My neighbor & I have 30 acres of old pasture and 15 of it is weeds big time. We tried planting barley to compete with the weeds last year and it did not compete well, So, we are trying to develop a plan to get rid of the weeds and plant new pasture seed grasses. (Broamme, Timothy and Orchard Grass) We have been talking about even plowing up the good grass areas and replanting everything, but that seems to be an overkill and we might be better off just fertilizing and aerating and then over seeding. We are needing some guidance before we make more work for ourselves in our quest to have the best hay field in La Plata County Colorado, Any ideas for the high altitude short growing season we have would be appreciated,

Tim Erickson

Greg: I will have that revision on Small Scale Grain Raising finished by October. The publishers will probably wait until spring to come out with it, but I will try to speed them along. The revision is really pretty much wholesale rewriting, because much of it is out of date, some of it is beside the point, and some I have a different take on since 1977. Gene Logsdon

Gene, when will you be republishing your book on small grains?

I find a good deal that is of interest in your books. One comment you make is that you used to keep a riding horse or two, but that this was a mistake. You didn’t explain that any further in the two books I’ve read, so if you’ve expounded on the subject elsewhere, I’d appreciate you pointing me to the right book or article.

I might, however, be able to guess at least some of your reasons for giving up riding horses, for increasingly we find that they cannot be kept on the same feeds or pasture that you produce and use for your cattle and sheep. You say in ‘Contrary Farmer’ that you don’t know all the kinds of grasses in your pasture and perhaps don’t want to know. For my part, though, I have recently taught myself the grasses and a good deal else of which I had for a long time been ignorant, and found it not only fascinating but crucially important to my ability to keep horses well.

What I would really like, Mr. Logsdon, is to receive a mailing address where I might send you my latest opus, which like all my more recent books, is published by my own Institute on CD-Rom. If you’re not fond of reading on-screen, sections can be downloaded to print. The work is close to 1,000 pages long, and it is titled “Poison Plants in the Pasture: A Horse Owner’s Guide.” Necessarily I do some comparisons between the needs of cattle and horses. I also, as much as I am able, review why alfalfa and other legumes, especially red clover, are detrimental (can even be fatal) if fed to horses. Most of the length of the book is created by the fact that I include really big, really good, really diagnostic photographs of every plant reviewed — far better than any field guide in print, and I mean this includes grasses. Took almost all the photos myself, and had enormous enjoyment out of that.

You may not have much time, but if you’re amenable to receiving a copy, you might find it useful. If you read some of it and find that I am in need of correction or amendment, I’d appreciate the load of fertilizer. One thing I’ve learned in my time is that there is no person you should pay more attention to than a farmer or rancher with real long experience.

Sincerely,
Deb Bennett, Ph.D., Director
Equine Studies Institute
Livingston, California

Garden farms are under attack! Check out the CSPI news conference on Food Safety aired on C-Span on July 3rd. Such regulation will shut down all small producers. Its like NAIS for tomatoes.