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

[Blaithin]

Precisely, @Henarar
As my mate JP would say 'any fool can fick something, but it takes a hard man to WEAR IT OUT' and I bet you know what he means....

Sheep?


You are Kiwi's after all

 

[hendrebc]

I did point her to this thread.

I'm not sure she's planning to venture down to the Cornish republic but I thought I'd ask on her behalf as Agrispeed is probably the most developed holistic grazer I'm aware of in the UK at present. She had been up to Yorkshire though I believe

She's braving London again today for the Bob Dylan concert in Hyde Park

she needs to go and see a man called bob havard as well. He is very well esptablished with holistic grazing with his angus herd of suckler coes and does a lot of talks on the subject. I think he is in wiltshire somewere. Im friends with him on facebook i could put you in contact if you like.

 

[Samcowman]

she needs to go and see a man called bob havard as well. He is very well esptablished with holistic grazing with his angus herd of suckler coes and does a lot of talks on the subject. I think he is in wiltshire somewere. Im friends with him on facebook i could put you in contact if you like.

Nope not here. Further north somewhere. Phepson Angus on Facebook.

 

[hendrebc]

Nope not here. Further north somewhere. Phepson Angus on Facebook.

I checked his page and it says he is in droitwich. I dont know were that is though my english geography isnt great

 

[bitwrx]

I checked his page and it says he is in droitwich. I dont know were that is though my english geography isnt great

Definitely not Wiltshire. Although you're not alone in not knowing where Wiltshire is. It's anonymity is part of its enduring charm.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Clare says your terrible

That's really quite accurate....

Last night we hosted Jessica Bensemann, a Kiwi Nuffield Schollar and staff member of the New Zealand Ministry of Trade International Development section. She's here on 6 months unpaid leave investigating drivers for uptake of Regenerative Agriculture.

She was at Groundswell and spoke to the 3LM team there who put us in touch.

We had a detailed and wide ranging discussion regarding Regenerative Agriculture in its various forms as well as our coming move to NZ.

@Agrispeed - Would you be able to host her while she's here if she could make it down your way?

Perhaps @The Ruminant? I know he isn't on here as much these days, (I quite miss his input) but IIRC you may have his contact details? Local to you?

 

[davieh3350]

Threw the two groups together after I hacked the wool off the ewes. Rams running with them too.... The two lads put their heads between the wires and just walked through put them back in and they did it again put them back in and left thinking that there would be sheep all over the place the next morning..... But no! All still in clever sheep might not be as bad to train as I thought.

Settled down quite nicely. They would've been quarter of a mile away if they had seen me and the dog coming.

Doing a good job too!

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

That's really quite accurate....

Perhaps @The Ruminant? I know he isn't on here as much these days, (I quite miss his input) but IIRC you may have his contact details? Local to you?

Tom would be good for her to chat to, given HIS Nuffield report was on holistic grazing, but his current operation is no more developed than she'd have seen at Lannock Manor for Groundswell.

 

[ShooTa]

looking good @davieh3350 - i like the use of nets as backup - wish id done that on my weaning trial - and will use our nets next attempt. The white tape is something im scanning for now as its so much more visible for the animals in the longer grass.

 

[davieh3350]

looking good @davieh3350 - i like the use of nets as backup - wish id done that on my weaning trial - and will use our nets next attempt. The white tape is something im scanning for now as its so much more visible for the animals in the longer grass.

Spend a bit more on good tape with plenty of strands of metal in it. I bough tape with only 4 metal strands in it a few years ago and it was crap

 

[Chasingmytail]

Easycare (wilt x nelson) sheep: Got them in today, FECs no worm burdon, not given them anything since birth. The only improvement I can put it down is double bolus of the ewes with with the additional copper. Looking good. Lambed over 6 weeks from say 1st April. Tiny lambs at birth but strong. Think around 3kg. Weighing today a few around 34kg (excellent) but mainly around 24kg going down to 18kg on the tiny pigmy things. Anyone got records on weight gains. These are say close to 90 days. Im obv not concerned about the good ones but 24kg at 90 days is that acceptable for grassfed. They are now on a good clover based field for 5 days. Is the weight gain more 300g per day on this? for mid September finish thats 39kg (not sure if this is good enough) weight which is ok but my aim this year to have at least 75% gone by October. Assuming Sept/Oct grass growth thereafter going to be a pain. Gave them the lambs bolus today (late I know should of been 4 weeks ago) not sure if that was worth the expense but didnt take long and cost wise acceptable.

 

[Agrispeed]

She told me she was hoping to get down to the SW, but whether as far as Cornwall I don't know. Certainly if she does @Agrispeed would be 1 to visit, and hoping to get there myself before summer's out.

We are easier to get to being only 15 mins from M5 near Devon Somerset border.

Everyone is always welcome to visit!

I have been forced into semi-hermit status by my currently appalling internet, so apologies if I have missed anything.

I did point her to this thread.

I'm not sure she's planning to venture down to the Cornish republic but I thought I'd ask on her behalf as Agrispeed is probably the most developed holistic grazer I'm aware of in the UK at present. She had been up to Yorkshire though I believe

That's kind but probably a bit unfair. My grazing system is pretty much a hash up of what suits me and mainly a more intensive version of Ben Mead's, who did a fantastic Nuffield report and would be well worth a visit.

Annoyingly, I have had to take a step backwards in the last few days and have started feeding 2kg/head of cheap cake, as the grass growth here is currently very poor and I need to improve condition going into breeding. I suppose it is a holistic management choice, but one I'm a bit disappointed at doing. Hopefully, the extra milk will make it a profitable one, at least in the short term.

 

[ShooTa]

@Chasingmytail - my 90s are similar - the pigmys (i love that btw) are 15kg at 90 day corrected and averaging at 24.5kg - although im slightly weighted on the less heavy ones which is down to my pre lambing ewe bcs stuff i think. and my top3rd average 30kg with the best hitting 38kg.

no idea about clover gain but my next field move is into high clover...
I need to push my lower 3rd to increase next year from 170s to 200-250s but thats down to ewes nutrition and milk from all the videos/research ive read.

 

[onesiedale]

Since we took on this farm this hill has always been the one challenge that I've really wanted to crack.
This year I think I am making progress.
Essential toolkit laid out in front; Poly wire, pigtails, a handful of wooden posts to strategically knock in and the portable water trough and my new Scarpa boots . (the most important tool, the heifers, have just made it to the bottom by the wall) The boots have made the job so much more enjoyable, well worth the investment.

Picture below shows where the heifers were yesterday.

 

[Crofter64]

What it looks like when chickens leave a week long paddock stay:

What it looks like a month later:

Notice the slightly lighter - green grass. The chickens weren’t there, just cattle andbefore them sheep.

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

View attachment 819950
Since we took on this farm this hill has always been the one challenge that I've really wanted to crack.
This year I think I am making progress.
Essential toolkit laid out in front; Poly wire, pigtails, a handful of wooden posts to strategically knock in and the portable water trough and my new Scarpa boots . (the most important tool, the heifers, have just made it to the bottom by the wall) The boots have made the job so much more enjoyable, well worth the investment.

Picture below shows where the heifers were yesterday.
View attachment 819954

By 'eck they'll be fit once they've been up and down that hill a few times

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

What it looks like when chickens leave a week long paddock stay:View attachment 820076

What it looks like a month later:
View attachment 820074
Notice the slightly lighter - green grass. The chickens weren’t there, just cattle andbefore them sheep.

But all that work moving chickens

there'll be no benefit in it

You could just drive a tractor and fert spreader about instead

 

[davieh3350]

By 'eck they'll be fit once they've been up and down that hill a few times

Doing a bit of it myself

part of the farm is lit up by the sun.

How is up our workload now you're moving stock regularly?
Are you. Noticing less need to get animals in for treatment, feet and wormers?
I'll be damned if I ever go into a field to do a reseed again!

A couple of lick tubs (found blowing around the land lords place )
full of mainly cocksfoot, C.R. Fescue, a handful of Timothy, and 3/4 handfuls of yellow trefoil, white clover, chicory, the yarrow/sheeps Paisley/rib grass/burnet mix, white clover (though there's a fair bit of it already) and some early English vetch, just cos it was there, going to throw some rape/stubble turnip seed in for the hell of it too.
Two bucketfuls covers what the cows cover in a day and a half/two days. Doesn't take long to cover the ground throwling it out.
I've been putting I'd down after they have been in, I'd like to have put it down before they went in so it got trodden in, but the seed is going to stick to the wet leaves and get eaten.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

the seed is going to stick to the wet leaves and get eaten.

Funny you should say that, I put some chicory and grass seed on ahead of a mob last year. Because we don't really have chicory in our swards it's interesting to see where it is growing now.... the field I put it on, the one they went to after that, and even a bit in the field after that one

Should have upped the rate!
I've now got chicory and festulolium in 3 fields, for about an hour in the tractor

 

[davieh3350]

Funny you should say that, I put some chicory and grass seed on ahead of a mob last year. Because we don't really have chicory in our swards it's interesting to see where it is growing now.... the field I put it on, the one they went to after that, and even a bit in the field after that one

Should have upped the rate!
I've now got chicory and festulolium in 3 fields, for about an hour in the tractor

Hmmmmm.... Maybe I should let them take a feed out of the bucket each day instead....