[Anthony]

If you just need simple book keeping, check out Gnucash http://www.gnucash.org .  It is totally free and I have an easier time with it for what I need than quickbooks.  It has many accounting and business features as well, though not as many as quickbooks.

[Anthony]

Videos and such from a few months ago showing it in action and a short description. Ann maybe you could comment on the videos?

http://www.draftanimalpower.com/showthread.php?4866-Interesting-new-single-animal-cultivating-implement

[Anthony]

I have an Oliver 23 that I too need to get working soon and a picture of the sliding hitch would help me as well. I used it last year but it was a bit of a struggle some times. I saw BW Macknair has a part that might be of use for the sliding hitch: http://macknair.com/miscellaneousparts.htm second from the bottom. I have Lynn Miller’s plow book on the way in hopes that I can pick some things out to help me along. I’ll post a couple pictures of mine in case you might see something. If you can get some pictures of yours I can take a look and see what I can see.

[Anthony]

NOTE: This post is also originally authored by Mary-Howell Martens, the forum software required me to seperate them due to length.

Link to the previous post to read prior to this for proper understanding: http://www.draftanimalpower.com/showthread.php?5030-GMO-Studies&p=33598&viewfull=1#post33598

Good morning folks!
Shortly after returning home last week, a non-agricultural friend asked me
the surprisingly difficult question “so, what did you do in Washington?”

Trying to explain the gist of AC21 discussions, trying to explain why a
roomful of otherwise decent and intelligent people would want to spend 2 days
bickering with each other, AND trying to get my own head around the logic of
compensation, fairness and reality, I have been playing with a typical farmer
situation, with long historical rural tradition, time-tested country justice
and legal precedent.

This is a situation that many of us will recognize. Sometimes it adds
clarity to use a simple, familiar analogy as a new lens, a fresh perspective,
to better grasp something more complicated.

Of stray dogs, good neighbors and farmers
My neighbor, John, has a dog, Red, that wanders around the neighborhood.
When Red wanders onto our farm, first we check his tag to make sure whose
dog it is (Percy sprayed a little Roundup . . . ) and then we have a choice –

We can either let Red hang out in our yard if we don’t mind him being there,
or we can call John to come get his dog.

Legally, John is required to keep his dog on his own property and not bother
the neighbors. If the dog can’t be trained to stay home and if the neighbors
object, then John is expected to tie or fence him. (primary line of action =
containment)

If Red impregnates our dog, Bonnie, the puppies are ours, free and clear,
even though Red is an AKC registered Labrador. John has absolutely no legal
claim to the puppies (no lawsuits against farmers who are victim to unwanted
pollen drift)

However, our Bonnie is a registered beagle, so we have the obligation to
keep her in a secure pen during heat (planting a reasonable buffer and using
other Best Management Practices). If Red breaks into her pen, we have a right to legally sue
John on the grounds of (1) unwanted low-value mongrel puppies (loss of market
value), (2) property damage and (3) unwelcome stray dog on our property.

If we merely tie Bonnie, the resulting puppies are ours, but our legal
grounds against John are limited to the fact that Red is not welcome on our
property (not fully using accepted BMPs may weaken the recipient’s legal
options, but does not alter the fact that unwanted, unsolicited trespass
occurred). Of course, the last time this happened in the neighborhood, one
night the offending dog went home castrated (would we be legally justified to
de-tassel the outside 18 rows of our neighbor’s GM corn?)

If we are not certain which neighborhood dog impregnated Bonnie while in
her pen, if we can identify the father (genetic testing?),we can hold the
owner liable for the lost value of that ‘crop of puppies’ (identify the
errant genes and hold the owner legally responsible).

If Red gets into the chicken coop and kills our chickens (reduces their
market value), John is legally and morally obligated to compensate us for the
value of the chickens.

Often a neighborly arrangement can be worked out (John pays for the dead
chickens and promises that Red will be forever tied) but if this isn’t
possible, we can contact the dog catcher who can do two things – (1) destroy
Red and (2) force John to pay damages (third party mediator to
determine/enforce what is just and fair).

Long rural tradition has established that even though a registered Labrador dog has greater value than
a chicken, on farms, a dog that kills the neighbor’s chickens should be
destroyed (respect for the integrity of a neighbor’s property takes
precedence) unless the owner makes restitution and commits to permanently
restraining the dog.

When John’s previous dog, Max, killed the neighbor’s lambs after a
warning, the dog catcher destroyed Max, fined John $1000, and and ordered
John made restitution payment to the owner of the lambs. In our
neighborhood, if the dog catcher had not done this, no one would have been
surprised or shocked if Max just disappeared one day (there are traditionally
accepted consequences when respect for the neighbor’s property is violated,
and the most sustainable, just laws are firmly grounded in ‘treat others as
you would like to be treated’).

Much as we’d hate to lose Bonnie, we know that she would deserve this fate if she did the
same thing (the same consequences apply to all).

If an unrecognizable stray dog gets into our chickens and kills them, the dog
catcher will compensate us from a public fund paid from dog license fees
(public fees paid by those who may potentially cause the problem). In this
case, all the area dog owners are held responsible, since they all pay into
the license fees. Because of this, all dog owners have a stake in ensuring
that everyone’s dogs are properly restrained and behaved (stakeholder group
self-regulation to avoid legal issues and bad players).

Under no circumstances are the other chicken farmers in our county required
to pay for our lost chickens, nor are we expected to use our farm liability
insurance to cover the loss (those that don’t cause the harm are not held
responsible).

If Red attacks our young son on our property, then Red is destroyed and John
faces serious legal trouble (size/type of damage determines in size of
penalty)

Knowing these consequences, most farmers who care about their dogs train them
to stay home, out of the neighbor’s yard, and away from chickens and lambs.

I wonder if mutual respect among neighbors would be the same if there were
no negative consequences.

Mary-Howell Martens
Mending Wall
by Robert Frost
Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun,
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.

The work of hunters is another thing:
I have come after them and made repair
Where they have left not one stone on a stone,
But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,
To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean,
No one has seen them made or heard them made,
But at spring mending-time we find them there.

I let my neighbor know beyond the hill;
And on a day we meet to walk the line
And set the wall between us once again.
We keep the wall between us as we go.
To each the boulders that have fallen to each.

And some are loaves and some so nearly balls
We have to use a spell to make them balance:
‘Stay where you are until our backs are turned!’

We wear our fingers rough with handling them.
Oh, just another kind of out-door game,
One on a side. It comes to little more:
There where it is we do not need the wall:
He is all pine and I am apple orchard.
My apple trees will never get across
And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.

He only says, ‘Good fences make good neighbors’.
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
‘Why do they make good neighbors? Isn’t it
Where there are cows?
But here there are no cows.

Before I built a wall I’d ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offence.

Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,
That wants it down.’ I could say ‘Elves’ to him,
But it’s not elves exactly, and I’d rather
He said it for himself. I see him there
Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top
In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed.

He moves in darkness as it seems to me~
Not of woods only and the shade of trees.
He will not go behind his father’s saying,
And he likes having thought of it so well
He says again, “Good fences make good neighbors.”

[Anthony]

Below is a post from a email list I am on by Mary-Howell Martens which lays out the situation very well, elaborating a bit on the ‘stray dog’ scenario. It is regarding the scrutiny Organic Dairy Standards are facing due to possible GM contamination.

NOTE: Also read the post following this as the forum software required the text to be 2 posts.

Link to second post: http://www.draftanimalpower.com/showthread.php?5030-GMO-Studies&p=33599&viewfull=1#post33599

I have read with interest the comments today on the USDA report implying that organic dairy farms may be contaminated with GM traces. No matter how warm-n-fuzzy this report seems, I interpret it as a major attack against organic farmers, pure and simple, that will have very serious and expensive consequences for organic dairy and grain farmers for many reasons. It describes a very steep price that organic farmers alone will pay. I will even go as far as saying that I suspect this report was supported primarily by biotech companies for that purpose.

The NOP and the National Organic Standards, in their infinite wisdom back in 2001, defined organic farming as an agricultural production system, not as a guarantee of a food purity standard. As long as we organic farmers followed the NOP standards and abided by our certifier-approved Organic System Plan, our crops were considered ‘certified organic’. Keep in mind that while conventional grain may indeed be “100% GM”, it is pretty much accepted that it is impossible to produce 0% GM grain in the United States, with most organic grain coming in between 0.1 – 2% GM. This is mostly the result of low-grade contamination of the seed supply and neighboring pollen drift. In cross pollinating crops like corn, this is probably as good as we can do in the United States even when we follow all reasonable best management practices of protection.

Organic grain farmers are expected to provide reasonable protection against neighboring conventional crops that have the capacity to cross-pollinate theirs – generally an 18 row buffer sold as non-organic and using certified organic seed – but if those precautions are followed, the harvest is not tested for GM presence as a certification test. Certainly the farmer’s buyer may require a certain threshhold of GM presence (=contamination), but up until recently, the NOP has not. As long as you followed the rules to the best of your ability, the grain you harvest is certified organic.

As this has played out, the food market has more-or-less established a threshhold of 0.9% presence (based largely on European expectations), and otherwise organic grain is generally sold into the organic feed market at a reduced price, but with still a reasonable organic premium.

In virtually all cases, any grain crops that an organic dairy farmer grows themselves (as grain, silage or other on-farm feed) are never tested for GM presence. I mean, honestly, how many of you dairy farmers have ever tested your silage for GM presence? And did everyone harvest that 18 row buffer and discard it dutifully before starting silage harvest?

Imposing a feed purity standard on organic feed/forage will invariably result in higher grain prices and shorter organic grain supply (they aren’t high enough already??!)), but more importantly, it essential to first define uniform imposed standard of what constitutes “non-GM”. If 0% isn’t possible under most circumstances, who will define what is? Who will enforce it? How can we be sure that it enforced uniformily on ALL organic dairy farmers, for both purchased feed and on-farm produced feed?

And if that is what NOP wants to do, why stop at GM level? What about trace pesticide level? What about nutritional content? What about milk components?

So – suddenly we move from the NOP defining a production system, and now defining a food/feed purity standard. This is a truly a profound change in philosophy.

At no point can we forget that the devil is in the details – sampling technique and testing technique could easily make or break many a farmer for strictly arbitrary reasons.

Along with Dr. Chuck Benbrook (also on this list), I am a member of the USDA Advisory Committee for 21st Century Agriculture (AC21), along with Laura Batcha (OTA), Missy Hughes (Organic Valley), Lynn Clarkson (Clarkson Grain), Michael Funk (United Natural Foods) and about 18 others representing illustrious groups such as National Corn Growers, American Soybean Growers, Farm Bureau, Dupont, Center for Food Safety, and several universities and biotech companies. We have had 3 meetings, the last at the beginning of March became rather rancorous in some of the discussions. Our charge by the Secretary of Agriculture is to suggest ways to improve co-existence between different groups in American agriculture, but rather than really tackling that daunting task, we have drifted more toward discussing ‘compensation mechanisms’ (i.e. crop insurance-like tools) that could reimburse farmers who suffer market loss due to GM presence.

I have argued vigorously that we are asking the wrong question. We should instead be working upstream to try to prevent unwanted presence from happening, rather than way downstream paying farmers for market loss. But, that argument is generally met with silence, and then the conversation turns to a different topic – it is not an acceptable topic for discussion.

After our last meeting, I wrote the following explanation of my position. The one comment back? That one large midwest corn/soybean farmer did not appreciate his 6 generation family farm being compared to dogs.

I think he missed the point.

Mary-Howell Martens
Lakeview Organic Grain
Penn Yan, NY

[Anthony]

Just a reminder that this event is tomorrow evening for anyone interested, please come and share and learn with us.

[Anthony]

My first farming experience was during a break from college on a farm across the country through wwoof.org. Both the farm and I took a big chance and it worked out well enough; I arrived back in NJ eight months later and decided to move on from pursuing an english degree in college to farming. I was very much the young person they described in the article. I wwoofed on another farm a couple years ago and we had some miscommunication (also very present in the first situation), but are still friends and I see them often. Both situations helped me through some transitory times in life. Some farming friends have taken on wwoofers with great experiences on both sides after figuring out what works for their farm. For me it seems that being very clear about expectations is most important, and perhaps taking on wwoofers for a shorter term/trial period if they’d like to stay longer than a week or two for both parties sake, as many wwoofers are just getting their feet wet when it comes to doing manual labor in a rural setting.

As for ‘staying on the farm’, it’s been 7 years since my first wwoofing experience and I’m still figuring it out (aren’t we all), but I’ve begun an animal powered vegetable csa this year and it seems quite possible that we’ll be supporting 3 farmers next season, and perhaps a wwoofer or 2 if we feel settled enough.

[Anthony]

What’s the schedule look like/what’s going on each day? I’d like to come out but have limited time.

[Anthony]

Thanks for all the responses thus far. Still looking though. Smaller teams preferred, 15-16 hh.

[Anthony]

I cannot vouch for how ‘normal’ such practices are, but the Nordells have been evolving their systems and techniques for over 25 years and writing extensively in ‘Small Farmer’s Journal’ under a column entitles ‘Cultivating Questions’. They have an article most issues. They also give workshops at conferences, usually in the winter. They have a 73 minute DVD (which is very similar to their slideshow presentation at workshops) and a booklet of 8 articles (most have appeared in SFJ over the years, one was written especially for the booklet and distribution at workshops). Write to:

Anne and Eric Nordell
3410 Rt 184
Beech Grove, PA 17771
$15 + $3 s&h for the DVD, $10 + $3 s&h for the booklet, send check or money order.

Here is a link to the title article from the booklet: http://www.acresusa.com/toolbox/reprints/June09_Nordells.pdf

They also have a yearly ‘beginning farmer’ workshop at their farm, columbus day weekend. It is usually organized through PASA., with registration a few months prior (it fills up).

Both horsepowered vegetable farms I have worked at are familiar with and implement many of their practices. They have systems that make sense and are well thought out and can also be adapted to one’s particular situation, though it will take many years to reach their achievements.

Here’s a thread on a similar topic with techniques that spring from their ideas: http://www.draftanimalpower.com/showthread.php?t=2918

[Anthony]

I highly recommend getting a hold of the Nordell’s media for a great background in cultivated land management. Much of what I have learned is a variation of their ‘innovations’ and thought processes. Is is well presented and inspiring if nothing else.

The steps I would take are as follows.

Plow shallow as possible; you want to cut roots, bury the ley in a proper manner so it will not re-root, but also lay it in a manner that allows some airflow for desired decomposition.

Disc/Harrow/Cultivate, again shallow and as unaggressive as necessary, until the ley is dead. Pay attention to the action of your tool and its suitability to the situation and your current goal. Do you want to bury or bring things to the surface? are you trying to break up clods and aggregates or are you comfortable with the way they are? How is decomposition coming along? Are you looking to introduce more air and oxygen? Is the prior growth in appropriate sized pieces?

Plant a cover crop suitable to your location, climate, window of time, and budget. If you plan to plant next spring, I would look for a cover to grow and suppress weeds this summer that is manageable in way that allows you to plant early in the spring next year as well as enhancing soil tilth and texture. Here are a couple situations I would consider in the NE US and are dependant on when you have taken care of the residual ley to your satisfaction:

-plant a quick growing crop of buckwheat in the summer, disc and cultivate/fallow for a week or 2, then repeat if time allows completion of another cycle before late august/early September, at which point I would seed down oats and peas or another cover crop that will put on some growth before hard frost but then die back fully before spring. This dying is critical for management in spring.

-similar to Mitch’s suggestion, fallow and cultivate/harrow for the summer until late August/early September and then follow the above with oats and peas or other crop. This will possibly help more with quack/couch grass and other weeds. Harrow each time your weeds are in the ‘white’ stage, that is right after they have germinated and exhausted their seed energy but before they have had a chance to set down roots. Be careful with having open land over summer if you might get heavy rains, consistent rains, and might be prone to erosion at all.

-similar to Erikas suggestion, sow down a annual legume (clover, I’d probably go with crimson to get it to die back. What were you thinking, Erika?) and an annual small grain (oats, again to die back in the winter.) It seemed that Erika was plowing in the spring as the clover was still living. This depends on how your fields are in the spring (wet/heavy/not well drained or light/dry/well drained) as well as how early you’d like to plant.

I know next to nothing about your climate, so be sure to ask around your area about cover crops farmers use.

re Soil Tests: Most universities today use a strong acid test that is useful for knowing what minerals your soil holds and what might be in reserve for the future but doesn’t give you much of an idea of what is currently available to plants. Many other labs use a weak acid test that gives you a better idea of what is biologically available to plants. The strong and weak acid test methods are fairly standard, but be sure your are getting the test you want. Here’s some more info on the different tests: http://www.aglabs.com/soilTesting.html and labs to check out: http://attra.ncat.org/new_pubs/attra-pub/soil-lab.html . Minerals and pH are related, though not as directly as many tests make them seem. Most ‘alternative’ labs are based on Albrecht or Reams and give suggestions accordingly. I honestly do not know how universities base their suggestions. Figure out what you want out of a soil test/consultation and how much you might be willing to personally investigate on your own, and be sure that you feel comfortable with whatever you go through with.

All of my suggestions are general and should be adapted greatly to your personal situation. Enjoy!

[Anthony]

I too have heard of such technology supposedly in use. This Wikipedia Article states that though the technology is developed it is yet to be implemented commercially due to UN moratoriums as well as a pledge from Monsanto.

Other interesting reading: Monsanto is Forbes’ 2010 company of the year.

I don’t even know where to start, but I guess clicking the link in the original post can’t hurt.

[Anthony]

belt take-offs surely exist, just poke around a bit. I have used both one that connects directly to the PTO as well as one that sits in a frame on the ground removed from the tractor by a PTO shaft with good success.

[Anthony]

NRCS Web Soil Survey: type in the address of the property you are looking at, select the area you’d like soil maps and data for, click the soil map tab, voila! (if they have data for the county, some counties do not work. if this is the case, the local library usually has soil survey books.)

[Anthony]

Thanks Carl, I have a copy on its way.

Though it certainly can’t compare to owning a physical copy, http://books.google.com/ has many full books no longer under copyright including those by Youatt and Biggles as well as many other ‘earlier’ agricultural books. Good way to check them out or for quick information if nothing else.

[Author]

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