ShooTa
Member
- Location
- Denbighshire - In the vale of Clwyd!
i have some Calciject - not used it ever before so will bone up. - have stuck out some extra buckets and keeping a warey eye.
"Improving Our Lot" - Planned Holistic Grazing, for starters..
- Thread starter Kiwi Pete
- Start date
- Location
- NSW, Newstralya
- Location
- NSW, Newstralya
We’ve talked before about the need for flexibility of stock numbers re grazing management, & the ability to change numbers as the season dictates ?
from a local FB friend of mine
Back in the game, these little fellas arrived from W.A., after a 4400km ride. Very impressed with the professionalism of the carrier's, Wayne and Cameron, drivers for Ellison's. They walked off the truck 1/2 an hour before I filmed them walking out through the cooler yard. Still better value than cattle in NSW, many thanks to Warick Clydsdale for a great consignment of young cattle.
from a local FB friend of mine
Back in the game, these little fellas arrived from W.A., after a 4400km ride. Very impressed with the professionalism of the carrier's, Wayne and Cameron, drivers for Ellison's. They walked off the truck 1/2 an hour before I filmed them walking out through the cooler yard. Still better value than cattle in NSW, many thanks to Warick Clydsdale for a great consignment of young cattle.
JohnGalway
Member
- Location
- Connemara, Ireland
Question for those leaving and feeding hay outside, bale/pod grazing, unrolling etc. I'm in two minds whether to buy another load of hay next week, or wait a fortnight before ordering. There's a strong likelihood drivers at some point may be put on a permit to travel system due to Covid-19.
Official lambing start is April 20th. I have enough hay & crystalyx to get me to that date but no further. The idea is let the flock lamb where they are, and move them to the land I've been saving for paddock system once full trailer loads are ready.
Back to the hay. We get a *lot* of rain. Would I be nuts to buy another load now, thinking weather spoil vs Covid-19 possible issues, given it won't even start to be eaten until April 20?
I'm probably over thinking this?
Official lambing start is April 20th. I have enough hay & crystalyx to get me to that date but no further. The idea is let the flock lamb where they are, and move them to the land I've been saving for paddock system once full trailer loads are ready.
Back to the hay. We get a *lot* of rain. Would I be nuts to buy another load now, thinking weather spoil vs Covid-19 possible issues, given it won't even start to be eaten until April 20?
I'm probably over thinking this?
- Location
- Devon
TBH I wouldn't blame farmers. They've responded to market forces, govt policy, etc.just wait for the self righteous indignation “how dare they blame farmers”
However I'm definitely NOT saying there isn't a need for change. Both in terms of attitude and what happens on the ground.
Guess this sums up what I'm saying. It's our collective responsibility as the human race, and more particularly, as the developed world.
- Location
- Derbyshire
Looking at your last picture of bales / sheep numbers I'd say you will not need to buy more in. The DM demand of animals immediately pre and post lambing/calving falls significantly. Furthermore, every day now is longer and grass is growing.. Spring is just around the corner ?
- Location
- Ardrossan Ayrshire
If your hay was stored on pallets and stacked up under plastic it will keep fine, obviously you would hope for grass to be coming by the 20th of April but we have had years where the cows have only just got out in May.......
- Location
- Isle of Skye
Hello all, I've been following this thread for a while now and it feels a bit like eavesdropping, so I thought i better join tff. I just wanted to say how helpful all this knowledge and experience is, and how useful it is to me.
This where a #good# quality daily concentrate ration in the late stages and early lactation if necessary as apart from giving them a measured amount of all they need( plus good forage of course)it helps as it lessens the amount of other things they eat, continued after lambing for awhile if there isnt enough quality grass until spring brings it on .
Better than buying hay of random nutrient content and more storage space needed.
And better value than crystalyx buckets plus you get to see the stock better as they feed , or not as the case may be.
# not biscuit waste and urea pressed together with fat and molasses
#
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JohnGalway
Member
- Location
- Connemara, Ireland
This where a #good# quality daily concentrate ration in the late stages and early lactation if necessary as apart from giving them a measured amount of all they need( plus good forage of course)it helps as it lessens the amount of other things they eat, continued after lambing for awhile if there isnt enough quality grass until spring brings it on .
Better than buying hay of random nutrient content and more storage space needed.
And better value than crystalyx buckets plus you get to see the stock better as they feed , or not as the case may be.
# not biscuit waste and urea pressed together with fat and molasses
Except I've broken my hand so can't handle ration ?
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
It's insurance. Plus fertiliser, maybe some seed as well.
If you can get it, and it's not going to alter your cashflow terribly, then I'd personally go for it... people jump to do much dumber things than buy spare hay
What would be nuts is asking your hay supplier if they could put it through a wrapper and put a minimal amount of plastic on it for you, and that would definitely help keep it drier for much longer.... but I'd just buy it and roll it out for longer/bigger patch.
Oh dear Galway John, i hope it mends promptlyExcept I've broken my hand so can't handle ration ?
- Location
- Glen Clova, Angus, DD8 4RD
Johnny Whiteheads
Member
I have hay out last 3 weeks with no waste, think next 3 weeks will have less rain. Granted dry cows are eating the hay but they are not being overly pushed to clear out ring feedersIt's insurance. Plus fertiliser, maybe some seed as well.
If you can get it, and it's not going to alter your cashflow terribly, then I'd personally go for it... people jump to do much dumber things than buy spare hay
What would be nuts is asking your hay supplier if they could put it through a wrapper and put a minimal amount of plastic on it for you, and that would definitely help keep it drier for much longer.... but I'd just buy it and roll it out for longer/bigger patch.
- Location
- West Yorkshire
Bloody hell I’d best put my drought plan in action.???
No rain after today for the next week supposedly
Hopefully get in fields and fettle a few blown drains up hopefully before turn out.
(It sounds a bit daft but hopefully I’ll be getting laid off from work for a little while due to the virus due to cancelled orders and material shortages, so it will give me time to sort some jobs out and get some muck on the hill if it does come dry enough. )
No rain after today for the next week supposedly
Hopefully get in fields and fettle a few blown drains up hopefully before turn out.
(It sounds a bit daft but hopefully I’ll be getting laid off from work for a little while due to the virus due to cancelled orders and material shortages, so it will give me time to sort some jobs out and get some muck on the hill if it does come dry enough. )
awkward
Member
- Location
- kerry ireland
Every cloud has a silver lining
- Location
- Isle of Skye
From last couple of years experience for me I would definitely keep them going on what they've been used to until most have lambed, and I know that if I had sparse feeding at lambing I would be forced to graze saved fields too early and end up being ahead of the grass, hoping for it to catch up and meet demand.
That's what happened here last lambing which just ended up setting everything back for the whole summer really. Much better to buy the hay I say.
btw. your photos show conditions almost identical to here (west coast Scotland) and although spring is coming, it can be very slow. I wouldn't want to be depending on good grass on 20th April.
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
Not very often that I have my heifers right beside the bulls, but I probably can going by this.
Very chilled
(gotta love a wide angle lens)
It's forecast to hose it down Saturday, so we're grazing them towards a hill I want them to work on, hence the shorter cover in here.
I really need "all hands on deck" because the wet conditions won't last for long enough to get the whole hill trampled properly with just one mob.
Then (like @Karliboy) I'm going to spread some compost on it and leave it to recover
- Location
- Isle of Skye
View attachment 864473
Not very often that I have my heifers right beside the bulls, but I probably can going by this.
Very chilled
(gotta love a wide angle lens)
It's forecast to hose it down Saturday, so we're grazing them towards a hill I want them to work on, hence the shorter cover in here.
I really need "all hands on deck" because the wet conditions won't last for long enough to get the whole hill trampled properly with just one mob.
Then (like @Karliboy) I'm going to spread some compost on it and leave it to recover
Is the hill you want them to work on overgrown with undesirable plants or are you looking to build fertility on a less fertile area? And how much compost will you apply?
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
Hi, cheers for joining up and joining in!
The idea behind the madness, is to increase the waterholding capacity of the slopes. Due to cultivation and levelling operations in the past, topsoil has been 'rubbed off' and as a result these sidlings tend to produce a lot less.
Also, the stock tend to graze the grass down off these areas but rarely lie there (so there's a fertility transfer each time, the cumulative effects are quite apparent).
By putting the cattle on these slopes when the soil is a bit softer, we can make them not only poo all over the slopes but also dent the surface, which means each hoofprint becomes a little 'eggcup' to hold water.
A couple of wet/dry/wet cycles and these eggcups become little funnels, which channel the rain into the subsoil and promote better root depth = better carbon depth = better waterholding = better fertility
We're assisting this by making very small paddocks (around 600 square metres) for better control of the mobs.
As for compost, I will put about 10 tonnes/hectare on these slopes and then see what's left for the rest of the ranch. It'll be a variable rate because some areas grow like stink compared to other areas!
We'll also drill covercrops on them repeatedly and see if that can help get the biology whirring a bit better, it's a long game.