Bee~ Journal of then...

[Beekissed]

Lori! Funny gal!

Still no water here on the mini homestead. We've been completely frozen since Thursday night. We have no way of getting water out of the extra well, but I plan to rectify that this spring for sure. Doesn't help us now, though. I'm sending the boys on a water hauling mission this morning to a place we used to live. The spring water is the most pure I've ever tested and shoots out of a pipe like an artesian well. If its not frozen over, which I doubt, we will haul enough water to wash our bodies, water the animals, flush the commode and to drink.

I don't know how much longer we can continue being frozen here without going to a hotel and a laundry mat, as I have to work and Jon has to go to school. We had a heat wave of 11 degrees yesterday but it wasn't enough to thaw out anything. My pipes are frozen under or near the ground where they cannot be reached, so we are helpless here to help.

 

[Farmer Kitty]

Salatin says if your pasture(insert yard/orchard) is grazed completely and then allowed to rest~as with pasture rotation~it will allow the beneficial, more nutritious perennials and annuals to grow better and suppress the weed varieties.

Beekissed, some here will take a rake or something similar and scratch the ground once it's been grazed down and then broad cast the seed from the type of grass they want. It's suppose to work good and thickens the good grasses that you want without the tillage.

The problem with the corn seed heads is this...its concentrated sugar/starch and powers through an animal like a freight train, giving high yields of excess fat that will marble throughout the meat and around their organs.

Some marbling of fat throughout the meat is desirable and natural. But, it's known that, if to much corn is feed cattle can get fat then it does build up around organs and can cause death, so I will agree that it can be a problem that way but, I feel a responsible person will watch the condition of their cattle and not let it get to this.

I know you are against corn feeding but, here in the midwest with our harsh winters, there is a great need for the extra energy created by the corn starches. Cattle can have good quality hay in front of them 24/7 and still starve to death with the harsh temps we get, unfortunately, I have seen people who have tried the hay only diet for cattle here end up with dead cattle and upon autopsy the reason is they starved to death. In a warmer climate, you may not have that problem but, please watch your animals closely.

Some farmers will plant a ground cover of a nitrogen fixing legume and drive the corn seeds into it, but its not as common as just the usual cultivating.

From what I've seen here, it is becoming more and more the practice to do no till corn planting. It has even extended to soy beans. The fertilizer commonly used on the fields here is a granular not liquid form but, that can vary. Some use only manure and do well too.

The grain can be drilled like modern times if you wanted to, but I don't think you could drill with two sizes of grain, such as peas and oats.

It is common here when seeding down a field for hay to use cover crops. The cover crops are typically things such as oats or tritical. And because their heads aren't used so much for gain anymore the cover crop tends to get chopped and ensiloed. So, farmers have started adding peas for more nutritional value. Both the oats and peas can be sewn together at the sametime with the same grain drill. It does take a different setting than just oats.

Beekissed, I hope your water thaws soon. Have you called a plumber to see if there is anything they can do? Sometimes they have tools that are to expensive for the general populations to have due to lack of use for them.

 

[Beekissed]

I know you are against corn feeding but, here in the midwest with our harsh winters, there is a great need for the extra energy created by the corn starches. Cattle can have good quality hay in front of them 24/7 and still starve to death with the harsh temps we get, unfortunately, I have seen people who have tried the hay only diet for cattle here end up with dead cattle and upon autopsy the reason is they starved to death. In a warmer climate, you may not have that problem but, please watch your animals closely.

How then, does one explain the many grass farmers in the midwest? There are a substantial amount of farmers that are doing grass fed only in the midwest and manage to finish off their cattle just fine. I think we are confusing just feeding hay to cattle, with managed grazing. Most graziers stockpile forage for winter and will feed this stockpile well past the time a traditional farmer is feeding bales of hay.

If you care to do a simple search on grass fed farms in your state you will find an immediate example with a simple google.....like this one, for instance:

http://www.goodearthfarms.com/Grass-Finished Beef.htm

OR, you can just cut to the chase and google this helpful link~74 farms located in WI alone, on this one sight~all starving their beef with grass:


In my area? The deep south of WV? NINE grass farmers on this site.

http://www.eatwild.com/products/wisconsin.html

It seems it CAN be done in nearly all parts of the US, using the proper techniques and some afore thought about grazing nutrition.

 

[Farmer Kitty]

I know you are against corn feeding but, here in the midwest with our harsh winters, there is a great need for the extra energy created by the corn starches. Cattle can have good quality hay in front of them 24/7 and still starve to death with the harsh temps we get, unfortunately, I have seen people who have tried the hay only diet for cattle here end up with dead cattle and upon autopsy the reason is they starved to death. In a warmer climate, you may not have that problem but, please watch your animals closely.

How then, does one explain the many grass farmers in the midwest? There are a substantial amount of farmers that are doing grass fed only in the midwest and manage to finish off their cattle just fine. I think we are confusing just feeding hay to cattle, with managed grazing. Most graziers stockpile forage for winter and will feed this stockpile well past the time a traditional farmer is feeding bales of hay.

I believe your referring to the quality of the grass put up. But, we just had a week of sub-zero temps and believe me that is hard on a living being. The best quality forage put up isn't going to be enough for cattle to survive it, at least in my experience and many others. Our large heifers have lick tanks that are formulated for high energy and then we feed corn silage to them. The corn silage does have the corn head in it. With this mix they did fine without feeding the dry corn type grain.

 

[Beekissed]

How do you explain the 74 farms listed above in your state~ with your subzero temps? Or are the conditions just hard at your particular farm?

So, in effect, since its hard for you to do, it just must not be able to be done? When there are many, many farmers as evidence that it CAN be done? Are doing it on a daily basis for some time?

I'm finding it hard to see the logic in that.

 

[Beekissed]

WE HAVE WATER!!!!! I FINALLY DECIDED TO PRAY TO THE ONE WHO ACTUALLY CAN CONTROL THIS SITUATION AND NOW..........WE HAVE WATER! Duh! You would think I would have thought of that first!

Praise God! :bun

 

[FarmerChick]

so glad you have water....happy dance for you!

yea these temps are rough on man and beast definitely. you sure do need to take care of that well come spring....gurantees you water if this happens agai...good deal.

you wrote:
I bet the enthusiasm sometimes has you groaning inside...like, do they know what they are in for?! You have been very fortunate, FC, to have an operating farm already....many of us would give our left arm for the opportunity!

OH NO I THINK everyone should do farming to some level on their property...even the little old backyard garden!!! What you are in for is hard work, we all know that and hard times with animals, but we all know that..........it has so many good sides to it, why else would I still be doing it? ----remember I say "downgrade" I never say stop..HA HA

 

[freemotion]

Yay for the water!!!! The only thing worse than no water coming in is no water going out!

Those were some cool links, Bee. FK, I know nothing about cows except that they can stick their tongues right up there noses, but it looks to me that the breed is important from that first link. I know horses, and I know most modern breeds would not survive well if turned loose on the plains. Numbers would sharply decline at first, then the sturdiest would start to survive and within a few short years, there would be no signs of QH's with huge bodies and tiny feet and TB's that break down before they grow up, etc.

When I switched my breeds of chickens to one more suited to our cold winters here in MA, they did much better with the free-ranging and unheated, door-open-everyday coop that is my style.

I think one has to be really motivated to switch to that style of farming and find new markets for their products, but the markets are there and are growing. If I wanted to use my two acre pasture for Salatin-style chicken farming, I could sell every last egg and still have a waiting list. This is obvious when I have a few extra dozen to offer during peak production, and I have, literally, 17 people wanting each dozen, without even trying. I keep getting asked when I am getting more chickens. And I told all these people that I don't feed organic, but I do the best I can.

With my interest in ss practices, my father and I have had many talks about how his father farmed. My father remembers the last of the horses that worked in the fields. Generally, Pepere wanted to be "modern" and would switch his practices whenever a new method came along. They became less and less ss as time went on. Many of the old methods are almost lost, which is sad.

One thing that interested me was the soaking of grains before feeding. Dad doesn't remember everything that was fed, coming from a family with 11 kids, he wasn't involved in every chore. He doesn't remember a grinder, but he does remember putting oats, grown on the farm, into buckets of water to soak for several days until they started to bubble and ferment. Then they would be fed to the pigs.

No corn was available. Any grain fed was barley and oats, and potatoes were cooked outdoors in a large pot to feed as well. And hay, of course, with those long, sub-zero Northern Maine winters.

Just my rambling. I find it all so fascinating. I can't wait for my turkeys for pastured turkey meat in my freezer and canning jars, and I am determined to get a quarter of grass-fed beef next fall. The health benefits are amazing. More boomers are aware of this, but most of the population just wants their processed foods, so there is room for both types of farming.

 

[roosmom]

Beekissed, thanks. I forgot to mention that they also get layers crumbles. (what is layers mash?) I have been giving them ACV since they were three weeks old ! I just need to start giving them more calcium as the shells are weak in some of the eggs. I have been saving eggshells so it is time I guess.

I just wanted to tell you that I am glad you got water. I have been in some hard situations in my life but for the grace of God, not that particular one. I am glad you are going to rectify it this summer.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Hey Bee, I was talking with my husband about grass fed only. He said he thinks the beef that's been grass fed only tastes better. He said he never grain fed his cows, but put up hay for the winter. Now here's the thing, his cows DID get grain, but ONLY a small bit in the morning and again in the evening as a treat. He said his only reason for doing this is if the cows get out, they know they get that grain at the same time every day.

Well, his cows did get out. Tromped all over the place. Next morning, all 4 cows were at the trough waiting for that grain.