In this episode, Juan Whiting, President of the Hinterland Institute, shares how a group of veterans is pioneering a new model of regenerative land management — transforming 24 million acres of Department of Defense land into thriving, productive ecosystems.

The Hinterland team calls their participants “regenerates” — veterans who are finding purpose and healing through the work of restoring soil, raising livestock, and feeding communities. Juan explains how the program connects these regenerates with local producers, military base commanders, and conservation partners to regenerate land and livelihoods at the same time.

🔑 Key Points Covered:

A Mission of Restoration: How Hinterland Institute empowers veterans to transition from military life into regenerative agriculture and land stewardship.

Hands-On Training & Partnerships: A look inside the pilot program with the Naval Postgraduate School, featuring experts from Understanding Ag, Alejandro Carrillo, and Will Harris.

Transforming Military Lands: Examples from Camp San Luis Obispo and Fort Benning, where regenerative grazing replaced controlled burns and reduced erosion and flooding.

Collaboration with Local Ranchers: How Hinterland provides skilled labor to help ranchers implement holistic practices without competing with them.

Feeding Communities & Building Resilience: A vision for getting regenerative meat into schools, food pantries, and local communities — without relying on “big ag.”

🌱 Actionable Insights:

Leverage partnerships between producers, veterans, and institutions to expand regenerative impact.

View weeds as indicators, not enemies — a lesson mirrored in both land management and leadership.

Invest in people as much as land — training the next generation of graziers creates lasting resilience.

📌 For more insights, resources, and Jim Gerrish’s live and recorded schools, visit us at stockmangrassfarmer.digitalfor our latest specials and educational opportunities.

In this episode of The Stockman Grassfarmer Podcast, we feature Dan Glenn, author of “Lean on Nature for Long-Term Profits” from The Stockman Grassfarmer magazine. Dan, a cattle breeder and soil cowboy from southern Georgia, shares how graziers can align their operations with natural systems to build healthier soils, stronger herds, and more sustainable profits.

He reminds us that the so-called “weeds” in our pastures may actually be nature’s way of repairing and rebalancing the soil — and that our most profitable management decisions often start by paying attention to what nature is telling us.

Through years of hands-on experience at Deep Grass Graziers, Dan explains how matching cattle genetics, calving seasons, and grazing strategies to local forage cycles can reduce costs, minimize culling, and improve long-term resilience.

🔑 Key Points Covered:

Match Genetics to Your Environment: Select cattle that thrive naturally in your conditions rather than fighting to make them fit.

Sync Calving with Forage Peaks: Align calving schedules with your best forage to reduce feed costs and improve herd health.

Profit Through Stocking Rate: Balance your stocking levels to avoid costly substitute feeding and overgrazing.

Feed with Purpose: Use hay strategically — through bale grazing, hay bombing, or nutrient redistribution — to enhance soil fertility.

Rethink “Weeds”: Understand how diverse plant life contributes to long-term soil health and ecological balance.

🌱 Actionable Insights:

Evaluate your herd genetics for local adaptability and cull animals that require excessive management.

Adjust your calving season to align with natural forage peaks to lower winter feed costs.

Use targeted feeding methods to recycle nutrients and improve soil fertility.

Consider the message your weeds are sending — and manage for diversity rather than perfection.

Embrace a systems-thinking approach that balances profit with ecological health.

📌 For more insights and resources  visit us at stockmangrassfarmer.digital  for the latest specials, courses, and educational materials.

In this episode, Eric Czaja, active-duty Army officer and regenerative grazing advocate, shares his journey of bringing adaptive grazing practices onto Department of Defense lands. From a small homestead in North Carolina to research at the Naval Postgraduate School, Eric’s work has evolved into a groundbreaking effort to connect soil health with national security.

The discussion highlights how military bases—managing nearly 27 million acres of land—are beginning to use livestock for vegetation management, reducing fire risks, improving biodiversity, and lowering costs. Eric explains how initial skepticism gave way to visible ecological benefits, including increased wildlife, healthier pastures, and reduced reliance on burning or chemicals.

The episode also explores how veterans are finding new purpose in regenerative grazing through programs like Skillbridge and the first Department of Labor-approved grazing apprenticeship, opening pathways for service members to transition into land stewardship careers.

🔑 Key Points Covered:

Eric’s Path into Grazing: From reading Joel Salatin’s books to applying principles on his own land.

Linking Soil Health to National Security: How managed grazing can strengthen training grounds and reduce disruptions.

Camp San Luis Obispo Pilot Project: Adaptive multi-paddock grazing with local ranchers and its early successes.

Ecological Benefits: Increased wildlife, improved forage utilization, and cost savings from fewer controlled burns.

Veteran Opportunities: Skillbridge training, apprenticeships, and career transitions into regenerative ranching.

🌱 Actionable Insights:

Military lands represent a vast opportunity for regenerative practices that benefit ecosystems and operations alike.

Visible ecological improvements—like increased turkey populations—help win over skeptical stakeholders.

Managed grazing can save costs by reducing fire management needs and improving forage quality.

Transitioning service members can bring discipline and adaptability to regenerative agriculture careers.

Partnerships between military bases, ranchers, and educators create scalable models for change.

📌 For more insights and resources, be sure to visit us here for our latest specials and exclusive offers

 In this episode, grazing expert Jim Gerrish continues his in-the-field discussion with participants, highlighting how real-world decisions in grazing systems can make or break soil health, biodiversity, and long-term productivity.

The conversation emphasizes flexibility, observation, and using nature’s own signals—like leaf stages and plant recovery periods—to guide effective grazing.

Jim shares practical methods, challenges old conventions, and shows how listening to your pastures can reveal the most precise strategies for success.

🔑 Key Points Covered:

Fixed vs. Flexible Grazing Systems: Why moving beyond rigid schedules opens up better ecological outcomes.

Plant Recovery and Grazing Intensity: Understanding how plants bounce back and what that means for animal performance.

“Take Half, Leave Half” Principle: A timeless tool for balancing forage use with pasture regeneration.

Chaos Grazing & Biodiversity: How intentional disruption creates stronger ecosystems.

Practical Plant Indicators: Why counting leaves on grass tillers can transform grazing decisions.

🌱 Actionable Insights:

Adopt flexibility in grazing rotations to respond to pasture conditions.

Monitor plant recovery stages—especially leaf regrowth—to guide timing.

Use biodiversity as a management goal, not just a side effect.

Apply the “take half, leave half” principle as a simple, practical benchmark.

Trust both science and your own common sense in decision-making.

📌 For more insights and resources—including Jim Gerrish’s live and recorded schools—be sure to visit us here for our latest specials and exclusive offers

In this episode, Jim Gerrish takes participants into the pasture for a hands-on lesson in grassland management and ecosystem processes. Recorded as part of In the Field with Jim Gerrish, this session highlights how solar energy capture, grazing behavior, and paddock decisions directly influence productivity and land health.

With participants using their own square yard of pasture as a study plot, Jim guides them through practical exercises that reveal the hidden realities of grazing impact—from energy capture to soil health.

🔑 Key Points Covered:

Solar Energy Capture: Why most graziers overestimate their capture rate, and how to visually assess real performance.

Grazing Simulation: A hands-on exercise showing how “first bites” differ from second and third bites in terms of nutrition, recovery, and degradation.

Forage Availability vs. Quality: Why cool-season pastures rely more on abundance while warm-season pastures balance both factors.

Soil Temperature & Water Retention: How exposed soil disrupts biological processes and accelerates moisture loss.

Paddock Management: Adjusting stock density and allocation to respond to fertility differences and multi-species rotations.

🌱 Actionable Insights:

Train your eye to recognize when solar radiation is reaching the soil instead of being intercepted by plants.

Avoid allowing livestock to take a “third bite”—that energy belongs to the plant and the soil.

Adjust paddock size and stock density in response to on-the-ground conditions, rather than rigid plans.

Use flexible fencing strategies to improve adaptability in rotational grazing.

Remember: grazing responses are consistent across scales as long as livestock have access to water.

📌 For more insights and resources, visit us here for our latest specials and exclusive offers

👉 Tune in with your favorite podcast app to The Stockman Grassfarmer Podcast, where we bring you practical lessons from the pasture to help you grow better forage, healthier livestock, and a more resilient farm.

 In this episode of The Stockman Grassfarmer Podcast, we feature insights from Dr. Will Winter, retired veterinarian, holistic herd health consultant, and longtime advocate for sustainable livestock production. Mold and mycotoxins are silent threats that can damage both animal health and farm profitability. Dr. Winter outlines practical, proven strategies to protect livestock—and yourself—from the dangers of mold poisoning.

This episode explores tools that range from everyday solutions like apple cider vinegar and baking soda, to emergency treatments like activated charcoal. With over 40 years of experience, Dr. Winter emphasizes prevention, observation, and natural methods that support both the microbiome and overall herd health.

🔑 Key Points Covered:

Enzymes – How digestive enzymes can play a critical role in detoxification.

Apple Cider Vinegar – Why a daily dose offers long-term protection against mold exposure.

Detox Clays – Their role in binding toxins, supporting livestock health, and even removing heavy metals.

Humates – Supporting microbiome health and improving toxin elimination.

Activated Charcoal – The most powerful emergency treatment for suspected poisoning.

Baking Soda – Correcting pH and providing low-cost detox support.

Chlorophyll & Greens – Harnessing the natural detox power of plants like spirulina, chlorella, and seaweed.

Natural Extracts – Tea tree oil, garlic, grapefruit seed extract, and hydrogen peroxide as preventive and therapeutic tools.

🌱 Actionable Insights:

Keep detox clays available free-choice for livestock year-round—they’ll use them when needed.

Add apple cider vinegar or baking soda as daily preventive measures.

Use activated charcoal immediately in cases of suspected poisoning.

Consider humates, chlorophyll-rich supplements, and natural extracts to support overall resilience.

Prevention and observation remain your best defenses against mycotoxins.

📌 For more resources, visit us at stockmangrassfarmer.digital—including access to our monthly magazine, live events, and schools where you’ll find practical herd health solutions.

In this episode of The Stockman Grassfarmer Podcast, we explore the practice of silvopasture through the insights of Greg Brann, the author of this article from our monthly magazine. A seasoned grazier and consultant with the National Soil Health Division of NRCS, Greg shares how integrating trees, forage, and livestock creates a resilient, productive, and profitable system.

Silvopasture, often described as a holon or whole system, combines the benefits of pastures and woodlands. From increasing livestock performance to moderating soil temperatures and extending biological activity, Greg outlines practical steps for designing, planting, and maintaining silvopasture for long-term success.

🔑 Key Points Covered:

The Power of Shade: Studies show cattle with shade gain more weight daily, drink less water, and achieve higher calving percentages compared to those without shade.

Tree Selection & Establishment: Why smaller seedlings establish faster, and how to choose species like black walnut, honey locust, and chestnut for your goals.

Tree Protection & Management: The first five years are critical—tree guards, fencing, and pruning strategies make all the difference.

Silvopasture vs. Woodland Grazing: How thinning mediocre woods can create pasture without harming long-term tree health.

Forage Under Canopy: Grasses and legumes adapted to lower light conditions, and why light penetration is the key to forage productivity.

🌱 Actionable Insights:

Don’t overplant—seven well-placed trees per acre can be enough.

Protect trees aggressively during establishment; livestock will damage them otherwise.

Manage light: cool-season grasses need at least 50% light, warm-season 60–65%.

Choose adapted grasses and legumes like orchardgrass, crimson clover, or Eastern gamagrass for success under canopy.

Rotate livestock frequently to reduce compaction and maintain healthy systems.

In this episode of the Stockman Grassfarmer Podcast, we travel to Kauai, Hawaii, to meet Sharleen Andrade Balmores, a sixth-generation rancher carrying forward her family’s 138-year cattle ranching legacy.

Although she once imagined her brothers or cousins would take over, Sharleen found her true calling in ranching — building The Rancher’s Daughter’s Reserve, creating Minnie’s Mercantile, and running the island’s oldest USDA-inspected slaughterhouse.

Sharleen opens up about:

Why she chose to return to her roots and raise gourmet, grassfed beef in Hawaii

The unique challenges of ranching on Kauai, from high land values to invasive grasses

How rotational grazing and smart pasture management keep her herd thriving

The importance of learning from multigenerational ranchers and trusting your instincts

Why community support and giving back fuel her passion for the work

Her journey is a powerful reminder that ranching is about more than cattle — it’s about family, heritage, and feeding a community with integrity.

📍 Learn more about Sharleen:

Instagram: @RanchersDaughtersReserve 

Website: www.ranchers-daughterkauai.com 

👉 If you enjoyed this episode, share it with a fellow rancher or friend who believes in the future of grassfed beef.

In this episode of The Stockman Grassfarmer Podcast, Brandon Mitchell of Waynesboro, Tennessee, unpacks one of the most overlooked issues in pasture management: nutrient relocation. Unlike hay fields where nutrients are physically removed, pastures often face an internal imbalance—nutrients shift to the edges while the middle is left depleted.

Brandon explains how practices like set stocking (continuous grazing) cause cattle to graze the whole field but deposit most of their manure and urine near shade, water, or fencelines. The result? Strong growth around the edges and declining fertility in the center.

Through vivid examples and practical insights, Brandon introduces graziers to the “80/20 rule” of pasture fertility and shares strategies to rebalance nutrient distribution across the landscape.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

The Hidden Cost of Set Stocking – How nutrient relocation undermines pasture productivity.

The 80/20 Rule in Action – Why 80% of your field may be losing fertility while only 20% gains.

Smart Tools for Change – Using portable electric fencing, strategic hay and mineral placement, and even shade management to influence nutrient flow.

Practical Fixes – Why simple adjustments like bale placement or moving minerals can transform soil health.

Management Matters – How thoughtful decisions prevent compaction, runoff, and wasted fertility.

🌱 Actionable Strategies:

Use portable electric fencing to spread livestock impact and encourage more even nutrient return.

Rotate the location of hay, water, and mineral supplements to draw livestock into underutilized areas.

Consider silvopasture or portable shade to reduce nutrient concentration near barns.

Place hay on higher ground or nutrient-poor spots to recycle fertility where it’s needed most.

Adjust fertilizer or compost applications to match soil needs rather than treating the field uniformly.

Brandon’s clear message: nutrients don’t just disappear—they move. With intentional management, graziers can put them back where they belong, ensuring healthier soils, stronger pastures, and more sustainable farms.

In this episode of The Stockman Grass Farmer Podcast, longtime SGF contributor and Texas sheep rancher Sally Thomson takes us behind the scenes of life with one of ranching’s most indispensable partners—the Border Collie. From everyday gathers to competitive sheepdog trials, Sally shares 40 years of experience raising and training these extraordinary dogs alongside her husband, Chris, on their Central Texas ranch.

Listeners will hear vivid stories of instinct, intelligence, and sheer determination—from a dog named Amos who refused to leave stragglers behind, to the way a well-trained collie can replace two ranch hands and cut chore time in half. Sally explores not just the skills that make Border Collies unmatched in stock work, but also the deep working partnership and trust between dog and handler.

🔑 Key Points Covered:

The history and heritage of the Border Collie, from the hills of Scotland and England to ranches across America.

How instinct, “eye,” and natural herding ability set Border Collies apart from other working breeds.

Real-life ranch stories showing the breed’s intelligence, problem-solving, and sometimes stubborn streak.

The essential skills a Border Collie brings to sheep and cattle work: fetching, driving, sorting, and loading.

The balance of pressure and partnership when working with livestock—knowing when to hold back and when to grip.

Safety, teamwork, and mutual respect between handler and dog in challenging situations.

🌱 Actionable Insights for Stockmen:

A trained Border Collie can drastically reduce labor needs and improve handling efficiency.

Stock work is a partnership—both dog and handler must read the livestock and adapt together.

Instinct can be nurtured from puppyhood, but patience and years of training are key to producing a reliable working dog.

Respect the dog’s natural abilities while guiding them to work within your system and terrain.

📌 Resources & Links:
For more articles, insights, and training stories from Sally and other contributors, visit:
The Stockman Grass Farmer Podcast Archive

🎧 Tune In:
Listen now on your favorite podcast app and discover why a good Border Collie is worth their weight in gold—both in the field and in the heart of a rancher.