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

[som farmer]

https://www.facebook.com/111191305630142/posts/4005961546153079

lot of sense in that, not sure about 1400 acres of solar panels ! Clearly shows the way many of us think, and also points out why it is difficult to get there, very simply put, money, the end product doesn't get enough/any extra cash, against the 'normal'. What we can do about that is limited, niche mkts might help a few, we are really up against the unwillingness of both guv, and majority of public, to see food costs rise, whether we can get a 'bung' for our methods, or a willingness of public to pay more for their food, the guv bung is probably the only way, till carbon credits are on line, even that will be difficult, as firms will try and shaft us initially. Why is life so 'anti' farming ! Slow and steady for most of us, will be the way forward. Nature is very forgiving, and quite minor changes, can soon show an improvement, we just have to expand those minor changes, into bigger ones.

 

[jonnyjon]

Things not going so smoothly now, despite leaving behind far more than their eating, they are walking the fence line, grazing under the fence, making muck and wanting to move, they went through the fence this am. I'm moving them 1x day, don't want to give them the habit of 2 moves. Any ideas?

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Are you feeding them on a long strip? Or is that how it looks from that angle. I'd try to somehow make their area more square, so the movement is circular within the paddock rather than linear (up and down the fence)

does take more fency gear but usually well worth a try, if they can walk up.and down the halls then they will

 

[Humble Village Farmer]

Things not going so smoothly now, despite leaving behind far more than their eating, they are walking the fence line, grazing under the fence, making muck and wanting to move, they went through the fence this am. I'm moving them 1x day, don't want to give them the habit of 2 moves. Any ideas?

Oh no, not you as well

 

[jonnyjon]

Oh no, not you as well

Yep

 

[awkward]

View attachment 961896
Thistles... only this part of the field. What does it tell me about the soil here? (And how to correct?! )

In this case it could be a few things,sulfur and boron come to mind, and calcium availability,

 

[som farmer]

In this case it could be a few things,sulfur and boron come to mind, and calcium availability,

l think it was Kiwi Pete said he had trained/ or knew of, cattle that would eat thistle flowerheads. Weed control is the biggest problem l can see in these herbal or diverse leys, and would love a simple solution.

 

[awkward]

l think it was Kiwi Pete said he had trained/ or knew of, cattle that would eat thistle flowerheads. Weed control is the biggest problem l can see in these herbal or diverse leys, and would love a simple solution.

The simplest solution is to live with them,allow the to fulfill their function, but not always easy, its the path to soil function and improvement, introducing biology to help is in my mind one of the quickest ways to achieve better outcomes, learning how to simply and effectively do this is one of my project for the next year or two, so I hope to pickup few bits from others experiences as we progress.

 

[Henarar]

Things not going so smoothly now, despite leaving behind far more than their eating, they are walking the fence line, grazing under the fence, making muck and wanting to move, they went through the fence this am. I'm moving them 1x day, don't want to give them the habit of 2 moves. Any ideas?

Oh no, not you as well

Cattle are not happy, the grass is all wind and water not seen any sun, they would be more happy with half inch of grass in a mid summer drought than they are with a foot of this stuff

 

[som farmer]

Cattle are not happy, the grass is all wind and water not seen any sun, they would be more happy with half inch of grass in a mid summer drought than they are with a foot of this stuff

the speed which grass is growing now, they certainly don't like it when dry, although the milk has held up well. Can't really blame them though.
After carefully nourishing every blade of grass, for the last few summers, to have so much now, it's getting very difficult to 'manage' it, just started a 'dry' ley, last week, looking just right, now mowing grass, but grazed it quite well.
Having got used to shortage, we kept our dairy in by night, til 1st may, to conserve the grazing rotation, otherwise they would have eaten every bit of grass here, looking back, should have let them out earlier. The weather was dry, nothing was growing much, and we have ended up with to much grass, at the same growth stage. Speaking to our contactor, several of his customers are complaining they haven't got much grass for silage, having grazed it all off ! Much prefer our position, of having to much, just seems 'strange'. The grass they are in, a 'dry' mix, consists of a much finer grass leaf, interesting to see how the bulk tank reacts. All being well, silage next week, son doesn't think there is much in the pp we now have, 5 t/ac is his pessimistic prediction, he hasn't really 'farmed' pp, think he is in for a shock !

 

[jonnyjon]

Cattle are not happy, the grass is all wind and water not seen any sun, they would be more happy with half inch of grass in a mid summer drought than they are with a foot of this stuff

I would have thought/ hoped that a diverse herbal ley would have " more to it" than just a grass ley

 

[som farmer]

I would have thought/ hoped that a diverse herbal ley would have " more to it" than just a grass ley

it certainly ought to, getting in our cows this afternoon was painfully slow, they browsed all the way in, on long dry weed grass, cowparsley, r champion, and few more, quick enough to leave the field though. That's telling me, they are looking for something more than grass, perhaps cowparsley is named for a reason. You would think in a true diverse mix, there would be something that suits their palate, certainly they like plantain, and chicory, even if it tastes a bit sh1tty. We have a lot more to learn, or relearn, yet. Goats and to a degree sheep, are browsers, and even after a few 1000 yrs, still are, yet cattle are grazers, and have been for 1000's years, something is missing, since the start of modern farming, we have concentrated on production, and more and more yield, and today we have a cow that bears little resemblance to it's forerunner, pre 1940, and as with pigs and chicken, we now decide what they eat, basically for cows it's prg clover and maize silage, with a processed concoction in the parlour, they eat and produce on that, somehow l think we have 'lost' out on the way, herbs contain more minerals, have medicinal properties, and add a different flavour to the mix, but it's classed as old fashioned bullsh1t. Now, more than ever, we have to get our grazing, and production from forage, as cheap as we possibly can, for as much as we can, as it looks like our guv is going to sacrifice us, for cheap imported food. What regen farming does, very successfully, is rebuild the fertility of the soil, in a way modern imputs cannot do, they were designed to feed a crop, what it needs, for a period of time, the herbs etc, may, or may not have a measurable impact on production, but cattle love them, and a contented animal will always do better, if nothing else.

 

[Rob Garrett]

The power of your voice - Integrity Soils Ltd

Image: blog author Nicole Masters, age 5. For those of you that know me, you know I wasn’t always so confident or blessed with the close loving relationship that I have today with my Mum. Growing up wasn’t easy with a mother who battled with depression and her own generational abuse, and I’m...

www.integritysoils.co.nz

Top bloke, thank you, good timing.

 

[GC74]

View attachment 961896
Thistles... only this part of the field. What does it tell me about the soil here? (And how to correct?! )

Sorry can’t tell in your photo but what variety of thistles are there? I think I can see 2

 

[jonnyjon]

it certainly ought to, getting in our cows this afternoon was painfully slow, they browsed all the way in, on long dry weed grass, cowparsley, r champion, and few more, quick enough to leave the field though. That's telling me, they are looking for something more than grass, perhaps cowparsley is named for a reason. You would think in a true diverse mix, there would be something that suits their palate, certainly they like plantain, and chicory, even if it tastes a bit sh1tty. We have a lot more to learn, or relearn, yet. Goats and to a degree sheep, are browsers, and even after a few 1000 yrs, still are, yet cattle are grazers, and have been for 1000's years, something is missing, since the start of modern farming, we have concentrated on production, and more and more yield, and today we have a cow that bears little resemblance to it's forerunner, pre 1940, and as with pigs and chicken, we now decide what they eat, basically for cows it's prg clover and maize silage, with a processed concoction in the parlour, they eat and produce on that, somehow l think we have 'lost' out on the way, herbs contain more minerals, have medicinal properties, and add a different flavour to the mix, but it's classed as old fashioned bullsh1t. Now, more than ever, we have to get our grazing, and production from forage, as cheap as we possibly can, for as much as we can, as it looks like our guv is going to sacrifice us, for cheap imported food. What regen farming does, very successfully, is rebuild the fertility of the soil, in a way modern imputs cannot do, they were designed to feed a crop, what it needs, for a period of time, the herbs etc, may, or may not have a measurable impact on production, but cattle love them, and a contented animal will always do better, if nothing else.

Spot on

 

[som farmer]

just an awful thought, does processed dairy cake, equate to the same processed crap, some people feed their kids with.
Not happy with that, had assumed after millers were caught out, including feather meal, sawdust, chicken sh1t, and other yuk, they might have learnt their lesson.

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

just an awful thought, does processed dairy cake, equate to the same processed crap, some people feed their kids with.
Not happy with that, had assumed after millers were caught out, including feather meal, sawdust, chicken sh1t, and other yuk, they might have learnt their lesson.

We last fed any bought compound feed just before mad cow disease, from what used to be Eastern Counties Farmers. The bag labels were pretty opaque about the contents. What description does your dairy cake come with?

 

[som farmer]

list of ingredients in descending order, can be an interesting read. We do read them as well, and regularly ask for %'s.
Depending on the price of grain, we have bought, and mill/mix, this year, 15 acres own s barley. Parlour cake has to be pelleted, but anything else can be flexible, caustic wheat, straights, or, 4yrs ago our own crimped maize. The one exception, is baby calf pellets, they are better than h/mix, or coarse, the equal amount of ingredients, in every bite.
It may well be possible to buy 'starch/energy' cheaper than growing our own maize, something to keep an eye on, maize is both expensive, and 'anti soil' to grow, it is fairly reliable though- only had 1 failure due to dry weather here.
What we feed our stock, is something l have been playing around with, home grown food, is going to be of the utmost importance, going forward, it simply has to produce the goods, the amount of money we have spent buying 'food' in the last 3 winters is scary, and not sustainable. Thankfully this year we will be OK. It is not only quantity, but quality we need, this is one of the reasons we have separated silage and grazing leys, max quality in both, this year we have the h/rye and vetches, plus p/p, it will be interesting to see the feed value of both. Whether we can get fodder production quality 'high', time will tell, the important bit, is we are trying. The ideal would be long term, high quality, leys, with 20ac of a perennial grain plant.

 

[Henarar]

just an awful thought, does processed dairy cake, equate to the same processed crap, some people feed their kids with.
Not happy with that, had assumed after millers were caught out, including feather meal, sawdust, chicken sh1t, and other yuk, they might have learnt their lesson.

I spose at least they have to disclose the ingredients

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

I spose at least they have to disclose the ingredients

Still often hide behind genetic descriptions. ECF used to use a lot of out of date confectionary for their energy content which was never described as such.