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A Sense of Where You Are: Red Dresses & Magic Management

Part 2 in a Series

By Brian DeVore
January 20, 2025

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Note: This is the 2nd installment in the 12-part “A Sense of Where You Are” series. 

“Our biggest thing is to be adaptive,” said pasture-based livestock producer Rachelle Meyer.

One of the ways Rachelle and Jordan Meyer keep things in context is to avoid being distracted by what they call “the woman in the red dress.” Is a new enterprise a good fit for the farm, or is its flashiness overshadowing the downsides of adding it to the mix? The Meyers are in their early 30s and have six children. That means any business decisions they make on the farm must be balanced against the needs of the family, first and foremost. That became particularly clear in the spring of 2024, when they experienced the heartbreaking tragedy of having their 2-year-old daughter, April, taken from them in a farm accident.

They keep their balance utilizing the “three-legged stool” strategy: the farm family perches on top of this metaphorical stool, and each leg represents a key ingredient to overall success: profitability, soil health, and quality of life. Such a strategy helped the family not only determine recently that adding an enterprise like sheep worked for them, the land, and their family, but also led them to decide that the cow-calf and turkey businesses they formerly had were not a good fit. Besides raising the ewes and running a conventional dairy, they have pasture-based enterprises that involve rotationally grazing goats, beef cattle, hogs, and poultry. They direct-market meat to consumers, as well as lease out their goats to people hoping to rehabilitate worn-out land that’s been taken over by invasive plants.

 In late June, the couple explained how they utilize this management strategy while hosting a Land Stewardship Project grazing school on the hilly acres they farm in southeastern Minnesota’s Houston County. Over a two-day period, farmers and other experts led discussions on everything from setting up fencing and watering systems on a budget to monitoring soil health, assessing pasture quality, utilizing government conservation programs, and crunching the numbers on farm profitability.

To the mix of aspiring, new, and established graziers present, the Meyers recommended “learning your farm first” before putting in more permanent infrastructure such as perimeter fencing. Fortunately, innovations such as light-weight, portable electric fencing make it possible to try out grazing techniques in different areas before settling on a more permanent system.

“Our biggest thing is to be adaptive,” said Rachelle.

On the second day of the school, the couple led participants to a 15-acre field on rented ground that, before they started farming it, had suffered the environmental and agronomic consequences of years of row-cropping and heavy tillage. The recent addition of the ewes has helped the Meyers add economic value to the perennials and annuals that are now building soil and crowding out the weeds.

“This whole field as far as you can see was giant ragweed,” Jordan said, pointing beyond their flock of hair sheep at a diverse stand of forages growing along the contour of the hill. With the assistance of Skipper, a massive, white Maremma guard dog, he and Rachelle then moved the flock to a new paddock. Rotational grazing is often associated with squared off, grid-like paddocks, but on this Driftless Area topography, the Meyers often utilize portable fencing to create long, narrow foraging channels. These linear paddocks hug the contours of the rugged landscape and force animals like sheep into smaller areas for a shorter period of time, creating a “mob” effect. Again, it’s all about context — the sheep have a lighter impact on the soil compared to cattle, meaning they needed to be crowded more to get the same effect of trampling manure and biomass into the soil while knocking back weeds; it’s the epitome of an adaptive, rather than a cookie-cutter, rote approach to raising livestock.

There’s adapting to the landscape, and then there’s adapting to the state of the soil and the limiting factor of climate, as well as one’s access to that most valuable of resources: time. For example, one of the other grazing school instructors was George Heller, who’s launched a livestock operation on sandy, drought-prone soil in northern Minnesota’s Wadena County. Before Heller started farming it, the land was impoverished by years of continuous hay production. He’s also dealing with a 120-day growing season; in contrast, the growing season in southeastern Minnesota can be 150 days or more. As Heller put it during a discussion about soil biology in one of the Meyers’ pastures, “I’m always planning for winter.”

“That’s his context,” quipped Jordan Meyer at one point. The point being that if Heller attempted to stock his paddocks at the same rate the Meyers do on their comparatively rich soil, it would be an economic and ecological disaster.

But over the past five years, Heller has built up an adaptive rotational grazing operation on 290 owned and rented acres that supports his cattle and sheep, as well regenerates the depleted soil. He is building this enterprise literally from the ground-up — beyond fencing and watering systems, as well as a four-wheeler, his infrastructure is minimal, and he estimates that not counting the land costs, he has just a few thousand dollars invested in the whole operation.

Heller’s day job is running a concrete business, so he has limited time to spend managing the farm. One way he buys a few precious hours is to run cattle and sheep together in the same paddocks as a “flerd.”

In the end, the grazing school wasn’t just about stocking rates, or what kind of grass to plant on former corn ground, or which fencing reel works best (even though plenty of talk focused on such nuts and bolts topics) — it was about how to make the kinds of observations and calculations that put daily decisions in context.

As a grazing specialist for the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Jeff Duchene has set up rotational grazing plans for farmers in at least 50 of Minnesota’s 87 counties. Not surprisingly, farmers frequently ask him for advice on what type of forage to plant. What is the ultimate species that will withstand drought, flooding, and disease, while producing a nutritious feed for decades?

“Not to disappoint anyone, but that grass doesn’t exist,” said Duchene while leading a plant identification session in one of the Meyers’ hilltop pastures. “There is no magic grass — the magic is in the management.”

Clifford Johnson, a central Minnesota crop and livestock farmer, explained to the participants that regenerative management often involves compromises — sometimes one may have to turn to tillage or chemical applications, which can set soil health back temporarily. It’s all about keeping the big picture in perspective and not allowing a few backward steps stop a farm’s overall trajectory forward. It also helps to have a sense of humor.

“I call myself the HRH — Honest Regenerative Hypocrite,” Johnson joked.

Brian DeVore edits the Land Stewardship Letter and produces the Ear to the Ground podcast.

Give it a Listen

  • Ear to the Ground 342: Ignoring the Red Dress (Rachelle Meyer)
  • Ear to the Ground 343: Healthy Soil Vs. Plastic Worms (Clifford Johnson)
  • Ear to the Ground 344: Flerd is the Word (George Heller)
  • Ear to the Ground 346: Pasture Pixie Dust (Jeff Duchene)

Installments in the ‘A Sense of Where You Are’ Series:

  1. Introduction to the Series: A Sense of Where You Are
  2. Red Dresses & Magic Management
  3. In the Blood
  4. Seeking Signs of Life
  5. Forest for the Trees
  6. The Quickening
  7. Food Bank Booster
  8. First Things First
  9. The Big Picture
  10. The Snowball Effect
  11. 7 Years Later
  12. Against the Grain

 

Category: Blog
Tags: A Sense of Where You Are • beginning farmers • managed rotational grazing • pasture walks • pasture-based livestock • soil health

Upcoming Events

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October 2025

Thursday October 9

5:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Minnesota Women in Conservation Fall Learning Circle
Thursday October 9
5:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Minnesota Women in Conservation Fall Learning Circle
Dawson, MN 56232, USA

Participants will walk around a “homestead” farm site, exploring areas and goals the landowner hopes to improve in the future, including pollinator habitat, perennial plantings, windbreaks, privacy/noise screens, water quality improvements, well sealing, and compost placements. Participants will hear feedback and recommendations from a conservation professional on potential programs that could assist the landowner in achieving those goals. This will be an active event.

Please bring a camp chair and a potluck dish. The host will provide the main dish, so think about bringing sides and dessert. For details and to reserve a spot, click here. For questions, contact LSP’s Alex Kiminski at akiminski@landstewardshipproject.org.

Friday October 10

8:30 am – 3:00 pm
Weaving a Wider Community: Seeing & Countering Racism in Our Backyard
Friday October 10
8:30 am – 3:00 pm
Weaving a Wider Community: Seeing & Countering Racism in Our Backyard
111 N 1st St, Montevideo, MN 56265, USA

Join LSP and CURE for a community event at the Land Stewardship Project office in Montevideo (111 N. First St.), from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., on Friday, Oct. 10. This event includes lunch catered by El Mana; please register by Oct. 3 to be included in the food count.

You can RSVP here.

The Racial Equity Conference, organized by the Greater Minnesota Partnership of the Facilitating Racial Equity Collaborative, has been specifically designed to bring engaging content to local communities through a unique pairing of online speakers and in-person local sessions. The morning’s online content will include a conversation focused on seeing and countering racism in rural communities, moderated by Eryn Gee Killough, paired with two outstanding keynote speakers, Jenna Grey Eagle and Ron Ferguson, who have experience working in rural communities. 

This online content will be exclusively available to local community gatherings. Each gathering will gear their in-person activity to their specific community with the goal of extending the impact of the conference to others throughout the following year. Join LSP and CURE for this western Minnesota gathering, or if a different location works better for you, check out all the local gatherings on the FREC site,

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out. LSP’s Nick Olson can be reached via e-mail at nicko@landstewardshipproject.org.

9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Intensive Small-Scale Market Gardening Bus Tour
Friday October 10
9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Intensive Small-Scale Market Gardening Bus Tour
Leatherdale Equine Center, 1801 Dudley Ave, St Paul, MN 55108, USA

Explore profitable small-scale farming (1–5 acres) and soil care. Visit a cooperative incubator farm and a thriving suburban market garden. Learn about cover crops, reduced tillage, high tunnel soil health, and support for growers.

This is the second tour in a three-part soil health bus tour series. Participants can sign up for just one, two, or all three tours. Register at https://z.umn.edu/vegetablebustours. The cost is $15 (flat fee, covers 1, 2, or 3 tours). There are more details in the attached flyer.

Saturday October 11

11:00 am – 2:00 pm
LSP-COPAL Visita a la Granja | Farm Tour
Saturday October 11
11:00 am – 2:00 pm
LSP-COPAL Visita a la Granja | Farm Tour
36919 County 57 Blvd, Dennison, MN 55018, USA

Building off the success of last year’s farm event with COPAL in Austin, Minn., this year Land Stewardship Project and COPAL members and supporters will gather at the Young-Walser Family Farm in Dennison, Minn. for a festive and delicious farm tour on Saturday, Oct. 11, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. We invite you to come and meet new folks, learn new skills, and try new food! 
 
This year’s COPAL-LSP farm event offers a little something for everyone: 
 
🍯 Honey sampling and the opportunity to purchase from Homestead Honey Farm. 
 
🍎 Apple cider pressing and tasting. (BTW, we’re still looking for an apple press if you or a farmer friend have one nearby we could borrow for this event!) 
 
🌽 Nixtamalization workshop and fresh, homemade tortillas, made with corn grown by LSP and COPAL members at the Young-Walser Family Farm! 
 
🍅 Salsa making and cricket-eating competitions! Yes, you heard that right —we’ll have the opportunity to sample crickets, a delectable crispy and savory snack commonly enjoyed throughout Mexico and Central America. Stay tuned for details on how to enter either competition. 
 
🥾 A tour of the Young-Walser farm, nestled in the beautiful Sogn Valley not far from Cannon Falls, Minn. Enjoy a tromp through the corn and squash fields and hike in the nearby woods. 
 
🌮 A shared meal and opportunity to hear from LSP and COPAL organizers about our participation in the Immigrant Defense Network. 

Let us know you can make it to ensure we order enough food and supplies! Carpools from Minneapolis and Rochester will be available to all attendees. 

________________________________________________

¡Únete a LSP + COPAL para nuestro recorrido anual comunitario en la granja!
Un espacio divertido para tod@s donde exploraremos la agricultura, aprenderemos sobre el campo y participaremos en actividades prácticas. ¡Uno de los momentos más especiales será hacer tortillas frescas junt@s!

Compartiremos un delicioso almuerzo comunitario, preparando tacos en estilo potluck (tipo convivio). Te invitamos a traer un platillo o acompañamiento para compartir.

También estás invitado@ a llegar temprano (desde las 9 AM) para ayudar a cosechar calabazas que sembramos. Puedes llevarte algunas a casa, y el resto se donará a un banco de alimentos local.

El Land Stewardship Project (LSP) es una organización aliada de COPAL que trabaja por sistemas alimentarios y agrícolas más sostenibles y justos. LSP y COPAL están unidas en su lucha por instituciones democráticas sólidas, comunidades saludables y acogedoras, y una ética de cuidado hacia la tierra y las personas que nos alimentan.

Tuesday October 14

11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Birds as Pest Control Allies on the Farm
Tuesday October 14
11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Birds as Pest Control Allies on the Farm
Online

This 10-lesson Wild Farm Alliance virtual course teaches agricultural professionals and farmers how to support beneficial birds and manage pest birds on farms. By learning how to assess the farm’s avian needs and opportunities, farms can be designed to provide for a diversity of beneficial birds. 

If pest birds are a problem, they can be discouraged with specific practices during the shorter periods when they cause damage. The sessions cover the latest research, tools and resources, and are given by experts in avian pest control, entomology, ornithology and conservation. While many topics and species are specific to the Midwest, most of the principles discussed are applicable across regions. 

Continuing Education Credits have been requested and are expected to be approved from American Society of Agronomy.

For details and to register, click here. 

The Course Schedule:

LESSON 1

Why Birds Belong on the Farm: Biodiversity, Pest Control & A Thriving Landscape

Tuesday, September 23, 2 p.m. CT


LESSON 2

Birds as Pest Control Allies on the Farm

Tuesday, October 14, 11 a.m. CT


LESSON 3

Birds in the Balance: Pest Control Services Across Crop Types

Tuesday, November 4, 11 a.m. CT


LESSON 4

Integrating Habitat into Croplands: Prairie Strips and Bird Conservation

Tuesday, December 2, 11 a.m. CT


LESSON 5

Birds on the Farm: Balancing Biodiversity and Food Safety

Tuesday, January 13, 11 a.m. CT


LESSON 6

Beyond the Crop: Birds, Biodiversity, and the Power of Edge Habitat

Tuesday, February 3, 11 a.m. CT


LESSON 7

Bridging Forestry, Farming, and Habitat

Tuesday, February 24, 11 a.m. CT


LESSON 8

Perennial Pathways: Agroforestry for Birds and Biodiversity on Farms

Tuesday, March 17, 11 a.m. CT


LESSON 9

Birds on the Range: How Grazing Practices Shape Habitat for Grassland Species

Tuesday, April 7, 11 a.m. CT


LESSON 10

Birds at Risk: How Pesticides Shape Safety on Agricultural Lands

Tuesday, April 28, 11 a.m. CT

View Full Calendar

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