"Improving Our Lot" - Planned Holistic Grazing, for starters..

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
Many years ago I worked on a dairy farm in Essex and my first job [in the winter] was to collect a trailer full of apples which were being discarded from the local fruit packing factory. we fed them straight to the milking cows




Agreed 30 tons does seem a bit excessive but as you can see from the photo the land is very sandy... incidentally its a struggle to use seaweed now as there is so much plastic rubbish in it..

View attachment 765546
I'm thinking of dotting a few apple trees around the place, you know the saying about an apple a day....
 

Macsky

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Highland
Many years ago I worked on a dairy farm in Essex and my first job [in the winter] was to collect a trailer full of apples which were being discarded from the local fruit packing factory. we fed them straight to the milking cows




Agreed 30 tons does seem a bit excessive but as you can see from the photo the land is very sandy... incidentally its a struggle to use seaweed now as there is so much plastic rubbish in it..

View attachment 765546

I’ve been over to N Uist plenty and have often thought that it would be a great place for no till and cover cropping/strip grazing. Ploughing that sand seems crazy, especially with the wind there.
 

n.w

Member
Location
western isles
I’ve been over to N Uist plenty and have often thought that it would be a great place for no till and cover cropping/strip grazing. Ploughing that sand seems crazy, especially with the wind there.

Very good points, N Uist does a lot more cropping than Harris, Our crofts are divided into strips about 2 hectares each. with very little cultivation undertaken, most will grow potatoes for own consumption, shallow ploughing with the potatoes dropped in with the turf behind the plough, I grow carrots, and like to sow oats, basically as a food source for Corn Buntings etc. and to encourage corn field annuals, [ just playing TBH] The machair is grazed by cattle and sheep and they are not removed until the middle of May. also im not overly happy introducing certain types of cover crops as a fair bit of it is SSSI. Ive never noticed any erosion here possibly due to the strip allocation ..However I can imagine the larger areas cultivated in N Uist would benefit from direct drilling
 

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
20190211_103402.jpg

We are just over the bump in the middle of this photo.
20190211_102851.jpg

Not far from the sea at all.
 

Macsky

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Highland
Very good points, N Uist does a lot more cropping than Harris, Our crofts are divided into strips about 2 hectares each. with very little cultivation undertaken, most will grow potatoes for own consumption, shallow ploughing with the potatoes dropped in with the turf behind the plough, I grow carrots, and like to sow oats, basically as a food source for Corn Buntings etc. and to encourage corn field annuals, [ just playing TBH] The machair is grazed by cattle and sheep and they are not removed until the middle of May. also im not overly happy introducing certain types of cover crops as a fair bit of it is SSSI. Ive never noticed any erosion here possibly due to the strip allocation ..However I can imagine the larger areas cultivated in N Uist would benefit from direct drilling

Obviously Harris, how did I miss that? That’s got to be Northton. Over there even more frequently, married to a native.
 

Crofter64

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Quebec, Canada
He (greg judy) did indeed say that about the non-weaning - i tried it with the sheep this year - I think itll take a few years to get it down pat - but we didnt get 1/2 as many away as i would have liked - that could have been down to me fudging (too tight too early) up or the hot summer....but it depends if you want to - i could see maybe an oppotunity for a hogget style system where you maintain the flock through winter - possibly getting them onto a nearby arable crop or something else.

Im wrapping my head around a field atm which was poor last year - and since autumn when rested its done buggerall - low rabbit grazed stuff and moss - with a compacted layer from over/undergrazing at about 4 in.... which im likely going to get a subsoiler in to speed thigs up as i dont have cows.

However what are your thoughts as to throwing the stock on it in the next week or 2 before spring just for anmal impact ??
ive got a few small bales that i can use to feed in the area as a fallback.
I think Its a good idea. Stomp it a bit and break up the moss , scatter some seed, feed them hay, but definitely concentrate them with electric fencing.Then leave it alone and let it do its thing.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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