[goodcompanion]

Human energy must be an enormous untapped resource. Walking more is but one example. Imagine if you took everyone off their treadmills and rowing machines and put shovels or pitchforks in them instead, how many gas-burning machines could be put to rest? But this source of energy will be if anything more difficult to access than animal power… the power of the couch being so strong…

[goodcompanion]

I fully intend 20 years or more!

Carl, while I agree that pasture (and by extension, meat and milk) should be the foundation of any temperate agriculture, and the vast majority in acreage of all farmed land, I can’t envision myself living in a culture that runs on primarily meat and milk. For one thing there is perishability, which doesn’t affect us as it has all other historical peoples because of the mighty refrigerator and freezer. So any “relocalized” scenario with meat in a central role has to include this equipment in every household and the means to power and repair it using local means. Or the use of older means of preservation (salting, drying) which involve more loss of nutrients.

Grain on the other hand is inherently nonperishable, easy to store, transport and trade. As you’ve pointed out, not everyone has the right land to grow grain. Most of the state is not suitable (which is not to say that our forebears didn’t try!) But those that do have the right land ought to try, given how empty this field of endeavor is right now.

I can’t recall the exact figures, but I think the total wheat production in all of Vermont is perhaps one or two percent of consumption. This is a problem for sustainability.

[goodcompanion]

I would hope that there’s some acceptance of inconsistency. But I also feel that in order to be accessible, the product mustn’t require too much of the average customer.

I could for instance be baking 100% whole wheat loaves for the die-hard local foods crowd. Some would go for that, maybe even enough to float the business. But I’ve chosen instead to focus on fully-risen crusty loaves because they are better-loved overall. I feel that to really gain a foothold, local food needs to be delicious, easy to get, easy to eat.

A really lucky agricultural entrepreneur can devise a product that is both delicious and totally unique and have a little sphere unto themselves. I’m not quite so lucky. For me, my process is unique but the product itself is similar to and in competition with several others made on a more industrial scale.

However enough people care about the process (and some, bless their hearts, think my bread is just the best) that I’m keeping on.

[goodcompanion]

It’s interesting to read all this. Seems with hay there are as many approaches as there are teamsters.

I’m always keen to discuss animal-powered cropping though, and am still searching for peers in the field. I’ve long believed that in the alternative farming sector there is a real lack of representation (at least in the northeast) of sustainable cropping operations. There is a lot of energy centered around better grazing (thanks in part to the vital work of Lisa McCrory and others!) and also plenty of labor-intensive vegetable operations, but what about the intermediate scale crops? Particularly grains and roots–the real staff of life foods.

Personally, if I had to choose between vegetables, meat, and grains, getting to choose only one, I’d choose grain. I could get by on bread and beer. I love grain, everything about it. Except the rats.

The other thing that really engages me about grain is that before gas and before coal, grain was the commodity that made things run. It powered the people, and along with hay, the animals that got the work done before machines took their places. Unlike an economy based on biodiesel or ethanol, both of which are held up as alternatives to petroleum yet require a lot of bending of logic and numbers to envision, a grain economy has been proven to work. So it seems to me that our future is likely to rest upon grain. So why so little emphasis?

Does anyone reading this care about grain as much as I do? I ask this not in an accusatory way. Logging, haying, grazing, all very vital and worthy.

[goodcompanion]

@Rod 237 wrote:

it’s not really an alternate for everyone and likely could not be any more as we have too many people, too many lost skills and maybe even not enough land for everyone to do the same. (I think anyway.) In my opinion it’s more of a privledge than an alternate.

This is the elephant in the room that it’s difficult to talk about, isn’t it? Animal power does seem to mean less power, less material and travel and scope to our lives. That’s maybe not such crazy talk for some here in my area, where the old ways are still somewhat apparent in our physical and cultural landscape. For us, recovering some sort of balance might entail doing without some elements of modernity that are essentially luxuries given to us by virtue of “ancient sunlight,” if you will.

But what of the millions, billions of people who live in places where human habitation would be barely tenable at all without this same ancient sunlight running from a tap?

I don’t propose to know what’s best for such people. I haven’t any idea what will become of our burgeoning urban centers, much less about how the world, barely able to feed itself with the full arsenal of biotech and petroleum at its disposal, will do so in a future with less and less of these means available.

So back to the original thread. For me, from where I’m standing, I think it’s correct to try to readjust our lens in order to see truly renewable energy (with animal power being perhaps the major component) as the main option and all else as “alternative.” I can see this future for myself and those around me. But looking to the far horizon, I’m troubled with the sheer magnitude of our predicament–for so very many the only alternative to an oil-based life is likely to be mass migration, starvation, death.

I choose not to dwell on such visions or to obsess about worst-case scenarios. But likewise I am hesitant to pronounce with confidence that my ways of striving for balance will work for me and my farm, let alone anyone else, let alone people in lands distant. I have problems participating in organizations that propose to have the all answers. Not that I’m saying we’re trying to create that.

[goodcompanion]

I have a friend who designed and had fabricated an amazing plowing forecart. It has the blade in front of the horses, mounted on a pole, with cable controls that can adjust the blade direction. He plowed roads and lots with it, all weights and depths. You need good shoes, of course.

I can ask him if maybe he would share specs on this forum at some point or allow me to do so on his behalf.

I have seen this thing with my own eyes and it is draft innovation at its best.

[goodcompanion]

For me, a barefoot trim is best. I do limited road work and limited work in icy conditions, so shoes don’t pay off for me.

Plus there is the financial side. The last time I had my team shod it cost $350.00 (around $2500 per year–yikes!) A trim would be only $100 for the same two horses. Plus the trimming is simpler to learn to do for yourself. I’m hoping to get good enough at it to wean myself of the farrier entirely some day. Whereas learning shoeing is more than I have the time and energy to tackle.

[goodcompanion]

It seems to me John was primarily interested in trying to ridicule and discourage anyone from thinking or speaking constructively about animal power to his personal failures. If it didn’t work for him, then by God, no-one else can do it, try it, or read or talk about it either. it’s really small-minded to think that bullying on a forum such as this is of any use. Won’t miss him.

[goodcompanion]

I’ve heard that there is more variation within any given breed than between breeds.

I have two grade percherons that if they were red could be called suffolks. But being grade percherons they didn’t cost nearly what they would have were they red and called suffolks instead. But as horses they are just as good.

The color is kind of a vanity thing for the most part, which is fine. I think most of us admire a beautiful, matched team, and maybe most of us have a favorite color for them to be too. But it seems to me that if your aim is to use animals for work, grade animals are your best value and that age, training, soundness, and conformation are more important than breed or pedigree.

Having said that, I love black percherons. I want all the animals on my farm to be black someday so everything matches. Cats, dogs, chickens, pigs, cows, horses, and sheep. Maybe if I accomplish this, it will help me attract a stylish New York City clientele!

Treedude, I think you’ll find that smaller animals perform much better in the tropics. In Cuba, where nearly everything agricultural is draft powered, large drafts are never used–they’re all smaller, lighter animals as you describe. Or of course oxen.

[goodcompanion]

I have 20 acres of what we call clay plain forest, and a lot of open grass with few trees on the fencelines. I’ve been planning to do what you describe–moving forest seedlings into the open.

I’m wondering if planting hydrophilic trees around the perimeter of fields could serve to lower the water table a bit. I could use that almost all the time. Everybody’s most hated tree, weeping willow, could perhapsbecome my best friend? I wonder if anyone else has tried such a thing.

[goodcompanion]

Ahead of the curve can be a tricky place to be.

I can’t remember where I read about “being right too soon.” It might’ve been Lynn Miller? But the gist of the piece was exactly that. An example from history might have been someone who saw the writing on the wall with the launch of Robert Fulton’s Clermont, an early steam-powered boat, and devoted their fortune to building steamships in 1810 or whenever that was. Such a person would have been right, but right too soon. The peak of the age of sail was still to come, and steam wouldn’t become prevalent for another 40 years.

My personal hunch is that we won’t be waiting that long for major change, but I’m not taking my hopes for a draft-powered future to the bank while I’m waiting.

Even while it’s dicey out here (ahead of the curve, if you will) sometimes in some ways, I feel the work we are doing and the work our forebears and mentors have done will pay dividends in my lifetime. The trick is to lead the lives we wish to and enjoy leading in the world as it is while keeping in the back of our minds the potential value of our work down the road.

[goodcompanion]

Sicklebar mowers are different from sickles. Most weigh maybe 500 lbs and are pretty bulky.

You would probably not be able to make one, unless you had an army of tico machinists, tool-and-die makers, and a foundry. But you could maintain one once you had it.

You could mow several acres in a day depending on your grass and your horses. But this is not a beginner thing to venture into–best to get your horses accustomed to other tasks and machines first. The mower is a hard pull and makes a lot of noise. You want to have your animals well-mannered before you try it out.

The various manufacturers made mowers of all sizes, some with smaller horses or mules in mind.

[goodcompanion]

Allow me to clarify. “Not a money-making venture” as in, not a venture entered into primarily for purposes of making money, i.e., for profit or personal gain.

[goodcompanion]

Where are you in Costa Rica?

You are involved in similar work to my father, who is a partner in TFI (Tropical Forestry Initiative) in Tres Piedras. Just wanted to mention that–sorry for being off-topic.

Mowing is great work for horses and mowers come in all sizes. I have a McCormick #9 high gear, one of the more popular mowers, with an added tongue dolly and it is really super. But there are a lot of options out there for mowers.

By and large, except for reel mowers (for that golf-course finish), any sicklebar mower you can buy is going to be an old one. So your choices are to buy one with the intention of rebuilding it or to buy one already rebuilt. Lynn Miller has written a lot on what to look for with both types of purchase. If you get a good machine and take care of it it should last a lifetime. I have seen them go for as little as $50 to over $1000.

Erik

[goodcompanion]

@John 109 wrote:

Maybe if someone wants to use this forum, to promote their film for example, she could donate a percentage to trully ensure her friends sustainability.

Look, clearly from your other posts you have experience that could make you an asset to our discussions. But this attacking of people you don’t know from Adam isn’t going to go over well. Why not enter the discussion with the assumption that every participant has something to offer unless there’s overwhelming proof to the contrary?

Are you familiar with Sally’s film? If so you would know that it’s not a money making venture. And it’s not Sally’s fault that your customers left you hanging.

Sally, welcome to the forum and thank you for doing your important work.

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