Page 4 - Annual meeting edition

2018 Grassland Award - Jimmy and Carol Vardy

Jimmy and Carol Vardy are receiving this
award for excellence in maintaining the
native grass pastures they use in their
cow/calf operation. Their herd of Black
Angus is almost 400 strong.
The plan they use to keep their pastures
in such great shape begins first and fore-
most with constant monitoring of the
grass. They do not implement any scien-
tific method to decide when to move
their herd. “We just go with how things
look, take half and leave half is my
rule of thumb” says Jimmy.
The pastures are subdivided, and Vardy’s
rotate between different pastures as well as making sure they graze each paddock in a differ-
ent growing season each year. They generally work on a 90-day rotation and only allow one pair
for every eight acres.

When asked if there was a contingency plan for drought to enable them keep the pastures in
good condition, the answer was to utilize some pastures that were retained for winter grazing
and keep rotating.
The land the Vardy’s operate in Harper County is
family ground belonging to Edward Morrow and
Gwendolyn Warton. The Vardy’s feel lucky to have
the support of the landowners in the grass manage-
ment plan they implement.

Congratulations to Jimmy and Carol Vardy for their
stewardship of Kansas’s native grass pastures.