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

Henarar

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Somerset
I think it's (mostly) a "farmer" thing. On the Holistic Planned Grazing course it was said that generally new to farming farmers usually give stock a bigger allocation of feed in a paddock than farmers. Bad habits or a mindset of scarcity maybe.
Must say I look at the allocation some give their stock and think that our lot would never put up with that
 

Rob Garrett

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Derbyshire UK
Second opinion required please?
Getting "untoward acceleration" job going on here (eating more grass than growing). Weaned lambs onto red clover mowing ground, selling lambs/culls etc.

Checked deferred grazing paddock below, which has had 64 days rest, was hoping to leave another round (30 day), but grass going flat and looks like rust mold setting in. So thinking of grazing now?
IMG_20200919_111524_0.jpg
IMG_20200919_111553_0.jpg
IMG_20200919_111642_6.jpg
IMG_20200919_111810_9.jpg
 

Crofter64

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Quebec, Canada
Second opinion required please?
Getting "untoward acceleration" job going on here (eating more grass than growing). Weaned lambs onto red clover mowing ground, selling lambs/culls etc.

Checked deferred grazing paddock below, which has had 64 days rest, was hoping to leave another round (30 day), but grass going flat and looks like rust mold setting in. So thinking of grazing now?
View attachment 908486View attachment 908487View attachment 908488View attachment 908489
Might do it some good to get a kick in the pants. Take it down and let it regrow. That’s what I did and it came back better than before. It is a risk- i.e it could get really wet and cold and not grow, or it could be the best thing for your sward. I have a lot of rusty looking grass and the stock are loving it.
 

Rob Garrett

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Derbyshire UK
If it were me I would get it grazed. Look at the leaves and think how efficient they are at photosynthesising at the moment. By grazing that and resting your other paddocks you will probably be concerting a lot more sunlight into feed especially at the moment when the grass is growing well
Plan was to use as deferred grazing/sacrificial field for cows/calves Oct Nov to reduce housing cost, but don't think the grass will stand much longer.
 

onesiedale

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Derbyshire
Second opinion required please?
Getting "untoward acceleration" job going on here (eating more grass than growing). Weaned lambs onto red clover mowing ground, selling lambs/culls etc.

Checked deferred grazing paddock below, which has had 64 days rest, was hoping to leave another round (30 day), but grass going flat and looks like rust mold setting in. So thinking of grazing now?
View attachment 908486View attachment 908487View attachment 908488View attachment 908489
How many acres?
How many stock?
You have got 100 days now till New Year. Will it simply divide up into 100 equal cells for grazing, but also supplementing with some bales along the way.
 

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
What's the weather doing up there?
We have sun today, infact we have sunshine again tomorrow before 8 days of forecast rain.

Is it still growing well? 🤔

I know when we "took the top off" our silage a couple of years back, it bloody near doubled the yield off the area, but it was still warm enough to respond because the soil temp was north of 12° at the time and it had unlimited moisture.
 

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
It feels like 'spring' today, not even "farmer's spring" where the wind blows the rain up your trouser-legs .

Trying to work out a stocking plan based on our newly-developed financial circumstances
20200920_095005.jpg

This is where I do a fair bit of "thinking"

I think we might boot out these grazing calves, because we kinda "need to" have our yearlings apart from the heifers for a couple of months and it would be good to have a bit of space for lambing.

I think the regenerative thing to do is to forgo a bit of income now, let the grass have a rest, and stock up when we have too much grass.
Rain and grey days mean we aren't really having September growth rates yet, so I need to watch the recovery of the plants
 

Crofter64

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Quebec, Canada
It feels like 'spring' today, not even "farmer's spring" where the wind blows the rain up your trouser-legs .

Trying to work out a stocking plan based on our newly-developed financial circumstancesView attachment 908618
This is where I do a fair bit of "thinking"

I think we might boot out these grazing calves, because we kinda "need to" have our yearlings apart from the heifers for a couple of months and it would be good to have a bit of space for lambing.

I think the regenerative thing to do is to forgo a bit of income now, let the grass have a rest, and stock up when we have too much grass.
Rain and grey days mean we aren't really having September growth rates yet, so I need to watch the recovery of the plants
Mixing and matching the stock is tricky. I just pulled some cows that are due to calve in 3 weeks. ( could be earlier). Gave them the best grazing on the farm. You’d think I tied them up and left them alone the way everyone is carrying on.
 

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
Mixing and matching the stock is tricky. I just pulled some cows that are due to calve in 3 weeks. ( could be earlier). Gave them the best grazing on the farm. You’d think I tied them up and left them alone the way everyone is carrying on.
Our heifers don't give a hoot, but their calves are still bawling away merrily.
Reminds me of @holwellcourtfarm's "mooing chimney" quote, as our stock seldom kick off, it is quite a thing to hear animals when we're not outside with them .
 

Henarar

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Somerset
Mixing and matching the stock is tricky. I just pulled some cows that are due to calve in 3 weeks. ( could be earlier). Gave them the best grazing on the farm. You’d think I tied them up and left them alone the way everyone is carrying on.
Odd that sometimes you can give them what you think is the best grazing and they are not happy but give them what you think is a load of rubbish and they are happy.
Anyone would think they know better than us ? Naa can't be can it ?
 

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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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