Consulting and Land Assessments
We want to know what’s happening on your land! From our walk together in your pastures we can share what we see and then customize a program for your approval. Your goals, our methods and know-how can blend to set up a live, functioning eco-system, even in Texas’ weather extremes!
- Pasture Walks emphasizing dynamics of plant diversity, soil biology, insect and wildlife interactions.
- We do charge a small fee for this initial walk. Once you’re a client we try to come as often as once a year – sometimes more.
- Proposals of services for transitioning from chemical to natural, chemical-free pasture/prairie growing systems
- Examining microbes, soil, and insect dynamics for grass fed beef operations
- Soil tests using Albrecht base saturation information and in-house microbial quality evaluation
- We want to make sure our programs are meeting your goals, and a pasture walk is always a good way to catch up with what’s happening with you and the land.
Taking Notes
- What grasses are growing?
- Are they standing up with vigor? Or struggling?
- Are they natives?
- Are the plant slow successional or high successional?
- Legumes? Forbs?
- Lots of diversity or not?
- What weeds are growing and what do they tell us?
- Is there some glaring mineral/nutrient deficiency?
- Is heavy chemical use apparent?
- Are pastures a monoculture or multi-culture?
- Which cultural practices are evident?
- Is the mowing appropriate for the type of grass growing?
- Equipment used for what?
- Using rotational, mob or continuous grazing?
- Clean water?
- Shade for Texas heat?
- Irrigation?
- Brush control?
- What do the animals look like? (Skin health? Temperment? Odor? Herd health?)
- Manure color and consistency?
- How deep are the roots?
- Do they run vertically or horizontally?
- Are there feeder roots?
- Are mycorrhizae apparent?
- What color are the roots?
- Are the roots cycling nutrients?
- Is Calcium available?
- Is the land compacted? Crusted?
- How balanced are the minerals?
- Is wildlife visible? Birds, butterflies, bees, dung beetles, earth worm castings, droppings from all sorts of wildlife?
