Follow this step‑by‑step checklist to graze hard‑to‑reach pasture and successfully put up your first hay bale.
Based on: Grazing the Sheep Where The Tractor Can't Go by Justin Rhodes
▶ Watch the source video on YouTube
Have you ever looked at a steep bank or a tight corner on your farm and thought, that forage is just going to go to waste? If you run sheep alongside other livestock, you already have the tool to fix that — you just need a plan to deploy them right.
Here's the hard truth: most small farmers lose thousands of dollars of usable forage every year because the tractor can't reach it. Banks, hedgerows, wooded nooks — all that primo grass just grows tall and gets ignored while you scramble to put up enough hay to last the winter. Meanwhile, your hay equipment sits half-broken, your twine is threaded wrong, and a flat tire on the baler shows up the day before you need it. Sound familiar? That pressure is real, and one missed window can mean buying expensive hay all winter long.
Now picture this: your sheep are happily working those inaccessible banks while the hay field dries, your paddock rotation is dialed in to maximize recovery time, and your baler is properly threaded and greased so it ties a clean knot on the first try. You know exactly when to ted, when to rake, and when to bale — and you're not guessing anymore. That's what a well-executed grazing and hay day looks like, and it's absolutely within reach for any small farm.
Justin Rhodes has built one of the most trusted homesteading channels on YouTube by doing this stuff live, mistakes and all — threading the baler wrong, hunting down replacement blades, troubleshooting a dry-rotted tire the evening before the harvest window closes. He doesn't pretend it's easy, and that's exactly why his process is so valuable. You're learning from someone who figured it out in real time on a real nook-and-cranny farm, not a picture-perfect operation.
This checklist turns that full day of on-farm learning into a clean, printable action plan you can take straight to the field. Every step is pulled directly from the video — from setting up electric netting on a bank the tractor can't reach, to adjusting your paddock size for sheep following cows, to sourcing baler twine and threading it correctly, to knowing exactly when to ted and when to rake. No fluff, no filler. Just the actions that move the needle.
Print it out, clip it to the tractor, and get to work.
Every checklist item comes with actionable notes to guide you — things like "Don't forget to do this before you start," "Avoid this common mistake," or "Set a reminder for 30 days out." Nothing vague, just clear next steps.
+ 17 more action items inside...
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