One other advantage of the barns is that they have their own water supply! With the basic pasture, you'll need to bring water regularly. On the other hand, your pasture doesn't require straw for the cows for bedding. Another trade-off is that pasture doesn't produce slurry or manure. If you are using barns, you'll want to purchase or lease the Anderson Pro-chop 150 for providing that straw. You'll also want to choose the manure heap from the silo extensions to capture that useful manure.