Regenerative Agriculture

The Ruminant

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Hertfordshire
This was written in the 1940's

A life changing book

View attachment 616386
They say never judge a book by its cover.

I took one look at that book in your post, where it’s set, what it was about and thought “no, not for me.” Then, in a moment of weakness, or to fill an idle moment, I decided to look it up on amazon, google, wherever. There were a few preview pages available, so I looked at them and loved it! Bought it, and am halfway through reading it. Thank you!

As an example of why I like it, here’s a passage from the chapter entitled “The Geese Return”:

One swallow does not make a summer, but one skein of geese, cleaving the murk of a March thaw, is the spring.

A cardinal, whistling spring to a thaw but later finding himself mistaken, can retrieve his error by resuming his winter silence. A chipmunk, emerging for a sunbath but finding a blizzard, has only to go back to bed. But a migrating goose, staking two hundred miles of black night on the chance of finding a hole in the lake, has no easy chance for retreat. His arrival carries the conviction of a prophet who has burned his bridges.
 

martian

DD Moderator
BASE UK Member
Location
N Herts
They say never judge a book by its cover.

I took one look at that book in your post, where it’s set, what it was about and thought “no, not for me.” Then, in a moment of weakness, or to fill an idle moment, I decided to look it up on amazon, google, wherever. There were a few preview pages available, so I looked at them and loved it! Bought it, and am halfway through reading it. Thank you!

As an example of why I like it, here’s a passage from the chapter entitled “The Geese Return”:

One swallow does not make a summer, but one skein of geese, cleaving the murk of a March thaw, is the spring.

A cardinal, whistling spring to a thaw but later finding himself mistaken, can retrieve his error by resuming his winter silence. A chipmunk, emerging for a sunbath but finding a blizzard, has only to go back to bed. But a migrating goose, staking two hundred miles of black night on the chance of finding a hole in the lake, has no easy chance for retreat. His arrival carries the conviction of a prophet who has burned his bridges.
Someone gave it to me years ago and, like you, I judged it by its cover and didn't get beyond page 2. I'll have to give it another go now...
In much the same vein, I bought a copy of The Soil Never Sleeps by Adam Horovitz, which the Pasture Fed Livestock Association are promoting. Adam is a poet who was embedded with various PFLA farmers over a year or so and wrote the poems in the book. I wasn't expecting to enjoy it much, it all felt a bit worthy, but it is a real joy to read. Good poetry has a way of coming in below the radar and surprising you, or at least making you look at the world a different way. This does all that.
Here's a short piece about it:
http://sustainablefoodtrust.org/articles/stories-of-the-soil/
 

pear

Member
BASE UK Member
Location
Hertfordshire
IMG_2822.jpg


Another recommendation for the TFF book club.

(Disclaimer: I’ve only just started reading it, but so far so good)
 

graham99

Member
This paddock will be used for deferred grazing- have bulls in there on a tight break to slow the round.
Hopefully get around 2 weeks of grazing off 6 acres - their DLWG may take a hit but it will give the other paddocks a chance to recover (y)View attachment 612038 View attachment 612040
A lot of rain/growth can happen in that time. And a lot of sun hours... give all the thistles a good crushing too hopefully.
Both mobs behind wires now, will give the topped paddocks some recovery time ahead of the impending lamb invasion, beginning Tuesday. View attachment 612042
Paddock where these calves are headed was topped around 3 weeks ago. The one to the right a few days after.
defurred grazing .better watch out steerer's will be after you.
but have you thought of useing the iron horse to do a grazing ,to help with tillering to get a bit more denserty.[spelling]
going back to the pic with your son in the long grass.
 

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
defurred grazing .better watch out steerer's will be after you.
but have you thought of useing the iron horse to do a grazing ,to help with tillering to get a bit more denserty.[spelling]
going back to the pic with your son in the long grass.
I always think about it... but that's as far as I get, one trip on the paddock per year is enough.
20180226_155347.jpg

The strip-grazing has really improved it, thickened it up and tramped in the plantain seeds nicely.
The compaction issue has disappeared and it wasn't necessarily the pass with the aerator putting seed on that did it, worm count in there has almost doubled.
 

graham99

Member
Yes, there's a


You can achieve a lot in 5 years. You can regenerate your land, increase your biodiversity, increase your stocking rate. Whilst there is a lot to think about and do as you say, you can take it onboard a step at a time, and involve your neighbors too.
interresting you say increase stocking rate .
as in a lot of cases in NZ depending on soil type , increased stocking rate has corsed all our problem's.
i like think along the lines of profit per kilo of what ever you are producing.
 

graham99

Member
I always think about it... but that's as far as I get, one trip on the paddock per year is enough.
View attachment 638748
The strip-grazing has really improved it, thickened it up and tramped in the plantain seeds nicely.
The compaction issue has disappeared and it wasn't necessarily the pass with the aerator putting seed on that did it, worm count in there has almost doubled.
in my early days i used to put root growth above every thing.
mainly for better drainage in the wet.
but there was a but .the plant population would drop off.
and when the dry came along it would show up badly.
and that was why contractors are a waste of time ,whien the grass got to shadeing the ground to much it was put in the pit.
on the day .just light cuts of silage all the time,or topping .
topping takes less out of the ground but.so was prefured.
we also had to think of facical exma [spelling].
which strangely wasn't a problem with defured grazing
 

graham99

Member
If done right, it can make such a difference to spring growth (as the opposite is true, if you go too far)
That's the main reason I have a big mob of lambs and not several smaller ones over winter here - much easier to get them treading the right amount of grass in that way, and I'm too lazy for daily sheep fences! :oops::rolleyes:
The goal this winter is to be on about a 6 week grazing round- last winter was 4.5 weeks or so, but this year we'll have some forage crops in the round to help.
One hectare per day with about 600 lambs on, or about 55 hours per average paddock here (since you have 'local knowledge' :cool:)

Hopefully they'll do the job of cleaning the paddocks right out before they get fat, and I'll have my little spinner on the back to get some grass and clover seeds spun out too. (y)

I'm going to spit out Perun (a festulolium), red clover, plantain and chicory at the end of winter and use the lambs to push it into the turf, 'direct drilling' but not as we know it. :confused:
Hopefully it will coincide with a nice mild spring :wacky::bag:
if i could type this would be long.
but i can't.
in your post you described how my grandfather farmed in the 70's.
with a few differences.
100 day grazing round pugging the paddock in stread of tramperling .
back fenceing ,with feeding out very mature hay full of grass seed ,
which if we didn't spread it well enough it was a boot in the arse.
and chain harrowing the sh!t out.
the funny part was it took until the late ninty's for the average per cow production in NZ to catch up to him
and we will never know who was the most profitable but.
 

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
o
in my early days i used to put root growth above every thing.
mainly for better drainage in the wet.
but there was a but .the plant population would drop off.
and when the dry came along it would show up badly.
and that was why contractors are a waste of time ,whien the grass got to shadeing the ground to much it was put in the pit.
on the day .just light cuts of silage all the time,or topping .
topping takes less out of the ground but.so was prefured.
we also had to think of facical exma [spelling].
which strangely wasn't a problem with defured grazing
I have noticed scald and footrot aren't nearly so prevalent with higher covers and sheep not standing on dirt.
To the point that limpy lambs arrive on the truck and come right in a few days.... yet every sheep farmer on here says long wet grass is the cause, I disagree.
 

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
if i could type this would be long.
but i can't.
in your post you described how my grandfather farmed in the 70's.
with a few differences.
100 day grazing round pugging the paddock in stread of tramperling .
back fenceing ,with feeding out very mature hay full of grass seed ,
which if we didn't spread it well enough it was a boot in the arse.
and chain harrowing the sh!t out.
the funny part was it took until the late ninty's for the average per cow production in NZ to catch up to him
and we will never know who was the most profitable but.
Exactly right.
We are taught this daft reductionist, micromanagerial way to farm, seems the "progressive" farmers know how much of every drug to use and for what.
My goal is not to be the ultimate consumer, just to have a good system that is futureproof and doesn't rely on potions to operate.
Holistic farming is what they call it now, I just call it "watching"
 

holwellcourtfarm

Member
Livestock Farmer
Exactly right.
We are taught this daft reductionist, micromanagerial way to farm, seems the "progressive" farmers know how much of every drug to use and for what.
My goal is not to be the ultimate consumer, just to have a good system that is futureproof and doesn't rely on potions to operate.
Holistic farming is what they call it now, I just call it "watching"
So when do you start running a training school then Pete? :whistle::D
 

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
So when do you start running a training school then Pete? :whistle::D
This is as good as it gets :p

I don't know enough yet, still in my experimental phase, but I am seriously considering teaming up with the Savory Institute and being the NZ hub, I feel there is a lot to offer in the way of resources and information sharing.
The downside of course is our location, but the world is a very small place nowdays :)

I am an open book, however; I love the environmental benefits and financial benefits of farming the land the way it was meant to be farmed, as opposed to buckling to outside influence and being pushed around by the economics :) It is exceptionally liberating to farm with an abundance mentality and only worry about feed levels 4% of the time - instead of 60% of the time like the masses do.
Grass grows grass :cool:
 

holwellcourtfarm

Member
Livestock Farmer
This is as good as it gets :p

I don't know enough yet, still in my experimental phase, but I am seriously considering teaming up with the Savory Institute and being the NZ hub, I feel there is a lot to offer in the way of resources and information sharing.
The downside of course is our location, but the world is a very small place nowdays :)

I am an open book, however; I love the environmental benefits and financial benefits of farming the land the way it was meant to be farmed, as opposed to buckling to outside influence and being pushed around by the economics :) It is exceptionally liberating to farm with an abundance mentality and only worry about feed levels 4% of the time - instead of 60% of the time like the masses do.
Grass grows grass :cool:
Some of us have managed to find you :whistle::D

Anyway, Mystics are supposed to be hard to reach, that's part of "the process of finding yourself" when you consult them. ;)

You'd have to adopt a Budda pose and a tendency to hum alot or refer to folk as "my son" all the time to keep up the image though. :D

BTW, I was discussing your approach with a speaker at the focus group event I attended today run by our old Agronomists (details to follow). You'd like her. (y)
 

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
Some of us have managed to find you :whistle::D

Anyway, Mystics are supposed to be hard to reach, that's part of "the process of finding yourself" when you consult them. ;)

You'd have to adopt a Budda pose and a tendency to hum alot or refer to folk as "my son" all the time to keep up the image though. :D

BTW, I was discussing your approach with a speaker at the focus group event I attended today run by our old Agronomists (details to follow). You'd like her. (y)
Haha :LOL: I have time for anyone with a "can-do" attitude :)
I feel here in the south is possibly the ideal place to research cool season cover crops and regenerative/conservation ag approaches to the issues ahead of us - much of the current good work is being done in places with far harsher climates, and much greater extremes than NZ and the UK.
Australia and North America can use the seasons to kill crops, and periods of dry to alleviate compaction - down here as you know it is mild and damp much of the time so systems and species need to reflect that... it is much different to manage farmland on a continent compared to an island.
It does have several advantages however, being able to achieve the right amount of disturbance with livestock as opposed to tractoring, means that seed can be flown on with helicopters and aircraft over much greater areas than the usual methods of seeding.. all things I can develop here as well as anywhere else.

:)
 

holwellcourtfarm

Member
Livestock Farmer
Some of us have managed to find you :whistle::D

Anyway, Mystics are supposed to be hard to reach, that's part of "the process of finding yourself" when you consult them. ;)

You'd have to adopt a Budda pose and a tendency to hum alot or refer to folk as "my son" all the time to keep up the image though. :D

BTW, I was discussing your approach with a speaker at the focus group event I attended today run by our old Agronomists (details to follow). You'd like her. (y)
A copy of Prof Rickson's presentation on soil health from the group meeting I attended yesterday is attached below. (y)
 

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Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
A copy of Prof Rickson's presentation on soil health from the group meeting I attended yesterday is attached below. (y)
Really quite good, I'm pleased you got along there and fetched us a report :cool:

The graphs I found particularly interesting as they are really quite relevant to NZ conditions as well, especially down here, the land of vertical paddocks and horizontal rain ;) when most of us think soil erosion we are likely to think more of Canterbury in a nor'wester, than dirty creeks and streams.
Intensive farming and cultivation has certainly changed fishing in our rivers; when I was a schoolboy rain meant fishing would improve, fastforward 15 years and rain meant unfishable rivers :cry:

Nothing more dangerous than a farmer with too much grass and money, the logical way to bring about change in the UK is to tighten the screws to the point farmers cannot afford to cultivate the way they do?
It is mindblowing the general lack of knowledge and misinformation to be found on the subject of soil, especially on the forum here; "ploughing in the snow" :banghead:

FFS.... :facepalm: just don't!

Hard to justify total degradation of soil habitat in ideal conditions, let alone when it is too wet and too cold for recovery in the next months (n) it must be great to have a backup income, is all I will say :banghead::banghead::banghead:

Don't ask me what I really think :)
 

CornishTone

Member
BASIS
Location
Cornwall
It is mindblowing the general lack of knowledge and misinformation to be found on the subject of soil, especially on the forum here; "ploughing in the snow" :banghead:

FFS.... :facepalm: just don't!

Hard to justify total degradation of soil habitat in ideal conditions, let alone when it is too wet and too cold for recovery in the next months (n) it must be great to have a backup income, is all I will say :banghead::banghead::banghead:

Don't ask me what I really think :)

:ROFLMAO: I was thinking exactly the same! Dad would always say “never plough a frost down” let alone go ploughing in snow. Couldn’t believe what I was reading! Where’s the logic?!
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 80 42.3%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 66 34.9%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 15.9%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 7 3.7%

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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