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

[holwellcourtfarm]

Well, my little trick worked

... the lady boss says I can call in the planners and get a quote, plan in action to get single-wire lanes and full water.

Jury is still out as far as details go, eg how many cells, how many lanes, or even whether to opt for several portables or micro's - but I will keep you updated anyway.

7 mobs would be ideal so it's still feasible to lug 7 troughs, I'd like to see what we can do for $20k but would stretch a little if I could avoid that, at 5 minutes per mob per day (remember, when you're working you're missing out on observation time)
I would rather just lift the wire and look at cattle move forward TBH

say 42 ha, 6ha per mob, 59 day recovery period = 420 x .1ha
42 ha, 7ha per mob, 69 days, 6 mobs

Split the cells in half and it jumps to 119 days or 139 days, double shift and you get 29 days or 34

or fudge it all up and go for .08ha and go 490 cells ?
It's really difficult to know without getting the experts to assess, I am prejudiced about what exists at present and they won't be, and they will do the water system plan better as well.

Great stuff!

Please keep all your workings out and contacts if you don't mind sharing the info when we finally land

 

[Treg]

@Kiwi Pete , @Agrispeed , @Treg and many others know way more than me about Holistic Grazing but yes, the principle is that you base your management on high stock density and short grazing duration. This is to encourage the flow of carbon back into the soil from trampled vegetation and to prevent the stock staying in one place long enough to nip off any early regrowth from the vegetation. How long you leave them on any particular cell is determined by the forage state and growth rate, not by your clock or calendar, so it will vary through the growing and dormant season. It takes much more observation but MUCH less time and inputs if done well.

Plan, plan & Plan then be flexible because of weather/ grass growth .
I must admit to being very much a date person turn out/ silage etc but have learnt as I've got older to be more flexible e.g -
Silage cut 20th May but if weather good the week before be ready to go &go ( I do my own so takes me a few weeks ).
Turn out- usually 1st week of March, this year 1st week of Jan ( when I said flexible I meant completely different ).
Earliest grazing fields are the most sheltered but if wind / rain coming from wrong direction, happy to swap cow's ( with calves) to what would have been a silage field on the other side the farm facing a different direction.
This farm is very exposed ( trees don't grow straight here! ) so cell grazing is out of the question as cow's need shelter, I do strip graze but don't back fence for the same reason ( though I can see the benefits).
The most successful farmers are those who plan but seize opportunity as it comes.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Great stuff!

Please keep all your workings out and contacts if you don't mind sharing the info when we finally land

I certainly will, hopefully it's "a goer" but if not, we'll still get the plans on here.

 

[texas pete]

Well, my little trick worked

... the lady boss says I can call in the planners and get a quote, plan in action to get single-wire lanes and full water.

Jury is still out as far as details go, eg how many cells, how many lanes, or even whether to opt for several portables or micro's - but I will keep you updated anyway.

7 mobs would be ideal so it's still feasible to lug 7 troughs, I'd like to see what we can do for $20k but would stretch a little if I could avoid that, at 5 minutes per mob per day (remember, when you're working you're missing out on observation time)
I would rather just lift the wire and look at cattle move forward TBH

say 42 ha, 6ha per mob, 59 day recovery period = 420 x .1ha
42 ha, 7ha per mob, 69 days, 6 mobs

Split the cells in half and it jumps to 119 days or 139 days, double shift and you get 29 days or 34

or fudge it all up and go for .08ha and go 490 cells ?
It's really difficult to know without getting the experts to assess, I am prejudiced about what exists at present and they won't be, and they will do the water system plan better as well.

Your powers of persuasion....

Is it you letting her think she's in charge, or her letting you think you are???

The division and working out will be interesting and like you say outside eyes are always good.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Your powers of persuasion....

Is it you letting her think she's in charge, or her letting you think you are???

The division and working out will be interesting and like you say outside eyes are always good.

My Dad had a big brother/ business partner and Mum

he said the way to get anything achieved was to simply sow a seed and wait for them to think of it, and then agree

... that didn't quite work so I put Sarah in charge for the week, and suddenly she sees it you do the rest of your life's electric fencing over one winter and then retire a bit more

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

My Dad had a big brother/ business partner and Mum

he said the way to get anything achieved was to simply sow a seed and wait for them to think of it, and then agree

... that didn't quite work so I put Sarah in charge for the week, and suddenly she sees it you do the rest of your life's electric fencing over one winter and then retire a bit more

But it'll never work and you know it

Life as a farmer is MEANT to be hard






Oh, I was forgetting. You're a Rancher not a PROPER farmer

 

[Farmer Roy]

There is no merit in work for works sake . . .

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

Just come across this:

http://resources.rothamsted.ac.uk/n...-national-capability/case-studies-experiments

At least there is now some proper scientific work going on to detail the true climate impact of agriculture. Hopefully it will help slay the Vegan activists dragons.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

But it'll never work and you know it

Life as a farmer is MEANT to be hard






Oh, I was forgetting. You're a Rancher not a PROPER farmer

Not even a proper rancher

..however "just get it done" is the rancher attitude, I believe

Lots of ways to herd animals around but this one seems to be the easiest way to control and tweak stocking density

..rather than improve the 4 acres around our trees and troughs in summer, I need to "improve our lot" or trading standards will shut down our thread

 

[Henarar]

will you be happy then Pete ?

 

[Kiwi Pete]

There is no merit in work for works sake . . .

Observation and planning is time well spent by comparison.
I don't want to do something unsustainable; if it ain't fun now, it won't be fun in 40 years time, either..

 

[Kiwi Pete]

will you be happy then Pete ?

I am always happy! Only the depth varies..

just the little things, eh

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

I am always happy! Only the depth varies.View attachment 769192
just the little things, eh

 

[Henarar]

 

[Crofter64]

The plan at this stage is to maybe graze a few cattle outside over winter and fill the tunnel, hopefully 120 or so in there so we can let the cover run a little in the spring and then hit the ground at about 4 per hectare. Jump straight into a 59 day recovery (1 move per day, 60 cells per mob) and then to 30 as the growth picks up (2 moves per day) and just keep topping the pasture. Maybe even 3 cells, but likely not.
If we prove understocked then it's likely we can graze a few carryovers or something, for some cashflow, and likewise we can soon be rid of some if it goes the other way. We'll likely have 7 mobs at 6ha/mob.

I’m not that good in the metric system so .1 hectare equals .247 of an acre .
This is 10759.32 square feet.

or 170x 63 feet. I keep my 7 cow calf pairs on half of that in daily moves. You areplanning on keeping how many cattle on such a piece of ground?

I must be doing something wrong.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

I’m not that good in the metric system so .1 hectare equals .247 of an acre .
This is 10759.32 square feet.

or 170x 63 feet. I keep my 7 cow calf pairs on half of that in daily moves. You areplanning on keeping how many cattle on such a piece of ground?

I must be doing something wrong.

Probably 24 on average. It really depends what we stock with.

 

[Farmer Roy]

 

[graham99]

Well, my little trick worked

... the lady boss says I can call in the planners and get a quote, plan in action to get single-wire lanes and full water.

Jury is still out as far as details go, eg how many cells, how many lanes, or even whether to opt for several portables or micro's - but I will keep you updated anyway.

7 mobs would be ideal so it's still feasible to lug 7 troughs, I'd like to see what we can do for $20k but would stretch a little if I could avoid that, at 5 minutes per mob per day (remember, when you're working you're missing out on observation time)
I would rather just lift the wire and look at cattle move forward TBH

say 42 ha, 6ha per mob, 59 day recovery period = 420 x .1ha
42 ha, 7ha per mob, 69 days, 6 mobs

Split the cells in half and it jumps to 119 days or 139 days, double shift and you get 29 days or 34

or fudge it all up and go for .08ha and go 490 cells ?
It's really difficult to know without getting the experts to assess, I am prejudiced about what exists at present and they won't be, and they will do the water system plan better as well.

why not think in sq, meters a day that way you in increase or decrease the area grazed.depending weather and growth
another wacky thing done in the past was to fence of parts of the paddock not needed that day. and silage them .it might cause problems with your other work but.

 

[graham99]

I am always happy! Only the depth varies..View attachment 769190View attachment 769192
just the little things, eh

where's that beach

 

[graham99]

looking like you tube is the only tool needed .
we must have forgotten a lot.
we were doing that in the 70's ,[well i watching it being done].
a lot of it was done with nature .as there was no money