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

[holwellcourtfarm]

big gap between kids leaving home, and grandchildren eating lots.
we had a good steady customer base, but a lot of all our age group, the recession hit hard, but kids departing at the same time, but we still do a bit, and sausages seem to disappear with speed, and our massive pile of gammon steaks is shrinking.
On the beef side, we used to kill fr bulls, at about 1 yr, this meant the 8 boxes were not to big, and we could keep the price down. While fr bulls might seem a funny choice, they suited extremely well, very lean, no fat, and only hung for 4 days, which kept the 'colour' right, and they tasted right. The 4 day hanging bit, was advised by the small abattoir, and was spot on, leaving longer, they lost colour and taste. Our own preference, grass fed, 24 months, and hung for 3 weeks, but the fr paid very well, and suited our customers.

Needed more fat for proper ageing.

 

[Crofter64]

big gap between kids leaving home, and grandchildren eating lots.
we had a good steady customer base, but a lot of all our age group, the recession hit hard, but kids departing at the same time, but we still do a bit, and sausages seem to disappear with speed, and our massive pile of gammon steaks is shrinking.
On the beef side, we used to kill fr bulls, at about 1 yr, this meant the 8 boxes were not to big, and we could keep the price down. While fr bulls might seem a funny choice, they suited extremely well, very lean, no fat, and only hung for 4 days, which kept the 'colour' right, and they tasted right. The 4 day hanging bit, was advised by the small abattoir, and was spot on, leaving longer, they lost colour and taste. Our own preference, grass fed, 24 months, and hung for 3 weeks, but the fr paid very well, and suited our customers.

How did you label it: beef, baby beef, older veal?

 

[som farmer]

How did you label it: beef, baby beef, older veal?

box of beef, £100 please, and, thankyou.
bit of everything, steak to mince.
why complicate issues ?

 

[Blaithin]

Multiple wholes! Oh the dream! The tendance here is smaller and smaller boxes. Even have some clients complaining that 6kgs is too much.

That’s why you need to get into the ethnic backgrounds. Those are big families! The local Filipinos will actually come out and salvage an animal if you can’t get an emergency butcher out. An African shop owner from the city has contacted my uncle but he wants more than can be supplied.

The discrepancies are trying to make a little more than market price while still not scaring them away from a deal (no box sale prices this way) and trying to stay legal. They aren’t always the most caring about the bureaucracy

 

[som farmer]

pics 1 and 2, these plantains, on a dry slope, are getting thicker all the time, these must be self seeded, this bit of ground got hit hard by the few dry spells we had, all one can say is, they did the job they were meant to do, if a bit over the top !
pic 3, is the same field, but on the flatter top, they have worked well, with the clover, whereas the clover in the first two, hasn't performed so well. Normally a long dry spell, would mean brown plants, though the grass and clover has slowed right down, the plantain has kept going.
The final pic, shows 300% germination of chicory, definitely not self seeded, probably much to thick !
As l have said before, it's all a steep learning curve, plantains are great, chicory needs a lot of attention, to keep it under some sort of control, but, again on some drier ground, it is doing better than the grass, in keeping growing. Where it has bolted, looks a mess.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Steaming along now... everything seems to be bursting with energy suddenly

 

[Samcowman]

View attachment 990607 Steaming along now... everything seems to be bursting with energy suddenly

We are definitely going the other way. Drive over our river bridge this morning shifting cattle around so they are in place for Tb test tomorrow and the river was steaming!!

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

We are definitely going the other way. Drive over our river bridge this morning shifting cattle around so they are in place for Tb test tomorrow and the river was steaming!!

Technically it isn't steam

 

[Blaithin]

Came home yesterday. Not that there’s any grass anywhere. Onto hah they go!

 

[Humble Village Farmer]

Came home yesterday. Not that there’s any grass anywhere. Onto hah they go!

View attachment 990625

Those are big fields. How much grazing land do you have?

 

[Blaithin]

Those are big fields. How much grazing land do you have?

I rent about 20 acres and have almost 10 at home.

Fields in the photo are all crop.

 

[Samcowman]

Technically it isn't steam

Blooody know it all.
Go on then I’ll humour you.
What is it then?

 

[Blaithin]

Condensation.

But a pretty steaming creek sounds nicer than a pretty condensing creek.

 

[Fenwick]

needed a few arrow posts but i'm a bit cheap. so i improvised with a drill and a bit of ht wire.

seems to be doing it's job.

 

[exmoor dave]

Good little watch from NZ

Lake Hawea Station Living on Instagram: "@regenerative_renegade @ecointerpreter"

20 likes, 7 comments - lakehaweastationliving on June 27, 2021: "@regenerative_renegade @ecointerpreter"

www.instagram.com

 

[som farmer]

over in the 'carbon credits, what value,' thread, chris f, has posted about re-gen farming, getting research for the system.
hope it will not lead to a rule book.
neighbour quoted £600+ for english N, this morning, 1 artic came yesterday, at £550/t for him.
l think there may be a sudden rise of interest in what we try to achieve, perhaps we may even rise above the 'fad' tag, we have now !
We have gone down a road, through necessity, and have learnt an awful lot of 'stuff', most of what we have tried, has worked pretty well, and not been expensive either. While our usual supplier of N, is saying, 'don't panic', the price is not going down to summer levels, of sub £300. Our exalted minister has said we have to reduce use of mineral fert, so we know the treasury is eyeing up a new tax, barstewards.
Another interesting piece of news, spot milk price, is 47ppl now, if you add that to the boiling pot of fert price, general imput prices, and the new ELMS, farming is rapidly heading towards the perfect storm, whether it will be a good, or bad answer, remains to be seen.
For those trying to improve our lot, by taking steps to reduce imput costs, and trying to decrease our dependence on chemical fixes, this surely has to be a positive road, l would love to sell milk at 47ppl, l really really would jump through a few more hoops ! But, seriously, we on here, are already going down the road of reducing costs, in a positive way, rather than in desperation, which many will be forced to do, so we are 'ahead' of the game now, whereas prior we were 'fadish'. Quite nice really.
That perfect storm, will lead to higher food prices, for the public though, not that l worry about that, we have been shafted for years, on prices. I do worry about the many farmers, who either, won't or cannot change, there are going to be casualties, before things settle down again, hopefully on a better level.

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

over in the 'carbon credits, what value,' thread, chris f, has posted about re-gen farming, getting research for the system.
hope it will not lead to a rule book.
neighbour quoted £600+ for english N, this morning, 1 artic came yesterday, at £550/t for him.
l think there may be a sudden rise of interest in what we try to achieve, perhaps we may even rise above the 'fad' tag, we have now !
We have gone down a road, through necessity, and have learnt an awful lot of 'stuff', most of what we have tried, has worked pretty well, and not been expensive either. While our usual supplier of N, is saying, 'don't panic', the price is not going down to summer levels, of sub £300. Our exalted minister has said we have to reduce use of mineral fert, so we know the treasury is eyeing up a new tax, barstewards.
Another interesting piece of news, spot milk price, is 47ppl now, if you add that to the boiling pot of fert price, general imput prices, and the new ELMS, farming is rapidly heading towards the perfect storm, whether it will be a good, or bad answer, remains to be seen.
For those trying to improve our lot, by taking steps to reduce imput costs, and trying to decrease our dependence on chemical fixes, this surely has to be a positive road, l would love to sell milk at 47ppl, l really really would jump through a few more hoops ! But, seriously, we on here, are already going down the road of reducing costs, in a positive way, rather than in desperation, which many will be forced to do, so we are 'ahead' of the game now, whereas prior we were 'fadish'. Quite nice really.
That perfect storm, will lead to higher food prices, for the public though, not that l worry about that, we have been shafted for years, on prices. I do worry about the many farmers, who either, won't or cannot change, there are going to be casualties, before things settle down again, hopefully on a better level.

Absolutely.

The steam roller of change is coming. We can learn to stay ahead, attempt to influence the steering or get crushed. They, or a combination, are the options.

 

[TexasCarbonCowboy]

@holwellcourtfarm - You're spot on, you and @som farmer.

If government doesn't step in first, the environment will force others to change or be spit out the back. I think the goal is to stay ahead of both of those, being a beacon of education to all willing to see the writing on the wall.

re: pricing - people have spent too little on the things the matter most in recent history, taking advantage of the "stolen" profits of the future through extracting resources at an un-regeneratable rate. The hot-checks of our global society bought us a faux-utopian dream, at the cost of future stability, but it's not all written in stone yet. Better prices for sellers, better quality for purchasers, and better environmental stewardship is possible, but it will def require better management, on the ground, and in the political cabinets.

 

[som farmer]

obviously not the only farmer, getting ready for a bumpy ride.
but from all the bad news, filtering out, there are loads of positives, it is up to all of us, to make the best of the opportunities that are there, and stop feeling negative.
You never know, subsidies for producing food, may re-appear, simply to reduce costs to the public.
This may easily alter the balance of UK farming in a positive way.
Unless food prices rise, the following will occur-
high fert price = less used = lower crops
no sub dependant on producing food = less produced
stricter climate rules, = more expense = less done/less food
dearer energy/fuel = higher expense = more local product required
and the list goes on and on
the biggest question of all, is, 'when will the penny drop'

 

[Fenwick]

Better prices for sellers, better quality for purchasers, and better environmental stewardship is possible, but it will def require better management, on the ground, and in the political cabinets

don't hold your breath!