Nearly a week ago we hosted a pasture walk on our farm to share our grazing practices and how we raise our goats on pasture with fellow graziers and goat farmers. Thank you to River Country Graziers (including Kevin Mahalko for leading the discussion), Wisconsin Farmers Union and the Indianhead Sheep and Goat Breeders Association for coordinating the event. And, thank you to my State Senator Patty Schachtner and Representative Rob Stafsholt for attending as well.

As a grazier with four or so years of experience, I was able to share how we’ve gradually renovated our pastures, set up our fencing and water system, practice rotational grazing, and manage our goat herds in a pasture-based system.  I’ve always enjoyed attending pasture walks to see how other farmers are grazing and managing their livestock. It was humbling as a newer grazier to be at a point where I could start to share what we’re doing on our farm with others. Personally, I also appreciated the discussion and tips other graziers offered during the walk as well.  I was able to take a way a few ideas regarding some of my current “challenges” as it relates to conductivity, grounding and hotness of the electric fencing and rotation timing.

I’m looking forward to taking in a few other pasture walks this summer, including others that are local and of course, other small ruminant graziers.

Thank you to Danielle Endvick, communications director for Wisconsin Farmers Union, for taking and sharing the photos of our pasture walk.

For our area farm friends/colleagues: We will be hosting a twilight pasture walk, Tuesday, July 24 at 6:30 p.m. Come learn how we use rotational grazing practices with our meat goats. The pasture walk is jointly hosted with the River Country RC&D, St. Croix County Farmers Union / Wisconsin Farmers Union, and Indianhead Sheep and Goat Breeders Association.

Please RSVP to at wisconsinfarmersunion.com/events or to Mary C. Anderson at 715-579-2206.

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.