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

Farmer Roy

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
NSW, Newstralya
Was it him who stood watching his ewes with a rifle and shot the first ones that broke out? Then never had any trouble with them again.
Seems a bit harsh...

i has a mate who used to do that with sheep.
Not with electric fencing, but same principle. His theory was, there are always a couple of ring leaders who try & break through, so the rest then follow.
He just sat in his Toyota with a .243, watching them & took out the trouble makers from a distance. So - they just ended up in his freezer or feeding his dogs
 

Karliboy

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
West Yorkshire
What's the weather doing up there?
We have sun today, infact we have sunshine again tomorrow before 8 days of forecast rain.

Is it still growing well? 🤔

I know when we "took the top off" our silage a couple of years back, it bloody near doubled the yield off the area, but it was still warm enough to respond because the soil temp was north of 12° at the time and it had unlimited moisture.


Weather is grand here at the moment and has been since last Saturday. Going to turn a bit more autumnal next week according to the so called weather forecasters.
Grass looks well at the moment but is slowing up rapidly. It’s like once you get around to the autumn equinox it just knows it’s time to shut up shop.
I can’t see me extending my grazing season right much this year really without feeding bales outside starting next month but hey ho I’ve tried, the dry spring early summer really has had a knock on effect here this year I’ve never really been able to build that stockpile up in front.
I’ve got 1 more round to go yet off around 20 days but it’s a case of when I start it.
Maybe a few bales used now might not be a bad idea and will help stretch the growing season.

I’ve just this weekend got my straw in from the dealer, last of the dung spread,(I cannot remember the last time I actually had nothing to spread) and the last of the rounds in plastic and stacked. So I’m officially ready for winter.
 

Rob Garrett

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Derbyshire UK
How many acres?
How many stock?
You have got 100 days now till New Year. Will it simply divide up into 100 equal cells for grazing, but also supplementing with some bales along the way.
11 acres (4.45ha)
18 cows + calves, 7 heifers, 1 bull = 44 head
Want to keep them mid Oct to end Nov, say 45 days
So 44,500 square meters divided by 45 days = 989 square meters/day?????
Is that .09 ha then? Standing room only!
How do I measure that out (meters X meters)?
 

som farmer

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
somerset
also works with assy bulls, chain/string, through his ring, when he starts pawing the ground, steps on it, stops them. These days, i'm long past taking risks, once they start, lorry time.
reared a bull last rear, put with some hfrs in may, this year, served 2, then started bawling, pawing, and squaring up, bye bye, that was another loss !
shouldn't have posted these 2 posts, 2 dry cows the wrong side of the forage rape fence, and the O/H asked me why the bull was so noisy today !
 

Sharpy

Member
Livestock Farmer
11 acres (4.45ha)
18 cows + calves, 7 heifers, 1 bull = 44 head
Want to keep them mid Oct to end Nov, say 45 days
So 44,500 square meters divided by 45 days = 989 square meters/day?????
Is that .09 ha then? Standing room only!
How do I measure that out (meters X meters)?
Almost 0.1ha. Measure the width of your strip in metres and divide 989m by that which will give your grazing allowance depth?
 

Crofter64

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Quebec, Canada
Weather is grand here at the moment and has been since last Saturday. Going to turn a bit more autumnal next week according to the so called weather forecasters.
Grass looks well at the moment but is slowing up rapidly. It’s like once you get around to the autumn equinox it just knows it’s time to shut up shop.
I can’t see me extending my grazing season right much this year really without feeding bales outside starting next month but hey ho I’ve tried, the dry spring early summer really has had a knock on effect here this year I’ve never really been able to build that stockpile up in front.
I’ve got 1 more round to go yet off around 20 days but it’s a case of when I start it.
Maybe a few bales used now might not be a bad idea and will help stretch the growing season.

I’ve just this weekend got my straw in from the dealer, last of the dung spread,(I cannot remember the last time I actually had nothing to spread) and the last of the rounds in plastic and stacked. So I’m officially ready for winter.
I’m not sure if stockpiling anything now is of any value. I say take what you can get right now ‘cause you might not get a second chance. I’m full speed ahead as when the first bit of snow falls my stock call it quits on the grazing.
 

som farmer

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
somerset
Odd that sometimes you can give them what you think is the best grazing and they are not happy but give them what you think is a load of rubbish and they are happy.
Anyone would think they know better than us ? Naa can't be can it ?
4 years ago, we drilled, an all singing and dancing, high sugar grass ley, we had plenty of holstiens then, they hated it, unhappy, bawling, and completely stripped all reachable hedge, day 2, we put a bale of straw out, they ate that, before starting on the grass, milk dropped 200 litres, then gave up with dairy, and put y/stock on it, they kept getting out, so we baled it.
As we did a major turnover of hols to xbred, the xbred's loved it, and milk went up. For the hols, it was just to pokey, and gave them acidosis, learn't a very good lesson on that. Seeing we have been really short of grass, all summer, what grass there has been, has been excellent, but, we have fed 100 ton of hay all summer, for two reasons, first to try and slow the grazing round, and secondly, to try and keep the grass in the cows longer ! We are told to utilise grass, at the 3 leaf stage, which, some of the time, when we have had some rain, we have achieved, and left longer residuals, but that good grass, flies out the back end, telling me, they need 'something' to slow it down.
 

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
11 acres (4.45ha)
18 cows + calves, 7 heifers, 1 bull = 44 head
Want to keep them mid Oct to end Nov, say 45 days
So 44,500 square meters divided by 45 days = 989 square meters/day?????
Is that .09 ha then? Standing room only!
How do I measure that out (meters X meters)?
30x33, with my stumpy legs that's 32 steps by 36. 😂
They will have heaps of room, we had 81 calves on 190m² FWIW
 

Generally01

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Loading....
4 years ago, we drilled, an all singing and dancing, high sugar grass ley, we had plenty of holstiens then, they hated it, unhappy, bawling, and completely stripped all reachable hedge, day 2, we put a bale of straw out, they ate that, before starting on the grass, milk dropped 200 litres, then gave up with dairy, and put y/stock on it, they kept getting out, so we baled it.
As we did a major turnover of hols to xbred, the xbred's loved it, and milk went up. For the hols, it was just to pokey, and gave them acidosis, learn't a very good lesson on that. Seeing we have been really short of grass, all summer, what grass there has been, has been excellent, but, we have fed 100 ton of hay all summer, for two reasons, first to try and slow the grazing round, and secondly, to try and keep the grass in the cows longer ! We are told to utilise grass, at the 3 leaf stage, which, some of the time, when we have had some rain, we have achieved, and left longer residuals, but that good grass, flies out the back end, telling me, they need 'something' to slow it down.
I have found feeding hay out on the pasture is very helpful anytime of the year. It boosts your organic matter quite a bit especially if they don't eat all of it and scatter some around.
 

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
I have found feeding hay out on the pasture is very helpful anytime of the year. It boosts your organic matter quite a bit especially if they don't eat all of it and scatter some around.
Likewise - I really don't know why it only seems the preserve of winter feeding, that's risky in our climate as it puts too many feet in one place for too long. Doesn't stop everyone doing it, but IMO it's still wrong if everyone is doing it and still right if nobody is doing it
🤷‍♂️
I'd be more inclined to build up a standing grass reserve by feeding before it gets wet, then plastering the standing grass down when it does get wet.
Or summer feeding, summer cropping, and focus on our all-grass wintering systems
 

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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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