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

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
mainly from an environmental / habitat point of view & also because in a hot dry flat land I like trees :)

I want to encourage shelter & habitat for birds & insects, create a bit of biodiversity. However, I will be fairly selective & critical as to where I locate them. :) (y)

that above pic is a pretty extreme example in an extreme year, its not always as bad as that

before anyone asks, it is my idea to do this & no I am not receiving any grants or funds to do it. I just want to
Good stuff.
Trees are extremely vital to our environmental element I think.

All systems have 3 elements - environmental, social, and financial

Too much of agriculture is focused on financial gains, and the social elements seem to be disappearing from society in general.
 

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
The sad thing about life in rural NZ for a holistic farmer is just how much we have desecrated the natural landscape in a little over 150 years of European settlement - much of this "development" work being done in the subsidy years of course - then left to grow gorse and broom because the money and need wasn't there to "keep it developed"

It only took a match to see most of it off - to put it back the way it was would be tens of thousands of dollars per acre - and yet grassland eats money?

Hence why the hippy comes out quite frequently - all a sheep wants is shelter, they aren't as idealistic as people
 

cows sh#t me to tears

Member
Livestock Farmer
View attachment 623690
I still have greenery under mine!
Think I might bring them in tomorrow and put them over the bridge and see how they're doing. I snuck up on them on foot hence they aren't all crowded round - they were all down the far end eating the clover under the toppings (y)

It's odd how we compare things, in a way, I've actually gone visiting a few of my neighbours today just to have a yarn and make sure they're OK.

Ok is a relative term, as many of us will know - and if they are under pressure I thought maybe a young visitor with cold beer might be the medicine.
Every day is one closer to rain than the day before.
And death:rolleyes:
 

hendrebc

Member
Livestock Farmer
View attachment 623690
I still have greenery under mine!
Think I might bring them in tomorrow and put them over the bridge and see how they're doing. I snuck up on them on foot hence they aren't all crowded round - they were all down the far end eating the clover under the toppings (y)

It's odd how we compare things, in a way, I've actually gone visiting a few of my neighbours today just to have a yarn and make sure they're OK.

Ok is a relative term, as many of us will know - and if they are under pressure I thought maybe a young visitor with cold beer might be the medicine.
Every day is one closer to rain than the day before.
1516445473796-2018210647.jpg

Your one day closer to the rain but i think you willhave to wait a while yet mr rain isnt finished in Wales yet and has turned to sleet today hes having way too much fun here to come and see you. Those greener looking patches were the snow isnt as thick are were water is running down off the hills. The soil is saturated and water has nowere to go so its just pushing springs up everywere and runs over the surface. Not been this wet here for a long time.
 

hendrebc

Member
Livestock Farmer
View attachment 623718
Your one day closer to the rain but i think you willhave to wait a while yet mr rain isnt finished in Wales yet and has turned to sleet today hes having way too much fun here to come and see you. Those greener looking patches were the snow isnt as thick are were water is running down off the hills. The soil is saturated and water has nowere to go so its just pushing springs up everywere and runs over the surface. Not been this wet here for a long time.
Sorry for theslightly blurry picture i should have opened the window but f**k that its f**king cold!
 

cows sh#t me to tears

Member
Livestock Farmer
Was ONLY meant to be 41 tomorrow. So was going to start watering the lucerne. But they start the outlets at 7am , so once i saw it was going to be 44 i rang the planner and asked if i could have a pm start....Nothing more surer to kill lucerne than scalding from water and heat. Its ok if its running over it , but the trouble occurs when you turn the water off and its draining off. So better to start at night as its ONLY going to be 39 on Monday:(
 

cows sh#t me to tears

Member
Livestock Farmer
View attachment 623718
Your one day closer to the rain but i think you willhave to wait a while yet mr rain isnt finished in Wales yet and has turned to sleet today hes having way too much fun here to come and see you. Those greener looking patches were the snow isnt as thick are were water is running down off the hills. The soil is saturated and water has nowere to go so its just pushing springs up everywere and runs over the surface. Not been this wet here for a long time.
:eek:Christ that's steep:confused: At least your rain should drain off quickly:rolleyes::whistle:
 

hendrebc

Member
Livestock Farmer
:eek:Christ that's steep:confused: At least your rain should drain off quickly:rolleyes::whistle:
The best part of having sloping ground is water run off (y)
There were palm sized snowflakes falling a while ago higher up that slope and keep going a bit more. Never seen snowflakes so big some proper snow up there now :coldfeet:
Not bad back down the yard still looks like it did in that picture.... for now :nailbiting::nailbiting:
 

hendrebc

Member
Livestock Farmer
1516451875275304324792.jpg

This is our place from the air about 10 years ago. You can see the small field of rushes which is still a bog it used to extend all the way across to the field across the road. The lake/pond sat were all the machinery is parked on the bottom right hand corner it still floods occaisioanlly but has been filled with rubble and stone mostly. The field in the snow picture is the same one you can see on the right across the road from the house.
 

Blaithin

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Alberta
Not to repoke the fox issue but I’ve always wondered why Aus, and even the UK, seem to have such fox issues but we have none. :scratchhead:

They’re here, you see them every now and then and they are on the list of “what ate my chickens”. But their numbers just don’t seem that astronomical. You don’t have to build things to be fox proof.

I wonder if it’s because there’s so many other predators as competition. But then those other predators aren’t usually big issues either. Unless the predators threaten each other, not just act as competition for food. Or maybe it’s winter. Weeds out the weak and bad ones faster than other climates. Or is it a prey preference. We have a few different rabbit species but the rabbits also don’t seem to be as big an issue as those countries with fox issues. But we do have gophers, partridge, prairie chicken, rodent species out the wazoo... it just seems there should be enough prey even if it isn’t majority rabbits.

The types of other predators are about the only distinguishable difference in my mind.
 

hendrebc

Member
Livestock Farmer
Not to repoke the fox issue but I’ve always wondered why Aus, and even the UK, seem to have such fox issues but we have none. :scratchhead:

They’re here, you see them every now and then and they are on the list of “what ate my chickens”. But their numbers just don’t seem that astronomical. You don’t have to build things to be fox proof.

I wonder if it’s because there’s so many other predators as competition. But then those other predators aren’t usually big issues either. Unless the predators threaten each other, not just act as competition for food. Or maybe it’s winter. Weeds out the weak and bad ones faster than other climates. Or is it a prey preference. We have a few different rabbit species but the rabbits also don’t seem to be as big an issue as those countries with fox issues. But we do have gophers, partridge, prairie chicken, rodent species out the wazoo... it just seems there should be enough prey even if it isn’t majority rabbits.

The types of other predators are about the only distinguishable difference in my mind.
Foxes have natural predators were you are here are no natural predators for foxes (or badgers or otters or pine martens for thar matter) in our messed up ecosystem so they are EVERYWERE! We are very densely populated compared to you so there are more opportunities for them to be a pain and they take those opportunities whenever they can. Id think our foxes might be less wary of people and buildings and lights than yours too? Foxes and badgers regularly visit our yard to kill the feral cats and rats and they will eat any deadstock left there.
Id guess Australia is the same were foxes have no natural predators but i dont really know enough about Oz to comment. They are way away from were they should be there though no wonder they are so succesful and destructive :mad::mad:
 

Blaithin

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Alberta
Yes, them having predators was kind of what I meant when I said there’s other predators here competing with them. For food, territory and to just eliminate the enemy! Aus isn’t as densely populated as the UK so that factor would be similar to here but they don’t have much to offer in ways of predators of foxes.

Badgers are another interesting one. The North American badger does not have many predator worries if they’re health, mature animals. Vehicles are probably their biggest concern. Yet their populations aren't crazy either. Especially when compared to the UK badger population. I don’t believe Aus has a badger equivalent?

I just find it interesting what little differences can actually mean big differences in populations between regions.
 
Last edited:
Yes, them having predators was kind of what I meant when I said there’s other predators here competing with them. For food, territory and to just eliminate the enemy! Aus isn’t as densely populated as the UK so that factor would be similar to here but they don’t have much to offer in ways of predators of foxes.

Badgers are another interesting one. The North American badger does not have many predator worries if they’re health, mature animals. Vehicles are probably their biggest concern. Yet their populations aren't crazy either. Especially when compared to the UK badger population. I don’t believe Aus has a badger equivalent?

I just find it interesting what little differences can actually mean big differences in populations between regions.
I think climate has a lot to do with it, while not native possums are much more prevatent here than in their native environment, and in some parts of NZ rabbits and wallabies can get right out of control if not controlled.But no badgers, foxes or coyotes here(y)
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 80 42.3%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 66 34.9%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 15.9%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 7 3.7%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

  • 1,292
  • 1
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/
Top