Cell grazing made easy

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For several months now I have been cell grazing my cattle.  It's a system, invented (apparently) in New Zealand, of forcing stock to graze more effectively by confining them each day to an area determined by the amount of feed they can eat in that day.

This photo shows 50 cattle immersed in their new patch of pasture.  Immersed is the right description at present as the grass is about 4 feet high.  It's all very well to say it shouldn't be this long, but after the best year for (almost) forever, I simply can't keep up with the feed.

Allowing the pasture to go to seed the way it has this year diminishes the feed value, but will help thicken up the sward as the seeds fall to the ground - or go through the stomachs of the cattle - and back to the same place.  Also, they say that a plant's roots are usually as deep in the ground as the foliage is above it.  If that is the case, I've got roots going down further than they have been for quite some time.  They will help open up channels for improvements in soil biology and soil carbon sequestration.

My guru Joel Salatin says that cell grazing has helped him produce 400 cow days of grazing per acre per annum from his pastures - when the county average is around 80 cow days using set stocking.  Set stocking is the more traditional system of putting cattle into a larger paddock for a longer period.

Salatin (and other proponents) say that stock graze more efficiently and less selectively under cell grazing.  They also deposit manure more evenly across a paddock.  Pasture then gets complete rest until it is ready to graze again.

Temporary electric fencing is what makes it possible.  Most stock respect an electric fence - and my quiet, well mannered cattle respect a single wire electric fence.  So, with a perimeter hot wire in every paddock, its is just a matter of temporary fencing off the right sized area - and making sure they still have access to the water through.

Last week I made one of those small breakthroughs that make farming fun for me.  Along with my mate James the Trailer Doctor, I came up with a design for a brace for the star posts I use in my temporary electric fencing.  Although single wire electric fencing is light, end assemblies on temporary fences still work better with some form of support.

Here is what we came up with.  It is made out of left over bits of box section - 40 mm I think.  That lets me drive the star post in through the top.  The foot (cross piece of the T) has 4 spikes on the bottom of it that anchor it nicely.

If I want to change the direction of tension, I just lift up the brace and swing it around ... then tread it in facing the new way.

I got James to make 4.  As soon as I used it, I put in an order for more. 

I'm feeling particularly pleased because I think my old Dad, were he still around, would approve. 
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