JohnGalway
Member
- Location
- Connemara, Ireland
You made me think for a while.... you'll miss some stuff, but we live in the presentand we aren't going back
Don't look back, we're not going that way
"Improving Our Lot" - Planned Holistic Grazing, for starters..
- Thread starter Kiwi Pete
- Start date
Don't look back, we're not going that way
Sometimes you need to look back as you can’t go forward...Don't look back, we're not going that way
Then, when you are back you can take a look at where you went wrong and make a plan...
not enough speed was the problem.
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
These cattle have a thing about accidentally grazing around the creeks in the summertime
just ignore that bit of electric fence there
sounds like we made a fair impression on the new owner of these little heifers we pumped up, he rang the stock agent to ask if we'd consider grazing his speckle park calves here over the winter.
Love it when good things happen
just ignore that bit of electric fence there
sounds like we made a fair impression on the new owner of these little heifers we pumped up, he rang the stock agent to ask if we'd consider grazing his speckle park calves here over the winter.
Love it when good things happen
JohnGalway
Member
- Location
- Connemara, Ireland
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
2020 rainfall by month
about 890mm more this year, than 2018
about 890mm more this year, than 2018
JohnGalway
Member
- Location
- Connemara, Ireland
Less than I'd get in an "average" year.
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
About 600mm above our average.
It's funny though, farmers are already talking about "isn't the ground hard" and "we could use some rain" and "starting to brown off where it's shallow" etc.
2 weeks into summer!
I think I might put the mobs together again, now we've caught up. Seems kinda counterproductive to have cattle all bunched up but sheep and cattle all spread out and only moved daily when we could just shift the lot twice a day.. but it did jump us back up to level with the grazing plan
Have you got monthly average temperatures too?
exmoor dave
Member
- Location
- exmoor, uk
About 600mm above our average.
It's funny though, farmers are already talking about "isn't the ground hard" and "we could use some rain" and "starting to brown off where it's shallow" etc.
2 weeks into summer!
I think I might put the mobs together again, now we've caught up. Seems kinda counterproductive to have cattle all bunched up but sheep and cattle all spread out and only moved daily when we could just shift the lot twice a day.. but it did jump us back up to level with the grazing plan
Do you have different cattle from different people Pete?
Would that cause a problem mobbing groups up?
Would be a nightmare in the UK
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
Nah. The mean annual temp here is about 11.2°C I think I read somewhere.
- Location
- Glen Clova, Angus, DD8 4RD
Do you have different cattle from different people Pete?
Would that cause a problem mobbing groups up?
Would be a nightmare in the UK
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
Yep! The mob of angus heifers has changed ownership 3 times in the 6 months they've been here - think they arrived 6 months ago today actually. Now they're destined to be DNA tested and impregnated for live export to China, hence the new tags in their ears.Do you have different cattle from different people Pete?
Would that cause a problem mobbing groups up?
Would be a nightmare in the UK
This means 2 more bulls on the place as limo is lame and the Chinese don't like speckle parks as they consider them "unlucky"
(Hence the 100 yearling bulls turning into 46 2 yo steers))
It could have its downsides in regards to an outbreak but "technically" they are still different herds in the mob so they maintain their own tb status etc and we don't take movement control stock.
Sounds like a right PITA but that's all the cons.. most "farmers of cattle" only have one herd but want to keep them in lots of mobs and I couldn't be f**ked with all that, heifers and cows and calves and bulls
make you wonder how that's mimicking nature
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
Accurate - it isn't an animal problem but a people problem
JohnGalway
Member
- Location
- Connemara, Ireland
Isn't it funny how often this crops up. Most of the podcasts I listen to rate people problems at the top of the list in agriculture.
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
You only need to look at the response to covid19 to see the evidence of this.
"keep everyone apart and wait for a vaccine" instead of "go about your regular business but be aware of the at-risk members of society"
if I can develop some degree of immunity from a vaccine then why can't I develop it from coming in contact with it?
If keeping all these herds and flocks separate is the answer, then why is scab and CODD and all the rest of these "animal health problems" still problems?
What about if we put them all together and the ones who couldn't hack it didn't breed more weakness into the flock?
"keep everyone apart and wait for a vaccine" instead of "go about your regular business but be aware of the at-risk members of society"
if I can develop some degree of immunity from a vaccine then why can't I develop it from coming in contact with it?
If keeping all these herds and flocks separate is the answer, then why is scab and CODD and all the rest of these "animal health problems" still problems?
What about if we put them all together and the ones who couldn't hack it didn't breed more weakness into the flock?
JohnGalway
Member
- Location
- Connemara, Ireland
I have to say with Covid I'll try to keep it at arms length. I'm getting physio for the last few weeks on a hip issue, she's been telling me generally about patients coming in with "long covid". Typically for her business (and she's top at what she does) this is presenting as shoulder and chest issues. But she's told me that the same patients are also suffering internal organ issues. The long covid was a new term to me, but she reckoned 10-30% of covid patients are long termers. I'm going to give it some respect I figure. If it were a one or two week dose and then you're done I'd be more yahoo about it because I feel I'm in a place where I can deal with that. But as a lone operator on the farm I can't afford (in many ways) a long term debilitating condition (or at least more of them).
- Location
- Quebec, Canada
Actually, I missed about 3 months in the spring. The comment about missing pages made me look back and I am now enjoying sitting by the fire, ignoring the wind and the cold, and reading about spring pastures!Don't look back, we're not going that way
JohnGalway
Member
- Location
- Connemara, Ireland
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
Spring pasture is great!
Got another 50 cattle this afternoon - luckily the truckie rang me when he was ½ an hour away as we didn't know we were getting another load
it's all good though.140 mixed cattle, 300 sheep + lambs on 5800m²
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Because people.b