No quitten we're whelan on to chitchat 11

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119904656#Comment_119904656

Depends on the type of impact, I want more weight for trampling effect.

Dinzee Conlee

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119904774#Comment_119904774

Interesting…

You going all in on the regenerative craic so Herd? Or are you taking bits from everywhere?

I only looked at the regenerative thing a small bit, but found some crowds were a bit evangelical about it - their way or the high way kinda thing…

Whatever you go at, best of luck with it. Keep us informed sure, be interested to see what yer up to (cos I’m a nosey devil like that) 😉

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119904884#Comment_119904884

As the Chairman of the Board put it "I did it my way". I take a pinch of what suits from here & there and adapt it to (hopefully) suit my farm and my conditions. There are a lot of varied contributors to my scheming.

I find everywhere in life with people you'll get pricks & politics, regen is no different in that regard. Everyone has their hobby-horse. I go mining for information and let the evangelical stuff go over my head.

To misquote Johann Zeitsman farmers ought to be the richest members of the community, we own the land, we get water and sunshine for free. Not as well said as he said it, but it's something to think on.

No mad secret what I'm at, I find sheep very labour intensive. I value my time, us farmers don't pay ourselves for our time. I suppose I should say firstly I see myself as a land owner. The current enterprise on my land is farming. It ought work for me, not make a slave of me. I figure - even though conventional wisdom differs - I'll make more money, and improve the farm faster with cattle, as opposed to labouring with sheep.

Where I'm aiming for with cattle is as close to zero imputs without burning my wings. Slash time expenditure. Dabble with one or two other enterprises in that new free time to see if they will add to the bottom line.

All these disjointed thoughts make sense in my head 😄

_Brian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119904973#Comment_119904973

The hardliners make it hard going. I looked at allot of the KNF stuff but left the groups because of the constant “that’s not how the master did it” idiots.

whelan2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119904774#Comment_119904774

What type of cattle will you get into? Weanlings? And any particular breed

White Clover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119904774#Comment_119904774

No doubt you have your research done but be careful with cattle on heavy land. The trampling can become poaching very easily. It's fine for one round of grazing but in heavy ground if the the weather is wet on the following rotation you will run into trouble.

My own advice is I'd urge caution on a total clear out of the sheep. In my humble opinion, mixed farming is where it's at. These are just my thoughts. As I said, i have no doubt but you have your homework done and the very best of luck in the new venture.

funkey_monkey

@[Deleted User] - what's your layout plan for your handling facilities? I've been planning one for a while now and getting ready to start getting it put together.

What head gate did you opt for?

Good luck with the change! There is a fella on YT doing this Regen stuff - I think I mentioned his name on there and he has some interesting videos. It seems to be pretty close to the mob grazing approach where the stock eat a third, trample a third and leave a third.

It's something I'd like to try out here rather than eating it 'clean' until its like a golf green, but there is no appetite for change.

funkey_monkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119903156#Comment_119903156

Didn't notice that. Seemed to be an issue when injecting the liquid into the powder - was more messy than last year with the Rispoval.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119905086#Comment_119905086

It's often better to go directly to the source, rather than groups. I can understand why learning to do something as intended first is correct, then experimentation can occur. Small changes can affect outcomes.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119905348#Comment_119905348

I have to get the crush up and the all clear from the dept first 😄 Aiming for Dexter heifers 1-2 years old

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119905680#Comment_119905680

Yes, and thanks for the warning. The "impact" won't be an every day thing. Just for problem areas that need a bit of rejuvenation. In that way cattle can be a tool in the toolbox where sheep aren't. Poaching is something I want to avoid at all costs. It's the main reason I want dexters. Over time I aim to build recovery times for paddocks, this will allow extra soil protection through better root systems and less time in any paddock. In wetter times the plan is to half paddock sizes and move twice as often.

TBH, and I get where you're coming from, but I've had a gut full of sheep. If I require some sheep impact in the future I have no end of neighbours who'd be willing to eat some grass for me for a while.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119905966#Comment_119905966

I'm not going to be an awful lot of help to you here because I'm going simple & relatively fast with handling right now. I intend to build a shed and put in more thoughtful handling facility later. I bought the old style manually operated head gate, I'll bolt a pulley to the side and operate it from behind with a rope. I rang my vet before I bought anything and he recommended that or a more expensive one which I can't recall, he advised staying well away from anything "with springs", we're near the sea. So it's a 6 meter double sided crush which will have a bespoke forcing gate near the rear of the pen and that's pretty much it.

I would have advocated the eat,leave, trample a third previously. I'm not so sure now. "Overgrazing" is a function of time. Letting stock take that second bite of a plant when it is regenerating from it's root reserves (usually after three days) is what does the root damage. I'm certainly still guilty of it. "Severe grazing", where you'd let stock eat it down low for maximum utilisation, isn't overgrazing. It makes more sense to me to allow severe grazing occur, as long as that paddock is given enough time for a full recovery as the roots haven't been raided by overgrazing. What tipped my thinking was a comment that in a paddock, an animal can chose to eat 100% of a plant they like, rather than eat 30% of everything as if you'd set a mower height. Therefore that they may still put undue pressure on the plants they prefer via selective grazing, rather than eat 80-90% of the lot and have a more equitable starting position for regrowth with intact root reserves, access to sunlight, and appropriate recovery times.

enricoh

Sod this world cup, knocked on the telly having my morning cuppa n guts of an hour later I'm still here. 'Mon Saudi!

blue5000

Best of luck with the Dexters hq, believe it or not I was thinking about sheep as the only way I could control ragwort. But I just wouldn’t have a clue how to work with them. Too many dogs around here too.

Was it the ‘convertible’ poly tunnel that swung it for you or were you thinking about it for a while?

funkey_monkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119906223#Comment_119906223

Sounds like you have avoided slam gates which is a good idea!

What are your plans for the forcing gate - will it be a semicircular/quadrant setup?

Good luck with the Dexters.

whelan2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119906108#Comment_119906108

Best of luck

AntrimGlens

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119904973#Comment_119904973

Best of luck with it HQ.

Coincidentally I was online at a discussion group meeting last night with a guy John Finlay from Castle Douglas in Scotland who has been down the regen road now for seven years. He was organic for 5 years before that, he does farm tours if you've ever that way and wanted a look.

Some interesting things going on and ways of doing things. He has about 350 acres of good land, milks 110 cows, 80 veal calves and 250 ewes. A 3 way cross between viking red, holstein and montbelliard and they let the calf suck the cow for three months whilst milking her, before weaning and then milking her full time. He said that when in organic the cows were doing 5,400 litres and now they're doing more based on estimating the calf drinking 2,500 litres and what goes into the tank. Serves the cow to sexed semen and an angus bull for veal production. He's getting less for his organic milk (50p/l )than neighbours for their conventional milk, although he uses a lot of milk to make cheese!

He feeds no meal, only a lucerne pellet to the cows and sells the veal calves at 10-12 months.

His pH would be from 5.5 to 5.7, but he says he has no problem growing clover and grows approx 20T dm/ha, although he said it takes a lot of getting used to looking at fields of dandelions!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119906373#Comment_119906373

No, the tunnel has nothing to do with it, haven't housed an animal in years. I've never liked sheep all that much, they were just what was here. I've been thinking of cattle for a fair long time now.

As for ragwort, maybe get in someone else with sheep, let it be their problem.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119906580#Comment_119906580

I'm going to have a double gate hanger post. One gate goes towards the rear of the crush, the other will meet up with the back gate of the pen. Idea is to enclose animals in a small square. If they want to leave it, it's out through the crush.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119906823#Comment_119906823

Yeah there's heaps of ideas out there if people would go look at them. I think lucerne pellets are gone from around here, they were being brought in from UK pre Brexit. My PH would be less than that and I can have had a lot of clover previously if I managed for it. That's why I'm interest in soil biology, there are so many positives, fertility that can be bred underground, target pests at different life stages etc. I remember another Scotsman, his name escapes me. He was giving a talk in Westport one very snowy night years back, said his friend didn't mind where £'s came from once they stopped at his door. I think the statement was unfinished, the trick then is holding on to it without lining multinationals pockets or collecting monuments to tax avoidance.

foxy farmer

😁

https://thatsfarming.com/farming-news/dating-an-ag-contractor/

whelan2

See the 100 euro subsidy towards eid tags is in amounts due on agfood

Anto_Meath

@whelan2 had a look there, yes I see that, they must be giving something like a €1 a tag for every tag used this this year.

tanko

I only got €30, i must ring up to complain.

I don't know why DPD bother with the one hour delivery window texts when they're not arsed about showing up. We had a fantastic regular DPD guy for years. Met him the last day on my travels and he said this area has been lumped in with Mayo now for some reason and deliveries have gone to sh1t.

kollegeknight

The cow that fell at Halloween was struggling away- vet said nerve damage in front leg and it might improve.

up to last week, she had started to get power to her knee but the last 3 days, she can’t even get up.

had to use bale handler to get her up as I’ve a flu and no power myself to get her up.

she was staggering and only stood for a bit.

rang vet and he said to call it. That she will never improve and not going to be good enough to walk up shoots.

knackery called. Tough year on the farm. Must stop reading my book on biddy early.

whelan2

You did your best

wrangler

I see an apology to Mc Carhy and Bellair From The Currency on Twitter.

You'd really wonder where all this childish begrudgery against IFJ comes from

Lime Tree Farm

https://thecurrency.news/articles/102603/apology-justin-mccarthy/

The link

straight

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119918705#Comment_119918705

Sure look at all the clicks they got out of it. And more clicks for the apology. I never even heard of thecurrency before this.