[jac]

Did a quick search last night for courses on Sustainable Agriculture in British colleges… couldnt find a single one that included draft animals. I know this thread is about sustainable energy but I feel that is exactly what animal power is.. why do the powers that be not accept this as a viable option??? time and time again tv programs have totally missed the chance to put forward the idea..How can it be possible to have a course teaching sustanable agriculture WITHOUT draft animals ??
John

[jac]

Hi Helen .. good to have another Brit on here:D.. Longhorns are awesome. I think its great that so many folks are using oxen again.. Good luck and welcome..
John

[jac]

Some good points Erik.. I think people are starting to realise that renewable energies might not be so efficient after all when you take into account all the resources it takes to produce these items.. its said that a tractor never gives the farmer the amount of energy that it takes to create said tractor ???? thats totaly ineficient in real terms.. these huge wind turbines are the same. I think we as a race have to accept that we dont have a given right to cheap energy anymore… Erik if your car jouries are all short, would a fast moving pony not be able to replace the battery car ?…
John

[jac]

Sean I read about those ground drive balers…i think they were all John Deer’s because of the side mounted fly wheel.. it seems to take four up to pull them. I suppose if you dropped the tension on the chamber a team might manage it but then you get a lot of bales to the acre and loose hay would probably be a more efficient method…mabey:D…
John

[jac]

Second George on this one…Awesome article…thanks for posting this
John

[jac]

Cousin Jack im not so sure id give up just yet.. me personally, I would hitch him to a hitch cart and gradually increase the load till he is really having to work at a constant pull.. away from the woods to start. My big bay gelding was like that a bit when we got him and it took a while but he came good.. hard work can take his mind away from a lot. Just my thots. He looks so calm in the earlier fotos id hate to see you give up on him just yet….
John

[jac]

Geoff I wonder if a small reefer box off a small truck would work for Ixy? wash down walls and alloy floor.. if the side was cut out there would be room for mabey 4 cows at a time…and mounted on a low chassis.. compressor already there up front… just a thought..
John

[jac]

Thanks for that one Geoff.. im thinking of puting an 18ft grass seeder together an this would make things so much easier…
John

[jac]

There are a lot of really good social and agricultural points in this thread.. As OldKat pointed out, a lot of folks would sooner starve than go to be a farmer.
As each generation passes there are fewer and fewer people with the skill levels.. average age of a UK farmer is nearly 60 !!!! that doesnt bode well for the future.. I know none on here like governmental interfering in farming but I recon something has to be done to bring youngsters back to the land. Small scale farming is the entry level for new entrants.. yet they are presented with so few choices.. tractors is deemed the only way but we know that in real terms a team will be more beneficial to a young couple starting out… Any time I talk about draft animals I ALWAYS say that nobody is suggesting we do away with tractors, the last thing I want is to alienate people from my point of view and if we try and make people think that big ag could be run using draft animals we will be doing our cause a great injustice.. better to slug away quietly and let the notion grow, that way as time passes mabey we will see bigger and bigger farming being tackled with draft animals… just my 2 shillings worth {inflation}:D
John

[jac]

Thanks guys… have to say he makes total sense. With an ambassador like Prince Charles in the small farmers corner, things are on the up. I speak to a lot of folks and the general tide towards real honest food is growing.. Mitch the university could have saved its $100,000 with a look at the dictionary 😀 amazing what some folk spend money on tho.. I hear you on the outsourcing thing Britain does the same. Our army was being fed on Argentinian beef for a while:eek:…not that im saying there is anything wrong with Argentinian beef but its the principal of the thing.
John

[jac]

Cats milk !!!! thats thinkin outside the box Ixy… but just whats needed. Best of luck with the small dairy. I think that mabey the tide is turning in Britain too. We have a long way to go to catch our American cousins but we will eventually..
John

[jac]

Forgive the late entry here guys… I was wondering about these Cornish crosses.. are these the same bird that the big guys rear at 20,000 birds to a shed ? or do they use an even faster growing bird?.. wouldnt mind a try at this, just be nice to know where the food comes from even if it works out more expensive….
John

[jac]

If governments shifted subsidy payments away from production or headage or a lot of the other “schemes” they come up with to “boost” agriculture into encouraging employment it would help the situation a lot. Present situation only encourages big ag..
John

[jac]

Hi Alan.. Excellent !!!! She is a natural. It was a pleasure to see such a calm and sensible wee horse. Your new harness looks the dogs dooh dahs on her. Now for that hitch cart:D….
John

[jac]

Some really good points on this thread people…. I for one believe that draft animals could do things on a big scale… I have a pamphlet that was written in 1927 by The American Mule and Draft Horse Association to help farmers hitch bigger teams to try and stave off the advancing tractors.. A Mr Loyd Talkington in the 1926 harvest combined 900 acres with a 20ft combine and 27 horses. His son drove the team and he worked the mill.. a day short of 3 weeks and the job was done!!!! not bad even by todays standard. Now the crops were probably lighter but the combine was also less efficient too, so with a well set up modern combine and a heavy crop, the same results could be achieved… and with a donkey engine on the combine the team could be reduced by half.. the real issue has been the move away from agriculture to a monoculture.. horses would stuggle with the narrow time window of 2000 acres of wheat to cut.. but give them a variety of crops to harvest at different times and it all becomes possible.. I recon..
John

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