25 Increasing Grass Production Despite Drought

Bart Carmichael and his wife Shannon run a seed stock operation with their family in Northwest SD, just north of Faith SD. In this interview we kick off with drought – in a 12” rainfall area, Bart says they’re either preparing for a drought or in a drought. In the last 28 years, the Carmichaels have trebled their grass production in this cold, dry climate, so it’s worth listening to just how Bart has made this journey! We discuss management a lot, Bart typically moves animals every day and has a wonderful story about how a mentee of this timed him moving the fence and setting up a new fence – the short amount of time taken to do this will shock you. While Bart’s labor is down, he spends a lot of time managing and like Lealand Schoon in the previous podcast, observing – don’t be surprised to see Bart on his hands and knees when he is in the field! Bart is also an educator at heart and is extremely active in the SD Grassland Coalition (see https://sdgrass.org/ ) . https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/sd/