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

ShooTa · Feb 10, 2019

@awkward - thats a thought but does involve waiting - but a good suggestion/
@Henarar - no drains - its a high welll draining pasture. just v poor quality this time of year.

Kiwi Pete · Feb 10, 2019

n.w said:
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....

Kiwi Pete · Feb 10, 2019

ShooTa said:
@awkward - thats a thought but does involve waiting - but a good suggestion/
@Henarar - no drains - its a high welll draining pasture. just v poor quality this time of year.

Borrow some cattle in the spring. If you can afford to rest it, rest it.

Macsky · Feb 10, 2019

n.w said:
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 · Feb 10, 2019

Macsky said:
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

n.w · Feb 10, 2019

Kiwi Pete said:
I'm thinking of dotting a few apple trees around the place, you know the saying about an apple a day....

Indeed why not ! Agroforestry

Kiwi Pete · Feb 10, 2019

n.w said:
Indeed why not ! Agroforestry

Can't beat a few trees about, eventually I'd like the place sprinkled with a mixture of NZ natives, fruit trees etc.

Kiwi Pete · Feb 10, 2019

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

Not far from the sea at all.

Kiwi Pete · Feb 10, 2019

Regarding the plastic-polluted seaweed, you could maybe try soaking/brewing it in water, the algae of course "dissolves" after a few weeks and goes into suspension.
It could be a way to get the rubbish out of it?

Macsky · Feb 10, 2019

n.w said:
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.

Farmer Roy · Feb 10, 2019

holwellcourtfarm said:
Has this been posted before?

but where is all the lush green ryegrass ?

I haven't seen it before, so thanks
all those Peter Byck films are pretty awesome

Crofter64 · Feb 10, 2019

ShooTa said:
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.

Kiwi Pete · Feb 10, 2019

Did you age again, @Farmer Roy?

If so, many happy returns, I only remembered as it would have been my parent's 51st wedding anniversary.

holwellcourtfarm · Feb 10, 2019

Kiwi Pete said:
View attachment 765738
We are just over the bump in the middle of this photo.View attachment 765740
Not far from the sea at all.

At least you're the opposite end from the fire at the moment

Kiwi Pete · Feb 10, 2019

holwellcourtfarm said:
At least you're the opposite end from the fire at the moment

I had to put one out on Saturday

just out of the right hand edge of this picture, a glass bottle had started a fire with the sun

This was the fire crew, I just grabbed the tanker from the station and doused it

Farmer Roy · Feb 10, 2019

Kiwi Pete · Feb 10, 2019

Farmer Roy said:

Love it - it's all about that water cycle, whether you get 10 inches or 10 feet of it a year

Somewhere in the middle, "you don't have to" worry about it

Treg · Feb 11, 2019

Kiwi Pete said:
View attachment 765738
We are just over the bump in the middle of this photo.View attachment 765740
Not far from the sea at all.

Looks beautiful Kp, what a amazing area to work & play in

Kiwi Pete · Feb 11, 2019

It's just alright, on a good day.

As you can see from the sea, it was a great day!

"Flat as a turd"

Tautuku Bay (top) and the Tahakopa river mouth at Papatowai.

It's quite a diverse environment, I don't get sick of being paid to drive around it over summer.

I plan to die here, at the right time...

ShooTa · Feb 11, 2019

good vid @Farmer Roy

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

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