[FELLMAN]

@f3farms 36035 wrote:

i was told about $5000 to import.does this sound right?

Seems rather expensive but i havent exported a pony to the states so i dont know but i know a man who has i will ask him and let you know.

[FELLMAN]

He could be its not impossable 🙂

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Hi Billy, yes Bracken fern and yes im using glyphosate, Asulux has been banned but i have always good results with glyphosate and been a wiper it dont use that much.

[FELLMAN]

😀 yea i cant afford Redbull lol so Coca Cola it is.

[FELLMAN]

She is a 4 year old fell pony. http://www.towfordfellponies.co.uk she is on my web site and she is called Towford Harmarnie! i have a colt foal for sale if anyone is interested, he is good quality and has sort after blood lines.

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Hi jac, i have a small flock of 70 romneys and would defo recomend them to you they exellent sheep, if you want to do something with the wool these are the breed for you i could even give you a fleece or two to get you going straight away,i could do you a good deal on a few sheep if you want seen as you have hepled me with my harness.

[FELLMAN]

Hi the barn is 180` long and 60` wide 25`to the eaves with a 40` lean to, it is made from steel frame with timber purlins and clad in slate blue box profile steel sheets it will be used to store straw, machinery also stables and dog kennels, the lean to covers my cattle handling facilities as it snows and rains a lot here, i will post some more pics if you like, Rod i like your barn there is nothing like that here yours looks as if it will be very strong something specail about building in wood ,what type of wood is it ???.

[FELLMAN]

Very nice Rod, im building a new barn as well also due to snow bringing down the old one , here is the new one

[FELLMAN]

@Countymouse 27151 wrote:

Another possibility is the use of methane from anaerobic digesters. They are usually used for cattle manure, although I suppose they could be used for other manure as well. If a cow (or steer) produces 60 lb of manure per day, a good digester will produce 60 cubic feet of methane from this which will yield 36000 BTUs per cow per day (60*600 BTU/cubic foot) (from http://www.habmigern2003.info/biogas/methane-digester.html). 36000 BTUs is equal to about 10 KWH if the conversion to electrical power was 100% efficient. Of course is wouldn’t be, and would probably have a loss of 50% or more, yielding maybe 5 KWH per cow per day. That said, some household appliances could be run off of the gas itself (which is similar to natural gas) and not incure the loss from conversion to electrical power. Even if it all the methane was used to make electrical power and a 50% loss was incured in the process, that would make 1825 KWH per cow per year (5 KWHx365days). At $0.15 a KWH, this would yield a savings of $273 per cow per year, so 4 cattle might pay your electrical bill if you watched your consumption closely… It’s still alot of investment in the digester and generator, but thought I would throw this idea out there as well.

This analysis doesn’t include (of course) the “fringe benefits” of money from the sale of milk or meat from cattle. It also doesn’t include the monetary value of the work oxen could do.

I personally find it fascinating that the power excreted out the rear of an animal seems to be close to (and maybe greater than) the amount of power they are able to produce with thier muscles. In this scenario, they essentially become roaming collectors of the solar power that is captured by the plants thoughout the farm. This essentially turns the entire farm into a solar panel. Although this biological system is surely less efficient at producing electrical power than a solar panel (with energy passing through various forms and losses are incured at each step) the mammoth size of the “panel” and it’s relative cheapness, would likely make the system competative. Not to mention the fringe benefits…

I am lead to believe digesters that are up and running are running at a loss financially at the moment but who knows about the future .

[FELLMAN]

@Carl Russell 27126 wrote:

Good points all around, and I know Erik, you have been putting a lot of time into this ine of thought and reasoning.

On our farm we have our residence off grid with a small solar array (1000w) and a small wind turbine (1000w), but our greatest gains are in conservation, which I’ll get back too.

The farm shop and our freezers are attached to my mother’s residence where the grid ends.

The small power system that we have was installed by me, which cut the cost by at least 1/2. There is no way that we could have financially justified it any other way. The caveat is that we would have to had installed about 8 new poles to get to the home, so the comparable costs were astounding.

We have the luxury of gravity feed water… a huge savings. We just got NRCS cost-share funds to redevelop an old dug well to establish gravity-feed for all of our pastures, getting the animals out of the streams, eliminating the truck use to carry a water tank, and improving the effectiveness of our grazing system.

Water on a farm is a huge cost, especially if it has to be pumped. Electrical motors suck for efficient use of power, so investment in gravity systems, catchment systems, cisterns, water towers with wind powered or solar powered pumps, are all very cost-effective valuable for the long-term.Also another big key to the formula as I see it is scale. Cheap energy has given one person the ability to mechanize so many aspects of farming, and living for that matter, so that to look at farming in the modern context it seems to require huge energy inputs. It will take some time to see the alternative clearly on each farm, but one major key to successful use of animal power is appropriate use of the power. Grazing systems is a good example.. employ the animals to build soil and harvest feed themselves.

Another way we make scale work for us, is that we concentrate on raising what we need for ourselves, plus a little extra, reducing the market down-pressure that would be pressed on large amounts of hard-earned products, and freeing up our time to earn income from professional pursuits, which are far more lucrative at this time. I know Eriks bakery and kitchen are developed to not only ad value, but to also give them access to a market where there is a potential for higher return.

Finding ways to incorporate in the farm structure time for, or production capacity for, higher end income runs contrary to the modern specialized farming model, but I really feel it is necessary. If we continue to expect our land to support our modern lifestyles we will just continue to deplete those reserves. Implementing ways to bring income onto the farm to offset the market demand not only makes our lives more affordable, it protects our lands to produce within their capacity, supporting the long-term sustainability of whatever farming system we develop.

I am just as guilty with the ball game trips, or running down to local restaurants to get pig and poultry food. It is frustrating, but I also feel like I am floating along with this wave, and will take advantage of some of this as I try to maintain some appearance of normality, for my kids sake.(25 years ago when I started using horses, raising my own food, slaughtering on farm, using hand tools, and developing a conservation lifestyle, I was the butt of many snide comments from locals who remembered how their had made the modern transition, seeing my efforts as insulting to their own lifestyle changes. Now people are seeking us out to learn from us…. because we keep building, and improving).

I recently got a book that looks back 100 years to the hayday of horse-power in USA. A remarkable aspect to every picture is the number of people working. There are many aspects to this discussion that point to cultural changes, and this piece is a huge one. Conservation requires personal investment, either in building and maintaining the replacement systems, or in personal participation driving animals or laboring.

I have found great personal reward knowing how I am physically involved in the production and application of my life. It has sustained me. As we move forward I realize that most people don’t want to know the details of every aspect of their needs, the wiring, the mechanics, the guts and blood, nor do they want to exert themselves to cover all those bases. This is fine, but I feel like in my life these things have also helped me to determine scale. I can really only cover so many bases well. My choice has been to find the bases that I NEED to cover, and stick with them. Everything beyond that requires significant thought and consideration.

I truly feel we will never be able to find energy sources to supply our current needs. I think we need to stop looking at how to power up our lives and start looking at how to power down our lives.

Make do, and do without.

Carl

http://www.lifewater.ca/ram_pump.htm

My neighbour uses on of these they are brilliant his is about 80 years old and going strong !

[FELLMAN]

What about building a windmill for electricity or a water wheel ?? large altenator and some batterys with a inverter ??

[FELLMAN]

Them donkeys look to be in wonderful condition and making a first class job, very nice very nice indeed im very envious ! would have liked to see the plough though 😀

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Thanks for posting that, great stuff !!

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@Ixy 26964 wrote:

Something has to be done, but I never argue for government involvement – look at them right this minute, every single week in farmer’s guardian, saying ‘we need more new entrants….let’s give them some more training’…..training? TRAINING!? We don’t need any more training, we need MONEY. And I don’t mean they need to give us a handout, they need to stop charging us silly amounts for every little thing – 4×4 insurance for the under 25s, a trailer test, animal movement certificates etc. that the 60yr old farmers never had to deal with, it gives them a competitive advantage. We also need the money in the form of getting it back for the work we do! The best way to charm new entrants in is to show them it isn’t all doom and gloom!

I agree with that, a few years ago there was a huge amount of youngsters left farming for construction for two reasons one money and two time off both of these thing could be achieved to tempt them back and new youngsters in to ag all that needs to happen is a big improvement in profitability

[FELLMAN]

Wow thats fantastic, your very lucky to have that ! well done you for bringing it back to life, i will look forward to more pics of you working with it

[Author]

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