Tad and Kim Carnahan knew where one of their first stops would be after their move from Colorado to Missouri.
The lifelong learners turned to University of Missouri Extension Livestock Specialist Zac Erwin and agronomy specialist Valerie Tate for help in setting up their new Missouri cattle and forage operation.
The local Extension center became their one-stop shop for learning.
“We try to absorb everything,” Tad Carnahan says in an Extension news release.
Tad grew up on a Colorado ranch. Like many ranch families, the Carnahans only went “to town” once a month for groceries and supplies. The family’s visits included a stop at the county Extension office, where the Carnahans learned how to improve the ranch, Grandma and Mom got the latest updates on canning and gardening, and the boys connected through 4-H clubs.
On the other hand, Kim says she had never seen a cow until she met Tad. Everything she knows about agriculture she learned through Tad and the Extension office.
It was natural that the Carnahans would turn to MU Extension when they bought a 530-acre farm in northeastern Missouri. They also rent 970 acres.
Ranching in Missouri is a lot different from ranching in Colorado. To adapt, Erwin and Tate recommended the Carnahans attend grazing schools offered by MU Extension and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. The schools teach how to establish management intensive grazing systems, in which producers regularly move cattle from one fenced paddock to another.
The Carnahans soon became fans of Missouri’s long grazing season. They learned the advantages of swapping Colorado’s 54-day growing season and rocky soils for Missouri’s longer grazing season and rich soils.
“There’s no such thing as rotational grazing there,” Tad says. “The cows bit the grass off once and that was it.”
To implement MIG, the Carnahans followed a forestry management plan to clear more than 1,200 mature oak trees from the rolling hills. They also left trees in strategic spots to provide shade and shelter for their Angus and Hereford herd.