[dominiquer60]

I have a coming 3 year old Australian Shepherd, he is not the most ideal looker, but he will work until he drops. He works hens and hogs, guards poultry, and is great for personal protection on the road. Today at the poultry swap two customers let hens get away from them, such a look of panic on there faces as the bird runs and the untied dog leaps into action. With in a minute the hen is in their box and the dog settles back onto the tail gate. The other vendors love the entertainment, and a little piece of mind if their birds get loose too.

The farm I lived on for a while has an Aussie Shepherd/Blue Heeler mix, this dog taught mine to catch chickens. He also guards and catches poultry, he is timid with the hogs, but will out hunt my dog any day. His list includes song birds, rats, mice, chipmunks, snakes, woodchucks (will dig until he is out of sight and lame), rabbits, opossum, muskrats, turkeys, fawns, over ripe cucumbers and some solid attempts to kill a beaver, but never a cat or chicken. The worst part about this dog is he doesn’t know when to quit, he has run himself crazy and into serious arthritis at the age of seven.

[dominiquer60]

I was writing a check out for the dreaded Farm Bureau, and decided that even though I lived through the dentist appointment and so forth, I could fork a little more out for DAP. At the moment it is the only stable connection that I have with where I would like to be. At anytime of the day while I am in the concrete jungle or the south FL RV I can escape to the conversations of real people with real problems. It is just like my public radio station that streams live online. At any time I can tune into WAMC or DAP and feel like I am where I would rather be. So anything that contributes to keeping my sanity while saving start-up capital is a blessing and deserves the votes out of my back pocket.

I know how much effort Carl, Lisa and their children put into this site and the NEAPFD. They together have successfully plowed the first long furrow of creating a wonderful educational event, but how much more can a good team work without out burning out towards such a big goal. Is it fair to them that they shoulder the burden alone much longer? As stated before many hands make light work, so why don’t we help add another team and start the next furrow with four up, or better yet lets put eight together and see how much progress we can make with two bottoms.

I sponsored, I volunteered and I donated again, I am happy that I am not alone, but it still feels like there is more that I/we can do to help see that what has been started will continue to run its course well and smoothly. It’s not that Carl and Lisa can’t do this, because we know that they can and that they have. However there are enough of us able minded and bodied folks out there that they shouldn’t have to do so much of the work, and so that they can have more time for their farm and family.

It is hard to take more time and effort out of our already stretched schedules, but if we want this bad enough I know we can stop talking about it long enough to do something about it, if Carl and Lisa can, I know we can too.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

I just came from the NEAPFD, I heard a very knowledgeable teamster state that flaking horns are caused by too much protein. Maybe a change in diet would improve this condition.

[dominiquer60]

It appears below that NY promotes preventing theft as the best solution for land owners. Perhaps actions could be taken to better educate the public about landowner responsibility instead of more regulations. I looked up the penalties for timber theft and they are $250 a tree, treble damages or both, in some cases the thief has to restore or pay to restore the damaged property.

Would stiffer penalties be helpful in addition to better prevention education?

Would it be at all helpful for a group in NY to form that would promote good loggers that like NOFA-NY’s farmers pledge, have these loggers pledge to be responsible. (I am just brainstorming, maybe something like this already exists somewhere in the region) The loggers voluntarily (and not like NAIDS voluntary) pledge to up hold to these responsible and professional harvest plans and abutting landowners notification, they could have a directory or web page listing them all and if one of them violates the law they get the boot. Could a program like this, instead of mandatory licensing, be helpful for landowners looking to hire make better decisions that would set the stage for not making mistakes of accidental theft?

In our County FB there are few directly involved, anyone coming across as knowledgeable about a subject is generally followed in decision making. I will not be at the meeting, though I should because I am the Head of the Young Farmer Ranchers, but I am giving all of my thoughts to the field adviser and he is happy to give my opinion to the group. They could very well follow my suggestions if Klaus can present them well. So thank you guys for the info so far or any after this post, I hope to put it to good use. Fortunately the county doesn’t make a formal decision on these matters until the annual meeting which I will be home for, so I will have a second chance to state what I have researched a bit.

from NYS Dept of Environmental Conservation page
“Timber Theft on Private Land
Sign on a post indicates the property corner
Corner Posting

Timber theft is a concern for everyone involved in good forestry. The trees in your woodlot are a valuable asset which should be protected. Landowners must take the responsibility to prevent timber theft on their property. Theft of timber from forest lands can destroy generations of careful forest stewardship and cause irreparable environmental damage.

Prosecuting timber thieves is expensive and convictions are often very difficult to obtain. The best way to deal with timber theft is to prevent it from happening in the first place. Landowners should be intimately familiar with their property and its boundaries. If boundary lines are unclear, a survey by a licensed surveyor would be a wise investment.

Image of a Painted Boundary Line
Painted Boundary Line

Property boundaries should be well marked either with posted signs or blazes and paint. These blazes and paint should be refreshed on a regular basis. If an owner does not live on the land then some type of aid should be enlisted to help monitor activity on the property. Neighbors to the property, sports persons, local police and others may be willing to help keep an eye on the property. Owners should be aware of logging operations and other activities on neighboring properties and inspect their boundaries often to guard against line encroachment. The fact that the property is being watched helps prevent timber theft.”

[dominiquer60]

Don’t get me wrong, I am sure that northern loggers are needed and should be used to manage these forest lands. I am not sure that TNC, Finch & Pryn, or the new owners of the land for sale will be interested in utilizing such sensible methods as restorative forestry, or even just animal powered extraction. I hope this deal does lead to teams in these forests, but I won’t hold my breath for corporate America to make the right choice.
Lets hope for the best,
Erika

[dominiquer60]

This makes no mention of “very green earth friendly techniques”
it sounds like they are going to kick out some hunters and let the former owners log some more.

Conservation group bought land last year to keep it protected
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
By Kathy Bowen (Contact)
Gazette Reporter

ADIRONDACKS — The Nature Conservancy is prepared to sell more than half the 161,000 acres of land it acquired from a Glens Falls paper manufacturer last year, raising concerns among sportsmen and local politicians.

Conservancy spokeswoman Connie Prickett said Tuesday that five large parcels of land in six counties and 27 towns from Greenfield to Newcomb are included in the properties offered.

In February, the state announced it had agreed to buy 57,699 acres of the timberland as well as conservation easements on another 73,627 acres in the central Adirondacks from the Nature Conservancy.

The Conservancy, in an effort to protect wildlife and habitat, had purchased the 161,000 acres that were owned for decades by Finch, Pruyn & Co. The $110 million purchase last summer was done with borrowed money, including $25 million from the Open Space Institute.

The land for sale is offered by LandVest, a Boston real estate consulting and sales firm that specializes in large-scale development and timber properties.

The company’s Web site, LandVest.com, lists the conservancy’s land as follows:

“The properties are being offered by Sealed Bid in 5 Sale Blocks ranging from 1,691 acres to 58,502 acres, thereby providing a broad range of investment price points, and diverse timber portfolios. The land is being sold subject to a Fiber Supply Agreement and a Working Forest Conservation Easement.”

The fiber supply agreement is a 20-year deal allowing what is now Finch Paper to take a designated volume of trees from its former land. The conservancy and state are writing the easement agreement that would prohibit development of the lands that are being sold.

Prickett said the conservancy’s mission is to protect the forests and its wild inhabitants, and it has worked to ensure the land being offered will be protected.

But local government leaders in the Adirondack Park say they have many concerns about how they will be affected by the sale of the land, especially 57,000 acres proposed for sale to New York state and destined to be designated forever wild.

Chester town Supervisor Fred Monroe is an officer of the Adirondack Association of Towns and Villages and a life resident of the Adirondacks.

He said he appreciates that most of the land being offered for sale would continue to be logged, but land designed as forever wild prohibits any permanent evidence of humans.

“Our first concern is for the loggers and the mill workers. The timber operations have been going on for 150 years and that would continue [under the sale proposals],” he said.

But, more than 57,000 acres are proposed to be included in the state’s forever wild program that would close roads and require the removal of fishing and hunting camps.

Monroe said although the state currently pays taxes on forever wild lands, there is no guarantee that will always be the case.

“It creates a huge tax insecurity for towns. The payment of taxes is not guaranteed for the future and there are some towns that couldn’t survive with a loss of revenue that big,” he said.

The state owns nearly 50 percent of the land in the town of Long Lake, Hamilton County, and Monroe said it and other communities with small private taxpayer bases would be devastated by a loss of government property tax money.

There’s more than financial stability on the line for residents in the Adirondack Park. Many families have built camps in the forests and along waterways on land that was leased for generations from the paper company.

Monroe said his family owns four such hunting camps around Newcomb and those properties could be lost.

“The state designated land near Saranac Lake [forever wild] and if the owners didn’t destroy the camps, the state went in and destroyed them,” Monroe said. “The state will close the roads and cut access to the elderly and the disabled, including my 88-year-old father who has hunted and fished in the area for decades.”

Monroe said there are two small pieces of land in Chester that have been included on the list that the state is interested in acquiring from the conservancy.

He said he doesn’t have a problem with those properties being designated forever wild because they are remote.

Prickett said efforts are being made to help hunting and fishing clubs relocate to other areas in the Adirondack Park if their camps are shut down by the state.

“We’re in the process of working with the state on a 10-year transition period so they would not have to vacate immediately,” she said. “There are some clubs that are struggling for membership and we’re trying to hook up those clubs with the ones that would be closed.”

She said normally, lease holders sign annual contracts for use of the land, but this fall, three-year deals are being offered in the areas outside the proposed acres that could be designated forever wild. She said the lease agreements would be transferred to the new owners, giving clubs and individuals until 2011 to negotiate new deals.

Prickett said over the past 14 months, scientists have been evaluating the 161,000 acres acquired from Finch Paper of Glens Falls.

The land, about 250 square miles of terrain, has been researched by foot and through technology including Geographic Information Systems, commonly referred to as GIS.

“Using a combination of GIS modeling and field work, they’ve not only documented the natural composition of the property, but also evaluated its quality. The information they are collecting feeds directly into our protection plan,” Prickett said.

Although the conservancy expects to recoup much of the $110 million that was paid to Finch Paper, LLC, Prickett said it is expected the land deal will cost about $35 million for the nonprofit organization.

“There have been a lot of survey and research costs as well as appraisals and management costs,” she said. “We have a three-year goal to raise $35 million and private fundraising is going really well.”

I am not sure that these northern loggers are needed after all.
-Erika

[dominiquer60]

The long riders have a link to uni-solar that doesn’t work, however http://www.uni-solar.com/interior.asp?id=103&fragment=1&SearchType=ExactPhrase&terms=portable
will get you to a page that is useful (sorry it wouldn’t let me paste this into the insert link box). My problem is that I am terribly uneducated in electrical systems, I am having a hard time deciding what would work best for me, rugged, reliable and simple are my priorities. I know that I will retire my deep cell to the string of fencing batteries, I would like a sealed battery, I am not a fan of loosing things to battery acid leaks. I am open to any further suggestions and I will keep you posted as to how well the new system works.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

Erik,
Yes, I am saving for my own farm and I am still very flexible as all of my assets are in my bank or stored away in my fathers barn. Ideally I would like to have a small mixed produce and livestock farm, you know the type that makes the USDA cringe and sustains those of us in the know. I would like to find a piece of land tillable/pasture/forest near NY’s capital district, I grew up here and am in the network of small farmers after working in the business for 6 years, its comfortable.

I am currently looking at a 10 acres with house old barn, pond and surprising decent soil for the location, its one of those places in my home town that we used to drive by and as a kid I would daydream about what I would do with it if it where mine. Its a little small and the big hay field has been subdivided into large lots, but it is zoned Ag with lots of ag neighbors.

Three strong points are 1) soil, 2) community, I know many of the neighbors from 4-H and Farm Bureau, many have offered to help in any way to get me going, there is a grange hall, church and fire department with in walking distance, 3) It’s my home town, marketing is easy when you know so many people, I could have a 25 member CSA with half a days effort.

It is a little small and it lacks a wood lot, but there are plenty of older neighbors that would barter firewood or hay for labor, or lease a few acres if I wanted to expand. The small size is almost appealing because it is just me, myself and I that are going to run this farm, 10 is plenty for one person. A larger lot would be better if I had help and wanted a wood lot and more acres to rotate in veggies and grazing land.

That is what is on my mind about what and where.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

I am no financial whiz, but taking a loan out to start a savings account sounds counter productive unless you can find a loan with a lower interest rate than your savings account. I highly doubt the possibility of finding such a high savings rate and such a low loan rate, but anything is possible, let us know if you have any luck with that.

My personal strategy is to work like a dog at my own business and save every penny I can in as high interest of a savings account I can get from my credit union and short term low risk CDs. I am sure that there is a better way, but this is simple enough and low risk enough that I am content.

I also cut corners by living out of my truck as much as possible on the road, and bartering labor for food or materials with farmer friends, mentors and the like. I cut out costly forms of entertainment, gourmet dinners come from the garden and freezer, if I drive anywhere it is for multiple reasons and errands, if I splurge it is for health/quality of life reasons like new boots or the chiropractor and of course she will barter for food sometimes as well.

[dominiquer60]

There is an organization in mostly Northern New York that promotes farming as a way of life. There are many resources and info at their site comefarmwithus.org, including farms for sale. Be warned Lewis county farms are cheap because it is hard to find people that want to deal with 200+ inches of snowfall most seasons. The Tug Hill Plateau is one of the snowiest places that you can still farm, it has a very short season.

I am looking in Southern Herkimer and Montgomery counties, they have better direct marketing opportunities. Western NY has some really good cheap land but I don’t know much about that area, just that it contains a lot of dairy, veggies and orchards.

Here is a list of possible places to look, these are all out of the Country Folks paper, its a weekly but you may be able to get a free monthly issue. http://www.possonrealty.net, http://www.demereerealty.com, http://www.amblaskrealty.com, http://www.bigdiamondre.com, http://www.dolgevillemillrealestate.com, http://www.valleyviewrealty.com, http://www.countryfolks.com.

Good luck with your search,

Erika

[dominiquer60]

If anyone is interested in how roosters can be put to work, check out the two photos that I posted under other working animals. This stunt works much better with roosters, they crow and attract crowds from afar, but hens want to leave and lay an egg in the middle of the morning so they don’t make very good market birds. You can also see photos of some of the roosters that I have been involved with at troymarket.org, the rooster there was banned a one point. The public was so upset, for many the only way that they can get their kids interested in letting them shop at the farmers market was because they could pet/feed the rooster. So now the market embraces their lively little mascot.

[dominiquer60]

What a great list of resources!
I would like to add my favorite series to the thread, Lippincott’s Farm Manuals. They are a series dating back to the teen, 20’s and 30’s, so they contain a great amount of information about agriculture that can be done small scale without tractors. I started with the Productive Poultry Manual last spring and managed to find the following on ebay this winter: Swine, Dairying, Sheep, Bees, Horses, Diseases of Farm Animals, Feeding of Farm Animals, Meats & Meat Products, Vegetable, Orcharding, Small Friuts, Injurious Insects & Useful Birds, Soils, Farm Crops, Farm Economics, Agricultural Mechanics and the one that I am still searching for The Cooperative Marketing of Farm Products.

The are all published by Lippincott in Philedelphia and edited by K.C Davis of Cornell, each book is written or compiled by experts in their fields from a multitude of different Ag programs in the country. They are very thorough each book being hundreds of pages long with pictures, charts and a detailed index. I enjoy the depth of information that each book gives to the different subjects, it is information that used to be more common that has faded away and been dumbed down. For instance no where else besides other books of this era can you find such fine tuned info on building a proper chicken house with good light and ventilation. An interesting read is the last chapter of the Horse Husbandry book, it is a comparison of motor power vs. horse power.

I have quite a few other antique agricultural books including How To Select The Laying Hen, printed by Orange Judd, it should be a must for county fair judges that think pretty hens are the most productive layers. Other books that I value are of course the Lynn Miller collection, the Primer, and Temple Grandin. Temple is a brilliant woman who has struggled with autism, but has battled it through 2 PhD’s and now sets the standards for humane slaughterhouse animal handling. She wrote Animals In Translation and Thinking in Pictures, great reads for any one that wants to gain awareness of how animals perceive the world, especially for those trying to develop any system that animals are moved through or handled. It helped me think of a way to weigh market lambs in a minute or less each all by myself, weighing day used to be 3 people 3 hours for 60 animals, no longer thanks to Temple.

I look forward to reading about more library favorites soon.
-Erika

[dominiquer60]

Thanks for the warm welcome.

[dominiquer60]

Yes of course I know Scott and I was able to experience Higby before he retired and handed the lines to Scott. I last saw him two winters ago in Florida, I hear the old round pen is covered now, how nice, I remember skiing around it on a sheet of ice in the middle of the pen.

My Australian Shepherd has a non traditional role for a herding dog, he works two species that don’t herd, hens and hogs. He is wonderful with the hens, he will pin a loose hen down until I can get to him and put her back on her side of the fence, if there is an elusive escaped hen he will track her down and flush her back towards me. When there is a massive breakout and there are 200 loose hens to find he works every crack and cranny of the ravine, brush, buildings, every clump of grass, he flushes them out or goes on point if he finds one that won’t move, is dead, or sometimes he will point at a nest of eggs. He will work at this until every hen is found. If there is a predator problem he will sometimes track it back to the direction of which it entered the field, very helpful to know where to hide and wait with the 22.
He is also trust worthy to tie out to the broiler pens at night and could even babysit the day old chicks.

His favorite jobs is working the hogs. If we are moving hogs to a new pasture often they don’t want to cross where the electric used to be. He makes sure that they cross in a timely fashion. If we are working on the fence or the hog shelter he will push the hogs away from us, this is very nice when food aggressive mouthy hogs are present. Once a piglet got out and he managed to turn it away from the open gate to the road and into a corner where we were able to catch it.

His job on the road is to be friendly and polite to my customers and to guard and protect me when I am working alone, or we are camping in the truck or tent.

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