ADVENTURE'S DOWNUNDER OR FARMING IN PARADISE:An Old Rams view.

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'day,how'ya'goin?Sorry the "sleep" was a little longer than I thought it would be.....So,where were we up to,OH ,I know.

Tuesday:Today was"up-date" the paddock photo's,it took me about 1/2 a day to cover all the photo points(one for each paddock and one "ground-cover" shot).We now have 10 mths data along with some history shots.Once we have 12 mths,I will be able to compare year on year to judge overall progress.......A couple of mths ago I received a new tool from MLA(Meat and Livestock Australia)its called a Pasture Ruler,it measures total kgs of feed per ha and its a measure you can use to access "bounce-back" of the pasture after a grazing cycle.I am also using it to measure the depth of "litter" on the paddock.
http://www.mla.com.au/CustomControl...fzdQfJppzWoK4aEqDgBin3EYMKKAfsht7d1Tnt3BqiA==

Wednesday:We decided to go to our region's sheep sale,to see how the prices were holding up.We do not use this sale and have not been there for years,nothing had changed and we will still use our old sale-yard to take our stock to.............Stayed at our daughters place overnight and caught up with all her "gossip".

Thursday:Shopping therapy.

Friday:Bit of a rest day,checked the stock and that "ram lamb",ALL GOOD.

Today:Our first big frost(about-2C)First job was a fencing repair and an "upgrade" of a section nearby,we use all H/T wire fences and have developed a wire space layout which holds X-bred sheep but allows the Wombats through without "digging"...Came across a large Red Bellied Black Snake,while out with the dogs ,he was about 5ft and was 2/3rds the thickness of my wrist in the middle(He gave me a surprise a I thought most of them had headed for there winter quarters by now)................The big "mob "of ewes have made a good job of cleaning that Alfalfa paddock,I'd say another week and it will be all done.

Questions and Answers L.I have done two stone walls on our place (apart from the one on the creek)the key is in the selection of your stone,you want flat sections and the joins should never be one above the other in two a joining rows. Th strength of the wall is in the through stones and "lean " the wall into the slope at about 10degrees.The thickness is determined by the weight it has to carry on the high side .I assume you will be building across a slope and following the contour of the land.It helps if you can "shoot " some levels(you can buy these days a really cheap "laser level",which are accurate enough for the job you are doing)a piece of cardboard about 2ft square ,makes it easy to find the red dot....You will have a good deal of "fun" with this and the result will give you no end of "pleasure".

THE CHAT:Grass Farming:The more time you spend on this subject the better livestock producer you will be.Do a few one day courses on the grasses in your district,If you can get someone expert in the area, to come and look and tell you what you have so much the better.If you are not in the "big snow areas",find out what the Native cool season grasses are,if you have timbered areas look for grasses that grow in the "shade".In fact anything you do to gain knowledge about the feed sources for your stock will assist your overall profitability......There is a saying Quote"Wire grows grass".....Fencing and paddock rotation are the best ways to increase the amount of "grass" you grow,remember ,this is "Free Feed".The capital cost is offset by "soil health and "plant diversity",two keys to healthy stock.Good stock health means lower costs of production,always keep in mind the Bottom Line,don't be there to keep the feed merchant and the vets profitable.

Well, its about that time again ,the two typing fingers are starting to tire,don't forget questions are always welcome,as are your experiences in any area of the discussion.The Flystrike topic on "Any Other"was great and I so enjoyed the questions and input from the forum...............So til next time ,stay safe and we look forward to seeing you again next time we log on.............................T.O.R.............................................

 

[whenchickensdream]

Love the pictures and all the information about your farm. You have to do things that here in Pennsylvania we don't have to worry about. It is good to hear from people from all over. Thank you for your time and effort.

 

[framing fowl]

So are wombats much of a problem other than fencing?

 

[dragonlaurel]

Hope your winter goes easy on the herd down there. Glad your young ram is doing well.
I don't think we have that species of snake here. Would he do any damage, or just eat rats and similar critters?

I walked most of the friends property last Friday, and it was mostly reassuring. The property was logged over 10 years ago but has lots of mixed oaks, pines, wild grape and blackberries. Run-off would be mostly limited by the dense vegetation, except the section that was disturbed to put in the home, septic, and driveway. There had been a road on the hill leading into the back of the property but it turned back into forest. They are planting most of the open area as a food garden.
The top acre was the steepest but has a couple different directions of slopes which make a depression. It would be a good spot to try putting in a well. We also found 2 puddles of clay that might actually be useable for making some pottery. Rain water travels a couple creeks and fills a wet weather pond lower in their woods. They need to test the pond water since there is an old dump area near it.

A few walls/terraces on the back hillside would do the trick. I took a couple of pics and here's the links:
http://i831.photobucket.com/albums/zz236/dragonlaurel_photos/Magnet Cove/morepics001.jpg
http://i831.photobucket.com/albums/zz236/dragonlaurel_photos/Magnet Cove/morepics002.jpg

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'day everybody,glad you took the time to stop by and visit again.We do hope you are all enjoying your visits with us and we will do our best to keep it interesting.............Not much doing on the farm news front,yesterday was spent working on getting rid of some big rocks in the lawns.

Thought you might enjoy a wildlife item.I took this photo not far from the house,I was told it was a young male in full mating color,there's a link if you want to know more

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lace_monitor

Questions and Answers: Stano40,sorry bob,here's a brief rundown,Dingo's(wild dogs)Red Fox ,Wedge-tail Eagle,Wild Pigs and the Two-Legged Ones(LOL).The fox is by far the worst and a breeding pair can take two lambs a night and this can go on for weeks and can be "damm" expensive.
FF:Wombats are a whole other story IMO they have "no" re-deeming feature,if you put a "Ringlok" fence over one of there paths they dig a hole under it,the wallaby's make it a little larger ,then the kangaroo's make it a little bigger and the next thing you know the "sheep" are going though it .They also dig "huge" burrows everywhere and many a horse and tractor/motor bike has fallen through one.If they choose to dig under your house,you are in "big" trouble,as houses build on "stumps" have been know to "break in half"as it collapses into the tunnels,the only practical solution is "illegal".

DL: Thanks for the photo's,did you have "fun"scrambling over the place?The farm sure looks "pretty".Doing what you are doing is the only way to really learn about your country.The R.B. black is one of 4 venomous snakes we have on our place,you just keep your "wits about you when you are walking around.

I will have to call a halt here and come back to the CHAT later in the day ,work is calling,til later then ,best wishes from ..T.O.R................

 

[dragonlaurel]

I didn't know fox would be that big a problem for sheep. I mostly expected them to go after chickens and other smaller animals. Thanks for the info.

We kept our eyes open about snakes too. A street near them is called Copperhead Rd. I know to thump my walking stick or stomp a bit when I'm in areas they would like, so I didn't see any.

I loved being in woods so I had a great day other than picking up a a couple ticks. I forgot to put a touch of sulfur on my ankles to keep them away.

 

[~gd]

Ram, I take it that your land is too dry for cattle thats why you run sheep? We, North Carolina semi tropical climate where snow is rare, rainfall usually 45-50 inches per year. Winter is the wet season, summer rain is mostly storms that blow in from the Atlantic. Sub soil is clay, top soil varies depending on the vegation grown over the years. Subsoil tends to produce seasonal ponds/bogs at low points that are often used for irrigation.
We have a stockman that everybody thinks is crazy because he runs both cattle and sheep on the same pasture lots but at different times.(we have mostly year round grass with both hot season and cold season types mixed on the same land)
Since beef is more profitable (here) they get the first shot at the graze and when they get it down to a certain level he moves them off and the sheep on. The sheep graze it much closer to the ground than the cattle and he keeps less of them than of cattle so they don't over graze before the next rotation. The double grazed plot goes into recovery and it seems to recover faster than most farmers who only run cattle. Is this guy onto something or is he just ruining his pasture slowly? It is common belief that sheep ruin pasture for cattle, but he seems to be doing OK. Do you have any comments?

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'day and welcome back ,sorry it was a bit longer than I planned.I must say a "special" welcome to ~GD,what an amazing set of questions which I will address in Q & A later in the post............

Now I had to finish yesterday,so,took Jack to "muster "a mob of about 75 head mostly wether lambs out of about 50acs of "rising country with about 10 acs of timber on top.Now wether lambs are a funny lot when they see Jack coming they will split into a few groups and run in all directions,but they cannot out-smart old Jack he's ability to cover a group and turn them back towards the "main bunch" is so good that he soon had them all-together and strung-out along a fence line heading for the shearing shed.....Through the gate into the "forcing lane" and up into the yards and then waited for me to "turn-up"and shut the gate.Good job Jack ,well done.......So I drafted off the "top"of the mob so they could go onto the "best feed"and we will be able to sell them early June(they should make over $3500 gross).

Having drafted them off it was time to get Ruby and move them about 1km to there new paddock,she had to "guide" them through 3 gates on the way,so no mishaps ,everybody arrived OK,shut the gate ,told her how "wonderful " she was and "home "we went.

TUESDAY:We woke up to find that a wind I call "The Mother In_Laws Kiss"had arrived(I will now refer to her as The MILK)it was about -3C with-out the MILK and a "pretty decent "frost to boot...........After "breckie"I got the gear to do some Weed spraying in a spot out of the wind,spent about 4 hrs on that job ,GOOD RESULT....The Weather Bureau has just issued a "Sheep Weather Alert,for cold winds and snow down to 1000mts and gale force winds over our district.(Better get those sheep off that Alfalfa paddock).................Take Ruby down to the flat and whistle up the sheep to move out ,now for the last week or so I have been getting Ruby to just "work" off of hand signals(no voice commands),I just lift my arm on the side that I want her to "cast out" and she moves in semi circle to the far side of the sheep,now as soon as she "lifts them" I call her to stop and then "heal"....In time she will learn that once the sheep are moving toward the gate,she must come back to me for further instructions.....Once out I opened up the gate to another hill paddock of about 50acs,but most of this is "heavy timber",they will be "safe" up there for a few days.


To be continued later this evening............................T.O.R................

 

[~gd]

Well I am new to you but I have been emailing down under for several years. I have been fascinated with Australia and waterfowl for about the last 10 years and found a woman that was a professional dog groomer with a duck breeder hobby in the area near Melbourne. She did mostly Show dogs and got what I considered fantastic fees/tips (until I learned about the Australian dollars value) evidently the show dogs (like most in the USA) had traded their brains for appearance, and would not stand on her stand to be groomed. She managed to avoid being bitten but her back started to go from bending down to groom all day long. She found herself a man and they moved out into the country where she groomed herders and did sheep shearing in season. You have speed contests for sheep shearing? She claimed she did quite well in the womans division contests and evidently there was plenty of work available for a pair of good shearers in season. They had a holding that was off the power grid but did have phone connections where they lived a self sufficient life for a few years until a wildfire burnt them out (she wrote that they were surrounded but survived the fire in the dam) which I think means the water held back by the dam. In any event the fire completely wiped out the holding so they moved in with Daddy for about 6 months. Savings plus insurance, government payments? Allowed them a new start only farther out, no power grid, no phone except a radio phone and no Internet so that put a stop to our email. I hear from her occasionally when she is back in town or other connected places.

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'day Gang,well its Wed. morning,SO,what happened last night ?Sat down to have a look at the Fed Gov Budget and fell asleep!!........

So its blowing a "bloody gale",Jenny's started a Slow Cooked Beef Casserole for dinner tonight and I thought I had better catch up.

Q & A: DL.So if you were a fox what do you think would be the easiest meal to catch?A rabbit ,to much running.Some Lizards or Frogs or how about a lamb?You just walk right up to it,grab it in your mouth and back to the "den" you go.
~GD:Before the start of the last drought we used to grow out calves to 12 months old and then sell them on to finishers.We tried feeding for the first summer and then in the Autumn sold the lot to concentrate on the sheep(lucky we did as it was dry for the next 9years).....Its interesting to note that "cattle prices" have gone up in the last 12 months,they are now back to what they were 10/15 years ago,but the cost of production in that time has more than doubled.Cattle production around here mainly relies on high inputs,both in pastures and ferts.(Also we are just getting too old to be handling those "big animals")
The sheep/cattle rotation is common practice down here as it breaks the "worm cycle"and so leads to lower production costs and also spreads the finical risk,if one market is down the other one is most likely up. The other thing is it maintains balance in the pasture mix,as diversity is the key to "soil health".The sheep are not effected by "cattle worms"and the short pasture after the sheep leave exposes the lava to the sunlight and drier ground conditions which kills them.
Here's a few questions for you .
What type of cattle are most common?
What type of sheep?
Being semi-tropical ,how do they cope with Liver-Fluke?
What sort of "drenching strategy's" do they employ?
I think the chap you talk about will be in business a lot longer and will achieve better profitability over the longer term than his straight cattle neighbors.Any idea what his "rest cycle" is between gratings?Is it a "set time" or does he just measure "bounce-back" and more them on when its ready?
Sorry your friend had such a bad run of luck.

THE CHATreparing for the next drought:Knowing what it costs?
If the last drought taught me anything its that if you are to survive you must know what its costing be in control of them.costs are split into 2 groups ,Fixed and Variable.
Fixed Costs are the ones you can not escape,ie:Gov charges,State Taxes,Power /Phone and the like.
Variable Charges are input costs,chem,ferts,vet and all the things you can put off or can modify.EXAMPLE:A chap we know has a feed budget of about $20K a year to get his stock through winter,to get those funds he must breed ,raise and sell about 40 calves(say 45 breeders),his country suffers because it is being driven to within an inch of its life and most times it appears that it will "fall over the edge"at any moment.....It is possible that with "conservative management "you can achieve a good bottom line outcome and a reduced workload and stress level .
Each 3 months I do a P&L so we are aware of where we are at and if we need to take any actions to secure the future.

Well its almost time for "SMOKO",give the fingers a rest and see if I will venture outside at all today(except feed the dogs later),so as always we look forward to the next time you drop by and in the meantime stay safe................................T.O.R.........................