Fertility Pastures

F Newman Turner may be one of the most astute ecologists of the 20th century. He apparently never set out to qualify as such, only to provide healthy beef and dairy cattle with rich soils at a modest profit. But Turner could not reconcile the advice on animal husbandry he received, either from college-based agronomists, "the ministry" or from commercial agribusiness with his daily observations. We readers are the now beneficiaries of this frustration. He focused much of his attention on what "weeds" grew where, and how his cattle reacted to them, behaviorally and nutritionally. Refusing to submit to the idea of bad weeds, as his title implies, he asked the (even now) controversial questions: what is this herb doing here? How may it change the soil? How do my cows use it?This book is the result of years of his stubborn success at turning conventional dairy farming practices upside down and converting poor soil into deeply productive land as a result. Fortunately, with commendable foresight, Acres, U.S.A. has reprinted this impressive and delightful book, which despite references to the ecology of the British Isles could still well serve as in-depth reading for any practical ecology course. The sustainability of his approach is only very recently becoming recognized by a few, small farm graziers, witness the forward to this new edition by Joel Salatin. Not limited in his inferences to a single college department, Turner's vision saw the causes and effects and explains it all. He did not suffer fools of any stripes gently, and connected causes and effects of successful farming. When the mechanisms were unclear, as with some micronutrient cycles, he saw the futility of depending on once-a-year soil chemistry performed on a point sample, and explains the natural remedial approaches he found work. One can only ponder why this book never in half a century became the practical guide to improved soils and profitable grazing for which it was intended and now seems on track. It seems to me that it is now a point in history where farmers will yield to his practical wisdom. Even if you never own land or a cow, you will find his cases informative and his writing superb.

If I had a nickle for each time I have recommended this book, I could buy another gaggle of geese. I don't raise cattle, but I do raise poultry. The recipe for the Pig and Poultry Ley (page 176) is very helpful.

Even thought this book was written in the mid-1950's Newman Turner's ideas and experiments with pasture farming and animal health are in perfect alignment with today's organic, grass-fed farmers. He does a great job of explaining how many different grasses, legumes, herbs, and even pasture weeds contribute the the overall diet and nutrition of his cattle, and how different pasture forages will grow in various soil types. I have read many other books on pasture farming and this is my new favorite.

another great book by newman turner. if you want fertile pastures without the chemicals get this book. shows how to keep a green and fertile pasture year round. for the organic person, this is a book to get

Exactly the information I required....very helpful.

This is one of my favourite books on Agriculture, first published in 1955. It was out-of-print for a while, but thankfully Acres USA has republished it.I think this was the first book on farming that I ever read, back when I was 15 years old. A well-worn copy just happened to be on the shelf at my local library in Newcastle, Oklahoma. And boy, was I lucky! I didn't realise how profound Newman Turner was until I started reading other books on farming. Turner was an organic dairy farmer in the UK during the first half of the 20th century. His goal was long-term efficiency. Turner tested feeding his cows grain and no-grain, carefully kept track of input costs and production value, and concluded that no-grain was usually more profitable. He tested different breeds of dairy cows, and discovered that Jersey cows fed no-grain were the most profitable. Turner wanted to grow the tastiest, most useful pastures for his cows...so he asked the cows what they wanted! He planted sections of different herbs and grasses in his fields--a square of dandelion, a square of comphrey, one of clover, etc--and carefully observed which herbs and grasses his cows preferred throughout the year. He eventually developed different herb-grass-legume mixtures for planting: Turner's famous "Herbal Ley" seed mixes ('ley' is a British word for field or meadow). He developed simpler ways of making silage, better ways of grazing grass, etc. I love this guy---curious, hard-working, honest, innovative. He's one of my farming heroes.Turner wrote a few books, all of which are being reprinted by Acres USA, but I believe Fertility Pastures has the most breadth.