mob stocking

Farmer Roy · Jul 26, 2017

martian said:
We are getting more and more grass-hoppers and ants

I've a feeling ants and worms don't get on very well. Should I be worried?

Err, not too sure about ants damaging worms, but as with all things, nature finds a balance if allowed. Many invertebrates are predators or prey for others . . .
We love to see spiders & small parasitic wasps as they are great predators
Don't be too hard on ants, in hot arid environments they are generally the major macro life in the soil & do provide many of the soil movement & plant matter decomposition tasks that worms do

Farmer Roy · Jul 26, 2017

PS - have only just come across this thread. As a long term zero till farmer who is becoming increasingly interested in regenerative agriculture, I'm finding it fascinating
I also have some non arable land I currently rent to a neighbour, but plan to take it over again when the current agreement comes to an end

martian · Jul 26, 2017

Funnily enough, I first heard about mob-grazing from a friend in Western Australia, who was telling me about some remote station that had turned desert back to good grazing land by high impact grazing with long rest periods. Sounded too good to be true...
I'm sure you won't regret taking over your non-arable acres and getting a few animals. It suddenly feels like proper farming.
Thanks for suggestion about ants too, I'm sure you're right. England isn't normally hot and arid, though it was like that for a couple of weeks round hay-making time. The different species all seem to be rubbing along together at the moment. I was nervous that worms and ants were trying to occupy the same ecological niche, but they are not and there's plenty of room anyway

Brisel · Aug 3, 2017

First round of grazing underway. Only 40 heifers/acre/day but I think the aftermath looks ok.

Louis Mc · Aug 3, 2017

Brisel said:
View attachment 559626 View attachment 559624
First round of grazing underway. Only 40 heifers/acre/day but I think the aftermath looks ok.

Are you having fun?

Brisel · Aug 4, 2017

Louis Mc said:
Are you having fun?

Once the miles of fencing & water bowser building is done & paid for, yes!

ChrisStep · Sep 21, 2017

Getting clarty carting water so will be putting in some pipe. Can anyone point me in the direction of a quick connect T to connect the trough into the alkathene for each paddock?

Brisel · Sep 21, 2017

Plasson fittings are pretty good. Your local ag supplies merchant should sell them

ChrisStep · Sep 21, 2017

Do you just run with a standard T and a valve, or do they do snap coupler? I'm thinking a quick connect valve might be quicker and cheaper, but can't find anyone selling one.

scholland · Sep 21, 2017

Kiwitech sell them but they aren't allowed on mains water if that's what you use.

ChrisStep · Sep 21, 2017

Shoot me now - just found one... http://www.access-irrigation.co.uk/shop/taps-fittings/quick-coupling-valves

ChrisStep · Sep 21, 2017

scholland said:
Kiwitech sell them but they aren't allowed on mains water if that's what you use.

Thanks. I don't think you can connect overground pipe runs to the mains either can you? The plan is to park the bowser in the gateway and run the pipe from that to the trough positions. If we're short of pressure we'll move the bowser up the hill a bit... If we struggle for peak flow, we'll get a bigger trough. No mains as yet. Bowser gets filled with a cube twice a day.

Tim May · Sep 21, 2017

ChrisStep said:
Do you just run with a standard T and a valve, or do they do snap coupler? I'm thinking a quick connect valve might be quicker and cheaper, but can't find anyone selling one.

These are ok but you will be better if you add a bit of pipe at the T because when the cows tug at the lead out pipe it can pull the cuopling out of the thread (where the arrow is pointing to the quick connect valve) Also make sure that you can put the quick connect insert under rthe fence away from the cows because when they stand on it it can pop out. other than that they work well.

robo watson · Sep 23, 2017

I have purchased some rubber hose on eBay I was going to run them on the surface I did not realise there are rules against that. The water logistics is my issue it takes longer to fill Bowser than to shift mob and fences

mikep · Sep 24, 2017

robo watson said:
I have purchased some rubber hose on eBay I was going to run them on the surface I did not realise there are rules against that. The water logistics is my issue it takes longer to fill Bowser than to shift mob and fences

Complicated matter the water supply. Two things to consider, first to ensure no possible feed back of water to the mains thus leading to contamination of the supply. This can be done by a one way valve and an air gap at the trough. Pipe should not be left for a long time on the surface but is ok for a short time. Reason is that it is not UV stabilised and so can break down this bit is too protect against water loss. All pipes plumbed in as opposed to attached must be wras approved.

robo watson · Sep 24, 2017

Mikep thanks for that what do other mob grazers do for water. Burying water pipes sounds impractical especially in a arable situation. A Bowser does work fine only problem it needs a tractor to shift it and takes so long

Tim May · Sep 25, 2017

We use 32mm above ground Black pipes that go along the mid fence. Its the blue pipes that break down in sunlight. they are 150 m long and we put in a quick coupler at each joint. With out seeing your situation its hard to advise but if you had a high spot somewhere close to an access point you could run the pipes from a browser there if you had two browsers it would be better as you could fill one at your leisure and just swap them when you go to move the cattle. Another option would be to have a fixed point for the water and let the cattle run back to the trough when they want to.

Kiwi Pete · Sep 25, 2017

Just curious, is it possible to get around the mains water regs by using a tank with a timer valve - like a programmable garden watering setup would use?
So you can have the tank filling during the daytime, when you can supervise and check for leaks, but isolated overnight?

Tim May · Sep 25, 2017

Doesn't need to be that complicated, you just need to have a big gap between the bull valve and the water surface, a non return valve on the bull cock, and drill an overflow hole between the bull valve and the correct water level. Its all about keeping any water that might have been contaminated from the trough system from returning into the mains system.

5312 · Oct 18, 2017

I have been mob grazing for about 4 years now and the permanent pastures have increased in quality and quantity.

But we are now getting a lot of buttercups in the sward. I do not think that the mob grazing has caused it, they are taking over the lawn as well.

Is it worth doing anything about them? The cattle eat them right down and they must have some nutritional value.

We have not limed or reseeded any fields, i am hoping everything will come right just from the mob grazing as Greg Judy says.

mob stocking

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