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

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
I never take pictures of what my current grazing is doing - but I will, I just need to give my minion the evening off - but it's a fairly good bet the land on the left will have virtually zero rain effectiveness

When I tip the portable trough out, the 200 litres won't spread more than a metre before it disappears, by the time my phone camera gets going, the water has gone in.
But bare soil :inpain: it's a different story.

One thing I've really noticed with the new grazing system is we don't make any bare soil, I have seen one pugged knob kicked over and that's it in 5 weeks, a cup coaster would cover it (y)

Again, you aussies have taught me more than you know. :)
 

holwellcourtfarm

Member
Livestock Farmer
this may be of interest to some, comparing "regen" to "conventional" grazing systems in Australia. Take from it what you will, whether you think its relevant or not

@holwellcourtfarm - you mentioned trials / comparisons ?

rural-header.jpg

Long Term Research
The long term regenerative grazing study- grassy woodlands of NSW

This project was supported through funding from the Australian Government's National Environmental Science Program and was conducted by Australian National University, University of Canberra and University of Queensland researchers and economists, Vanguard agricultural consultants and statisticians from NSW State Government and the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences.

Some of the interesting findings were that:

  • The average profit levels from the regenerative graziers was comparable with the Holmes-Sackett elite producers.
  • The average profit levels of the regenerative graziers were consistently higher than the average ABARES farm survey participants and showed less variability over the study period.
  • The average profits of regenerative graziers were consistently better in years where there was low rainfall.
  • The regenerative managed farms had substantially lower cost structures, in key areas such as supplementary feed costs/DSE, pasture costs/DSE and animal health and breeding costs/DSE.

Photo supplied by Rachel Lawrence
The wellbeing of regenerative graziers was assessed relative to the Regional Wellbeing Survey. This survey regularly checks the wellbeing of some 7,000 farmers across Australia. Regenerative graziers reported:

  • Significantly higher levels of wellbeing compared to similar farmers in the Regional Wellbeing Survey.
  • Greater confidence in their ability to achieve farming goals, and their optimism was higher.
  • Significantly higher levels of general health.
  • Some regenerative graziers reported challenges in gaining acceptance in their local communities.
The environmental health of their farms was also assessed with the following findings:

  • The legacy of past practices such as cropping or high fertilizer inputs were still substantial on many properties (despite these practices, in many cases stopping over 20 years ago).
  • Grassy woodland on the farms was observed to be regenerating, with the presence of many sensitive, rare species in the ground layer.
  • The average ground cover percentage of the participants’ properties was up to 18% higher than the average in the locality (10km² radius) over time.
If you’re interested in learning more about how you can transition your farm management or to attend a workshop on this study, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

View Full Report

Full Technical Report (88 pages, 4.2mb)

View Summary Reports
Summary Report 1: Farm Profit
Summary Report 2: Farm Business Costs
Summary Report 3: Season Quality
Summary Report 4: Farmer Wellbeing
Thanks Roy. :love::love::love:

"It'll never work" :rolleyes:;)

I'm sure @Sheila Cooke would be interested in that report. (y)
 

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
I'd consider the left hand side a waste . . .

The right will recover so much quicker
We did the opposite last year - hang on in hope
We have made more this year - so far - than we did by the end of last year, still have 40 tons of livestock grazing.

Destock, recover, restock; the animals would do this anyway - if we didn't put boundaries in their way.

They are natural regenerators, conservationists, builders of empires- because they can MOVE FREELY and put themselves at the right place, at the right time

Where have we heard that phrase before?
 
having some lady come interview me tomorrow - should be interesting -... 5 days till lambing, keeping father happy with concentrate feeding .. lord knows how ill do it post as he s insistant about feeding the twins and i want 1 mob. still deciding whether ill halt and set stock in the remaining section just for lambing ..rather than having to move the mob to a new field...
 

hendrebc

Member
Livestock Farmer
having some lady come interview me tomorrow - should be interesting -... 5 days till lambing, keeping father happy with concentrate feeding .. lord knows how ill do it post as he s insistant about feeding the twins and i want 1 mob. still deciding whether ill halt and set stock in the remaining section just for lambing ..rather than having to move the mob to a new field...
Interesting. An interview about what for what?
If you've started concentrate feeding don't stop now carry on a few more weeks. You don't want to give the ewes a wobble post lambing or it could really knock their peak lactation between 2 and 3 weeks which can really affect the lambs for a really long time. You've done it so far don't fall at the last hurdle even if it means the singles have to be given when they don't really need it. If you have enough grass now, or in a few weeks even when you stop feeding, for them it will be more for transitioning onto grass than going cold turkey no concentrate at all which can affect them. Especially for things like magnesium deficiency or a sudden change in energy levels in the diet if they have been fed previously.
 

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

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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/
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