Farmer Roy's Random Thoughts - I never said it was easy.

[CornishTone]

We had the wettest winter in 90 years here, which followed the driest year in 50 or something. All over the place anyway!

I presume that deep ploughing was Holland or somewhere. They did a lot of that to bring clay up into the top soil, not dissimilar to what they do here in places, just slightly different kit!

 

[Farmer Roy]

ive been thinking a lot recently about the increased production /possible acceptance of "artificial" meat & the possible ramifications on the whole emerging regenerative / holistic agricultural & land management thinking. Grazing animals are crucial to this whole process, but people are increasingly removed from the realities of such things, much more swayed by emotions or false propaganda . . .
anyway, I saw this today & thought it amusing

 

[Kiwi Pete]

What sort of upper Dlwg have you seen from the really good doers when they are flying then Pete?

Some in the mob were going over 2.3 on fortnightly periods, the best average monthly gain was that across the board but you need good grass not this watery regrowth stuff - cattle don't do on lamb tucker the way they do on cattle tucker.

Have to have decent long grass to keep them doing above average gains and not have them hungry at any point.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

ive been thinking a lot recently about the increased production /possible acceptance of "artificial" meat & the possible ramifications on the whole emerging regenerative / holistic agricultural & land management thinking. Grazing animals are crucial to this whole process, but people are increasingly removed from the realities of such things, much more swayed by emotions or false propaganda . . .
anyway, I saw this today & thought it amusing

Sounds positively beastial

"mechanically separated hog remnants"

16 square yards of food would sustain a wing of invalids, I concur at least it is mostly mammals, which is something.... is that better than chemically degraded vegetable protein meat substitute?

 

[CornishTone]

Yes, it is frightening how the emotionally lead vegan/eco mentalist media machine manages to railroad their pseudo science and fake news into every aspect of the general public’s lives when it comes to livestock production.

I don’t know if you saw the vegan reaction to Allan Savorys TED talk on You Tube by some bloke called Mic? The only thing more scary than the video itself is some of the comments below it. People are genuinely taken in by it and believe them selves “educated”.

Their whole argument is based around the mega feed lots and they casually gloss over the benefits of grass fed livestock as it doesn’t suit their no meat agenda.

The Ag industry really needs to wake up to the threat of these nutters and put some real effort into the research and media presence needed to counter their utter claptrap!

 

[cows sh#t me to tears]

Yes, it is frightening how the emotionally lead vegan/eco mentalist media machine manages to railroad their pseudo science and fake news into every aspect of the general public’s lives when it comes to livestock production.

I don’t know if you saw the vegan reaction to Allan Savorys TED talk on You Tube by some bloke called Mic? The only thing more scary than the video itself is some of the comments below it. People are genuinely taken in by it and believe them selves “educated”.

Their whole argument is based around the mega feed lots and they casually gloss over the benefits of grass fed livestock as it doesn’t suit their no meat agenda.

The Ag industry really needs to wake up to the threat of these nutters and put some real effort into the research and media presence needed to counter their utter claptrap!

Dunno I find it hard to walk past a Bunnings sausage sizzle and not salivate. I'm sure those damn hippy vegan flogs secretly find drool forming in there gullets to As the population continues to ballon and people find themselves increasingly more hungry they'll happily eat dead flies if it comes to it

 

[CornishTone]

We have a healthy plentitude of flies here in summer! Could be a lucrative side line!

 

[hendrebc]

Regenerstivr agriculture and holistic grazing is the only way to shut vegsn nutjobs up. Once it becomes more mainstream and there is much more evidence of it being the only way to do thungs sustainable normal people will realise just how bloody insane some of the vegan arguments are and they will stop listening to them. It probably wont be a good time for intensive farmers though. Especially feedlot beef once people realise the difference properly managed grass fed beef can make.

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

Yes, it is frightening how the emotionally lead vegan/eco mentalist media machine manages to railroad their pseudo science and fake news into every aspect of the general public’s lives when it comes to livestock production.

I don’t know if you saw the vegan reaction to Allan Savorys TED talk on You Tube by some bloke called Mic? The only thing more scary than the video itself is some of the comments below it. People are genuinely taken in by it and believe them selves “educated”.

Their whole argument is based around the mega feed lots and they casually gloss over the benefits of grass fed livestock as it doesn’t suit their no meat agenda.

The Ag industry really needs to wake up to the threat of these nutters and put some real effort into the research and media presence needed to counter their utter claptrap!

Link?

 

[CornishTone]

 

[Farmer Roy]

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1812403925733134

 

[hendrebc]

What a pansy (the vegan not you cornish tone!)
Anyone can pick out the bits they like and the bits that they dont and make an argument about anything. Just because you make a video and put it on youtube doesnt make you right either. I could take his theory and poke a lot of holes in it and in his arguments against it but that would mean watching the video again amd arguing with someone who has already made his mind up and joined a vegan cult

 

[CornishTone]

Yup, arguing with a vegan is like playing chess with a pigeon. Doesn’t matter what you do they’ll just sh!t all over the board and still strut about like they’ve won!

 

[Blaithin]

Especially feedlot beef once people realise the difference properly managed grass fed beef can make.

Don’t assume feedlots don’t utilize grass. Many background cattle over the summer on pasture and practice rotational grazing. If not super intensive in their movements they make up for it in numbers.

A feedlot animal can easily spend 2/3 of its life as a grass fed, rotationaly grazed creature. It’s last 120-180 days are the ones spent getting finished in the lot, everything else can be pasture. And what they eat when on finishing rations is mostly waste grains here, that don’t profit the arable farmer as much as they’d like. I’m not familiar enough with corn to comment on American lots.

 

[Farmer Roy]

Don’t assume feedlots don’t utilize grass. Many background cattle over the summer on pasture and practice rotational grazing. If not super intensive in their movements they make up for it in numbers.

A feedlot animal can easily spend 2/3 of its life as a grass fed, rotationaly grazed creature. It’s last 120-180 days are the ones spent getting finished in the lot, everything else can be pasture. And what they eat when on finishing rations is mostly waste grains here, that don’t profit the arable farmer as much as they’d like. I’m not familiar enough with corn to comment on American lots.

Re the backgrounding & grass, that is very similar to feedlots in Australia. Downgraded / low quality grains are also used in rations, but our major summer grain sorghum is pretty much grown for cattle or chickens

 

[hendrebc]

Don’t assume feedlots don’t utilize grass. Many background cattle over the summer on pasture and practice rotational grazing. If not super intensive in their movements they make up for it in numbers.

A feedlot animal can easily spend 2/3 of its life as a grass fed, rotationaly grazed creature. It’s last 120-180 days are the ones spent getting finished in the lot, everything else can be pasture. And what they eat when on finishing rations is mostly waste grains here, that don’t profit the arable farmer as much as they’d like. I’m not familiar enough with corn to comment on American lots.

That sounds very similar to here then. I was under the impression that american beef goes to a feedlot straight after being weaned and intensively fed till slaughter but it might not all be like that i dont know. Some do that here too so its not just an american thing.
Whatever happens the problem is a non farmer buying beef in a store wouldnt know that it still spent most of its life outside and was only finished in a lot. They will only see grass finished beef labelled and then they will assume that all other beef is fed indoors all the time. Unless you start labelling them as grass reared and grain finished (meant to be a superior product according to my butcher friends) but that would get complicated for people who already know very very little about food as it is educating people seems to be a bit most of the time

 

[Farmer Roy]

another one especially for @CornishTone

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10155735064297635

 

[CornishTone]

another one especially for @CornishTone

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10155735064297635

Yes, I will influx!

 

[Blaithin]

That sounds very similar to here then. I was under the impression that american beef goes to a feedlot straight after being weaned and intensively fed till slaughter but it might not all be like that i dont know. Some do that here too so its not just an american thing.

Lots of it is. The calves will go in around 7 months and be finished by 15 months. By the math of their short lives they're spending half of it in feedlots, but that means they're still spending half on grass.

But many are bought this time of year and sent out to grass or some even bought in fall and backgrounded on low rations all winter and sent out to pasture in the spring. That's what I used to run, 7000+ head kept on low backgrounding rations and then sent to pasture before coming back in to finish. You could say they were in a feedlot type setting that first winter being backgrounded but they were receiving very similar to what any farmer would feed them over the winter.

It does get confusing if the labels start sporting all steps of the animals life. Look at America with their COOL. It was all well and good in theory but anyone with a brain who looked past it seen all the pita hoops it caused. And labels were ridiculous like "born outside of USA, but finished in USA" or just "butchered in USA" as well as the "USA beef". People don't know all the steps possible for cattle to take to their plate and most don't care. But it can be fun to teach them

 

[betweenthelines]

Can you explain a bit about backgrounding please?

In the UK a lot of cattle go through a "store" period over winter where they don't put on much flesh but grow frame, also cattle that don't grow much over winter do better the following summer it's called compensatory growth.