Women on the Wing

This past Tuesday evening, we had a grazing tour at our place. It was sponsored by Pheasants Forever and specifically a program called Women on the Wing. From their website, “Pheasants Forever & Quail Forever’s Women on the Wing Initiative will inspire and provide opportunities for women to become engaged, dynamic conservationists. Women on the Wing will draw from our experience and passion to deliver local events designed to cultivate new sportswomen; connect women landowners, farmers and ranchers; and create a community of women dedicated to carrying on our upland traditions and the Pheasants Forever & Quail Forever mission.”

It sounds like an amazing program but I have to be honest, I was more than a little hesitant to have the tour. Our place looks like a tornado hit it (we actually think it was a tornado, see previous blog post). We have had a week of contractors, insurance adjusters, and sight seers parading through. And by the end of it, the last thing I wanted was to put on a smile and spend hours talking to strangers. As it turns out, those strangers, those women who are interested in and care about and want to learn more about all the same things that I care about are exactly what I needed.

The evening started with introductions and a little bit about conservation from Pheasants Forever rep Cayla Bendel. Then nutritionist Kalie Rider, who is also my sister-in-law, talked about fat. Fat? Yep. Different kinds of fat, good ones, bad ones, why we need the good ones, how to weed out the bad ones and the connection those good fats have with healthy soils and healthy animals and healthy humans. We had supper - I made burgers from our beef, coleslaw made from a cabbage out of my neighbor’s garden, and we also had cheese and crackers and wine. Then it was time to load up in the side by sides and tour the pastures.

The first stop

Bale grazing - a method of feeding in the winter months and a good way to up the animal impact to increase organic matter.

The tour included looking at new and old bale grazing sites, discussion on turning cropland back to grass, restoring the carbon cycle and the water cycle, holistic management, and of course the benefits of grass fed beef. There were lots of great questions and I think everyone had a good time.

the last stop

This is one of the first fields we seeded back to grass. Jed talked about what he learned from it and what he would do differently.

When it was over, I told Cayla that while I had had reservations about having the event, I was so happy we did it. It was a lot of fun and I got to spend a few hours visiting with new friends.