Autumn
The weather has changed dramatically this week! It’s raining! And for farmers and those depending on moisture to grow forage crops, this is GOOD NEWS. By the middle of August, our fields are dry and yellow and the sheep are foraging deeper into the forest to snack on blackberry tips and salal. If we had to purchase feed year round, our operations would be financially unsustainable, so when the rains come before temperatures drop, we benefit from a second flush of grass and other forage crop growth. The price of hay has increased 30%, from $15 per bale to $20 per bale in the last 12 months. When you’re feeding a bale a day, it gets expensive fast!
We manage our pastures through a loose rotational grazing system. At our Thetis Island farm, we have five large fenced pastures over about 10 acres that can be divided into smaller sections if needed. We use these pastures in a series of different ways. We may want to divide the flock into breeding groups or separate the lambs from the ewes for weaning. We keep our ram and companion wether in their own area for most of the year. And some pastures are better than others for different times of year (because of being wetter or drier). But primarily, we use this system to allow vegetation to regrow without the pressure of grazing. It’s remarkable how quickly a pasture greens up once the animals are removed. And since we have a mix of cleared pastures and semi-forested areas, we make use of places that get more sun (which dries the ground and encourages plant growth) and those that get shade (which stay cool and green into the hot months).
This year, we increased our pasture area by about 60 percent by enclosing new areas and clearing zones that had become clogged with blackberry and thistle. That’s the thing about this land; it is healing from the impacts of colonization; management practices that were primarily subduing and extractive in nature. So now we are in the process of mitigating the harms done during that period and the subsequent period of neglect and abandonment. For me, that means being sensitive to the natural zones within our land and giving them what I think they may need and then watching the results and responding. Sheep have a soothing effect on land. They smooth it out and green it up but they need our help to do it.
Stay tuned for details of a project which we hope will rejuvenate one particular area by holding moisture in the land, producing more green leafy growth for a longer period and also providing forage for our sheep in the driest months of the year.