I was honored to be asked to be a tour site for the Farm Bureau District 9 Women’s Summit this summer.  It was a great opportunity to share with fellow Farm Bureau members about raising meat goats, rotational grazing practices and pasture-raised turkeys.

It was also the first time I hosted a farm tour. Here’s what I learned in the process:

1. It takes more time than anticipated to get the farm ready for visitors. If the visitors farm are involved in agriculture, they also understand what an undertaking it can be and are ok if a few things are out of place.
2. Think through what information you want to your visitors to take away from the tour. Don't forget about industry resources. I was able to use grazing and grass-fed meat fact sheets from GrassWorks, a grazing organization I'm a member.
   
3. Do a walk through of the tour before visitors come. It helped me think through how I would share information and also draw attention to any hazards that others might not initially recognize. For example, we use electric fence and some of our pasture still has brushy stubble.
   
4. Plan for parking. Simple as that.
5. Have refreshments. Since we did quite a bit of walking and August can be hot, so I made sure we had water and a few snacks.
   
6. It’s ok to enlist in help. My husband, parents and in-laws were a great help getting things together and assisting during the actual tour.
7. Don't forget to ask visitors if they are familiar or have experience related to your type of farm. I discovered one attendee who also raised Boer-Kiko goats and other who had an interest in starting a herd. I wouldn't have know that if I didn't ask.

The goats moved into a new paddock earlier last weekend since they ate through the grass and brush a little faster than usual. Once we had the new paddock fence up, the gate was opened and the goats move right into the new area.  A common thought is that it can be challenging to move animals to new paddocks. It’s actually quite easy, especially once they’re used to the process.  The goats know they’re getting fresh food and that’s the biggest motivator. If there are any animals that decide to stay back, it doesn’t take long for them to catch up to the rest of group. Since they’re herd animals, they like to keep company. Watching the video, you’ll see this in action.

After the animals are moved, then we’ll move the portable shelters (general shelter and the other is for the dog food) and the water tank. The water is hooked back up to the seasonal water line and the animals are set for another 5-7 days on their new paddock.

That night Scott and I re-watched the video a few times, it was amazing the other activity that was going on – detail that we didn’t notice right away. If you watch the video again, you just might make these observations as well: our resident pasture fawns running around in the background, Ruby’s natural ability to watch over her goats and the birds chirping, along with the other sounds of nature. It’s crazy to think that it’s so easy to miss the details of what’s around us day-to-day, or even moment-to-moment.