the_gurgler, The approach most people take for livestock is shocking, I agree. However, I've talked to a rancher in Mason, a couple in Fredericksburg, and one north of Austin who have nearly eliminated their inputs. Here's how that went... These people are all doing it the same way following Allan Savory's approach. They stopped medicating their animals. They get no shots, dewormers, or hormones. The few animals that get sick get slaughtered rather than medicated. In addition their offspring are slaughtered. This soon results in a herd of healthy animals that really do not get diseases or parasites. When you stop medicating for worms, the population of dung beetles returns to the pastures. Ask any modern rancher when the last time he saw a dung beetle was and he'll have to think hard about it. For the old timers it was back when he was a child. For the new kids they think dung beetles are a mythical creature. Then these ranchers stopped buying seed and fertilizer. Every year the universities come out with the latest and greatest seed varieties to make up for the problems with last year's seed. Of course there is a new fertilizer regimen for the new seed. But once you stop using seed and fertilizer, the only plants left growing are the natives that were here for millenia before we arrived to correct the situation by plowing and growing corn. The native plants are also known as forage for the animals that lived here for millenia. In order to ensure those plants return every year, these ranchers create lots of small paddocks out of larger pastures. They will put about 300 cow-calf pairs onto a 50-acre site for 1-2 weeks depending on how fast the forage is growing. Then they move them to another 50-acre pasture. By the time 2 weeks is up, these pastures look like the surface of the moon, so the animals are lined up in pecking order to move into the next paddock. When you have 15 pastures like that, it takes 30 weeks for the animals to return. In 30 weeks you are likely to get some rain and the forage will be waist high or higher. Interestingly, these paddocks are completely free of dung when the livestock leave, because the dung beetles process it on the fly (so to speak). Twenty-four hours after the animals leave, the dung is all processed and buried in the soil as fertility for the next season's crop. The secondary benefit of dung beetles (which I believe is the primary benefit) is they dig thousands of tunnels in the soil that allow for the complete capture of any and every rain that hits the ground. There is no runoff or erosion on these ranches. These ranches no longer use herbicide because everything that grows is forage. There is no such thing as weeds to livestock. If you get some plants that cattle will not eat, chances are excellent that goats or sheep will eat it. These ranches no longer use insecticide because that would kill the dung beetles. Besides these new "organic" fields are filled with birds now who are going after the dung beetles and other insects. The third benefit of the dung beetles is that any parasites that were in the cattle dung are "processed" along with the dung by the beetles. Those parasites die before they can infect the livestock because the livestock will not be back to that same paddock for six months. Flies are among the parasites that no longer affect these animals. The only input left is minerals to replace the minerals taken out by the cattle. It turns out that the major mineral removed is calcium but the cattle like other minerals, too. In particular they happen to love the minerals in seaweed. So by providing seaweed and calcium supplements freely to the animals, they will spread them back around on the ground and the dung beetles move them down into the ground. When the dung beetles dig their holes that capture water, the water is ALL absorbed by the soil and eventually gets used either for the forage plants above or it seeps into the water table, streams, or aquifers. This replenishes the water supply rather than allowing it to run off and away. Dry creeks and streams refill and the riparian areas return to health bringing birds, fish, and aquatic plants. The U Bar ranch in New Mexico was so successful with their riparian areas that they now have most of the entire world's population of the endangered southwestern willow flycatchers - and those birds were never seen in that area before the cattle were brought in to "fix" the soil. By fencing the animals into smaller paddocks and teaching them to walk through an open gate, there is no need for cowboys hooting and hollering and riding around trying to find the strays. There just aren't any. The total investment for infrastructure is for fence wire. The total input for animal maintenance and health is seaweed and calcium. Except for the seaweed and calcium, these ranches are completely self sustained. So what are the results? At the end of 9 months, the calves weigh in around 675 to 700 pounds. That is normal in anyone's book for cattle growth. While other ranchers spend up to $400 per animal on variable costs (meds, seed, fertilizers, herbicide, insecticide, cowboys, special dietary supps and extra feed, and special equipment), these ranchers spend more like $35 per animal. The sales bring the same back to all the ranchers so the ones with the lowest cost make the most profit. Can they do this on a sustainable basis? The ranchers I talked to have been doing it for 20 years and they only get better at it. They have generally doubled the customary stocking rate that their neighbors are able to achieve. As far as I know no other agriculture system in history has approached this sort of sustainability. The keys are fencing them into small areas and rotating them when the next paddock is ready. This system mimics the natural migrational type of grazing that animals do in the wild. They do not move on until they are out of food or predators push them on. The leave behind a soil that is free of vegetation and ready for the next rain. They migrate from the south in the spring and from the north in the fall. This gives them two passes at their forage during the year. I realize there is a no cow movement going on but I think that would be a disaster. The Earth has relied on grazing and browsing animals since the dawn of time. We just bungled livestock management until Allan Savory put all the pieces back together. His methods are in use in every continent and seem to work everywhere. It if works in the high dry desert of New Mexico, it should work just about anywhere.

We moved here from the plains (Omaha - AKA "flyover country") 6 years ago. My finger and toe webs are now complete. I miss the rain in July and August, and September this year :( but I can't complain about the climate after experiencing "mid-continental" for 20 years. My only complaint is that tomatoes get ripe just before blight hits!

Sorry but it isn't just semantics and it is often very confusing to gardeners if the terms are used interchangeably. Many discussions here to support that claim of confusion. So the vital differences between hay and straw in the world of mulching, soil improvement, and composting need to be understood and the labels used correctly whenever possible to avoid contributing to that confusion. Straw is a waste/byproduct. It is the dry, hollow stemmed,residue of grain crops (wheat, oats, barley, etc.) that is mowed and baled after the grain is harvested and so contains only minimal seed. It does not regrow after mowing and has no forage value. It has a high insulating factor even when used in shallow layers, is very slow to decompose, and is moderately water repellent. It is an almost pure carbon and has little to no nitrogen content. Hay is not a byproduct. It is an almost pure green, high nitrogen/low carbon, flat stemmed, mowed and baled grass (rye, orchard, alfalfa, buffalo, etc.) that is grown expressly for animal forage. It always regrows after mowing and its seed content can be quite high depending on when in the life cycle it is mowed. It has little insulating value even when used in thick layers, decomposes rapidly, and can harm plants if in direct contact as it decomposes, and has little to no water repelling characteristics (it mats). While both may work, when used properly, to suppress weeds in the garden their moisture retention, decomposition, insulation from heat, and soil improvement characteristics are very different. Hope this clarifies for future readers. Dave

PineBaron I'm with your DW on white or really dark, but I've had the white (although not my first choice at the moment) and gonna go for the really dark. Glad to hear I have a buddy in the process :) Sounds like you have a similar color scheme and other ideas I'm going for. I don't know why it makes me feel good to know that I'm not out in lala land with my ideas. lol omg i just clicked on the link! are you kidding me. that is gorgeous property, view, home! Loveit! the interior, the kitchen is what i envision on a smaller scale. I even have several sizes of that long bar hardware pictured in your kitchen drawing. Love the stacked cabinets . May I ask how tall those cabinets are stacked? such a cool look. Just wondering if there is a rule for stacking sizes? I like it when the bottom one is still somewhat tall then the top more of a square. Not sure if I have the ceiling height, but looks like you will! Living room, bathroom love. wow thanks for sharing all the pics. i'm gonna go read the whole thread and I'll be following you! good luck your blessed to have all that, enjoy! thanks again for sharing :)