Management Intensive Grazing Books or Rotational Grazing
 

I'm looking for some new books to read about foraging and cattle production on rotational grazing. So far I have read Salad Bar Beef, Small-Scale Livestock Farming, and All Flesh is Grass. I don't really know where to head next, but I would love to take in as much information as I can. Here are some of the titles I was thinking about ... does anyone have any thoughts?

Grassfed to Finish by Allan Nation

Management Intensive Grazing by Jim Gerrish (maybe this one?)

Quality Pasture by Allan Nation

Grass-Fed Cattle by Julius Ruechel

Or any other books you have found interesting. I would appreciate any suggestions!

bump ... just wondering if anyone had any thoughts ...

Are you interested in the "How to" or in growing forages in pasture? For the latter consider The Pasture Book by W R Thompson. This is a 50+ years old book but little has changed if you want to grow forage in a sustainable manner.

Quality Pasture is an absolute "Must Read".
MIG by Jim Gerrish has some good info, but found it to be of less value than Quality Pasture.
The Frenchman Andre Voison(sp?)wrote some of the early works on the subject that are still quite valuable today.
A current publication produced by hands-on livestock and milk producers is titled GRAZE. Reach them at www.grazeonline.com Worth subscribing for the serious student of grass-based agriculture.
Good Luck.

Thanks for the replies guys! I would say that I'm looking for both a little how to and some pasture management stuff. I will have to check into that book Agmantoo ... I remember seeing it quoted in other books or articles I have read.

Up North, how does GRAZE compare to the Stockman Grass Farmer? I have had a couple samples of "Stockman", but I haven't heard much about GRAZE. Are they both along the same lines or is there something different? Also, thanks for the recommendation of "Quality Pasture". I'll have to check and see if I can find a copy!

We have one of Andre Voisin's books called Grass Productivity. It is quite good. I picked it up at a library book sale for $1.50 and has been worth every penny.

Quote from back cover:

"This is it. The real McCoy. The book that started the worldwide revolution in grassland management, thought and theory. An absolute 'must' read for any grassland farmer and rancher" -H. Alan Nation

Rachel

Read a really good article in "Hobby Farm"magazine this month on rotational grazing.
http://www.hobbyfarms.com/default.aspx

bqz ... I did read that article in Hobby Farm. It was a good article! Now, I'm looking for some more in depth stuff to go along with what I have already read and am beginning to experience.

The Biological Farmer by Gary Zimmer isn't a book on rotational grazing but does have very good info about soils, soil testing, etc. Taken from the back; "Biological farmers work with nature, feeding soil life, balancing soil minerals..." It is published by Acres USA, which has a free book catalog full of great reads.

Basically anything by Jim Gerrish, Joel Salatin and Alan Nation is good. May I also suggest a subscription to the Stockman Grass Farmer? A font of knowledge there.

Thanks for all of the input guys! I ordered a copy of "Quality Pasture" today, so hopefully I will be reading it soon. The bummer thing about these books is that they are rather expensive and you can't find them on my usual used book sites. I ordered this one because it looked pretty good, but I may have to inter-library loan some others. The only down side is that I like to highlight and re-read!

Also, I think I may have to bite the bullet and subscribe to a magazine or two ... and join the Practical Farmers of Iowa ... man this information gathering can be expensive, but helpful!

I would make the "Stockman Grass Farmer" one of those magazines. Well worth it.

ebook I have read "Quality Pasture" 4 times and each reading I discover something new of value. Worth twice the price.
StockmanGrassfarmer has more indepth, researched articles on feature farms, and a lot of info on meat processing and marketing of the animals produced.
GRAZE is more an examination of the nitty-gritty day to day details of low-input grass farming. Things like roundtable discussions on shade, water systems, etc. It is entirely written and produced by farmers who make their living producing farm products by grazing their livestock. Less polished, direct speaking salt 'O the Earth types who are constantly innovating and adapting to stay profitable. It is to their credit that they share their experience.
Both publications will connect you to Products and Services unique to profitable grass-based farming.

Allan Nation has a blog as well, FYI.

I have the book " Greener pastures on your side of the fence- better farming with Voisin management intensive grazing"- fourth edition- by Bill Murphy . The ISBN is 0961780738. A great book! He also applauds the stockman grass farmer and Allan Nation's work.
My animals and fields look great compared to my neighbors - plus I have to feed way less baled grass.

Good luck!

Susie

I read a number of the above authors mentioned, including Allen Nation, Joel Salatin, Greg Judy, etc. All of them mention at one time or another Dr. Jim Gerrish, with Allen Nation going as far as to call him the "Father of MIG". While his book "Management Intensive Grazing" is heavy on the academia, it is certainly a book worth getting, and guidelines worth following. They have worked for me for a number of years, going back to the bulletins he produced while working for the University of Missouri.

FYI. Jim Gerrish will be speaking at the small farm conference in colombia MO. Worth both time and money if you can get there. Check it out on the "Small Farm Today" website.

I just wanted to thank everyone for the help on picking out the book! I ended up getting Quality Pasture in the mail last week and have now made it through the first two chapters. If you are curious you can read my, "inexperienced grass-farmer" book review on my blog ... just click HERE. I will be updating it after I finish each chapter or two if you are interested in my thoughts on the book.

Again, thanks ... and I think I'll probably be getting some more of those books suggested and doing some periodical subscriptions!

Found The Pasture Book by W R Thompson on Amazon for $3.00 + $3.99 shipping. Awaiting delivery, thanks Agmantoo.

Ebook,

Based on the responses I agree with all the recommendations people have given. We're rebuilding a farm and have brought in all heritage breed livestock...cattle (belties), sheep (black headed dorpers), pigs (tamworths), chickens (buckeyes), turkeys (bourbon reds). Ducks and rabbits next year.

Anyway, I read (voraciously) everything mentioned and came to the realization (lol) that we couldn't do everything at once. A number of the guys mentioned run 10,000+ acres, have been in the business for a long time and have more resources than the average person.

My point is, don't overanalyze. Work with what you have (especially if you're dealing with "heritage breed" stock which have been around far longer than anyone mentioned and did just fine without us). Basically what it boils down to is the animal knows best. We're just tweaking with inputs.

Just my two cents. I'm in the same boat - want to have everything perfect. Only, despite volumes, don't know if I'll ever know how to do it...it'll always be gee...wonder how they would have done on this mix....

just incase anyone else is in an ARID climate, found this dated 1909:

Arid Agriculture: A Hand-Book for the Western Farmer and Stockman
- Burt C. Buffum, 1909

http://ia301534.us.archive.org/1/ite...00buffrich.pdf