[Carl Russell]

Depending on how much time you have on your ground in the spring, you may want to spread now, work it in, and plant winter rye to capture those nutrients, then just disc in the rye before planting in the spring. If you have warm dry ground in the spring, then wait till then.

We generally have a short window after mud season, so the more we can do to prepare the soil in the fall, the better. Soil erosion and nutrient leaching are difficult to manage, so a cover crop is what we strive for, then just a couple of passes with the harrows in the spring, and we’re ready to go.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

Welcome Kent, nice to see you here, and we hope to hear more from you, Carl

[Carl Russell]

The fact of the matter is that it is not a straight line mathematical formula.

I had a horse once whose heart would bust out of his chest if he couldn’t move something. He was a calm horse that loved to pull logs. By himself he could pull almost as much as I could pull with the team.But he couldn’t handle the manure spreader by himself, the way the team could.

I also had a pair of cattle that I took to the fair several times. A couple of times I tried to pull concrete with them, and could hardly get them past the first load. I was out of my element. In the ten years I worked them in the woods, there was never a tree (no matter how big) that I couldn’t get to the landing. I knew how the lay of the land could help me, and the advantages I could get from certain techniques, or pieces of equipment.

There is a big difference between the mathematical weight to power ratio, and the art of getting work done with animals. I would question whether it would be worth keeping a third horse around, just for those instances where you might need it.

Those Haflingers should have plenty of get-up in them, just go light and go often. Learn how they work in different areas on your farm, and modify your approach accordingly.

It may be obvious, but I think you may just be finding out what their limitations are, and still haven’t quite down-sized your expectations. It took me a long time before I was brave enough to off-load logs, or manure when the load was too big.

It takes time and patience to condition a team, and possibly more of the same to condition your own response and expectations.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

Is the horse seriously compromised with lack of breath, when working strenuously? Or is it really more distracting sound?

I think that a roarer in good shape, would have need less air, and with a teamster who could accommodate the condition, the horse would still be productive. At least it isn’t a condition related to immune system, and the horse can still maintain a generally healthy condition.

I appreciate Kristin’s honesty, and willingness to discuss the situation. It certainly makes it more difficult to sell the animal, but the horse looks really good, and if I hadn’t already decided to cut down on the eyeballs around here, I would seriously consider him.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

What you get out of animals has a lot to do with what you expect from them. The result has more to do with the teamster than with the size and number of animals.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

Also wanted to mention thanx to Jim, Robin, Rod, and David for donations.

Also thank you to everyone who uses and contributes to the site in other ways, we do not intend to limit involvement on this site based on financial contribution, it’s just a reality of putting this together, and we appreciate the financial assistance at this time.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

becorson;2895 wrote:

i follow another online forum about keeping a family cow… it is hosted by Proboards and they have adds that are not very obtrusive. i have even found a few interesting items for sale!
but the idea of contributing as we can afford is also good. “from each according to his ability; to each according to his need.” i am willing to pledge!

I have also followed Keeping a Family Cow, and the active ad strip at the top is bothersome to me, but I have found out that it makes the forum site free. Google is pretty much present all over the page, you get used to it, but it’s there. All the ad money goes to Google, so if there is any added value from the content of the discussions, it gets usurped, and most of the ads are unrelated to farming, or cows.
http://www.familycow.proboards32.com

It is a rolling ad strip so the companies each pay a little, but basically that ad space is probably worth $300-400/year.

If we were to create ad forums with a lot of detail on the front page, they would be worth more, but would also take up a lot of room. I think we could create an ad page, like the photo gallery where visitors could peruse through detailed ads, which would be in the ball-park of $25-$50/yr, depending on size?, links? etc.

More later, Carl

[Carl Russell]

ngcmcn;3060 wrote:

………

Anyway, I need to go use some of that valuable labor to process today’s milk… It seems that Central Maine residents are not yet on the same page with us, because there are probably 10 gallons of milk in the sales fridge. We’ll be selling pork in the spring! I certainly don’t have the answer, but wanted to share some thoughts, for what they’re worth. We know our work is valuable, we need to get paid for what it’s worth. And if not, as Carl said, this food may just be more valuable to us than to our customers for a while yet.

Where’s the middle ground for you? How do you make that call, about when it is not worth selling one more share? It may sound greedy, but what we strive for is to be selling as little as we can, for as much as we can, while keeping our quality of life. We know if we were really greedy, we would be doing something other than milking cows, driving horses, raising kids, cooking, preserving… and getting up and doing it again.

Gwyneth & Neal

Hey you guys, what are you selling your milk for? We are getting $6/gal and $8/qt for cream. Selling about 3 gal per day=$18 (we get 4-4.5/day). That figures out to 1hr/day milking and related chores($15) + 1-2 hr/wk fencing/moving cows (.3 hrs/day=$5) and a yearly average of some grain and a little hay of about $3/day, minus our own gallon (-$6)= 15+5+3-6=$17

This doesn’t take into consideration long term costs of water tanks, fencing, nor the value of nutrients, and grass management, nor those unscheduled emergency sleepless nights, nor the great connections we make with interesting people who come to our farm and make us feel good about what we do. I also didn’t figure the cost of refrigeration (we’re still using the fridge my folks bought when they lived in Texas in the fifties), hot water, but realistically those costs are covered from our share of the income as personal expenses.

We could probably raise that price, because our customers are dedicated, but we probably won’t, because our customers are dedicated.

When the cows are dry we buy milk from our neighbor for $2 gal out of their bulk tank. Same price for the last 20 years.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

Sounds like a great opportunity to form a small local Draft Club. Carl

[Carl Russell]

I own a wood-mizer!! But I still can’t make all my bedding, have to buy some. I mix in chaff from the loft, and from under the manger to extend it.

I haven’t gotten around to it, but I have thought of collecting leaves!!!
Carl

[Carl Russell]

Kristin,
I agree completely with your comments. I have never seen my objective as trying to find a market for my farming enterprise beyond my own table, primarily because I don’t believe anybody else will value the food I produce as much as I do.

That being said, we always produce more than we can use, so we sell the surplus. Generally it is not difficult for us to find customers, first because it is not large volumes, and second because there ARE folks (although not many) who value the way we produce our food.

We have run into the pricing problem when evaluating existing common prices, and when selling at Farmer’s Markets. It has amazed me how willing some farmers are to undersell themselves, as if they owe it to their customers.

For several years we have planted garlic and potatoes to sell at FM. We plant garlic in fall, and potatoes early, so they are both ready for sale by June- early July. Trying to price these roots, we considered what others were selling them for, as we tried to calculate our expenses.

The best I could do was $1-$2 above anybody else. Then it occurred to me that ours were the only produce that was grown by horse and hand, and in ground that has been worked that way for over 20 years. In other words, there was no point in trying to compete, and we set our prices high, and advertised our commitment to our cultivation process.

I know that does get shares sold each week, year round, but I just wanted to throw that into the discussion.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

Donn, You basically have it figured out. I will have to look into the automatic front posting, but some ads could be worth more due to there placement, or the extent of detail, etc.

A simple example is the forum I created for the Restorative Forestry Website. It has very little detail, but provides a direct link to the site.(by the way that is not an ad, it is a nod to our hard working brother, Jason, and in a way an example for those who may consider something similar)

If an ad is out in front then it would be worth the most, but if we created an ads forum then every one would be on the same footing, as threads listed alphabetically.

I’m sure that there would be a lot of leeway as to the actual layout of the ad if it were just pasted into a thread, say for those with logos, and no website, or lists of products or services, etc.

My vote would be to see how much interest there is in paying for advertisement, and if it looks like we really need to sell the front page splash then consider how to do it best, otherwise try the forum display. I know people are used to web advertising being right in their face, but I like the quiet entrance to the site, and think that the ads should fit in with that.

VT Web Properties manages several other discussion forums where he sells ad spots. I will get him to post links to them so we can see some examples. We may be able to sell one prominent space (near the bottom of the page) for enough money that it could make it so that we wouldn’t have to have them all over. More later.

Current total for our pledge drive is $365. Thanks so much to all who have contributed so far including, Jason, Kristin & Mark, George & Kristan, Rick, Drummond, Jennifer, Erika, Ira, Rebecca, and Henry, we really appreciate your support.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

We usually wait till 6 months or so, but not much later because testicles are down, and the animal is still easy to handle. Carl

[Carl Russell]

The Yard Hitch IS wicked costly, BUT there is a lot of steel in it, AND Gene has put a lot of thought and engineering into it. He is very approachable, and talking with him may be a good way to advance your thought. I also think the price is way out of my ball park, but if I ran a dairy farm with tractors and was seriously considering how I could use horses more, the cost of this piece would be a less than going out to buy a whole line of horse drawn implements to replace my 3-pth tools.

As far as electrical generation during work, besides the extra drag on the animals, I am not sure you would generate that much during the same time frame that a battery charger can, and the key to an electrical system is having full batteries. Possibly a solar charging unit by the barn, or some central location would be a better alternative to grid-tie. Or build a canopy with solar panels right on the unit, just don’t go into the woods!!!

I’m not sure that the weigh of the Yard Hitch is that bad especially in light of the weight of the implements, and payloads, that can be attached. And for example the way Gene engineered the rig, the 3-pth has down pressure, which in combination with 500 lbs can be an advantage to the horse operation, where tractors come with pretty good ballast already.

I know that in many ways YH goes beyond the basic needs, or finances, but in some cases over-engineered and over-built can be a good thing. I am not trying to sell you one, but we had Gene at NEAPFD in 08, and many people were very impressed with his machine. I think it’s worth looking at closely for more answers.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

Check out the Yard Hitch 3-pth Cart at http://www.yardhitch.com There are also photos on the gallery, under equipment.

Gene Gunderson has designed a 4-wheeled cart with electric powered hydraulics that run a 3-pth that can take any category one implement. It weighs about 500 lbs, but the extra weight comes in handy for some of the uses it can be put too. It can be plugged in to be charged, and batteries can be switched out easily, so that you can move round bales all day long. It is well-built, and well-designed. A good piece for the tractor farmer in transition to horses.

Carl

[Author]

Posts