The Grassroots of Grass Farming
The person who coined the phrase Management-intensive Grazing, Jim Gerrish, answers that question in the new book Management-intensive Grazing, The Grassroots of Grass Farming. Using vivid images and detailed explanations, Gerrish takes graziers step by step through the MiG system. He begins from the ground up with the soil, and advances through the management of pastures and animals.
From Gerrish's lively chapters you'll learn the following:
- How to manage the water cycle
- Making pasture fertility pay
- How to grow quality pasture
- Working with legumes
- The power of stock density
- How to match forage supply and animal demand
- Managing pastures and animals
- How to judge maximum intake of forage
- How to extend the grazing system
- How to stockpile forage for low cost wintering
- Pasture weaning for health and weight gain
- Dealing with pests and parasites
- Coping with and minimizing pasture bloat
- Planning and using permanent and perimeter fencing
- When and how to use portable fencing
- Water requirements for a MiG system
- Basic guidelines for designing a MiG system
- Using pasture records for information not just data
- And much more.
Written for those new to MiG grazing, Gerrish's insight and personal experience can help experienced graziers fine tune their grazing operations for added income.
Gerrish grew up on a grain and alfalfa hay farm in south-central Illinois. He caught grass fever in the mid 1970s and left the grain farming scene, never to return. He spent over 22 years conducting beef-forage systems research and outreach while on the faculty of the University of Missouri, and has over 20 years of commercial cattle and sheep production on his family farm in northern Missouri. He currently is an independent grazing lands consultant providing service to grass farmers and ranchers throughout the USA.