Grazing Grass Podcast sharing Regenerative Ag Stories

Glenn McCaig of Perry's Corners Farm returns to the Grazing Grass Podcast to talk through livestock systems that stay practical when you stop trying to perfect everything. Farming with his wife Megan and their three young children just outside Kitchener, Ontario, Glenn shares what is working on their sandy, rocky ground with Lynch Lineback cattle, English Large Black pigs, Clun Forest type sheep, and pastured poultry.
In This Episode, We Explore:
What Lynch Lineback cattle are and why Glenn values a closed herd approach
Calf-sharing milk cows and feeding milk to pigs as part of a whole-farm system
A gilt-only farrowing system that simplifies pig management and tightens farrowing windows
Selecting boars early using practical traits like teat count and mothering ability
Farrowing in pens vs pasture, and what changed with labor, predator pressure, and piglet losses
Using simple ear notching to make culling decisions faster and more consistent in sheep
Closed-flock sheep management, prolific genetics, and handling triplets and quads
The realities of wool marketing and why some wool is not worth saving
Why Glenn went soy-free (and briefly corn-free) with pigs, and what he learned trying soy-free layers
What migratory grazing changed for Glenn, and the cattle behavior he notices now
A calendar-based way Glenn thinks about the summer slump, rest periods, and how hay decisions affect grazing

Why This Episode Matters
If you have ever felt like your livestock enterprise got harder the more you tried to fine-tune it, this episode gives a grounded look at simplifying without backing away from good management. Glenn lays out practical systems for pigs, sheep, and cattle that reduce moving parts, tighten decision making, and keep the farm working in real conditions like predator pressure, winter feeding, and limited labor.
Resources Mentioned
Acres U.S.A. Podcast
Barefoot Biodynamics by Jeff Poppen
Steve Campbell (mentioned in context of clean minerals)
Burke Teichert (quote referenced)

Find Out More
Perry's Corners Farm | https://perryscornersfarm.ca
Grazing Grass Community

Looking for grass-based breeders?
 Explore the Grass Based Genetics directory.
Upcoming Grazing Events
Noble Profitability Essentials - Ardmore, OK - February 4-5, 2026
Feb 8, 2026 Arrow L Ranch Annual Production Sale
Visit our Sponsors:
Noble Research Institute
Redmond Agriculture
Arrow L Ranch Facebook page | https://www.facebook.com/arrowlranch
DV Auction video catalog for the Arrow L Ranch bull sale (opens Feb 6, closes Feb 8 with a soft close)

Grazing Grass Links
Website
Community (on Facebook)
Original Music by Louis Palfrey

Mason Lautenschlager and his wife Hannah run Arrow L Ranch near Berthold in northwest North Dakota, where they focus on grass-based enterprises including a cow-calf herd, some direct grass-finished beef, and selling multi-bred composite coming 2-year-old bulls developed on forage. 
 
In This Episode, We Explore:  
Building a ranch back after his family sold out of farming and ranching  
Buying cows at the top of the market and navigating the crash afterward  
Shifting the whole operation toward lower labor and lower equipment intensity  
Winter grazing decision-making around snow cover, forage quality, and flexibility  
Bale grazing setup, timing, and what it changed on poorer soil areas  
Water limitations, fencing lanes, and building a system for easier moves  
Stockpiling forage and planning grazing around winter and spring needs  
Increasing plant diversity through grazing management rather than seeding  
Using forage clippings to estimate available dry matter per acre  
Developing bulls on forage and selecting for longevity and fertility over max production  
Why This Episode Matters  
If winter feed, labor, and equipment costs are squeezing your operation, Mason’s story is a practical look at how constraints can force better systems. This conversation gets into the real tradeoffs of stockpile grazing versus bale grazing, how water and fencing design affect what is possible, and why selection for fertility and longevity can matter more than pushing production.  
Resources Mentioned  
Agriculture Alberta video series: Managing Risk in Winter Grazing  
Principled Land Managers grazing school (Bart Carmichael and Pat Guptill)  
North Dakota Grazing Lands Coalition  
DV Auction  
Movie: Moneyball  
Book: Lasater Philosophy of Cattle Raising (Tom Lasater)  

Find Out More  
Arrow L Ranch Facebook page | https://www.facebook.com/arrowlranch
DV Auction video catalog for the Arrow L Ranch bull sale (opens Feb 6, closes Feb 8 with a soft close)  | https://www.dvauction.com/video_catalogs/13210

Looking for grass-based breeders?
 Explore the Grass Based Genetics directory.
Upcoming Grazing Events
Noble Profitability Essentials - Ardmore, OK - February 4-5, 2026
Feb 8, 2026 Arrow L Ranch Annual Production Sale
Visit our Sponsors:
Noble Research Institute
Redmond Agriculture
Arrow L Ranch Facebook page | https://www.facebook.com/arrowlranch
DV Auction video catalog for the Arrow L Ranch bull sale (opens Feb 6, closes Feb 8 with a soft close)

Grazing Grass Links
Website
Community (on Facebook)
Original Music by Louis Palfrey

Hayden and Taylor Sievers of Sievers Blumen Farm in the Brussels, Illinois area share how their farm has evolved from a cut-flower business into a growing grazing-focused cattle operation, alongside grain and hogs, while keeping an eye on family, profitability, and building a system that works on limited acres.
In This Episode, We Explore:
How Sievers Blumen Farm got its name and the cut-flower beginnings behind the brand
Farming in Calhoun County between the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers, and what that landscape means for grazing
Converting a heavily tilled, flood-prone 80 acres into pasture over time while still cash cropping part of it
Challenges of establishing pasture on heavy “black stick” clay and lessons learned with broadcast seeding and needing timely rain
Using wheat followed by cover crops and pasture as a transition plan away from cash cropping
Infrastructure choices including high-tensile perimeter fence, step-ins, reels, and thoughts on central alley layouts
Moving from Dexters to South Pole-influenced cattle and what they noticed with fly pressure, forage efficiency, and easy-keeping traits
Using cow-calf as a base herd while considering stockers and sell-buy marketing to capture excess forage
Takeaways from stockmanship training, including receiving calves and getting them grazing quickly by focusing on mental and emotional state
Raising meat chickens (including Red Rangers) and layers, plus building and using a chickshaw-style coop
Taylor’s path into indie publishing, what she writes, and the discipline of finishing books while raising a family

Why This Episode Matters
If you are trying to make grazing work on limited acres or on land that is less-than-ideal, this conversation is a practical look at how a young family is building infrastructure, improving soil over time, selecting cattle that fit their system, and staying focused on profitability and quality of life instead of chasing too many enterprises at once.
Resources Mentioned
Joel Salatin (Joe Rogan Podcast)
Greg Judy (grazing and fencing approach)
Jim Elizondo and total grazing concepts
Hand ’n Hand sell-buy marketing class (Tina and Richard)
Stockman Grass Farmer
Working Cows podcast
Ranching Returns podcast (formerly Herd Quitter podcast)
Bud Williams stockmanship (referenced through stockmanship training)
Dirt to Soil
Braiding Sweetgrass
For the Love of Soil
The Creative Penn podcast (Joanna Penn)
Wish I’d Known Then podcast
The Two Authors podcast
Justin Rhodes Chickshaw (mobile coop design)
O’Brien step-in posts
Taragate reels
Meyer Hatchery
McMurray Hatchery
August Horstmann's Ranch (Missouri)

Find Out More
Website | https://sieversblumenfarm.com
Instagram | https://instagram.com/sieversblumenfarm
Facebook | https://facebook.com/sieversblumenfarm
YouTube | https://youtube.com/@sieversblumenfarm
Here is a discount code for our farm shop (https://sieversblumenfarm.com/shop) that listeners can use for 10% off. The code expires in July. GRAZINGGRASS26

Looking for grass-based breeders?
 Explore the Grass Based Genetics directory.
Upcoming Grazing Events
Noble Profitability Essentials - Ardmore, OK - February 4-5, 2026
Feb 8, 2026 Arrow L Ranch Annual Production Sale
Visit our Sponsors:
Noble Research Institute
Redmond Agriculture
Arrow L Ranch Facebook page | https://www.facebook.com/arrowlranch
DV Auction video catalog for the Arrow L Ranch bull sale (opens Feb 6, closes Feb 8 with a soft close)

Grazing Grass Links
Website
Community (on Facebook)
Original Music by Louis Palfrey

Jonathan Kilpatrick of Red Lantern Ranch and Kilpatrick Land & Livestock joins Cal to share what changed since he first appeared back on episode 2, including moving from Oklahoma to west central Minnesota (Alexandria area) and rebuilding a grazing operation from the ground up with sheep, goats, and pastured poultry.

In This Episode, We Explore:
What prompted Jonathan and his family to move from Oklahoma to Minnesota and restart their operation
Lessons Jonathan took from the Ranching for Profit School and how they shaped his decision-making
Starting a grazing operation with a clean slate and building genetics that match the environment
Grazing sheep and goats together and using goats as part of a buckthorn control strategy
Outwintering sheep and goats with minimal infrastructure and what that requires
Using adaptive grazing decisions that fit real life, time constraints, and family priorities
Expanding from a 45-acre grazing lease by adding tillable acres and converting some to perennials
Partnering with a regenerative crop farmer for strip-till or no-till, cover crops, and added grazing opportunities
Mobile range coop pastured poultry production, daily moves, and labor efficiency
Processing options, state-inspected processing, and why time is often the limiting resource
Marketing channels including direct-to-consumer, wholesale, and opportunities in ethnic markets

Why This Episode Matters
If you are building or rebuilding a grazing business, Jonathan lays out a realistic path that balances production, business management, and family life. This conversation is a good reminder that experience matters, time is a real constraint, and matching livestock, grazing, and marketing to your context is what keeps the whole system working.

Resources Mentioned
Ranching for Profit School
Executive Link program (Ranching for Profit)
Google Sheets
Excel
ChatGPT
Gemini
P.L. 90-492 (Poultry Products Inspection Act exemption referenced in the discussion)
Find Out More
Red Lantern Ranch website | https://redlanternranch.com
Kilpatrick Land & Livestock website | https://www.kilpatricklandandlivestock.com
Sustainable Farming Association (SFA) | https://sfa-mn.org

Looking for grass-based breeders?
 Explore the Grass Based Genetics directory.
Upcoming Grazing Events
Noble Profitability Essentials - Ardmore, OK - February 4-5, 2026
Feb 8, 2026 Arrow L Ranch Annual Production Sale
Visit our Sponsors:
Noble Research Institute
Redmond Agriculture
Arrow L Ranch Facebook page | https://www.facebook.com/arrowlranch
DV Auction video catalog for the Arrow L Ranch bull sale (opens Feb 6, closes Feb 8 with a soft close)

Grazing Grass Links
Website
Community (on Facebook)
Original Music by Louis Palfrey

Zach (first-generation) and Kacie (fifth-generation) Scherler-Abney are ranchers operating Re:Farm and Re:Supply in Cotton and Tillman Counties in southwest Oklahoma, running a cow-calf herd with some stockers while also managing land for others and operating retail stores in Norman, Oklahoma and Wichita Falls, Texas.  
In This Episode, We Explore:  
- How a personal health scare led them back to the family place and into raising their own food  
- Using an autoimmune protocol diet as a catalyst to question food labels and sourcing  
- Learning regenerative grazing through books, YouTube, and early hands-on trial and error  
- Grazing in a more brittle, variable rainfall environment in southwest Oklahoma and north Texas  
- Ultra high-density, non-selective grazing and why recovery time is the key variable for them  
- What polywire taught them, and why quality of life and labor forced a change  
- Building water systems with HDPE poly pipe, quick couplers, and central lanes for flexibility  
- Leasing strategies including Oklahoma state school land (CLO) and BIA tribal land leases  
- Transitioning to Halter virtual fencing and what changed in daily management and stress  
- How their cattle buying philosophy shifted to phenotype, productivity, and pounds per acre  
- Marketing reality checks: balancing direct-to-consumer beef with current sale barn economics  
- Why they built brick-and-mortar stores and how non-perishables help stabilize cash flow  
- Community-building through retail and sourcing other local products beyond their own beef  
Why This Episode Matters  
This conversation is a practical look at matching grazing goals to real life, especially when labor, family time, leases, and cash flow are all limiting factors. Zach and Kacie share what worked, what wore them out, what they changed, and how they think about staying flexible without abandoning the core principles that keep land and livestock improving.  
Resources Mentioned  
- Halter virtual fencing system  
- Passon quick couplers  
- Oklahoma Commissioners of the Land Office (CLO) grazing leases  
- Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) grazing leases  
Find Out More  
- Instagram | re:farm  
- Website | Re:Farm Market  
- Facebook | Re:Farm 

Looking for grass-based breeders?
 Explore the Grass Based Genetics directory.
Upcoming Grazing Events
Noble Profitability Essentials - Ardmore, OK - February 4-5, 2026
Feb 8, 2026 Arrow L Ranch Annual Production Sale
Visit our Sponsors:
Noble Research Institute
Redmond Agriculture
Arrow L Ranch Facebook page | https://www.facebook.com/arrowlranch
DV Auction video catalog for the Arrow L Ranch bull sale (opens Feb 6, closes Feb 8 with a soft close)

Grazing Grass Links
Website
Community (on Facebook)
Original Music by Louis Palfrey