By SHELLY STRAUTZ-SPRINGBORN
Michigan Correspondent

ROCHESTER, Ind. — The grass is greener on the other side of the fence for this Rochester family.

Fourteen years ago, Dave Lease and his father-in-law, Lawrence Carrico, turned to rotational grazing on their family-owned cow-calf farm a few miles north of Rochester.

Since then, they have changed with the times – increasing their herd size from its original 40 head to its current 140 head, perfecting their rotational grazing herd management practices and researching a new market for their grass-fed beef.

“We’ve increased in size over the years,” Lease said, adding that they decided to take up rotational grazing due to the “betterment of the forage.

“When we turn them out on a paddock, it’s kind of like a chef salad,” Lease said. “They eat the choice first and then go back for the rest.”

Lease, 46, is quick to give Carrico, 68, credit for the farm’s day-to-day operations.

“He does most of the labor,” said Lease, who works off the farm as a regional sales manager with Kubota Tractor Corporation, covering northern Indiana and southwestern Michigan.

He also works part-time for an area crop farmer.
“This is my overgrown hobby,” Lease said. “It was a hobby at 40 cows. At 140, it’s work.”

Getting started
The pair got their start in the early 1990s. “My dad died in 1991,” Carrico said. “I took over and made hay in ‘92. It was a wet year. From there I knew something had to change.

“So, I spent all winter reading The (Stockman) Grass Farmer. That’s where I got my knowledge to start grazing.”
Lease and his wife, Trinity, lived in Ohio at the time and made the four-hour commute on weekends to help.

“It’s just a love of cattle for us,” said Lease, who grew up on a 40-acre farrow-to-finish hog operation five miles south of Rochester.
“We strung water lines to the pastures and we put up fence,” Carrico said. “We just keep getting bigger.”

Born in Mishawaka, Ind., farming has been a longtime passion for Carrico.

His family bought the 80-acre farm that he lives on in 1955.

“In 1955, Mom and I came down here to get the place ready,” he said. “The following March, Dad brought the cows down.”
Soon after starting the operation, the family lost their barn to a fire.

“At the time we had to start over,” said the retired truck driver. “It takes time to bounce back. We milked our cows outside ... we struggled.”

“We paid $110 an acre for this farm. It was a struggle to get it paid off,” he said.

But, Carrico wouldn’t change a thing. “If you don’t like the job you’re doing, it’s work. If you like what you’re doing, it’s fun,” he said, with a laugh.

Grazing
Spring calving is in full swing on the 160-acre farm, which Lease and Carrico rent from Lease’s in-laws.

In addition to the main herd, the duo run bred heifers at Carrico’s 80-acre farm, about four miles from the main farm.

“When the younger ones are having calves it allows me to pay a little closer attention to them,” Carrico said.

Lease said it won’t be long before the cattle are turned out to pasture for the season. Depending on the weather, he expects to start grazing around April 10.

Each paddock is divided by electric fence. “They’ll run inside that two acres just as they would if they ran the whole field,” he said.

The cattle are moved twice daily to maximize feed potential in the pastures. They return to each paddock once about every 28 days or so depending on the weather, grass growth and pasture condition.

“We don’t use set paddocks,” Lease said. “The reason we don’t is the forage is not the same all the way through the field.

“In the spring it could take 20 to 26 days and in the summer 36 days to regraze. It depends on the moisture you get. That’s the whole key to grass farming.”

They also bale hay from the forage in some of the pastures, to be fed during the winter.

The pair does most of their own herd health, including vaccinations, dehorning and treating sick animals, sometimes relying on a local veterinarian for assistance.

Lease said they set up a cattle handling facility in the main barn “so a person can get a hold of a cow by themselves.”

During the hot summer months, they use canvas stretched over a frame to provide shade for their herd.

They also haul water in tanks to some of the far-off pastures that aren’t equipped with water lines.

Carrico said learning to manage the pastures has been through some trial and error.

“We’ve got a lot of life experiences,” he said. “When you start out you put in temporary fence, temporary water lines, until you get things figured out.

“It’s a thinking man’s game. You’ve got to figure it out for yourself – when it’s time to move them.”

A family affair
The farm has become a family affair that also includes the Leases’ three children: Amanda, 16, Alexandra, 14, and Jason, 6. Amanda spends part of her summer showing at the Fulton County Fair.

“I’ve learned that taking cows are a lot of responsibility,” the high-school sophomore said of her purebred Angus cattle.

“I don’t have much of a summer because I’m out at the farm about every day walking them and taking care of them.”

“We enjoy the cattle,” Dave Lease said. “If it weren’t for the enjoyment, I don’t know why anyone would want to go through the work.

“There’s probably nothing more enjoyable to us than when the cows are out on that green grass.

“They look really nice out on the green pasture,” he said.
“There’s a lot of times, if it’s a nice night, we’ll just sit out there and watch them eat and watch the calves run around.”