Grass and forage fed from birth to harvest we strive to produce an exceptional lean and flavor full meat with carcass dressed weight well in excess of 60 percent of live weight. These are thrifty, medium-sized animals that more than earn their way in any beef herd, producing a premium product with less input. Rotational grazing, over seeding and planting annual forages help reduce our expenses.

Our crossbred cows are a moderate frame size for feed efficiency. Droughts, hay shortage, high feed costs require that our cows excel in feed efficiency and raise a calf with less input. We do not raise our replacement heifers but buy cows that have calved and must either be pregnant or have calves by their sides. This gives us instant data on her ability to raise a calf and reduces problems associated with first calf heifers. We know by the time she weans her calf if she will stay on our farm another season.

We cross the cows on a purebred Angus bull. The Angus breed has become synonymous with quality in the 21st century, offering a host of well-rounded genetic advantages, including improved calving ease, growth, unsurpassed carcass quality, ample milk, fertility and good temperament. These valuable traits, backed by the most extensive and reliable beef cattle database in the world, have yielded bottom-line benefits for Angus and Angus crossbred cattle.

Mixed-species grazing has several advantages. Cattle prefer grass over other types of plants, and are less selective when grazing than sheep or goats. Sheep and goats, on the other hand, are much more likely to eat weeds. Sheep prefer forbs (broad-leaved plants) to grass, and goats have a preference for browsing on brush and shrubs, and then broad-leaved weeds. Therefore, grazing cattle, sheep, and goats together on a diverse pasture should result in all types of plants being eaten, thus controlling weeds and brush, while yielding more pounds of gain per acre compared to single-species grazing.

The addition of goats to cattle pastures has been shown to benefit the cattle by reducing browse plants and broad-leaved weeds. This permits more grass growth. Goats will control blackberry brambles, multiflora rose, honeysuckle, and many other troublesome plants. It is thought that you can add one goat per cow to a pasture without any reduction in cattle performance, and with time the weedy species will be controlled so that total carrying capacity is improved. This is a cheap way of renovating pastures, and you can sell the extra goats and kids for a profit, as well. The same principle holds for sheep. Although they are less likely to clean up woody plants, sheep are quite effective at controlling other weeds, with proper stocking pressure.

Multi-species grazing may also benefit pastures that are less diverse, by encouraging more even grazing. Cattle will tend to graze taller grasses that sheep may reject. It has been shown that sheep graze near cattle manure deposits, which cattle avoid; this too results in more even use of the pasture. Carrying capacity and pasture productivity are improved, and animal gains are also increased. Diversification of species results in diversification of income sources. Also, some researchers have found that adding cattle to a sheep flock may help reduce predation losses, after a period of bonding.

Another way that multi-species grazing can improve pasture and animal production is through the consumption of poisonous plants by a species that is not harmed by the toxins. For example, leafy spurge and larkspur—serious problems in the western states—are harmful to cattle, but not to sheep. Therefore, using sheep to eliminate those plants will result in more useable and safe pasture for cattle. Conversely, some plants are problematic for sheep, but easily tolerated by cattle.

~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~

Parasites are a major concern with sheep and goats, under any system. Worm eggs are deposited on the pasture in the manure; the eggs hatch and larvae are consumed by grazing animals. If left untreated, concentrations of parasites will increase with time as this cycle is repeated. Higher concentrations of animals on a pasture may tend to magnify the infestation. Parasites are species-specific; that is, cattle parasites affect cattle, and not sheep, while sheep parasites affect sheep but not cattle. The cattle act as "vacuum cleaners", ingesting the sheep worm larvae, and preventing them from affecting the sheep. This is most helpful when sheep and cattle follow each other in a grazing system. However, goats and sheep do share parasites, and therefore grazing them together does not improve parasite control.

Because parasite eggs are deposited in the manure, and larvae only travel a short distance up grass blades, animals grazing taller forages (well above ground level) will not consume worm eggs or larvae. Therefore, goats that are given ample browse will be much less likely to become infested with parasites. If goats are forced to graze at ground level, however, the goats may acquire a serious parasite load.

Add a few goats to your cattle herd. It will help reduce weeds and increase your bottom line.