IT'S ALL ABOUT THE HERD Back when we moved here, and started grazing our small herd over the surrounding area, our farm was, well, not a farm at all yet — it was nothing but a sea of thorny brush, completely unfenced, and lacking any infrastructure except the cabin... we live in. As there was so much work to do on the farm to get it off the ground, taking the herd on grazing walks felt like nothing but a chore keeping us from more pressing work. Now, years later, I realize how misguided that view was. The herd is the foundation of the traditional farm. Not the farmhouse, not all the other infrastructure, not even the land itself — the herd. Provided you have enough free pasture nearby, you can build a huge herd while owning little land (pretty much what we're doing here), but what use are thousands of hectares of pasture without a herd? The herd feeds both you and your other animals, it gives fertility to your fields, gardens, and orchards with its manure, and it makes you money as well — it is the bedrock upon which the whole system is built. "But what's the big deal? Isn't herding just standing around livestock as they graze?" Think again. Put a herd in the care of an inexperienced or lazy herder for a few days. Then, take note of the amount of milk you're getting from it. Next, put the herd in the hands of a skilled, hard-working herder and watch what happens to the milk output in just a few days — the difference will be enormous. Naturally, all the other, less immediately visible, aspects of a herd's performance will be equally dramatically affected by the better management. The females will exhibit higher fertility rates; their young will be born strong and healthy, and have high survival rates; they'll grow fast, reaching slaughter weights quickly, and mature and produce their own offspring sooner, accelerating the growth of the herd; and when an epidemic strikes, the weak herd managed by the bad shepherd will end up decimated, while the good shepherd's strong, healthy herd will suffer minimal losses. A good herder can grow his herd at an exponential rate. A bad one will struggle to keep his from shrinking. Therefore, never regret the time you spend grazing your herd. Just like a great physique is built one workout at a time, a great herd is built by consistent and diligent herding, twice a day, every day, rain or shine. Each grazing walk compounds, and delivers a greater return the longer you do it, and the more your herd grows. And now, back to building the dream — one grazing walk at a time. :)show more

King of the Marsh

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