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

[Crofter64]

Agreed its not diversity for diversity sake but knowing the species that are contextually desirable, referencing the trefoil comments above that is considered a big thumbs up in ecosystem health from what I understand. In the short term is sowing more diversity a helping hand to improving nutrient cycling to get to a healthy landscape/ecosystem? I guess it is down to an individual circumstance to how much time one can afford to get to that point and from how degraded a start point they are working from.

I overseeded trefoil years ago. It comes up from time to time. This year was a good year for it.Does it represent something particularly good in the environment when it grows?

 

[ShooTa]

indeed - ive shifted to romney terminal here - but it would have been far safer to go beltex/texel as that is what sells in the market...

 

[Crofter64]

The bit that has quite shocked me, change need not cost a lot of money, -

^^^^This is the breakthrough moment.

 

[Crofter64]

everybody talks about what bull the animal is by but that's only half the story well less than half I think that's why I say the x is the important bit
As a producer of store cattle I have to produce what sells well and leaves me the most, no good having something that is really cheap to keep if nobody wants to buy it, as you would say its finding a balance,

As they say- the market should pull, you shouldn’t have to push.

 

[Crofter64]

As they say- the market should pull, you shouldn’t have to push.

One of the reasons I’m in a bit of a low mood is that I seem to have overproduced and my
direct -market is saturated. There was so much talk in the last 18 months of food shortages, abattoir slow downs , so I ramped up production, got all my reservations at the abattoirs organised a year in advance ( that’s a pain in the neck) and am now not able to move it all. I even lowered my prices temporarily , the only business to have done so to my knowledge , and it still hasn’t worked. I wonder if the vaccine passports are responsible- people are going out more and not cooking at home the way they did for over a year.
The 30-40 year olds who are the ones who should be buying my meat for their growing children are not interested- Can’t seem to break into that group. I took up farming at 31 , with absolutely no experience, in order to feed my children the healthiest food I could lay my hands on.

 

[som farmer]

everybody talks about what bull the animal is by but that's only half the story well less than half I think that's why I say the x is the important bit
As a producer of store cattle I have to produce what sells well and leaves me the most, no good having something that is really cheap to keep if nobody wants to buy it, as you would say its finding a balance,

fine, you are producing what the customer wants, yet the public want a lower carbon foot print, if a lot of them actually know what a carbon footprint is. So following that logic, grass fed, should be better, and you see various s/mkts promoting it, l suspect it is the processor that wants the cont x carcass, and the public just buy what is in front of them.
However, if you can fatten the same kg/hec of grass beef, compared to conc beef, it is the price difference, that tells the answer.
I'm not against either system, but wonder why the preference.

 

[som farmer]

One of the reasons I’m in a bit of a low mood is that I seem to have overproduced and my
direct -market is saturated. There was so much talk in the last 18 months of food shortages, abattoir slow downs , so I ramped up production, got all my reservations at the abattoirs organised a year in advance ( that’s a pain in the neck) and am now not able to move it all. I even lowered my prices temporarily , the only business to have done so to my knowledge , and it still hasn’t worked. I wonder if the vaccine passports are responsible- people are going out more and not cooking at home the way they did for over a year.
The 30-40 year olds who are the ones who should be buying my meat for their growing children are not interested- Can’t seem to break into that group. I took up farming at 31 , with absolutely no experience, in order to feed my children the healthiest food I could lay my hands on.

kids leaving home, is a major factor in declining customer base. Teen agers eat and drink a lot.

 

[Blaithin]

One of the reasons I’m in a bit of a low mood is that I seem to have overproduced and my
direct -market is saturated. There was so much talk in the last 18 months of food shortages, abattoir slow downs , so I ramped up production, got all my reservations at the abattoirs organised a year in advance ( that’s a pain in the neck) and am now not able to move it all. I even lowered my prices temporarily , the only business to have done so to my knowledge , and it still hasn’t worked. I wonder if the vaccine passports are responsible- people are going out more and not cooking at home the way they did for over a year.
The 30-40 year olds who are the ones who should be buying my meat for their growing children are not interested- Can’t seem to break into that group. I took up farming at 31 , with absolutely no experience, in order to feed my children the healthiest food I could lay my hands on.

You need to access the cultural markets. Filipinos and Middle Eastern communities here come over an hour out of the city to get meat and they want a Lot.

 

[Henarar]

fine, you are producing what the customer wants, yet the public want a lower carbon foot print, if a lot of them actually know what a carbon footprint is. So following that logic, grass fed, should be better, and you see various s/mkts promoting it, l suspect it is the processor that wants the cont x carcass, and the public just buy what is in front of them.
However, if you can fatten the same kg/hec of grass beef, compared to conc beef, it is the price difference, that tells the answer.
I'm not against either system, but wonder why the preference.

I don't sell to the processor I sell to other farmers, if the preference changes for what they want to buy I will change the bulls I use, I would miss the blues though so easy to deal with.
anyway as I said just because I use blue bulls which are partly continental doesn't mean that the cows have to be,

 

[Crofter64]

You need to access the cultural markets. Filipinos and Middle Eastern communities here come over an hour out of the city to get meat and they want a Lot.

how do you advertise when you have meat to sell? How do you sell it? Half, whole, individual cuts, pre-made boxes?

 

[Blaithin]

how do you advertise when you have meat to sell? How do you sell it? Half, whole, individual cuts, pre-made boxes?

I’ve had best luck advertising live actually. As have some family members.

Live, ready to butcher. Alberta recently implemented an On Farm Slaughter license though which makes it legal for me to slaughter for someone else if they buy the “live” animal.

Aunt and Uncle market as 16-18 months before carrying over the second winter and apparently have more calls than animals. Some want halves and quarters, some want multiple wholes.

It wasn’t always like this so not sure if the license made people look more or if they’re just outgrowing their previous sources or what it is. But last couple years it’s been increasing. I don’t think they’re as likely to respond to the $11/lb grass fed, quarters, halves and wholes type ads as that’s a sh!t tonne of money for them to feed their families. They seem to respond more to the better deals of buying alive and paying for butcher.

 

[Crofter64]

I’ve had best luck advertising live actually. As have some family members.

Live, ready to butcher. Alberta recently implemented an On Farm Slaughter license though which makes it legal for me to slaughter for someone else if they buy the “live” animal.

Aunt and Uncle market as 16-18 months before carrying over the second winter and apparently have more calls than animals. Some want halves and quarters, some want multiple wholes.

It wasn’t always like this so not sure if the license made people look more or if they’re just outgrowing their previous sources or what it is. But last couple years it’s been increasing. I don’t think they’re as likely to respond to the $11/lb grass fed, quarters, halves and wholes type ads as that’s a sh!t tonne of money for them to feed their families. They seem to respond more to the better deals of buying alive and paying for butcher.

I do actually charge $11.00/lb, and find the butcher takes quite a chunk of it. Factor in delivering to the butcher and then to clients, its not as bad as it sounds, but I get what you’re saying.

 

[Blaithin]

I do actually charge $11.00/lb, and find the butcher takes quite a chunk of it. Factor in delivering to the butcher and then to clients, its not as bad as it sounds, but I get what you’re saying.

Oh I’m not against that price, I would love to get it

I just had a cow butchered. Hanging weight is 756. If I charged $11/lb hanging (maybe you do boxed weight?) that’s over $8k for meat! Now yes, in store you could easily pay 8000 for that amount of meat, but most people can’t dish out that much at once. Some places here offer payment plans so families can pay instalments towards their meat. Also costs vary if it’s pay for hanging weight and then pay the butcher or if it’s paying for the cut meat and you pay the butcher.

While I know I’m leaving money on the table by selling animals “alive” vs lining up buyers for halves, my main goals are to A) Not send them through the auction and B) Kill them on site, not hauling them to slaughter.

These options, plus my lack of land to finish many, keep me down near live animal sales.

Perhaps, I don’t know if you’re feed is as stupid as out here is this year, you can try and market a few long yearlings as a kind of live package purchase for sale so you don’t carry them over winter. Maybe this will introduce another market to help cover costs and decrease the amount of finished animals you have to try and find sales for next year.

 

[Samcowman]

One of the reasons I’m in a bit of a low mood is that I seem to have overproduced and my
direct -market is saturated. There was so much talk in the last 18 months of food shortages, abattoir slow downs , so I ramped up production, got all my reservations at the abattoirs organised a year in advance ( that’s a pain in the neck) and am now not able to move it all. I even lowered my prices temporarily , the only business to have done so to my knowledge , and it still hasn’t worked. I wonder if the vaccine passports are responsible- people are going out more and not cooking at home the way they did for over a year.
The 30-40 year olds who are the ones who should be buying my meat for their growing children are not interested- Can’t seem to break into that group. I took up farming at 31 , with absolutely no experience, in order to feed my children the healthiest food I could lay my hands on.

It’s the same here for selling our eggs from the gate. Last year people couldn’t get enough. This year we have too many chickens and the other farmer down the lane stopped selling this year due to people mocking the eggs and money last year. They want local and free range but it’s easier to get them from the shop even though you drive past the egg stall on your way there.

 

[Crofter64]

Oh I’m not against that price, I would love to get it

I just had a cow butchered. Hanging weight is 756. If I charged $11/lb hanging (maybe you do boxed weight?) that’s over $8k for meat! Now yes, in store you could easily pay 8000 for that amount of meat, but most people can’t dish out that much at once. Some places here offer payment plans so families can pay instalments towards their meat. Also costs vary if it’s pay for hanging weight and then pay the butcher or if it’s paying for the cut meat and you pay the butcher.

While I know I’m leaving money on the table by selling animals “alive” vs lining up buyers for halves, my main goals are to A) Not send them through the auction and B) Kill them on site, not hauling them to slaughter.

These options, plus my lack of land to finish many, keep me down near live animal sales.

Perhaps, I don’t know if you’re feed is as stupid as out here is this year, you can try and market a few long yearlings as a kind of live package purchase for sale so you don’t carry them over winter. Maybe this will introduce another market to help cover costs and decrease the amount of finished animals you have to try and find sales for next year.

I only do boxed meat. I used to slaughter all the cattle on farm, but when my numbers went up it was no longer possible, except for unusual cases. I too refuse to send my animals to the auction. I don’t like auctions. Can’t follow what’s going on-a few times bought what I hadn’t bid for, and often don’t get what I really do want!
Feed is available here, in fact there’s lots of it, but a lot was cut late ( there was hardly any 1st cut and tons of second) but it‘s stemmy and not too much appreciated by the stock. It will be by winter, I hope.

 

[Crofter64]

kids leaving home, is a major factor in declining customer base. Teen agers eat and drink a lot.

Yes, but aren’t we constantly producing new teens with big appetites- or have they all become scrawny vegans?

 

[Fenwick]

One of the reasons I’m in a bit of a low mood is that I seem to have overproduced and my
direct -market is saturated. There was so much talk in the last 18 months of food shortages, abattoir slow downs , so I ramped up production, got all my reservations at the abattoirs organised a year in advance ( that’s a pain in the neck) and am now not able to move it all. I even lowered my prices temporarily , the only business to have done so to my knowledge , and it still hasn’t worked. I wonder if the vaccine passports are responsible- people are going out more and not cooking at home the way they did for over a year.
The 30-40 year olds who are the ones who should be buying my meat for their growing children are not interested- Can’t seem to break into that group. I took up farming at 31 , with absolutely no experience, in order to feed my children the healthiest food I could lay my hands on.

Fascinating. Its exactly the same over here.

Some want halves and quarters, some want multiple wholes.

Multiple wholes! Oh the dream! The tendance here is smaller and smaller boxes. Even have some clients complaining that 6kgs is too much.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Just about to sell one of our bulls on a "live, ready to butcher" basis. He's hung around for far too long as it is, but we can name the price, so I do wonder if it's any less "efficient" than growing a beast fast and then giving it away?

The best part about naming your price is that you can look after those who look after you, Thomas often comes up and shears a ram or helps me lift heavy stuff, so their half will be quite cheap compared to the other half. Plus I can do alot of it with cash.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Eppy is getting closer by the day, hope she calves before long as the dairy farms are still calving, and she would love an extra calf.

I do like these big grey girls

 

[som farmer]

Yes, but aren’t we constantly producing new teens with big appetites- or have they all become scrawny vegans?

big gap between kids leaving home, and grandchildren eating lots.
we had a good steady customer base, but a lot of all our age group, the recession hit hard, but kids departing at the same time, but we still do a bit, and sausages seem to disappear with speed, and our massive pile of gammon steaks is shrinking.
On the beef side, we used to kill fr bulls, at about 1 yr, this meant the 8 boxes were not to big, and we could keep the price down. While fr bulls might seem a funny choice, they suited extremely well, very lean, no fat, and only hung for 4 days, which kept the 'colour' right, and they tasted right. The 4 day hanging bit, was advised by the small abattoir, and was spot on, leaving longer, they lost colour and taste. Our own preference, grass fed, 24 months, and hung for 3 weeks, but the fr paid very well, and suited our customers.