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

[Kiwi Pete]

You'd need to add grasses that keep their nutrients above ground when they start to go dormant. Fescues are known to do this. Timothy doesn't.

Yep, I have quite a bit of fescue here.. but grass doesn't really go dormant so much as slow down.

We probably grow a few kgs of feed right through the winter unless it really turns to , so we are in an "in betweeny" climate somewhere between dormancy and growth.
At a guess we'd grow an eighth of what we would grow this month, in winter.

it's starting to go a bit stemmy now

 

[Farmer Roy]

Yep, I have quite a bit of fescue here.. but grass doesn't really go dormant so much as slow down.

We probably grow a few kgs of feed right through the winter unless it really turns to , so we are in an "in betweeny" climate somewhere between dormancy and growth.
At a guess we'd grow an eighth of what we would grow this month, in winter.View attachment 733924it's starting to go a bit stemmy now

that green hurts my eyes

 

[Blaithin]

Too green

White here

 

[Farmer Roy]

dying cactus are still greenish . . .

 

[Farmer Roy]

Too green

White here

I don't know how I would cope with your cold, but I can really relate to the extremes of your climate . . .

I've always been drawn to harsh / extreme environments, whether desert or arctic

 

[Farmer Roy]

that green hurts my eyes

the sad story about this pic is I found it ( I assume same roo ) dead a few days later . . .

 

[Blaithin]

I don't know how I would cope with your cold, but I can really relate to the extremes of your climate . . .

I've always been drawn to harsh / extreme environments, whether desert or arctic

-40 is easier than 40. Heat just sucks everything out of you. The cold is invigorating; until you get hypothermia and fall asleep

You just walk around like you’re wearing one of those sumo costumes when you have that many clothes on is all.

 

[Farmer Roy]

-40 is easier than 40. Heat just sucks everything out of you. The cold is invigorating; until you get hypothermia and fall asleep

You just walk around like you’re wearing one of those sumo costumes when you have that many clothes on is all.

yeah, I find 40 C is all about acclimatisation & physical fitness . . .
it is fine if you are used to it but would kill if you don't respect or understand it
a bit like -40 I suppose

 

[Farmer Roy]

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

-40 is easier than 40. Heat just sucks everything out of you. The cold is invigorating; until you get hypothermia and fall asleep

You just walk around like you’re wearing one of those sumo costumes when you have that many clothes on is all.

With you on that one

Generally easier to warm up in a cold climate than cool down in a hot one.

 

[Henarar]

that green hurts my eyes

poor roo
that water trough wouldn't be legal here

 

[Henarar]

Too green

White here

white here to first thing
lovely now though

 

[Farmer Roy]

poor roo
that water trough wouldn't be legal here

Oh, why not ?
What's wrong with the trough, pretty standard & very common here . . .

 

[Poorbuthappy]

Oh, why not ?
What's wrong with the trough, pretty standard & very common here . . .

Think Henarar is referring to the possibility of back draw. If it were off a separate header tank (which I'm guessing would be the case with you guys) it would be ok but not direct off the main supply.

 

[Farmer Roy]

If it was connected direct to a mains supply, then yes, it would be illegal here also. There has to be I think a 100mm air gap between supply & water level. But this trough is fed from a tank

I am VERY fortunate to have a mains supply line go down my road, but it is VERY rare for any farms here to be connected to mains water

 

[Farmer Roy]

Water, or access to water, a decent water supply, is a big thing here. Generally, you have to have your own supply, it's a big deal, & can determine the $ value of properties.
I suppose it's something that most of you take for granted . . .

 

[Poorbuthappy]

Water, or access to water, a decent water supply, is a big thing here. Generally, you have to have your own supply, it's a big deal, & can determine the $ value of properties.
I suppose it's something that most of you take for granted . . .

Some may take it for granted, after a summer of having to carry water to cattle I certainly don't!
Mains water for larger users such as dairy is getting quite expensive. Lots of boreholes gone in on farms. Sadly ours struggles to keep up.

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

white here to first thing
lovely now though

15mm rain yesterday followed by a good frost. A beautiful morning.

 

[Henarar]

Some may take it for granted, after a summer of having to carry water to cattle I certainly don't!
Mains water for larger users such as dairy is getting quite expensive. Lots of boreholes gone in on farms. Sadly ours struggles to keep up.

yea water is getting expensive for us in the winter, we have springs in some of the fields that run in to troughs but we can't get it to the sheds.
going to look at pumping if from the stream as you can use so much per day with no licence

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

yea water is getting expensive for us in the winter, we have springs in some of the fields that run in to troughs but we can't get it to the sheds.
going to look at pumping if from the stream as you can use so much per day with no licence

20,000 litres per day (approximately 4000 gallons). Strictly speaking the exemption is for domestic use only