[blue80]

That sounds like fun George. Lots of students who never considered draft power as a viable option will now have the benefit of making informed choices regarding the matter.

It is amazing to me sometimes how contrasting goals are evident throughout different regions of the country. For instance, I contacted our local ag/equine specialty school awhile ago, and they responded they have had no interest or willingness to pursue draft animal power demos or sustainable farming options at this time. We’ll try again this and next year….

[blue80]

thanks Ben thats cool!

[blue80]

Crosby north dakota two springs ago, May 1. Went to bed 10pm lite drizzle, 5 am the next morning got up to go to work and 6 ft of snow and 60mph winds.
No power no water for 3 days for 60 miles in all directions.
People were going stupid by the third day, taking what they didn’t have. Most lived in their cars beside the one gas station that had delivery trucks that could pump using their PTO.

That was small town rural America.

Be safe

[blue80]

As far as I can tell, since we have a superinsulated building with low cost of heating, it is worth us to green the feed if we have the time to do it ourselves. For our young family, it becomes an easy chore to do, with opportunity for casual chatter and fun with the garden hose, amongst other “busy” and physically demanding or dangerous chores.

Actually, we 3 day sprout about 15% of it and feed to layers and the dry lot rams, the rest is sprouted to 6 day grass. Our layers have done the best on a sprouted mash of several different grains. They did very poorly and egg quality went way down when on straight oats for a month….

My reasoning for bringing it to grass height is:
1/pastured/grass finished/organic marketing advantage with premium price point opportunities
2/animals love it
3/google wheatgrass juice, barley grass juice. The nutritionists are growing it to green grass for a reason….There is something in the amino acids of the fresh grass that allows the animals to utilize their other fiber better.
4/We become shoe ins for those with Celiac disease, and can earn their trust and business by setting no grain protocols.
5/because nobody else is doing it! As part of our agritourism , it is fun to show visitors a vertically integrated farm that could grow their own seed, save the best, sprout the rest, to finished organic product while increasing soil quality, without needing huge tracts of land and tractors. It is actually more profitable to buy in barley and hay and concentrate on sprouting, animal husbandry and marketing, than it is to take the risk of growing grain and baling hay.

but set me straight if this is folly!

[blue80]

Nice article from 2003, if anything with a negative tone towards the feasibility of livestock fodder.

But a lot of nice info and history of sprouting grains.

http://www.qcl.farmonline.com.au/files/48/20/01/000012048/Hydroponicfodder.pdf

This 55 page article would defend a position of “no advantage” over conventional feeding but does not take into account many factors, especially that many of us are anything but conventional….
Including:
Continually Higher price points for organic, grass finished meat products,
Arguably higher nutrition of finished product, as (“superfood” status has been endowed on wheatgrass and barleygrass juice)
Fixed production costs for the producer, actually organic meat can be produced at lower cost.
Allowance of higher stocking rates in especially cold/hot/wet/expensive climates,
Healthier animals, longer lasting breeding stock; Pay special attention on page 47 regarding obvious better condition of fodder fed livestock-The outside of an animal reflects whats going on inside.
More consistent finished product,
Growing local economies, including grain farmer, grazier, and meat processor
Ability for farmer to save seed again and regain control of the seed supply,
Increased organic matter on ones soil due to higher animal densities.
Malt beer possibilities
etc. etc.

Just a neat option that takes some venom and hopelessness out of the GMO, pesticide, chemical fertilizer factors of “farming” today. Our options have increased!
Kevin
http://www.fortcauseway.com

[blue80]

Our rudimentary sprouting operation. We like it so far, and hope to expand it someday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mGUFAUfR0k

[blue80]

I like the read only aspect for free; One forum I have frequented is a green building forum that allows you to view about 20 posts before a popup comes to view saying “you have viewed the maximum allowable posts before logging in” I think that may be so that individuals aren’t trolling the forum in order to gain peoples phone and email info from individual threads?

As a side note and with a different option,
I see some value of this organization being a part of a larger organization. I think there would be a long term benefit, both saving overhead costs and gaining greater exposure, to actually being a part of and integrated into a larger type of community. Because for me, though draft power is a huge part of my vision for the future, it is in fact only a single arrow in the quiver… I wonder if the DAP organization would lose some control, but gain a much broader influence in the sustainable farming/logging community.
I read between the lines, or read directly, that finances are a day to day issue for DAP. I have seen some small 501 c3 ‘s in the past do great for a few euphoric high fiving years, only to sputter when the maintenance gear is reached.
For instance, in the past the “Insulating Concrete Form” association had held its own non profit, yearly conferences, propoganda, committees, code reviews and processing, overhead and mangerial staff; All paid for by $300 dues from industry affiliated entities. When this ICF association joined as a subsidiary of the Expanded Polystyrene Industry, a lot of costs were decreased, market exposure increased exponentially, and the ICF industry burgeoned, entering the construction “mainstream, ” which is what the sales based manufacturers of course wanted….
Since “growth” has been advocated in past posts for DAP, I recommend somehow embedding with those who AREN”T draft powered savvy.

Just a thought, nothing against how things are going now….

[blue80]

We have a 4 ft. Shipshe with pole, 8ft with yoke only cultimulchers. Maynard is very nice to work with.
We’ve worked hundred of acres down with ours and they are fantastic, they will leave a bed ready for planting.
They eliminate the need for a disc, except in heavy trash circumstances and are a stable consistent draft for training horses and teamsters.

We have also moved the spring tines as needed and added corrugating shovels in the rear to scratch flood irrigation corrugations….

We had a couple welds break on the 8ft platform because we ordered it with 2 seats which changed the stressors on the top of the platform. Otherwise they are heavy duty units priced right….Be sure to check bolts and nuts often, though Maynard produces with nylox nuts, yeahh!

When buying HD equipment I recommend we consistently ask the manufacturers to install “pick point hooks” on the balancing points of the equipment. When assembled much of this equipment is very hard to load and unload off trailers and flatbed trucks. Some of mine is damaged as a result.

It is sure fun to go and help others on their farms, also let people rent/borrow, but lack of ability to chain and load some of this is a shortcoming…..

[blue80]

That is exciting George, hope all goes well. I believe this is a fantastic way to grow community, and enable flexible transistion of real estate, though

I’ve never done such an agreement; however
I have known shysters who utilized this method to get high interest rates and/or take advantage of case of default.

So the question is, if something unforeseen happens, how and who makes the call?
For instance, some agreements are written up that all payments made to date are forfeit in case of default for any reason; so miss your last payment because of a health issue and you lose all your investment….
Another would be capital contributions/upgrades to the property.
Another would be prepayment penalties/clauses. If you pay the property off ahead of time, or make additional payments, will you have penalties or owe all the perceived calculated interest anyways?

Have fun tomorrow!

[blue80]

We were flat out told a couple years ago by the USDA loan program managers that there was a 1 to 100 horse to cattle ratio. They were adamant that draft horse powered rotationally grazed systems would not get funding….

We also had a rude awakening that properties over 35 acres cannot be resold on the secondary mortgage market. Meaning the bank you get a loan with will not be able to bundle and resell, nor will a large mortgage consortium give lending on a property over 35 acres.

We ended up getting a high interest 15 year fixed loan with a local bank. They were adamant we would not be written as an ag loan; the bank managers words were that it takes a year to repo an ag loan property, only a couple months for a conventional. Although as he put it, “of course we hope it doesn’t come to that”

It would seem that some of the farmers griping about the lack of young hard working people willing to farm and raise families in the country would help newcomers get in….

[blue80]

I think both the hd and standard carts are worth the money. Check out ebay for double cutting mowers, they are $5-7K, so I and J’s 9 ft. mower with trailed cart is great value.

The big GD cart with dual disc brakes will stop a truck and is a fantastic safe training platform for both team and driver, with fantastic visibility. It leaks hydraulic from day one though….

Cheapest way to get you haying is gas powered I and J trailed mower behind a conventional forecart. You will get a lot of acres down a day.

I went with the ground drive carts for a few reasons.
1/ I didn’t want to pay tax that year so spent money on horse drawn equipment that nobody seemed to have out here…Figured it’d be cheaper to buy and get a lot of it than go to horse progress days and ogle but not touch it….
2/ I wanted to put a most versatile farm package together that would work off ground drive forecarts/motor pto forecarts with drafts, or tractor under 50hp. And when neccessary I have no problem putting the pickup to work in the field either….
3/ They are the only Ground drive cart in mass production, I wanted to support the industry and critique them and help people decide whether it would be a good investment for their operations. Buy a team, you invest in your personal operation, buy new HD equipment, you invest in the whole industries future….

With our big GD cart and 9 ft. mower I cut 20 acres per day a few times this summer. I used two horses on, two horses resting, for 2 hr shifts throughout the day for total field time of ten hours. Next year will probably go 3 horses barely resting and cut 15 acres each day, as I just sold my jiggy mare and am now down to three drafts…..
These carts with mowers are a fantastic training tool, and offer a solid consistent workout. Mowing with this setup has really made the rank horses I have honest. Theres no gawking and dinking around, they have to lean into it or quit, much more so than the md#9 high gear I was using.

Mowing has always been the slow part of haying with horses, and these mowers are a non clogging non sharpening game changer…..

I am in Wyoming and would consider selling a cart and unused 9 ft. mower if anyone out here is in need…You can take my MD#9 while you are at it….

Those were my videos referenced above, feel free to call me with questions to discuss, or come visit and try them out.
three oh seven, 254- 25 eight 2 cell
Kevin

[blue80]

So sorry, thinking and praying for you both,

Kevin

[blue80]

George:
We too are probably landlocked long term, with very little ability for land rental locally. And we also have rather poor ground to work with. Oh and no markets to sell eggs for even $2.oo a dozen. $2. a lb chicken is “highway robbery;” So if we want to farm profitably in the future the writing seems to be on the wall….
We are looking at options of investing in a commercial sprouter, we can always take this with us….
This would provide green feed year round, more consistent and better quality pastured meat products, support organic grain growers and import nutrients which our fields need. We would also reduce the need for further hay equipment investments which never pays for itself on our small economy of scale.

Whatever you decide, if your wife and you both agree, its the right decision!

Best, Kevin

[blue80]

I’ve been cold calling a lot, and visiting a few, dude ranches that promote “sustainability” and “environmental responsiblity” and “our western heritage” on their websites.
My pitch has been that these enterprises would be a fantastic medium to promote and return a functional family farm. A family, on 80-160 acres, could run a few beef, sheep, 300 pastured poultry a month, a little veggie, and a milk cow or two, some eggs, and pull some logs for the campfires. All farm production would be utilised to feed the visiting dudes, while educating them a little on draft powered healthy farming options. It more easily would fly under the USDA radar because it is produced and eaten on the farm….

To date the limit of these dude ranches’ “sustainability” rubber hitting the road seems to be limited to accessing grants to rehabilitate the trout streams for improved fishing….

[blue80]

I recently did a little research on the US. oil requirements vs. production, and I think I remember it like this.

Saudi Arabia the worlds top producer, produces 17 million barrels per day.
US., 2nd on the list, produces 10 million per day, and uses 17 million.
Russia, 3rd, produces 10 million per day and exports a lot of what they produce.

It is interesting to note that structure heating and cooling is actually a bigger use of fossil fuels than transportation, according to the Dept. of Energy. And over 70% of the GSA budget goes to overhead and maintenance of government buildings….
And that is why more efficient, less disposable structures is a good investment for the nation, and the coming generations…..

[Author]

Posts