I’ve got a new (not-so) secret weapon where it comes to pasture and land management on the farm! ⁠⁠

As some of you may know, last year, Cub Cadet donated a ZTX6 zero-turn mower for an ongoing educational project on rotationally grazing livestock to regenerate our pasture land. ⁠⁠

⁠Short, multi-species, intense grazing on small, concentrated pieces of land, followed by the chicken tractor and then a quick mow behind them is meant to mimic what happened on grasslands with wild species prior to civilization disrupting natural animal habitats. ⁠

The transformation that’s already happened here in the last year of responsible grazing is nothing short of incredible, and I’m just getting started. Phase two of this project involves making a whole lot of compost to spread and increase the soil quality throughout the farm over time. Adding organic matter to the soil not only makes for richer, more nutrient dense food for the animals, it also increases water absorption rates in the soil, which prevents erosion, runoff, and mineral leeching.

To that end, I’ve been conducting some fairly large-scale composting experiments involving over 20 dump-loads of arborist mulch that’s been delivered from neighboring farms over the past few months. With the way the arborists are mulching branches, leaves, and brush together, there’s a fairly good ratio of carbon-nitrogen (brown and green) content in the initial piles to get a great start to the break-down process. But when I go to turn the piles, I like to add in some extra nitrogen to keep the break-down process going.

When Cub Cadet heard about my composting experiments this fall, they sent a triple bagger to fit the mower so I could collect grass clippings (a PERFECT Nitrogen Source for the piles) and easily add them as I’m stirring the compost. (My previous method had me mowing in a circular pattern then using a rake and pitchfork to load it in the wheelbarrow to truck it to the compost piles by hand, which is fine for the small 3 bin system I’ve got by the garden, but not possible for the far-larger-scale project I’ve got going behind it. ⁠⁠

With the new bagger, things have gotten almost TOO easy, all I have to do is drive out to pasture, mow a section, then drive right up to the compost piles. The bagger collects the grass clippings super cleanly and efficiently and it couldn’t be easier to empty the bags, drive out and fill them right back up. Even full of wet grass, the bags are SUPER easy to lift and empty.

Because of the counterweight system that comes with the bagger, the added weight with the bagger (even when full!) on the back doesn’t seem to affect the balance or fluidity of the way the zero-turn drives.

Another HUGE problem adding the bagger is currently helping me solve is our issue with cockleburs. If you watched my Instagram stories at all last fall/winter, it’s likely you saw me spending untold hours picking thousands upon thousands of cocklebur seeds out of my various livestock’s fur to prevent infection. You see, we didn’t have cockleburs in Washington, and I had no idea that those bushes we had throughout the pasture were going to produce millions of spikey seeds, nor that the proliferation of those seeds in animal fur could pose such a serious potential health risk.

My poor mom and dad spent SOOOOO much time trying in vain to pull up as many of the plants by their roots without spreading their seeds, but it was just too much land and the infestation was just too much to deal with. Taking to the internet, I found out that this year, my only way to minimize another winter of seed-picking was to keep up with mowing (Cub Cadet to the rescue part 1), but that come fall, what I really needed to do was bag up the plant clippings to avoid spreading the seed further (Cub Cadet to the rescue part 2).

I’ve done my best to keep up with the mowing, and now I’m regularly mowing over the cocklebur patches with the bagger on to try to chop down and suck up as many of those seeds as possible. The plant matter and the seeds get burned and turned into biochar (that’s another article for another day), and become another component of our awesome composting system. If you've not seen my composting for beginners video on Youtube, go check it out! https://youtu.be/zm7lRB-hZ5Q

If you’re in the market for a zero-turn mower that is built like a tank, extremely comfortable AND fun to drive, check out the Ultima ZTX 60, and, while you’re at it, take a look at the

myriad of attachments offered with it. The bagger is a delight to use and I’d highly recommend both.

GREAT Tool for Composting and Pasture Management