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

[ShooTa]

Talking of meetings - my better half went to one near her on getting ready for lambing - said most of it was pushing soya based tmr style feed ( cheapest and best (?) for of DUP) and improving indoor lambing... and weirdly (im scanning her notes) that they are calmer when not fed cereals - colour me suprised./

 

[awkward]

NFU meeting BTW
I actually decided to open my gob instead of sitting at the back looking stupid which is not hard,
The point I made that we should be talking up grassland beef/lamb farming from the environmental point of view and not just be defensive about it but they seem to want to push the tech route to cutting emissions rather than the do less but work with nature way that I would prefer and still linked it with production as in more of
I think it comes back to Roy's vid and wanting to feed the world rather than look after yourself and those around you.
Lots of talk about the country's food self sufficiency
I don't see it as my problem or job but lots it would seem do

We are hearing the same at our meetings aswll

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

Another cutting bit of satire from this excellent Aussie tram:

https://www.facebook.com/238182898451/posts/10158768314718452

 

[exmoor dave]

NFU meeting BTW
I actually decided to open my gob instead of sitting at the back looking stupid which is not hard,
The point I made that we should be talking up grassland beef/lamb farming from the environmental point of view and not just be defensive about it but they seem to want to push the tech route to cutting emissions rather than the do less but work with nature way that I would prefer and still linked it with production as in more of
I think it comes back to Roy's vid and wanting to feed the world rather than look after yourself and those around you.
Lots of talk about the country's food self sufficiency
I don't see it as my problem or job but lots it would seem do

County AGM?

 

[Crofter64]

Quite common to see rebar posts used with poly pipe slipped over them as an insulator
Hard to get much cheaper, or easier to drive for that matter

How does it stay suspended in the air with the polypipe?

 

[JohnGalway]

How does it stay suspended in the air with the polypipe?

Pete's down under, the wire falls up...

(I think he said they tie it to each one)

 

[Henarar]

Were you at that sheep meeting in frome last night? Was going to go but forgot it was on

No I wasn't, forgot about it as well, It looked well attended by the pics on FB

 

[Henarar]

County AGM?

no this was just the local one, was going to go to county but it was at wedmoor which is a bit of a treg

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

I'm disappointed that I've only just learnt of this event and can't make it on the 12th

Livestock Farm Business Resilience Event, 12 December
This event will be taking place in at Towcester Rugby Club, Greens Norton Road, Towcester NN12 8AW, Start time is 9.45am and will finish at 1pm with a free lunch afterwards.
Sam Lane from Cotswold Seeds will be presenting on soil improving cover crops and fertility building, multi species leys, including how to manage them on different soil types. Niels Corfield, soils researcher will be looking at establishing healthy soils on pasture and mixed farms using soil assessments, interpreting spade samples, with practical tips on how to manage for soil health.
NRoSO & BASIS CPD points available. Please contact your local Anglian Water Catchment Advisor Georgina Wallis [email protected] 07764986927, to book before Monday 9th December.

 

[Bury the Trash]

Profit and profits go hand in hand.

Unsure what else does, I would venture that productivity of the area used is relatively important;

eg I can't make much profit off 100 acres if I only have 6 cows and 6 calves unless I do something special with marketing, and it doesn't really matter how "productive" they are, or how productive I am at feeding and watering them

But if I have 620 sheep and 62 cattle on it, then I might make money because I have fixed costs associated with the land and also with the business itself - by fixed I mean they would be there if I had no sales and no animals

It probably doesn' matter how productive your wheat crop is either if the inputs used 'being a productive crop' are the same or greater than the sales figure, and I think that's where the likes of "productivity grants" are excellent, eg they get people spending money on drills they don't need and then seed because they have a new drill

And spending money on sheep handling kit to handle sheep that really shouldn't need need handled or God would have made them with handles... but while they're in maybe you could wear out some old cutters and give them a drench and be all productive - ie, raise your COP and that definitely relates to profit - all around the town

Maybe time is money because the farmer pays himself/herself by the hour or has a paying job in town to go to...?

But otherwise I would have my own questions for the speaker about who all this productivity actually benefits because ingredients for meals aren't exactly in short supply AFAIK

so how to monitor growth rate or crucially, select for slaughter then, with out handling or a system to handle sheep ?

 

[ShooTa]

i guess you wouldnt own the handling equip but contract it in?

 

[Bury the Trash]

Talking of meetings - my better half went to one near her on getting ready for lambing - said most of it was pushing soya based tmr style feed ( cheapest and best (?) for of DUP) and improving indoor lambing... and weirdly (im scanning her notes) that they are calmer when not fed cereals - colour me suprised./

was that ' calmer ' bit in the notes supposed to be in the context of the tmr feeding ie: they don't need to panic or scrum down in the way that they would to get at a once or even twice daily conc. feed as opposed to if the are foraging through a pile of mixed ration .... in all the time they want too
..and this is indoor feeding of course...?

withregrds to soya and dup, ,well if the ewes are in really good nick which in theory they should be at that critical time and with a good supply of energy in front of them all the time then dup is not so relevant for that all important early colostrum /milk production.,
having thinner ewes carrying multiples ... well thats a different matter.

...well there s another reason to handle.....to check on BCS.
.... plus of course vaccinations , which are so important in the low or even nil use ? of Antibiotics.

 

[Bury the Trash]

i guess you wouldnt own the handling equip but contract it in?

whats wrong with old gates and a few hurdles tied together with baler cord...

 

[Kiwi Pete]

How does it stay suspended in the air with the polypipe?

Usually just a halfhitch, but you could soon tape/ziptie them in place if you didn't want them to slide.

 

[Bury the Trash]

back in the days of 50kg ferts. bags, i know one chap, who always kept a good number of sheep and some places he pulled them poly bags over wooden stakes and tied the wires to them with baler cord...

 

[Sharpy]

NFU meeting BTW
I actually decided to open my gob instead of sitting at the back looking stupid which is not hard,
The point I made that we should be talking up grassland beef/lamb farming from the environmental point of view and not just be defensive about it but they seem to want to push the tech route to cutting emissions rather than the do less but work with nature way that I would prefer and still linked it with production as in more of
I think it comes back to Roy's vid and wanting to feed the world rather than look after yourself and those around you.
Lots of talk about the country's food self sufficiency
I don't see it as my problem or job but lots it would seem do

As I see it the only real reason to keep production per acre etc up is to maintain the infrastructure that farming needs in both supply (eg vets) and demand (eg slaughterhouses). Wanting Uk ag to make more profit (as opposed to turnover) is a no brainer. If they want us to provide more food simply pay us more.

 

[Woolless]

Understanding… the Cost and the Value of Gain – - Pharo Cattle Company

It seems as though most cow-calf producers are always looking for ways to increase weaning weights. They can accomplish their goal by using large-framed, high-growth bulls, feeding expensive supplements, implanting calves and by using wormers and other toxic chemicals. Of course, the...

www.pharocattle.com

I like a lot of these progressive American ranchers, interesting stuff.

 

[Bury the Trash]

NFU meeting BTW
I actually decided to open my gob instead of sitting at the back looking stupid which is not hard,
The point I made that we should be talking up grassland beef/lamb farming from the environmental point of view and not just be defensive about it but they seem to want to push the tech route to cutting emissions rather than the do less but work with nature way that I would prefer and still linked it with production as in more of
I think it comes back to Roy's vid and wanting to feed the world rather than look after yourself and those around you.
Lots of talk about the country's food self sufficiency
I don't see it as my problem or job but lots it would seem do

so were you the only one saying those points that you did , and/or did any others agree?

 

[Woolless]

I’ve been planning on limiting my TFF exposure, but I had to share this & here is probably the best place.
I was just listening to ABC ( our equivalent of BBC ) radio. A Sydney based afternoon show, a regular money / investment segment
The regular expert / investment advice guru, was saying that BEEF was the big investment for the future. Particularly Australia & North America
This was a cold, objective, no emotion involved view based purely on analysis with a global perspective & investment advice with a view of making money

take from that what you will . . .

I just thought it was an interesting counter point to all the vegan & “the jobs fûcked” negative post that seem to dominate THFF
How that relates to the UK - I have no idea. Just realise that there is a HUGE demand worldwide for animal protein . . .








THFF
( the hobby farmer forum )
as so many ( in other threads of course ) seem to treat farming like a tax payer funded hobby / birth right, rather than a business . . .

Can you give us the main points of their analysis that led them to that conclusion? I'm gearing up to buy some cows but need a push to commit the cash!

 

[JohnGalway]

I like a lot of these progressive American ranchers, interesting stuff.

Loved the guy who while talking about their cow culling policy said if HE drove over a calf in the paddock then that cow was gone. Puts my three strikes and yer out for lameness into perspective.