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Regenerative Agriculture and Direct Drilling
Holistic Farming
Plastic free farming - somebody needs to do something.
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<blockquote data-quote="egbert" data-source="post: 6701673" data-attributes="member: 9965"><p>OK Pete.</p><p>I've a quieter day planned, so....</p><p></p><p>My own farm, and those that surround it for several miles, are now solely livestock raising. Each used to till a tiny area of corn/roots for subsistence farming, but these holdings have been steadily amalgamated over the last 2 centuries.</p><p> (and there's continual agri-use evidence within 100 meters of where I'm sitting, going back several thousand years)</p><p>So we're tied to livestock unless we plant trees. Many of us are tenants, and growing timber for profit doesn't easily fit in a tenancy.</p><p>Much of the open hill land is 'common' and therefore legally more or less impossible to tree up- whatever your motives.</p><p></p><p>We can summer far more stock than we can easily winter, being on a 365 sq mile granite upswelling, which takes 80-120 " of rain per annum</p><p>Natural ph is barely readable, although there's limestone 10 miles away, and long history of it being used.</p><p>If we drop stock numbers, the trash takes over, (on land you can't access to top).</p><p></p><p>There are centuries of transhumance practise evidence locally, where the stock moved to where it was best placed each season.</p><p>Stores lambs and calves have been sold off the hill farms for centuries, lowland stock has been ferried uphill for summer pasture, and hill breeding stock 'off wintered' in various guises for...well, forever in human terms.</p><p>Modern rules, and farming circumstances elsewhere make it ever more fragile.</p><p>At the same time, changing fodder preservation methods have made it practical to winter stock here.</p><p></p><p>For the first half of my life, we were being paid subs to keep ever more productive animals, while (fossil fuel based) tech allowed us to do so. </p><p>We didn't always 'get it right', but we responded to the request/incentives.</p><p></p><p>Lately, the subs have been redirected away from production, and oft toward the environment. Post brexit, that is almost certainly going to be continued/extended.</p><p>Stock numbers have slipped by maybe 30-40%...it's hard to generalise, but there are much fewer sheep up there now, and the cattle numbers are falling.</p><p>The trade for our produce is so tied in with external forces it is impractical to even imagine living by simple supply/demand forces any more.</p><p></p><p>Many of us are keeping a nucleus of stock to maintain impetus, hedging our bets on what the future holds.</p><p>(and looking to the Antipodes, I'm reminded my tribe had already been keeping stock on these hills for some centuries before Cook sailed his tub round your way...the subconscious cultural tie is significant)</p><p>At the same time, we're being accosted daily by the pressure of a vast urban majority, oft with scant understanding of how and where food comes from, but who want to point the finger at us while concreting their own landscape.</p><p>(the creeping urban development is sickening to me, and a symptom of a species out of control..it is only with careful restraint that I remember i am technically one of them myself)</p><p> The pressure on us feels intense, and while I claimed yesterday that I can't speak for others, in fact I do just that through various means, both as a paid man, and as a 'volunteer'. </p><p></p><p>I have always challenged what I see around me, and what I do myself. I have oft experimented with changing bits of my system. i continue to do so, but it's balanced against all of the above.</p><p> I can see a perfectly rational chain of events that brought me to where I am with plastic, and stock numbers/management, and looking at the wider human culture -like my boy and the chinese fishing lures- I'm unashamed of the journey I've taken. </p><p>I'm well capable of asking questions of myself where i go next, but equally tetchy about others doing it for me - and trust me Pete, there are queues of em doing so, and not all of the from a grassland farmers perspective. </p><p></p><p>I've no real idea what 'holistic farming' is, but I do know I've got to go and do some of whatever it is I do do, as they're starting to holler for brekkers.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="egbert, post: 6701673, member: 9965"] OK Pete. I've a quieter day planned, so.... My own farm, and those that surround it for several miles, are now solely livestock raising. Each used to till a tiny area of corn/roots for subsistence farming, but these holdings have been steadily amalgamated over the last 2 centuries. (and there's continual agri-use evidence within 100 meters of where I'm sitting, going back several thousand years) So we're tied to livestock unless we plant trees. Many of us are tenants, and growing timber for profit doesn't easily fit in a tenancy. Much of the open hill land is 'common' and therefore legally more or less impossible to tree up- whatever your motives. We can summer far more stock than we can easily winter, being on a 365 sq mile granite upswelling, which takes 80-120 " of rain per annum Natural ph is barely readable, although there's limestone 10 miles away, and long history of it being used. If we drop stock numbers, the trash takes over, (on land you can't access to top). There are centuries of transhumance practise evidence locally, where the stock moved to where it was best placed each season. Stores lambs and calves have been sold off the hill farms for centuries, lowland stock has been ferried uphill for summer pasture, and hill breeding stock 'off wintered' in various guises for...well, forever in human terms. Modern rules, and farming circumstances elsewhere make it ever more fragile. At the same time, changing fodder preservation methods have made it practical to winter stock here. For the first half of my life, we were being paid subs to keep ever more productive animals, while (fossil fuel based) tech allowed us to do so. We didn't always 'get it right', but we responded to the request/incentives. Lately, the subs have been redirected away from production, and oft toward the environment. Post brexit, that is almost certainly going to be continued/extended. Stock numbers have slipped by maybe 30-40%...it's hard to generalise, but there are much fewer sheep up there now, and the cattle numbers are falling. The trade for our produce is so tied in with external forces it is impractical to even imagine living by simple supply/demand forces any more. Many of us are keeping a nucleus of stock to maintain impetus, hedging our bets on what the future holds. (and looking to the Antipodes, I'm reminded my tribe had already been keeping stock on these hills for some centuries before Cook sailed his tub round your way...the subconscious cultural tie is significant) At the same time, we're being accosted daily by the pressure of a vast urban majority, oft with scant understanding of how and where food comes from, but who want to point the finger at us while concreting their own landscape. (the creeping urban development is sickening to me, and a symptom of a species out of control..it is only with careful restraint that I remember i am technically one of them myself) The pressure on us feels intense, and while I claimed yesterday that I can't speak for others, in fact I do just that through various means, both as a paid man, and as a 'volunteer'. I have always challenged what I see around me, and what I do myself. I have oft experimented with changing bits of my system. i continue to do so, but it's balanced against all of the above. I can see a perfectly rational chain of events that brought me to where I am with plastic, and stock numbers/management, and looking at the wider human culture -like my boy and the chinese fishing lures- I'm unashamed of the journey I've taken. I'm well capable of asking questions of myself where i go next, but equally tetchy about others doing it for me - and trust me Pete, there are queues of em doing so, and not all of the from a grassland farmers perspective. I've no real idea what 'holistic farming' is, but I do know I've got to go and do some of whatever it is I do do, as they're starting to holler for brekkers. [/QUOTE]
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