Depends on the year, sometimes the passengers are ok and are gaining a bit, if there is plenty they are not hurting, other years its time to get shot of anything that looks at you a bit sidewaysGood answers
Yeah this question from a mate was actually a pure "how much grass on the land in grazing days, from now" sort of shocker.
Kinda pointed out the passengers "we need to get rid of" are really costing us grazing days,, and need to get gone.
"Improving Our Lot" - Planned Holistic Grazing, for starters..
- Thread starter Kiwi Pete
- Start date
- Location
- Devon
Ah, but you don't have many white lice!
true, they can give a bloody pinch point
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
When I run the little battery "strip grazer" thingummy on the long acre, I use an old buggered sheep net for an earth and just sit its bag on top, and the battery on top of that for a bit of weight. Then it goes back in its bag and into the flaxbush for next time . Pays not to touch it to the outrigger apparently !!
I'm always tempted to try what you said there, but Sarah usually has it all sorted by the time I get there so haven't yet.
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
I really notice their absence this year! Feels odd coming home from work and going inside and staying inside.
" bloke could used to it.."
They are just harder to screw down is all, and that makes quite a difference sometimes.
- Location
- somerset
drought conditions, we have experienced them ! Year one isn't to bad, you should have a 'reserve' to tide you over, and going into yr 2, getting twitchy, drill lots of forage rape, early, in the knacked leys, and buy fodder, year 3, panic, sow even more forage rape, and start buying fodder very early.
Little doubt the acreage of forage rape was the godsend, 1 feed a day, for 6 months, plus feeding hay all through last summer, which l think was the driest, but the one we came out of the best, in terms of ley survival, bearing in mind, we had patches sown with rape, that took 8 weeks to germinate, as did the weeds, that survival was quite an achievement.
There are only 6acres of ley ground with grass over 4yrs old, and 7 pp. In the last three years, our grass farming 'technique' has radically altered, drought resistant grasses, herbs, have been sown, not hammering the paddocks with the dairy, just a 'quick' in, and out, leaving a high residual, and using hay, to fill them up, was certainly correct. But l think the most important lesson, was the fact that we realised we were in a hole, and actively sought out ways to cope, it proved saying, it will be better next yr, didn't work ! We were getting twitchy this spring, with the cold dry spell.
And here we are now, with grass coming out of our ears, forced to take grass out of the dairy rotation, because it's gone to far, for milk, and a pit full of silage, as well as the growing heap of bales, which will only grow more, it doesn't really matter if it didn't rain again, till the autumn, everything could be grazed, and enough grass silage could be made in the autumn, to 'top up'.
Lessons learn't ? Realising you are in a hole, stop digging, look for alternatives, even those with bunny hugger names, like regen, or holistic, and farm as if this will become more frequent,, as forecast by some.
Soil structure can seriously negate dry spells, as can 'different' grasses, herbs etc, and perhaps, if we get things right, there will be enough in the soil bank, to 'raid' in a dry year. More intriguing, where does the journey take us, how much more can we do, we simply do not know.
Little doubt the acreage of forage rape was the godsend, 1 feed a day, for 6 months, plus feeding hay all through last summer, which l think was the driest, but the one we came out of the best, in terms of ley survival, bearing in mind, we had patches sown with rape, that took 8 weeks to germinate, as did the weeds, that survival was quite an achievement.
There are only 6acres of ley ground with grass over 4yrs old, and 7 pp. In the last three years, our grass farming 'technique' has radically altered, drought resistant grasses, herbs, have been sown, not hammering the paddocks with the dairy, just a 'quick' in, and out, leaving a high residual, and using hay, to fill them up, was certainly correct. But l think the most important lesson, was the fact that we realised we were in a hole, and actively sought out ways to cope, it proved saying, it will be better next yr, didn't work ! We were getting twitchy this spring, with the cold dry spell.
And here we are now, with grass coming out of our ears, forced to take grass out of the dairy rotation, because it's gone to far, for milk, and a pit full of silage, as well as the growing heap of bales, which will only grow more, it doesn't really matter if it didn't rain again, till the autumn, everything could be grazed, and enough grass silage could be made in the autumn, to 'top up'.
Lessons learn't ? Realising you are in a hole, stop digging, look for alternatives, even those with bunny hugger names, like regen, or holistic, and farm as if this will become more frequent,, as forecast by some.
Soil structure can seriously negate dry spells, as can 'different' grasses, herbs etc, and perhaps, if we get things right, there will be enough in the soil bank, to 'raid' in a dry year. More intriguing, where does the journey take us, how much more can we do, we simply do not know.
Fenwick
Member
- Location
- Bretagne France
| Calcul Stock sur pied. | Besoins kgMS/Vache | UBG LOT | Besoins kgMS/Lot/Jour | |||||
| (Parcelles hors de rotation printainier) | 12 | 63 | 756 | |||||
| Ref# | NOM | Surface | Rendement kgMS/ha | KGMS / Parcelle | Duree du stock (Jours) | |||
| V8 | 1,53 | 5500 | 8415 | 11,13 | ||||
| V9 | 2,35 | 5500 | 12925 | 17,10 | ||||
| H3 | 2,24 | 5500 | 12320 | 16,30 | ||||
| H4 | 1,84 | 5500 | 10120 | 13,39 | ||||
| Total | 7,96 | 22000 | 43780 | 57,91 |
Our plan for 60 days (well 57.91) of summer 'dry'. Gives us a bit of time to decide on destocking/early weaning etc etc.
- Location
- Essex
The bottom strand earth has only ever been desperate measures for me because we only run two strands for sheep, but I think it does help.
- Location
- Glen Clova, Angus, DD8 4RD
The olympic athletes of the "surviving drought" world are the Aussies. We can learn so much from them.
Drought plan. Don’t have one as such but we make some hay on some off lying land which is to sell during the winter. If it was dry then some of that could be fed to the cows. For the R2s I would just house early the largest of them. The R1s could just graze some silage ground instead of another cut of silage.
Thinking about the groups though probably the bunch with the largest reserve in the rotation at the moment are the bunch on the nearly 50 day round which could be slowed up even more if needed.
Thinking about the groups though probably the bunch with the largest reserve in the rotation at the moment are the bunch on the nearly 50 day round which could be slowed up even more if needed.
- Location
- Quebec, Canada
3.8mm of rain in May. Very hot, then 3C with several days of a blistering North wind that burned the leaves on trees. 13mm yesterday and everything already looks better- I was in drought mode, but so were the grasses. As the grass had thrown up such tall seed stalks I am moving the animals slowly letting them really take it down . They flatten the stalks which act as mulch. I had 35 days of grazing ahead of me before the rain.I’m still partly destocking as with Covid if you have an appointment with the butcher you had better take it as there won’t be another - so I should be in a better situation whatever comes. As I was trying to push pickets into the ground I kept thinking how much more difficult drought in Australia must be.
I have planted many trees over the years and one of my neighbours cautioned that the trees will take all the water from the grass and I will have shortages. Well, the only place on the farm that had any ground moisture was under the trees, especially the conifers. Lovely soil under them.
I have planted many trees over the years and one of my neighbours cautioned that the trees will take all the water from the grass and I will have shortages. Well, the only place on the farm that had any ground moisture was under the trees, especially the conifers. Lovely soil under them.
- Location
- somerset
the biggest proof of that, can be seen from aerial photos, a green patch in the yellow landscape, is quite obvious. And yet the pioneers over there, are not really believed, it's a 'fad' thing, it won't last. There is a world of difference between our mini droughts, and there's, and many of the methods used, same with many arid countries, are not effective here, or are impractical, mainly because of our small farm sizes. Even so, most of those methods are quite simple, slow run off, plant trees etc. In common with other semi arid countries, min, or no til, seems to be the norm, rotational grazing, and not leaving bare ground, for long periods.
A lot of those farmers, use livestock in their systems, and deem them crucial, and yet, over here, they get the blame, over grazing moors etc, perhaps the zealots preaching that, may realise they were wrong, one day. Here, in the UK, many of the methods used, have to be 'adapted' to fit in with our smaller farms, and we have to realise our droughts are miniscule. The common thread through all methods, is reversing back to systems that worked, pre modern farming methods, which just made easy short term fixes. In many ways, we can't do that, in todays world, it would lead to insolvency, however we can learn from the principles, and we can thank 'modern' farming, for providing tools we can use to realise those principles, eg traditional hay meadows, can be diverse grazing mixes, a return to rotations, or rotations that build fertility, the introduction of livestock back onto arable farms, made easy by modern electric fencing, new varieties of legumes, that can increase N faster in the soil, one could go on and on, but, for everything we can think of, there is a viable modern equivalent, that will produce the same result, the tool box. We just need to sort them through.
JohnGalway
Member
- Location
- Connemara, Ireland
Drought, or rather shitty spring plan here is to have enough hay to get just past mid April, then I get to my drought plan, molinia! Which I'm still grazing.
Fenwick
Member
- Location
- Bretagne France
Molina! Didn't even know that sheep grazed it. Round here its used to make baskets!
- Location
- Glen Clova, Angus, DD8 4RD
One of those things it's easy to ignore until you find you need it. Something to idly mull over in those moments when you are idle.
Except that you've a young family so "idle" is a pipe dream
I used to find time driving tractors on slow jobs like cultivation or rolling were ideal for that sort of thinking. Then I stopped doing those jobs.
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Woolless
Member
- Location
- Berwickshire, Scottish Borders
Thinking time is the one advantage for me of having a job that requires a lengthy commute.One of those things it's easy to ignore until you find you need it. Something to idly mull over in those moments when you are idle.
Ecxept that you've a young family so "idle" is a pipe dream
I used to find time driving tractors on slow jobs like cultivation or rolling were idel for that sort of thinking. Then I stopped doing those jobs.
JohnGalway
Member
- Location
- Connemara, Ireland
What a fascinating little film! What a strange world...
- Location
- Isle of Skye
Interesting, I did some googling to see how he was getting on. He was jailed in 2016 for 4 and 1/2 years for $1.5M tax evasion.
