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

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
We've still got thistles 🙏
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I am testing the system properly at the moment... always categorised "a farm I can still operate with a broken leg" and the proof, as they say...
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is in the fracture?

Got 3 loads of lime spread and had to call it a day.. but, I still get around on the mobility scooter fine, still shift the stock fine, and can still give them minerals, fine.

I broke this ankle badly in my youth, just waiting on xray machine to be fixed and I'll go get it checked out, suspect it is only badly sprained and it was a ligament that went snap in there.

Drat, and double drat
 

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
I missed one of the steps at the back door yesterday lunchtime, and sat my fat arse down on my heel as I came down

unfortunately the top of my foot was on the edge of the first step and took all of it on about 2 square inches

not often I cry anymore, but I did! Hurts a bit.

Bruise is beginning to come out
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bit of bruising showing under my toes as well
 
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Crofter64

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Quebec, Canada
That’s it for this year’s grazing.
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We’ve had two ‘warning’ frosts- enough to keep the hoses in the paddocks frozen till mid morning, so today I brought the cattle in to drink at the barn and will put them on a couple of sacrifice paddocks with hay till winter proper hits. Drained the hoses, put away all the troughs, pickets, reels and twine- better to do it when the sun is shining than when the ground is rock hard.
Sheep are staying on pasture for a few more days and then they’ll be bunged in with the cattle for the winter. I can hardly wait!
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Poorbuthappy

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Devon
I missed one of the steps at the back door yesterday lunchtime, and sat my fat arse down on my heel as I came down

unfortunately the top of my foot was on the edge of the first step and took all of it on about 2 square inches

not often I cry anymore, but I did! Hurts a bit.

Bruise is beginning to come outView attachment 996448
bit of bruising showing under my toes as well
You didn't tell us you were 12 and not yet grown any body hair🤣
Or are you into this manscaping?
 

som farmer

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
somerset
Cows still going out by day, just moving from paddock to paddock. Yesterday, they had a high chicory/plantain paddock, completely satiated, even knowing there was a ration in the racks, l had to fetch them, and they really were not fussed about coming in, took me ages - 1/2 hour, they just 'dawdled'. Good job l wasn't slowed down, with a blackened foot !
Normally, if they know a ration is there, it's open gate, stand back, follow them in. Very obvious it's really to early to say, but doesn't stop me thinking, are they getting 'more satisfaction' from the herbs, or from what the herbs are bringing up, from deeper down. That would be quite exciting, and very interesting, and probably very profitable.
We are getting very used to changes, usually keep fresh cows in, as they calve, but weather, touch of mastitus, they go out by day, eases the workload as well. Plus we have acres of clover/grass/herbs, and ground will still take stocking - late for us. Does the long tap root, help stop panning? What effect, will those herbs etc, have in silage, will the same things happen there ?
I think l have said before, this thread is crap, it only gives more questions, than answers, not sure it gives any real answers ! Despite that, it's a fascinating subject/system, and, very obviously an arrow, pointing the way to a solution to rising imput costs, longer lasting productive leys, alone, would save serious cash, if they could produce with no N, or very little n, the savings mount up.
As dairy, we produce vast amounts of slurry, reps try and sell 'things' to increase N, and stop a crust forming, in the lagoon, any one know/use ?
 

Samcowman

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Cornwall
Cows still going out by day, just moving from paddock to paddock. Yesterday, they had a high chicory/plantain paddock, completely satiated, even knowing there was a ration in the racks, l had to fetch them, and they really were not fussed about coming in, took me ages - 1/2 hour, they just 'dawdled'. Good job l wasn't slowed down, with a blackened foot !
Normally, if they know a ration is there, it's open gate, stand back, follow them in. Very obvious it's really to early to say, but doesn't stop me thinking, are they getting 'more satisfaction' from the herbs, or from what the herbs are bringing up, from deeper down. That would be quite exciting, and very interesting, and probably very profitable.
We are getting very used to changes, usually keep fresh cows in, as they calve, but weather, touch of mastitus, they go out by day, eases the workload as well. Plus we have acres of clover/grass/herbs, and ground will still take stocking - late for us. Does the long tap root, help stop panning? What effect, will those herbs etc, have in silage, will the same things happen there ?
I think l have said before, this thread is crap, it only gives more questions, than answers, not sure it gives any real answers ! Despite that, it's a fascinating subject/system, and, very obviously an arrow, pointing the way to a solution to rising imput costs, longer lasting productive leys, alone, would save serious cash, if they could produce with no N, or very little n, the savings mount up.
As dairy, we produce vast amounts of slurry, reps try and sell 'things' to increase N, and stop a crust forming, in the lagoon, any one know/use ?
What did the bulk tank say when they were in the herby pasture?
 

som farmer

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
somerset
What did the bulk tank say when they were in the herby pasture?
difficult to say, middle of calving, adding cows all the time ! Bf 4.7 and p3.5, the rations not quite right, another reason we let them out. Some of the bag silage, off the cut only leys, is 18% p, haven't seen the full analysis yet, so some tweaking to do.
Generally speaking, not a lot of difference, yield wise, herb or grass, but more grass than herbs, at the moment, which is fine, as long as, the herb leys, with clover, are building fertility, and reducing N use, that question will be answered as we 'convert' more over, and no reason to think that wont happen. Whether cattle are healthier on herbal leys, l don't know, they seem to like them, but, time will tell, to many unknowns yet.
 

Rob Garrett

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Derbyshire UK
Busted! I'm actually going to do a wee field-trial with humate granules "down the spout" at 125 and 250kg/ha (I'm going to crossdrill it, so it's really just a matter of tipping it in a fert box already calibrated for 125kg/ha DAP), but I did have a few hours to see how I'd set up a drip system on the machine. Too many hours 🤪😴
How much are you paying for those humate granules? Hellish expensive over here, £3.36/kg for soluble humate granules. Is the stuff your using the potassium hydroxide extracted or ground down brown coal (lignite) from Solid Energies on South Island?
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

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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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