Patagonia

[Y Fan Wen]

I spent 3 weeks in S America in May and here are some of my pictures of farming related subjects;

This is the stock of fencing on Mr Hughes farm. No hint of preservative here. Logs just cut out of the woods for poles and sawn droppers for inters.

 

[Y Fan Wen]

Hmm, can't add the next pic.. Try again;

This is a pic of a typical fence, older than when sawn droppers became commonplace. The briar rose you can see is widespread and I assumed it was parallel evolution taking the place of bracken. No, it was introduced from Europe!

A better view of the fence with a typical country hardcore road on the left and plenty of briar in the background.

 

[Y Fan Wen]

I find it is the Adobe flash crashing which is stopping me adding pics.

All that drilling! The wires second in from top and bottom do not go through the droppers and are wired with twist links to stop them sliding. I'll go on to the cattle next.

 

[Y Fan Wen]

Mr Hughes, in the red coat, has nothing to say about continentals, Herefords only;

This is his feedlot where they get a mix of lucerne hay and whole grain maize. The only concrete on the farm is a small area around the barbecue fireplace and the seats around it.

Another view of one of the feedlots with the farmyard in the background.

Lombardy poplars in the background are the favoured tree for wind breaking.

A sluice gate for the flood irrigation system in the foreground. Our visit in May was during the 3 month period when the system is shut down and drained for maintenance. There is a long term programme of installing concrete canals instead of the original earth walled ones. This is to reduce water loss.

Newly arrived calves grazing some pasture. Mr Hughes buys in weaners, 350 at a time, from the Andes and carries them on to slaughter. There are no l/s markets. Business is done by phone. He has a list of 10 trusted suppliers farming sucklers on the Andean foothills and buys unseen. The slaughterhouse fieldsman comes to select his finished stock at frequent intervals. He is a great believer in 'grazing is the cheapest feed' so they do not spend long in the feedlot.

 

[Exfarmer]

Wonderful pictures and commentary, look forward to more

 

[Y Fan Wen]

Wonderful pictures and commentary, look forward to more

Thank you. I'm going to leave it for the night now.

 

[Man_in_black]

Great pics thanks for sharing. Have always said I'd like to travel to patagonia.

 

[JP1]

Yes great pictures and thank you for sharing

Sorry too that it's been such a frustrating experience uploading but the commentary per pic is very welcome

Looking forward to the next instalment [emoji846]

 

[Y Fan Wen]

Back to the collection;

Here we see the empty canal with the Autumn leaves drifting in (in May!). The yard is over the bridge where OH is standing in the red coat. The building on the right is the pump house which is for watering the stock. Technically you are not allowed to water stock with irrigation water. It is a tube well and the water is 8M down. Instead of the submersible pump you would find here, there is a high speed reciprocating pump chugging away.

Now the pump house is on the left and these are young stock newly delivered the previous week and awaiting various doses and injections. The plough is taken round the farm on a 6 year cycle and on each reseed the field is carefully graded at the seedbed stage so that flood irrigation covers each area uniformly. I think he claimed an accuracy of 4cm in each field or it might have been the fall hat he was quoting. A specialist contractor does this job using gps and laser guidance. There is an 18" bund separating the enclosures.

Another view of the same field. Not really visible in the background are unwrapped big hay bales ready for the coming Winter. Each field would be irrigated up to 7 times a year with a maximum of 4" each time.

 

[Y Fan Wen]

I've got an errant picture in the above post so I'll try again;

First pic of the farmyard. Note the shingle surface. Dig down anywhere in the Camwy valley and you get sand and shingle just like on a beach. Mr Hughes said that this would be the last year we would see little bales on this farm. His accountant had told him he needed to spend more money and he decided to go to big bales and do away with the manhandling. Hence the brand new tub feeder sitting in the shed.

The silos hold the grain maize and his new big baler is next to them. Anyone know what the next red machine is? It seems to have a pickup reel.

This is the handling pens and loading ramp in the foreground. No ramps on lorries here. I saw a prefabricated ramp sitting in a dealers yard once. Note the roof over the handling crush. Gives a little shade to the operator and beast. How would you feel about 10-12 days rain every year?

When he gets a load of calves from the Andes it is not unusual to receive an old cow or 2 in the load. They go straight in the feedlot and are sold to the local s/h for local consumption, rather than to the export s/h which is where the young stock go. I didn't manage to get it in the pic but there is the original cow with a crumpled horn in that pen.

 

[TomB]

Nice pictures. A part of the world definitely on my must see list. Doesn't look a whole world apart from bits of New Zealand and even southern oz.

 

[JP1]

I've got an errant picture in the above post so I'll try again;
View attachment 449126
First pic of the farmyard. Note the shingle surface. Dig down anywhere in the Camwy valley and you get sand and shingle just like on a beach. Mr Hughes said that this would be the last year we would see little bales on this farm. His accountant had told him he needed to spend more money and he decided to go to big bales and do away with the manhandling. Hence the brand new tub feeder sitting in the shed.

View attachment 449146
The silos hold the grain maize and his new big baler is next to them. Anyone know what the next red machine is? It seems to have a pickup reel.

View attachment 449156
This is the handling pens and loading ramp in the foreground. No ramps on lorries here. I saw a prefabricated ramp sitting in a dealers yard once. Note the roof over the handling crush. Gives a little shade to the operator and beast. How would you feel about 10-12 days rain every year?

View attachment 449164
When he gets a load of calves from the Andes it is not unusual to receive an old cow or 2 in the load. They go straight in the feedlot and are sold to the local s/h for local consumption, rather than to the export s/h which is where the young stock go. I didn't manage to get it in the pic but there is the original cow with a crumpled horn in that pen.

Loving this thread. Keep them coming please

 

[Pan mixer]

I've got an errant picture in the above post so I'll try again;
View attachment 449126
First pic of the farmyard. Note the shingle surface. Dig down anywhere in the Camwy valley and you get sand and shingle just like on a beach. Mr Hughes said that this would be the last year we would see little bales on this farm. His accountant had told him he needed to spend more money and he decided to go to big bales and do away with the manhandling. Hence the brand new tub feeder sitting in the shed.

View attachment 449146
The silos hold the grain maize and his new big baler is next to them. Anyone know what the next red machine is? It seems to have a pickup reel.

View attachment 449156
This is the handling pens and loading ramp in the foreground. No ramps on lorries here. I saw a prefabricated ramp sitting in a dealers yard once. Note the roof over the handling crush. Gives a little shade to the operator and beast. How would you feel about 10-12 days rain every year?

View attachment 449164
When he gets a load of calves from the Andes it is not unusual to receive an old cow or 2 in the load. They go straight in the feedlot and are sold to the local s/h for local consumption, rather than to the export s/h which is where the young stock go. I didn't manage to get it in the pic but there is the original cow with a crumpled horn in that pen.

The other red thing looks like an in-line massey small baler to me.

 

[chaffcutter]

Were you on an organised ag tour @Y Fan Wen ? if so which company, I've not found anyone doing tours to Argentina without going to Peru etc as well.

 

[Y Fan Wen]

Were you on an organised ag tour @Y Fan Wen ? if so which company, I've not found anyone doing tours to Argentina without going to Peru etc as well.

http://crwydro.com/wpcrwydro/
It was organised, 9 of us, but not an ag tour. Our visit to Mr Hughes was only a small part of the 21 days.
The next tour is in April but much shorter than mine. No good if you don't speak welsh.

 

[Riverblue]

@chaffcutter

Try this company which is based in Aberystwyth. http://tangotours.co.uk/