Before we moved to the Valley of the Mist in 1966, the farm had been converted from a dairy farm to a row crop farm with beef cattle. The management process was basically 'set stock' grazing where the cattle were allowed full access to the entire area for the entire year. Between a very heavy stocking rate and the 'set stock' method, the pasture was eaten down with almost no growth of vegetation other than the grass which was nibbled down to the roots.
The banks of the creek were bare, other than a number of very large oak trees and a few Cedar trees, there was nothing other than short grass to be seen.
The banks of the creek were bare, other than a number of very large oak trees and a few Cedar trees, there was nothing other than short grass to be seen.
In 1967 a Wildlife packet was purchased from the State of Illinois - Department of Conservation - Division of Forestry and planted on the south side of the creek on a bluff overlooking the creek. Included was 125 Red Pine, 125 White Pine, 50 Autumn Olive, 50 Bush Honeysuckle, 100 Dogwood and 50 Siberian Pea. Over the following years thousands of trees would be planted - literally transforming the acreage. The aerial photo shows above was taken in the early 1970's - the effect of the wildlife packet can be seen on the lower left side of the picture.
By the early 1980's the area on the bluff overlooking the creek had been well established with trees and bushes and other vegetation is beginning to flourish with the extreme pressure of grazing removed.
Quite the transformation!!
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These two photos above show the extreme transformation which occurred with the change in grazing management and the planing of trees to improve the land. The photo on left was taken in the early 1970's and the photo on the right was taken at the same location in the summer of 2013.
The aerial photo taken in the fall of 2013 shows the farm with a HUGE change from the early days when Valley of the Mist came under the care of the Nyberg family.
Using rotational grazing where the impact of the cattle is moved across the farm and vegetation is allowed to recover from the cattle's impact is allowing us to increase the herd size without negative impact.
Compare the tree cover in this photo to the first aerial photo at the top of the page and you can see the beneficial impact of farming with a proper respect for the land.
This photo shows the herd gladly munching on some fantastic forage - on August 16th!! With the regular rotations which allow the forage time to recover it is amazing the change from the 'old days' of set stock grazing. With reasonable rains through the summer and appropriate movement of the herd, the forage production really picks up!!