my goodness that's terrible
"Improving Our Lot" - Planned Holistic Grazing, for starters..
- Thread starter Kiwi Pete
- Start date
to be fair I didn't know that ploughing realised a lot of carbon till I read it on here, I did know that I didn't like regular ploughing though just from looking around at some of the land around here that is ploughed often and how it performs or rather how it won't perform as soon as the inputs stopCorrect, again, there are so many with a grudge!
I suppose I appear to have the odd grudge against other members but I always give them the time to explain their point of view before I question it or put my POV across, if they started to talk more sense then I'd agree with them but they don't and so I don't.
But you do need to know your stuff before you speak, the irony of some of these habitual ploughmen riding @Clive for being on a plane obviously have no idea how much carbon they oxidise when they plough an acre
but it's more than a few kgs.
Largely it comes down to what we tell ourself, while many may settle for a "garbage in, garbage out" brain I wouldn't be comfortable at all putting my name to some of the outrightthat farmers choose to believe.
They have lost the battle against the vegan or the lefty-greeny before they even show up, if they don't intimately know their own business
It's apparent many do not
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
Like most things you can make it work for or against your operation - the main caveat with most "work" is when you create a need to do more of it to pay for the work you did.
We used to have about 30 years in grass, then dump lime and serp super on, grow a big crop of swedes, which would then grow a 4 foot crop of weeds after
That was mainly used for lambing in as it was such great shelter and good feed, then it would go back into grass for another 30 years.
So the amount of time bleeding vs healing was really pretty minimal compared to how many of the modern outfits like to do it - the way they graze what they grow the pasture is fooked in 6 years so must be reseeded - you can afford to grow a lot less if you aren't running up large bills.
But similarly I simply looked at it as "drying out" rather than "oxidising lots of liquid carbon and losing some moisture with it"
It makes it hard to progress when you have big losses of carbon, both in terms of selling crops/hay/straw as well as cultivating
- Location
- Glen Clova, Angus, DD8 4RD
Ploughing out established grass has also been found to release huge quantities of N, most of which then leaches away
Ploughing out established grass has also been found to release huge quantities of N, most of which then leaches away
texas pete
Member
- Location
- East Mids
View attachment 787894 done a bit a couple days ago
I’m surprised the special holistic swear filter allowed that picture to be honest. You’ll tip some folk over the edge, posting filth like that.
Only a bit of garden for a few spudsI’m surprised the special holistic swear filter allowed that picture to be honest. You’ll tip some folk over the edge, posting filth like that.
- Location
- Glen Clova, Angus, DD8 4RD
Testing the mobile water trough today..
And had a little bonding time with the girls
And had a little bonding time with the girls
- Location
- Welshpool Powys
Plenty of grass H
yes but its a bit slow, going to have to rain afore it gets going I recon not that the ground is dry but it needs to warm up
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
Mine took about 3 months, by which time they were proper big baconers, about 70kg?
I probably put about half a ton of peas in, as pea hay, and let the cattle moosh it right down before turning them out, so the piggies had plenty to go bobbing for! 16 hesston bales between 4 pigs
When you spread the compost did the land perform any differently to spreading normal dung?
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
I still haven't spread any, because I use woodchips for my shed it takes a while for some of the wood to break down.
I had a change of plan after the first year, as I thought it was more manurey than it actually was - so now I am composting it in situ and then will clean it out fully in the coming spring, and spread the lot at once.
The big pile will be targeted on the low fertility areas, it's quite well composted now after 2 years - and the fresher stuff will be sprinkled more thinly over the whole area, is the plan.
I've got about 35 tons of soft brown coal and will get about the same amount of lime, will put roughly thirds of each in the spreaders
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
I should add that what's in the heap now, is NOTHING LIKE what it was when I put it there.
I did move it with the forks after about a year heaped up, after it initially slumped - but it definitely isn't looking like woodchips and poo in there - more like soil, full of fungii and beetles and tiger worms, hence why I decided against turning it mechanically.
I did look at that option, as a few guys around have bought compost turners etc and it does make really good stuff - but there's nothing visibly living in it like mine.
Next time, I'll make a much longer and lower windrow, just so it's easier to get the forks to the middle - my main concern was keeping the footprint small as I had nothing to cover it with.
Ideally I'd unroll a lot of hay and then put the cleanings on top of it, put more hay on top and let it sit for a week, then blend it all up with the big loader at work
It hasn't been a real pressing issue to get it spread to date as the way we are grazing now, the whole farm is quietly composting away - the main holdup has been a lack of moisture, but it's here now.
I did move it with the forks after about a year heaped up, after it initially slumped - but it definitely isn't looking like woodchips and poo in there - more like soil, full of fungii and beetles and tiger worms, hence why I decided against turning it mechanically.
I did look at that option, as a few guys around have bought compost turners etc and it does make really good stuff - but there's nothing visibly living in it like mine.
Next time, I'll make a much longer and lower windrow, just so it's easier to get the forks to the middle - my main concern was keeping the footprint small as I had nothing to cover it with.
Ideally I'd unroll a lot of hay and then put the cleanings on top of it, put more hay on top and let it sit for a week, then blend it all up with the big loader at work
It hasn't been a real pressing issue to get it spread to date as the way we are grazing now, the whole farm is quietly composting away - the main holdup has been a lack of moisture, but it's here now.
- Location
- Glen Clova, Angus, DD8 4RD
You need occasional access to a big cheap 360 excavator for turning duty. Know anyone with one?I should add that what's in the heap now, is NOTHING LIKE what it was when I put it there.
I did move it with the forks after about a year heaped up, after it initially slumped - but it definitely isn't looking like woodchips and poo in there - more like soil, full of fungii and beetles and tiger worms, hence why I decided against turning it mechanically.
I did look at that option, as a few guys around have bought compost turners etc and it does make really good stuff - but there's nothing visibly living in it like mine.
Next time, I'll make a much longer and lower windrow, just so it's easier to get the forks to the middle - my main concern was keeping the footprint small as I had nothing to cover it with.
Ideally I'd unroll a lot of hay and then put the cleanings on top of it, put more hay on top and let it sit for a week, then blend it all up with the big loader at work
It hasn't been a real pressing issue to get it spread to date as the way we are grazing now, the whole farm is quietly composting away - the main holdup has been a lack of moisture, but it's here now.
I should add that what's in the heap now, is NOTHING LIKE what it was when I put it there.
I did move it with the forks after about a year heaped up, after it initially slumped - but it definitely isn't looking like woodchips and poo in there - more like soil, full of fungii and beetles and tiger worms, hence why I decided against turning it mechanically.
I did look at that option, as a few guys around have bought compost turners etc and it does make really good stuff - but there's nothing visibly living in it like mine.
Next time, I'll make a much longer and lower windrow, just so it's easier to get the forks to the middle - my main concern was keeping the footprint small as I had nothing to cover it with.
Ideally I'd unroll a lot of hay and then put the cleanings on top of it, put more hay on top and let it sit for a week, then blend it all up with the big loader at work
It hasn't been a real pressing issue to get it spread to date as the way we are grazing now, the whole farm is quietly composting away - the main holdup has been a lack of moisture, but it's here now.
Would it work laying some perforated pipe under the middle to let air move around then you could have a bigger heap on a smaller footprint?
How long have you been grazing your current way?