The Stockman Grassfarmer Podcast

By The Stockman Grassfarmer

Our mission is to help create a healthy planet and people through profitable grass-based livestock production.

Ready to take your regenerative ranching to new heights?

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The podcast currently has 115 episodes available.

Best of The Stockman Grassfarmer Podcast

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Number 1: Forage Chains Connect the Dots for Profit By Dan Glenn
In this episode of Regenerative Wisdom, we travel to Fitzgerald, Georgia, where cattle breeder and soil cowboy Dan Glenn shares how matching forage resources with the nutritional needs of cattle can create a more profitable and efficient grazing system. Dan explains why understanding your operation's forage resources throughout the year is essential for making decisions about when to calve, when to wean, and when to market cattle. Rather than forcing the cattle program to fit a calendar, he builds his grazing system around the forage resources his farm can produce. His experience with earlier weaning provides a practical example. By moving calves off their dams at seven to eight months and onto stockpiled summer annuals, Dan was able to improve calf performance, increase cow condition, delay hay feeding, and get winter annuals established on time. The result was a forage chain that kept cattle growing through periods that had previously been challenging. 🔑 Key Points Covered Why successful grazing operations should rely on the cow to harvest her own high-quality forage. How understanding yearly forage surpluses and deficits can guide profitable management decisions. Matching the calving season to the period of highest forage quality. Why Dan calves in February and March in South Georgia. The challenges of managing cattle alongside a row-crop operation during peanut harvest. Why Dan moved from late weaning to weaning calves at seven to eight months. Using stockpiled sorghum-Sudan, sunn hemp, cowpea, pearl millet, and crabgrass for post-weaning nutrition. How early weaning improved both calf performance and cow body condition. Using dry cows to take advantage of stockpiled Bermudagrass. Delaying hay feeding by making better use of stockpiled forage. Transitioning calves from summer annuals into winter annuals. The role of spring oats, hybrid turnip, cereal rye, spring pea, crimson clover, hairy vetch, ryegrass, oats, and triticale in Dan's forage chain. Matching cattle genetics to the challenging South Georgia climate. The advantages of heat-adapted composites such as Senepol × Angus and Beefmaster × Angus. How changing the calving season helped Dan reduce losses from black vulture predation. How earlier pregnancy checking and culling fit into the overall system. The economic value of adding an estimated 30–60 pounds of weaning weight through better forage utilization. Why every grazing operation needs to identify its own weak links and build a forage program around its unique resources. 🌱 The Forage Chain Dan's system demonstrates an important grazing principle: the goal isn't simply to grow more forage, but to connect the forage you grow with the nutritional needs of your livestock at the right time. On his South Georgia operation, winter annuals provide a major portion of the grazing program from January through May. As forage quality declines later in the year, Dan uses stockpiled summer annuals to keep calves gaining while allowing dry cows to utilize lower-quality stockpiled Bermudagrass. That timing allows the farm to make better use of its resources while reducing reliance on purchased feed and hay. 📈 Turning Forage Into Profit Dan estimates that using stockpiled summer annuals and transitioning calves sooner to winter annuals likely added 30–60 pounds of weaning weight. While producing stockpiled annuals comes with an expense, the additional forage keeps calves growing during one of the year's poorest grazing periods and fits with Dan's value-added grass-fed beef program. The larger lesson is that profitability comes from understanding where the weak links are in your forage chain and finding ways to keep both cows and calves grazing and growing. 👨‍🌾 About Dan Glenn Dan Glenn is a cattle breeder and soil cowboy from southern Georgia. He raises environmentally adapted cattle in a low-input system. Learn more about Dan and his farm at deepgrassgraziers.com. 🎧 Listen, Learn & Subscribe If you enjoyed this episode of Regenerative Wisdom, subscribe so you don't miss future conversations and timeless lessons from the farmers, ranchers, and grazing experts featured by Stockman Grass Farmer. 📌 For more insights and resources, be sure to check out our monthly magazine, books, live events, and online courses here: www.stockmangrassfarmer.com
August 26, 202610min
Number 2: The Custom Grazing Client's Point of View by Allan Nation
In this episode, Allan Nation breaks down custom grazing from the client’s perspective and explains why the future of profitable ranching may depend more on management and service than land ownership or cattle ownership. Drawing from decades of economic analysis and real-world ranch examples, Allan challenges many long-held assumptions in the cattle business. He explores why separating land and livestock into two distinct businesses can dramatically improve returns, why leasing often outperforms owning, and how graziers can position themselves as high-value service providers rather than commodity producers. The episode also dives deep into pricing cattle gain, building investor-ready operations, improving forage systems, and creating the kind of professionalism and trust that keeps custom grazing clients coming back year after year. 🔑 Key Points Covered: Why Service-Based Ranching Can Be More Profitable: Allan explains how selling grazing and management services can outperform traditional cattle ownership models and create higher ROI with lower capital risk. The Economics of Leasing vs. Owning Land: Learn why leased land often creates stronger financial flexibility, lower tax burdens, and better long-term returns than heavily financed deeded land. Value of Gain Pricing Explained: Allan breaks down how successful custom graziers price based on pounds of gain rather than cattle value alone, including performance bonuses tied to ADG and death loss. What Custom Grazing Clients Actually Want: From strong perimeter fencing and clean facilities to professional communication and regular weigh reports, Allan shares what builds long-term client confidence. Grass Finishing and Seasonal Gain Challenges: The episode explores seasonal forage quality, finishing targets, forage chains, and why certain annuals can dramatically improve summer and fall gains. Reducing Capital and Machinery Costs: Allan highlights why many of the most profitable operations focus on lowering hay dependence, reducing machinery investment, and improving stocking flexibility. How to Build an Investor-Ready Grazing Business: Learn how disciplined economics, clear contracts, and operational consistency can attract outside capital and create scalable opportunities. 🌱 Actionable Insights: Evaluate whether leasing land could improve your flexibility and return on investment compared to owning additional acreage. Build custom grazing agreements around value of gain, performance metrics, and transparent reporting systems. Focus on lowering machinery, hay, and labor costs rather than chasing maximum production numbers. Improve professionalism with better fencing, organized infrastructure, clean branding, and documented performance history. Develop forage chains and grazing systems that maintain strong gains throughout more of the year. 📌 Want more practical grazing and ranch profitability insights? Be sure to visit us here for our latest specials, courses, magazine subscriptions, and exclusive offers: The Stockman Grassfarmer 👉 Tune in with your favorite podcast app to The Stockman Grassfarmer Podcast and discover why understanding the client’s perspective may be one of the most profitable shifts a grazier can make.
May 20, 20261h 9min
Number 3: Mootopia: How Grazing Animals Heal Soil, Climate, and Human Health
In this episode, Ben Sargent and Mary Lin discuss their book Mootopia: How to Easily Fix Human Health and Heal the Planet, exploring the profound connections between grazing animals, ecosystem health, and human wellbeing. Their work examines how regenerative grazing restores soil fertility, supports microbiome diversity, and strengthens the natural feedback loops that sustain resilient landscapes. Drawing from their experience running a Colorado food co-op and extensive scientific research, Ben and Mary Lin highlight how grass-fed livestock influence everything from soil carbon and plant diversity to atmospheric biology and rainfall patterns. Their integrative approach challenges conventional thinking and offers a compelling case for restoring ecological balance through regenerative grazing systems. 🔑 Key Points Covered: The Microbiome Connection Between Animals, Land, and Humans: Diverse grassland ecosystems foster beneficial microbes that strengthen livestock, soil, and human health through interconnected biological relationships. How Grazing Animals Restore Soil and Ecosystem Function: Dense, moving herds contribute to fertility through the “chomp and stomp” effect—fertilizing soil, stimulating plant growth, and increasing biodiversity. The Role of Grazing in Climate and Water Cycles: Grasslands influence atmospheric processes through plant biology, soil microbes, and moisture cycling, helping restore rainfall patterns and ecosystem resilience. Why Diversity in Grazing Systems Matters: Integrating multiple species, including horses and cattle, strengthens soil fungal networks, enhances carbon storage, and accelerates regenerative outcomes. 🌱 Actionable Insights: Focus on building plant and microbial diversity in pastures to improve soil fertility and livestock health. Use adaptive grazing strategies that mimic natural herd movement to stimulate ecosystem recovery. Recognize livestock as essential partners in restoring ecological balance and long-term land productivity. 📌 For more insights and resources, be sure to visit us here for our latest specials and exclusive offers 👉 Tune in with your favorite podcast app to the Stockman Grassfarmer Podcast and discover how regenerative grazing can help rebuild healthy soil, strengthen livestock performance, and restore resilient ecosystems from the ground up.
February 18, 202651min
Number 4: The Basis of Sound Genetics with Dr. Allen Williams (remastered)Part 2 of 3
In this remastered episode, Dr. Allen Williams challenges conventional thinking around livestock genetics by making a bold case: true genetic performance begins in the soil. Rather than focusing solely on EPDs, DNA markers, or breed selection, this episode dives deep into how regenerative agriculture and soil biology drive epigenetics, animal health, and productivity. Dr. Williams explains how functioning ecosystems—built on living soil, active microbes, and adaptive grazing—unlock the genetic potential already present in livestock. This episode connects soil health, forage quality, and animal performance in a practical, systems-based framework that producers can apply immediately. 🔑 Key Points Covered: Why Genetics Start With Soil Healthy soil biology determines whether livestock genetics can fully express themselves, regardless of how “elite” the genetics appear on paper. The Four Ecosystem Processes Energy flow, water cycle, mineral cycle, and community dynamics—and how damage to these processes leads to broken genetics and poor performance. The Soil Food Web & Microbial Balance Why 90% of soil function is mediated by microbes, and how fungi-to-bacteria and predator-to-prey ratios influence epigenetics. Targets for Healthy Soil Biology Specific benchmarks for bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes, earthworms, and insects per acre—and what regenerative systems are achieving in real-world conditions. The Role of Mycorrhizal Fungi How glomalin improves aggregation, water infiltration, nutrient uptake, and carbon storage—while supporting stronger plant and animal performance. Shared Microbiomes Across Soil, Plants, and Livestock In healthy ecosystems, the microbiome beneath the soil mirrors the microbiome in animals and people above it. Hidden Costs of Chemical Interventions How dewormers and other inputs harm beneficial organisms like dung beetles and earthworms, weakening ecosystem function and long-term resilience. Indicator Species That Signal Soil Health Earthworms, dung beetles, insects, arthropods, and spider webs as visible signs of balanced predator–prey relationships. BRIX Levels & Livestock Performance Why higher BRIX equals greater nutrient density—and how every 1% increase above 3% can boost average daily gain by 0.1 lb. 🌱 Actionable Insights: Focus on rebuilding soil biology before investing heavily in genetics. Measure and improve fungi-to-bacteria and predator-to-prey ratios in your soil. Reduce reliance on chemical dewormers to protect beneficial insects and soil life. Use BRIX readings to evaluate forage quality and animal performance potential. Apply adaptive grazing to increase microbial diversity and nutrient cycling—without changing plant species. 📌 Important Note: This episode is the first module of the full course Grassroots of Grazing, available on DVD and streaming in our store. 👉 Be sure to check the show notes for a special sampler price if you’d like to go deeper. 👉 Tune in with your favorite podcast app to the Stockman Grassfarmer Podcast and continue building resilient soil, healthier livestock, and more profitable grazing systems—straight from the pasture. 🌾
February 04, 202632min
Number 5: Solar Grazing & Agrovoltaics: Growing Power While Growing Food
In this episode, Rebekah Pierce, author of Agri-Energy: Growing Power, Growing Food, joins Carolyn Nation to share her hands-on experience with agrovoltaics—the practice of grazing livestock under solar panels. Rebekah currently manages seven solar grazing sites across four counties in upstate New York, transforming underutilized land into productive agricultural systems while providing vegetation management for solar companies. The conversation explores how solar grazing works in practice, how farmers can find and secure contracts, and why sheep have become the go-to species for these systems. Rebekah also addresses common concerns around farmland loss, food safety, and soil health, offering a grounded, farmer-first perspective on integrating renewable energy with agriculture. 🔑 Key Points Covered: Getting Started with Solar Grazing Rebekah explains how she landed her first solar grazing contract in 2022 and how farmer-to-farmer connections opened the door to rapid growth. Finding Opportunities in the Solar Industry Solar grazing requires “detective work”—from tracking construction projects and attending town board meetings to navigating the divide between solar builders and maintenance companies. Land Use, Soil Health, and Public Concerns Many solar sites are built on non-prime or previously degraded land. Through managed rotational grazing, these areas can improve significantly while remaining in agriculture for 20–40 years. Livestock Compatibility with Solar Sites Sheep are the most practical option today, but Rebekah discusses emerging possibilities for cattle, poultry, and other livestock as panel designs evolve. Farming Under the Panels Beyond grazing, farmers are growing vegetables, hay, sweet corn, tomatoes, peppers, and even cranberries under and around solar arrays as equipment and layouts adapt. Economics Without Subsidies Payments for vegetation management come directly from solar companies, providing steady income that has been transformative for Rebekah’s first-generation farm. Safety, Food Quality, and Environmental Reality Rebekah addresses concerns about contamination, panel materials, and food safety, pointing to research showing no issues with meat from solar-grazed sites. 🌱 Actionable Insights: Start tracking local solar projects by attending town meetings and monitoring planning notices. Build relationships with solar developers, operations companies, and cooperatives like United Agrovoltaics. Consider sheep as a low-barrier entry point for solar grazing systems. Use intensive rotational grazing to improve soil health while meeting vegetation management requirements. Stay persistent—solar grazing contracts often require repeated follow-ups and long timelines. 📌 Resources & Links: Agri-Energy: Growing Power, Growing Food by Rebekah Pierce United Agrovoltaics Cooperative 👉 Subscribe to the Stockman Grassfarmer Podcast for more real-world conversations on regenerative agriculture, innovative land use, and building resilient farm businesses.
January 28, 202622min