Is the Greg Judy approch possible for the small ranch?

[MacCC]

Hey all-

New guy here with a burning question that I have been thinking about for months now. I need your opinions!

After discovering Greg Judy early last year I have become obsessed with his way of managing cattle. I absolutely believe this is the way it SHOULD be done by everyone....but CAN it be done by everyone. I am not talking about the time and "energy" commitment so much as I am talking about the space requirements. Let me explain...please bare with me (also, I am no Judy expert so please correct me if I am wrong):

The biggest positive, in my opinion, of his herd is the fact that he does not need to worm or vaccinate. It is no secret that these two things are some of the biggest draws both on time and wallet when it comes to the modern day cattle industry. Multiple days a year working cattle just to keep animals healthy. Not to mention the negative effects on the soil life from worming, and the possible effects to the meat health and quality from vaccinations. As some of you know, Greg Judy's style has allowed him to not need these two crutches for his herd because of a few tactics :

First, his cattle never stay in one area long enough to be exposed to any real number of worms or parasites. They are moved twice a day to new paddocks that range anywhere from 10-30 acres. He has enough acres to just take the top third of the plant, then move them along. This allows the cattle to stay out of the "1-2 inch worm zone" that causes problems with overgrazing. And by the time he hits a paddock to graze the second time (months apart) the parasite cycle has been broken. Also because his paddocks can be miles apart, the fly problems are very low because by the time eggs are hatching in the pats, the herd is miles away. And, because of his amount of acres, he is able to graze over winter on stockpile or rolled out bale feedings. This continues to spread manure throughout large areas and stops the typical mudlot or sacrifice pasture problem that many smaller ranches suffer. This of course helps with worm load come spring.

Second, he aggressively culls. Any animal that does not perform, gets sick, needs these "crutches", etc. is gone. This allows for the herd to continually get stronger and be naturally immune to any worms/parasites.

Third, he uses multi species grazing, which of course will help break the parasite cycle naturally.

So my question is...can this be done on a small scale? Or even a micro scale? If one does not have the acres available to spread the herd out over miles, with months before re-grazing, will vaccinations be a must? If I have to sacrifice and confine a small area during the spring thaw to save the majority of my pastures, do I need to worm? If Dexter cattle are so expensive, and hard to come by in my area, does that mean I can not cull?

Advice, comments, or sarcastic remarks are greatly appreciated. You guys are the experts. I would love to have the Greg Judy setup, but 3 cows/5 acres is it.

[littlecowfl]

I don't know who Greg Judy is, but you can certainly divide a pasture into paddocks and rotate often enough to avoid overgrazing and parasite loads. This is not a new idea. See your local county agricultural extension agent. They can tell you how it works best for your area. Down here, we need a lot of land to do this because we don't have enough hard freezes to kill parasites often enough. Dragging pastures is also helpful to spread out the manure and break up the parasite cycle. We gather manure from the barn and working pens and compost it. We use fly parasites to manage pests. But your fly control is only as good as your neighbor's. If they don't compost or control their flies, you will still see lots of flies.

[cddexter]

And, of course, the fly parasites don't know you bought them, so they go where the food is. That means they also visit all the neighbors, too, at your expense. I used rotational grazing with about 60 head on 40 acres. I seldom had internal worm issues, and tended to eat those that were more susceptible, but I could afford to with the numbers I had. I did have troubles with tail flies, but a good fly spray fixed the problem.
There are some clues to good hormone balance which makes the animal healthier all round. You might try finding animals that meet this criteria. They will be the first to shed, and often have a 'greasy' topline (if grazing and you are standing in front, they look like someone spread a thin sheen of oil along the crest and top of the neck).
If you are in a hot area, it's always good to only graze the top of the grass, as this shades the roots and lets the plant recover faster. I fought with my hay guy for years: he wanted the maximum crop off a field so cut down to white. I wanted better grass and good recovery, and less first cut so there would be grass left to graze later. In the end, I bought my own mower and tedder, and he did the baling, complaining all the while the yield was too low. But I got great grazing in late summer so figured I was ahead.
You don't say where you are, nor what your water situation is, but with so few acres, had you thought about irrigation? A secondhand hand-move system would work for you. Usually aluminum so light, about 40' long, best if you have help moving them, as if they are not tight, they leak and you have to start all over again (voice of experience here, haha). Also, being small, you have the advantage of using electric fencing and moving it in small strips, so the cows get a fresh 5' row every day. They tend to stay on the fresh stuff, so move with the fence. If they don't, you could use a second electric fence behind them to control their staying in fresh areas.
Let us know how you get on. Cheers, Carol.

[MacCC]

Carol. Thank you for the information! I am located in Iowa so we do get some hot weather. One of our permanent pastures is 400x324 so I would have to back fence them. Which is not a problem. The grass will start to re grow before I get them off of the current strip. Still playing with paddock size. With so much rain I am
Giving them bigger areas so my pastures won’t be getting destroyed. I am hearing everything from 300 sq feet to 1300 sq feet an animal. I feel bad keeping them in such small areas though. The few times I have given them lots of space they run around bucking and chasing each other for awhile.