Pasture-For-Life beef

[DanM]

Also I must say I hVe been extremely lucky to have met some of those along the way that I have. A wise man once said that the quality of ones life can be measured by the quality of ones friendships.

....oh dear

 

[DanM]

There’s a bit more to the story I came back to the U.K., got a regular job, found myself going mental, ended up game keeping, and helping with the 800 sheep on the farm, decided to do my own thing........ found the farming forum, read a few posts and thought that I liked what two particular guys said. @MRT and @Tim W have a lot to answer for. I went to see Mr white and he said one thing that rang true, it might not work out but you will have some fun along the way whatever happens. So I bought 50 ewes, a tup, and a couple of ugly pig rams from a strange man in Wales. The next year I took a personal bank loan and bought another 100 odd ewes off a hippy with a banjo, and a few female pig sheep. Went to a ram sale, met a woman who ended up going nuts and moved 100 miles on a whim to help a bit of a genius, taking my sheep with me. That year I lambed about 2000 ewes outside with the help two ag students and my dog. The rest as they say is history. I still don’t own a farm. I did live on one briefly for a bit, farm house, sheds, ring fenced fields around the yard. But they developed it and turned it into a big house and sold off the land for horse paddocks so I got booted out, and now I’m gypsy shepherd again. I do miss that shed when it’s cold and sh!t and I’m picking dead lambs up, but what can you do? You have to make the best of what you hVe and what you can do and just have a good crack, life passes by and if it doesn’t work out you can always do something else. But at least you will have made some memories.

...and you managed all that without investing your hard earned money with a marketing organisation that offer you nothing in return; it’s a wonder you’ve survived

 

[Tim W]

...and you managed all that without investing your hard earned money with a marketing organisation that offer you nothing in return; it’s a wonder you’ve survived

---i'm his marketing guru and i did once get a bacon sarnie off him

 

[N.Yorks.]

Great certification however, there is no demand and finding a buyer for grassfed organic angus is hard enough now. We did look into this but not worth the bother. Some people are switched onto non soya and shed stuffed beef however, looks like we will be cutting our herd numbers this year as there is no buyers bar the main abattoirs and even if you find niche buyers they only want to pay the standard rates. Only works if your selling box beef or lucky to have a farm shop. The rest of us are stuffed.

Give it time, it's all on the way.......(I think!!)

 

[JP1]

---i'm his marketing guru and i did once get a bacon sarnie off him

Oh I had you down as the banjo playing hippy in the tale - two of you

 

[Tim W]

Oh I had you down as the banjo playing hippy in the tale - two of you

Clones....watch out

 

[JP1]

Clones....watch out

I’d take a clone of you over some any day !! Just don’t change your name to Dolly

 

[Kiwi Pete]

I think Graeme is working on about 9-15 month recoveries where he is.
Welcome to the other side of pasture-fed beef - this is my kinda hobby

 

[exmoor dave]

---i'm his marketing guru and i did once get a bacon sarnie off him

Yeah but you've not counted how many pasties he's pocketed at the exlana sales when you're not looking

 

[Wolds Beef]

For those that can do it, it is a good idea. There is an example on Facebook of a farm on the Lincs/Notts border that has Texel sheep and Pedigree Lincoln Red Cattle. They go under the Banner of Field Farm. They sell there beef and Lamb boxed. They also have a contract fencing business. Lincoln's lend themselves to it as they will live cheap of forage and are also hardy if you have the right land to keep them out all winter.
WB
P.S. They bought a very good used bull of me, that had bred a Lincoln Red Young bull of the Year.

 

[Bury the Trash]

and there are many , many farms here that can't out winter its why we build sheds and hardstandings , thats at least to prevent soil disturbance and soil erosion, may not be very trendy or'idylic' but its common sense.
you dont need to read a book on soil biology to get that im sure.

Also Theres a huge difference between grazing brassicas and grass and silage covered in plastic as well , some of those processes could quite easily be equaled (costs wise to the environment) for feed value economic and soil preservation by arable crops (dry) grown in the correct geographic location.

Tis necessary and interesting to look and get into new things but please don't imply all of what we already do is poor practice,

 

[Poorbuthappy]

and there are many , many farms here that can't out winter its why we build sheds and hardstandings , thats at least to prevent soil disturbance and soil erosion, may not be very trendy or'idylic' but its common sense.
you dont need to read a book on soil biology to get that im sure.

Also Theres a huge difference between grazing brassicas and grass and silage covered in plastic as well , some of those processes could quite easily be equaled (costs wise to the environment) for feed value economic and soil preservation by arable crops (dry) grown in the correct geographic location.

Tis necessary and interesting to look and get into new things but please don't imply all of what we already do is poor practice,

Indeed.
But just to reiterate, pasture for life doesn't mean you can't house.

 

[Bury the Trash]

Indeed.
But just to reiterate, pasture for life doesn't mean you can't house.

i was following on from the out wintering comments but since youve mentioned it, so they will need straw from combinable crops to bed then?

the problem can arise where ,like the 'organics specialists '... a superiority thing gets built which is just sales men ship coming from the wrong direction. ie negative to the industry as a whole

 

[NZDan]

I think Graeme is working on about 9-15 month recoveries where he is.
Welcome to the other side of pasture-fed beef - this is my kinda hobby

Thats quite a recovery time. I've often wondered what this system would be like in the moors and highlands of the UK, short grazing duration with long recovery.

 

[Bury the Trash]

Thats quite a recovery time. I've often wondered what this system would be like in the moors and highlands of the UK, short grazing duration with long recovery.

about 40% of Dartmoor is common land so it wouldnt happen on that they struggle to get enough stock on by commoners anyway now and a lot of the rest is in enviromental schemes and it would still be perceived as overgrazing ?even with long recovery periods and it would only ever be allowable in summer at least.
edit. having said that @egbert is the one who would actually know what hes talkin about

 

[NZDan]

about 40% of Dartmoor is common land so it wouldnt happen on that they struggle to get enough stock on by commoners anyway now and a lot of the rest is in enviromental schemes and it would still be perceived as overgrazing ?even with long recovery periods and it would only ever be allowable in summer at least.
edit. having said that @egbert is the one who would actually know what hes talkin about

It seems to me that the biggest gains to be made from subdivision and regular shifting are in current brittle extensive environments, plenty of Oz and US experience showing dramatic increases in production, from relatively simple rotational grazing systems.

 

[neilo]

i was following on from the out wintering comments but since youve mentioned it, so they will need straw from combinable crops to bed then?

the problem can arise where ,like the 'organics specialists '... a superiority thing gets built which is just sales men ship coming from the wrong direction. ie negative to the industry as a whole

They would be like organic cattle, in that they only sh*t on it, never ever eat it. Their diet would be 100% forage, either grazed or preserved.

 

[neilo]

about 40% of Dartmoor is common land so it wouldnt happen on that they struggle to get enough stock on by commoners anyway now and a lot of the rest is in enviromental schemes and it would still be perceived as overgrazing ?even with long recovery periods and it would only ever be allowable in summer at least.
edit. having said that @egbert is the one who would actually know what hes talkin about

Can you even put electric fences up on common land? Even if it were allowed, deer and ramblers would soon have it trashed anyway.

 

[Bury the Trash]

Can you even put electric fences up on common land? Even if it were allowed, deer and ramblers would soon have it trashed anyway.

exactly.
often i find things hard to explain ,but inreality.Dartmoor isnt going to be criss crossed by lots and lots fences any day soon.
The only thing nearest to that that i can remember is the road from Oke to Tavy being permanently fenced to stop them killing sheep and ponies sort of thing.

 

[The Ruminant]

its why we build sheds and hardstandings , thats at least to prevent soil disturbance and soil erosion, may not be very trendy or'idylic' but its common sense.
you dont need to read a book on soil biology to get that im sure.

I love the irony of you writing that, with a name like Bury the Trash and with you being such a strong advocate of ploughing.....