation farmer coming to the farm and we're learning how to do this. We may be a farmer that's been doing this for a long time and we're starting to realize maybe our paradigm needs to shift just a little bit. Or maybe you're coming back to the farm and you're coming back with some new ideas, but why did you chase those new ideas? Why'd you get into them? There's a few reasons for it.

One that's been echoed on numerous episodes is health concerns. You had a health scare or something along that line caused you to evaluate what you're putting into your body. And in that journey, you discover regenerative ag and managing animals that way. Usually through a grass fed beef or grass finished beef pathway, but there's some others through health concerns that lead you into this.

Another way, which I think is probably the three is a lesser one, is just to leave the land in a better place. You're looking at the practices you're doing and you're noticing that My land's not improving and you start down that rabbit hole. Why is it not getting better? Why is it going the wrong way? Because, as Alejandro likes to say, you're either getting better or you're getting worse. Which is it? And thirdly, you're trying to make more money, be more profitable.

And that's really the path I came to regenerative practices through. Not necessarily about increasing my income, but lowering those costs associated with production. A lot of times when we look at regenerative practices and what we're doing, it's a lower cost model than a lot of the conventional models. So I came to it with the mind that I champion the low cost production. and that means on the back end I make more profit when I sell my animals.

Even if I'm choosing an animal that may not be, bring the highest price at the sale barn. So those are the three ways I've seen. If you have another way, and there's going to be more I'm sure, feel free to leave a comment in our Facebook group about it. And then once, once we've came to this or we've been made aware of regenerative ag and Some of the practices and how do we learn about it? The big ones, I like to say the big three, you've got books, podcasts, and YouTubes.

Those are all individual activities and they allow you to learn at your speed, your pace, wherever you are. And a little caveat there, books are not quite that easy, but they are. In addition to those, you have conferences and schools. And those are three more good ways, but let's focus on those first three ways books, podcasts, and YouTube. I love YouTube. I love podcasts. Obviously, I wouldn't be doing a podcast if I didn't love it, but podcasts and YouTube are passive activities.

I can be doing something else as I listen to a podcast. I can be working on the farm, driving down the road, Or for YouTube, I can have it as my main focus, or I can be doing something on my laptop as I'm kinda watching YouTube, which that one drives my wife crazy. Are you watching this or not? I am, but it doesn't require my full attention. So both of those are passive activities, and that doesn't mean we still can't get a lot out of them.

It does mean they're passive and we can do them as we're doing other things. So my time available to absorb information through a podcast or through YouTube is greatly increased. I can do it as a passive activity, and that's really where podcasts shine because you can be out in the pasture listening to a podcast as you work on the farm. YouTube's a little bit tougher, especially if the app wants to keep the screen on, doesn't work so good in your pocket.

Now, the great thing that's a halfway median between podcasts and books are audio books, and for me in my journey, I'm just now getting into audio books, but audio books give you some of those benefits. Some of them gives most of the benefits that podcast gives. Now books on the other hand are not a passive activity. They require active learning, active reading, active activities. You're not going to be able to do another activity while you're reading a book.

Reading books is my favorite way, however, my time that I can dedicate solely to that is limited versus what I can do with watching YouTube or listening to podcasts. So most people get started in one of those places before they start discovering some conferences and schools. And one thing I didn't say was websites out there with a lot of information. And that kind of falls into those online resources. The second thing I've learned from doing 100 episodes, find a community.

One of the big reasons I started the podcast was because I was not finding community. As I looked around at the farms near me, I was not seeing people doing what I was doing, and that I felt like limited my opportunities for improvement because I needed those opportunities to talk to others. So I started a podcast as a way to communicate or talk to these individuals doing more of what I wanted to do more of. And then I just happened to share the episodes with everyone else.

I think those interviews are wonderful. Not because I did them. I just think the general concept of it, sharing about someone's journey. and what they're doing. Our goal with the podcast is that you take that next step and whatever that next step may be. And when we share these journeys, you may have identified with one journey more than another journey. And when we hear something, we have to hear it multiple times before we really get started with that.

I find, I think if you read They say seven times you need to hear something before it really clicks with you. I think in my particular case, it's more like a hundred times. But, at some point, it clicks and you're like, Oh, why didn't I think of that before? And then when you stop and reflect, you're like, Oh, I have, I just didn't. It's not what spoke to me.

That's one reason I'm a supporter of re reading books, because I feel like each time you read a book, you pull something different out of it, especially those dense books. The opportunity to go back through it, you'll find something new. Community is very important, so I suggest find a local grazing group. Find a pastor walk, a conference, a school to go to.

Now If you're already at this point, you probably have started looking at those, but those provide great opportunities for networking and finding people in your area. I attended a deal with Alejandro Carrillo yesterday in Vinita, and I met someone that lives four miles from me. And another gentleman about six miles. I knew his place was there, I just hadn't got a chance to meet him. But, regentive farmers are out there. Sometimes they're not on the roads we travel so we don't see them.

So those schools, conferences, give you a option. a great opportunity to network and find those individuals that are close to you. The other thing is, you don't necessarily have to go somewhere. There is a great online community, and one thing I've found about the Regenerative Ag niche is the wonderful community that goes with it. And there's quite a few Facebook groups that you can join. We started a group called the grazing grass community. I encourage you to join in.

The goal is it's a safe place for all learners and we can have civil conversations, debates, and about different items. Share what you're doing. It's really important to me that we have a safe place for beginners as well as advanced learners. Advanced learners and any stage in between there. And that's my goal with the grazing grass community. And also as we communicate and form those bonds, it may work out.

There may be other benefits, but I really think that online community is so very important. And I think when I started this podcast, that was one of my goals was to build that community. But in that process, I found other communities out there. So I encourage you to find some. Maybe in a future episode I'll talk about the Facebook groups that I'm part of that you may be interested in. The third thing I've learned is the value of mentorship.

So 100 episodes, so many people mentioned, find a mentor. I mentioned numerous times on this podcast, I'm a listener of the BiggerPockets podcast, and they're big on find a mentor also for real estate purposes. Finding a mentor is a little bit more difficult than just saying, oh, I found a mentor. You've got to find someone in your area, or at least someone that has the time that you can contact it, maybe further away, doing what you want to do.

But we have to remember being a mentor takes time, so we have to be respectful of that person's time. So if you can provide value, and that's one thing BiggerPockets talk about. If you're wanting someone to help mentor you, first provide value to that person. And then develop the mentorship. And I think that's a really good way to get started with that. So by providing value, you can build up on that relationship.

At some point I've thrown out the idea or the thought that we ought to have a list of some regenerative farmers that might be interested in helping one another.

But jump on that grazing grass community and ask questions get out there and discuss it the fourth thing I've learned from a hundred episodes of the grazing grass podcast is to get started and that means take that next step close the gates Increase your paddocks move your animals more often if you're not moving them just moving them once this week Once in a couple weeks is a step And most of the time we just need to take that first step.

Because it's so easy as we're learning, as we're looking at others and what they're doing, we have to remember where we are in our journey versus where they are in their journey. Don't compare your day old journey or month long journey or six month old journey to someone who's been doing this for decades or even five years. They're in a different spot in their journey than you. But take that next step, whatever that next step is.

And as we've learned, we've gained that knowledge, a lot of times we get analysis paralysis. How big do we make the paddock? How far do we set the tread in post? What equipment do we need? Those questions are important to get answers for to help you get started, but at the same time, you don't have to have those answers to get started. Granted, some of those answers really are beneficial to get started. If you get the right equipment in place, it really helps you.

But how far you put the posts apart, go out and try it. Did it work? Great. If it didn't, modify it and do it a different way the next time. And one of those big questions we get asked a lot is how big an area do we graze for one day or for a week or for three days. It's hard to say because context is so much. What's the quality of your pasture? What plants are in the pasture? What livestock are you grazing with it? Where are you located? So many things there.

My suggestion, you make a paddock and you go back the next day and see. And one great thing before you move animals in there, What's the average heighth of your forage? What's your average density or cover? And you can figure that out with a grazing stick or a yardstick. And figure that out and estimate how much dry matter you have there for your animals, and what do they need, and try it. Now, I'm just saying, get started, and now I'm giving you more information.

If you're ready to get started and you're like, oh wait, Cal just said this, don't worry about it, just get started. That's more important, you can figure out the answers for this later. And that leads us to our fifth thing I've learned from 100 episodes of the Grazing Grass Podcast, and that's make time for reflection. So let's say you measured, you decided I'm gonna move these, livestock into this paddock and I'm going to leave them however long you decided was there.

Did they graze as much as you thought they would? In fact, when you look at what percentage of plants were taken or what percentage of plants have a bite taken from them what's the average height now? And then if you took that time to figure it out ahead of time, what, how much dry matter is there and how much you thought they would consume, how was your figures? Were they close? Were they not? Did what you do work? You don't have to do all that math to say, yes, this worked.

Or to say, no, it didn't. But what do I need to do today? And that's a great thing. You put your livestock in too small an area and you come back and they've grazed it to the ground. You know when you get out there, those animals are going to be greeting you. They're going to be bawling at you as soon as they see you. And you'll know right then maybe I should have done something different. So that was 24 hours. Increase their paddock for the next day.

That's a great thing if you're doing daily moves. Now if you're doing a little bit longer grazing times, you've got to be a little bit more proactive and make sure you're out there checking them. But reflect upon what you're doing, and Make adjustments and move forward. So those are five things I've learned from a hundred episodes of the podcast. I could have actually made that into a hundred things I've learned, but but the episode would have been way too long.

So I tried to pick out five important things. Our journeys are unique, but they're the same. Community is so very valuable. Finding a mentor can really help you out. And by all means, get started wherever you are, get started. And then once you're started, reflect upon what you're doing. I think those five important takeaways are really beneficial. And like I said at the beginning, this is a little bit new format we're trying. Let me know what you think about it.

And then if you'd have a question for me, or a topic you'd like to cover, shoot me an email, and we'll see what we can do about it. Anyway, I appreciate you listening, and as always, share our content. If you haven't left a review, leave us a review. That really helps us. Let me clarify, it helps if it's like a 5 star review. If you are thinking you should leave a 1 star review, I'd rather you email me, and don't worry about the review. Until next time, keep on grazing grass.