It is nothing new yet it seems most farmers would rather kill their farm and commit suicide than take it up.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2019-03-10/regenerative-agriculture-attracts-solid-backing-amid-success/10871130
“I had to put a lot of history aside, what my Dad taught me, what I did for many years … the first paddock I had to change was the one between my ears,” Mr Arnott said.
Well, there’s my quote for the day.
I know several farmers who do regenerative agriculture. Including my new boss at the farmers markets. Her farms are handling the drought well.
ruby said:
“I had to put a lot of history aside, what my Dad taught me, what I did for many years … the first paddock I had to change was the one between my ears,” Mr Arnott said.
Well, there’s my quote for the day.I know several farmers who do regenerative agriculture. Including my new boss at the farmers markets. Her farms are handling the drought well.
As I said, it isn’t new and it isn’t restricted to properties that are used for grazing.
roughbarked said:
It is nothing new yet it seems most farmers would rather kill their farm and commit suicide than take it up.https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2019-03-10/regenerative-agriculture-attracts-solid-backing-amid-success/10871130
But what is it?
“He began adopting regenerative practices in 1999, increasing the amount of native vegetation and tree coverage on his property from just 3 per cent to 20 per cent.”
So all it is is not doing land clearance? I happened to notice way way back when overflying Australia on the way to Perth how those livestock farms that had not bulldozed their trees were doing much better than those that had.
The downside, of course, is that it makes it much more difficult to muster stock.
One of my patients started doing this a long, long time ago. He has written a book about it and been featured in ABC documentaries.
https://insidestory.org.au/lessons-from-lanark/
His son now has the farm. John is now in his eighties.
buffy said:
One of my patients started doing this a long, long time ago. He has written a book about it and been featured in ABC documentaries.
https://insidestory.org.au/lessons-from-lanark/
His son now has the farm. John is now in his eighties.
That’s a lovely read, Buffy.
Fenton is no “greenie,” does not come from the city, is not wealthy, has no formal higher education, and spent years applying as much fertiliser and pesticide as anyone else. His background is so typical of his peers that other farmers might feel more comfortable about taking on a similar challenge.
With regards to the ‘stewardship payments’ he talks about, I’m finding that farmers market customers are consistently saying that they are happy to pay a bit more for products because they want to support good farming practices
mollwollfumble said:
roughbarked said:
It is nothing new yet it seems most farmers would rather kill their farm and commit suicide than take it up.https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2019-03-10/regenerative-agriculture-attracts-solid-backing-amid-success/10871130
But what is it?
“He began adopting regenerative practices in 1999, increasing the amount of native vegetation and tree coverage on his property from just 3 per cent to 20 per cent.”
So all it is is not doing land clearance? I happened to notice way way back when overflying Australia on the way to Perth how those livestock farms that had not bulldozed their trees were doing much better than those that had.
The downside, of course, is that it makes it much more difficult to muster stock.
It isn’t all about replanting trees and or allowing them to regenerate. You missed the biggest part; Destocking at the first sign of trouble and managing the numbers of stock while moving them around more often. It has nothing to do with mustering stock. The people who do that simply set stock to run wild and when the prices look worth the effort they bully them into stockyards and onto trucks. They really aren’t farmers those types.
roughbarked said:
mollwollfumble said:
roughbarked said:
It is nothing new yet it seems most farmers would rather kill their farm and commit suicide than take it up.https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2019-03-10/regenerative-agriculture-attracts-solid-backing-amid-success/10871130
But what is it?
“He began adopting regenerative practices in 1999, increasing the amount of native vegetation and tree coverage on his property from just 3 per cent to 20 per cent.”
So all it is is not doing land clearance? I happened to notice way way back when overflying Australia on the way to Perth how those livestock farms that had not bulldozed their trees were doing much better than those that had.
The downside, of course, is that it makes it much more difficult to muster stock.
It isn’t all about replanting trees and or allowing them to regenerate. You missed the biggest part; Destocking at the first sign of trouble and managing the numbers of stock while moving them around more often. It has nothing to do with mustering stock. The people who do that simply set stock to run wild and when the prices look worth the effort they bully them into stockyards and onto trucks. They really aren’t farmers those types.
and when the land is buggered and even the bank doesn’t want it back, they whinge about drought and hold their hand out hoping someone will fill it.
roughbarked said:
roughbarked said:
mollwollfumble said:But what is it?
“He began adopting regenerative practices in 1999, increasing the amount of native vegetation and tree coverage on his property from just 3 per cent to 20 per cent.”
So all it is is not doing land clearance? I happened to notice way way back when overflying Australia on the way to Perth how those livestock farms that had not bulldozed their trees were doing much better than those that had.
The downside, of course, is that it makes it much more difficult to muster stock.
It isn’t all about replanting trees and or allowing them to regenerate. You missed the biggest part; Destocking at the first sign of trouble and managing the numbers of stock while moving them around more often. It has nothing to do with mustering stock. The people who do that simply set stock to run wild and when the prices look worth the effort they bully them into stockyards and onto trucks. They really aren’t farmers those types.
and when the land is buggered and even the bank doesn’t want it back, they whinge about drought and hold their hand out hoping someone will fill it.
It is also about regenerating native grasses and saltbush etc., rather than planting weeds for pastures.
roughbarked said:
roughbarked said:
roughbarked said:It isn’t all about replanting trees and or allowing them to regenerate. You missed the biggest part; Destocking at the first sign of trouble and managing the numbers of stock while moving them around more often. It has nothing to do with mustering stock. The people who do that simply set stock to run wild and when the prices look worth the effort they bully them into stockyards and onto trucks. They really aren’t farmers those types.
and when the land is buggered and even the bank doesn’t want it back, they whinge about drought and hold their hand out hoping someone will fill it.
It is also about regenerating native grasses and saltbush etc., rather than planting weeds for pastures.
Nature has had a lot more time than us to work out a balance and what will grow and live in an area, we kind of wrecked all of that in a century or so.
roughbarked said:
mollwollfumble said:
roughbarked said:
It is nothing new yet it seems most farmers would rather kill their farm and commit suicide than take it up.https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2019-03-10/regenerative-agriculture-attracts-solid-backing-amid-success/10871130
But what is it?
“He began adopting regenerative practices in 1999, increasing the amount of native vegetation and tree coverage on his property from just 3 per cent to 20 per cent.”
So all it is is not doing land clearance? I happened to notice way way back when overflying Australia on the way to Perth how those livestock farms that had not bulldozed their trees were doing much better than those that had.
The downside, of course, is that it makes it much more difficult to muster stock.
It isn’t all about replanting trees and or allowing them to regenerate. You missed the biggest part; Destocking at the first sign of trouble and managing the numbers of stock while moving them around more often. It has nothing to do with mustering stock. The people who do that simply set stock to run wild and when the prices look worth the effort they bully them into stockyards and onto trucks. They really aren’t farmers those types.
I have read a bit about this technique of frequently moving stock from one small area to the next. Mob grazing or some such other buzz words are often used. I guess the biggest drawback is that it is more labour intensive than large area grazing. Electric fences have to be set up, cattle or sheep driven in the new area, water has to be provided to the new grazing patch. Then the old fences need to be taken down and set up ahead ready for the next move. Doing it daily or even a couple of times a day can become a bit of a grind.
party_pants said:
roughbarked said:
mollwollfumble said:But what is it?
“He began adopting regenerative practices in 1999, increasing the amount of native vegetation and tree coverage on his property from just 3 per cent to 20 per cent.”
So all it is is not doing land clearance? I happened to notice way way back when overflying Australia on the way to Perth how those livestock farms that had not bulldozed their trees were doing much better than those that had.
The downside, of course, is that it makes it much more difficult to muster stock.
It isn’t all about replanting trees and or allowing them to regenerate. You missed the biggest part; Destocking at the first sign of trouble and managing the numbers of stock while moving them around more often. It has nothing to do with mustering stock. The people who do that simply set stock to run wild and when the prices look worth the effort they bully them into stockyards and onto trucks. They really aren’t farmers those types.
I have read a bit about this technique of frequently moving stock from one small area to the next. Mob grazing or some such other buzz words are often used. I guess the biggest drawback is that it is more labour intensive than large area grazing. Electric fences have to be set up, cattle or sheep driven in the new area, water has to be provided to the new grazing patch. Then the old fences need to be taken down and set up ahead ready for the next move. Doing it daily or even a couple of times a day can become a bit of a grind.
It is as simple as opening a gate. The stock will move through it towards the grass that is greener the other side of the fence. Close the gate after they have moved.
roughbarked said:
party_pants said:
roughbarked said:It isn’t all about replanting trees and or allowing them to regenerate. You missed the biggest part; Destocking at the first sign of trouble and managing the numbers of stock while moving them around more often. It has nothing to do with mustering stock. The people who do that simply set stock to run wild and when the prices look worth the effort they bully them into stockyards and onto trucks. They really aren’t farmers those types.
I have read a bit about this technique of frequently moving stock from one small area to the next. Mob grazing or some such other buzz words are often used. I guess the biggest drawback is that it is more labour intensive than large area grazing. Electric fences have to be set up, cattle or sheep driven in the new area, water has to be provided to the new grazing patch. Then the old fences need to be taken down and set up ahead ready for the next move. Doing it daily or even a couple of times a day can become a bit of a grind.
It is as simple as opening a gate. The stock will move through it towards the grass that is greener the other side of the fence. Close the gate after they have moved.
Cattle will walk miles and knock down fences to get out of paddocks that have been superphospated to get into paddocks that have had rock phosphate applied.
roughbarked said:
party_pants said:
roughbarked said:It isn’t all about replanting trees and or allowing them to regenerate. You missed the biggest part; Destocking at the first sign of trouble and managing the numbers of stock while moving them around more often. It has nothing to do with mustering stock. The people who do that simply set stock to run wild and when the prices look worth the effort they bully them into stockyards and onto trucks. They really aren’t farmers those types.
I have read a bit about this technique of frequently moving stock from one small area to the next. Mob grazing or some such other buzz words are often used. I guess the biggest drawback is that it is more labour intensive than large area grazing. Electric fences have to be set up, cattle or sheep driven in the new area, water has to be provided to the new grazing patch. Then the old fences need to be taken down and set up ahead ready for the next move. Doing it daily or even a couple of times a day can become a bit of a grind.
It is as simple as opening a gate. The stock will move through it towards the grass that is greener the other side of the fence. Close the gate after they have moved.
The ones I have seen are far smaller areas than that. Basically a single days grazing. So no permanent fences for each individual allotment. That would be way too expensive and also inflexible because the grazing area varies with the season. So it is all done with temporary electric fencing, which is set up, taken down and moved, and then set up again on almost a daily cycle.
party_pants said:
roughbarked said:
party_pants said:I have read a bit about this technique of frequently moving stock from one small area to the next. Mob grazing or some such other buzz words are often used. I guess the biggest drawback is that it is more labour intensive than large area grazing. Electric fences have to be set up, cattle or sheep driven in the new area, water has to be provided to the new grazing patch. Then the old fences need to be taken down and set up ahead ready for the next move. Doing it daily or even a couple of times a day can become a bit of a grind.
It is as simple as opening a gate. The stock will move through it towards the grass that is greener the other side of the fence. Close the gate after they have moved.
The ones I have seen are far smaller areas than that. Basically a single days grazing. So no permanent fences for each individual allotment. That would be way too expensive and also inflexible because the grazing area varies with the season. So it is all done with temporary electric fencing, which is set up, taken down and moved, and then set up again on almost a daily cycle.
The idea of mob grazing AFAIK is the opposite of light grazing, the idea is that by forcing the mob into smaller pasture eats most of the pasture which includes weeds. The light grazing on larger lots mean the cattle only eats the stuff it likes which means after a while weeds that the cattle don’t like begin to outcompete everything else. By reducing all the pasture it lies fallow longer and the advocates think it tends to encourage grass which is fast growing compared to other weeds.
I can recall watching a docco of a farmer in WA, a wheat grower. He decided in the seventies to change his farm by planting strips of native trees through his available farmland and by doing so thus reduced his cropping area by 50%. The result was that he got the same or better returns from half of the area.
AwesomeO said:
party_pants said:
roughbarked said:It is as simple as opening a gate. The stock will move through it towards the grass that is greener the other side of the fence. Close the gate after they have moved.
The ones I have seen are far smaller areas than that. Basically a single days grazing. So no permanent fences for each individual allotment. That would be way too expensive and also inflexible because the grazing area varies with the season. So it is all done with temporary electric fencing, which is set up, taken down and moved, and then set up again on almost a daily cycle.
The idea of mob grazing AFAIK is the opposite of light grazing, the idea is that by forcing the mob into smaller pasture eats most of the pasture which includes weeds. The light grazing on larger lots mean the cattle only eats the stuff it likes which means after a while weeds that the cattle don’t like begin to outcompete everything else. By reducing all the pasture it lies fallow longer and the advocates think it tends to encourage grass which is fast growing compared to other weeds.
I thought that is what we were talking about here, but I might have misunderstood. I’m only a city-slicker after all.
The whole mob grazing thing starts with calculating/estimating the amount of feed you will likely have and making your herd size fit to that number without exceeding it. The short intensive grazing followed by a long rest period is supposed to be better for vegetation to recover.
party_pants said:
AwesomeO said:
party_pants said:The ones I have seen are far smaller areas than that. Basically a single days grazing. So no permanent fences for each individual allotment. That would be way too expensive and also inflexible because the grazing area varies with the season. So it is all done with temporary electric fencing, which is set up, taken down and moved, and then set up again on almost a daily cycle.
The idea of mob grazing AFAIK is the opposite of light grazing, the idea is that by forcing the mob into smaller pasture eats most of the pasture which includes weeds. The light grazing on larger lots mean the cattle only eats the stuff it likes which means after a while weeds that the cattle don’t like begin to outcompete everything else. By reducing all the pasture it lies fallow longer and the advocates think it tends to encourage grass which is fast growing compared to other weeds.
I thought that is what we were talking about here, but I might have misunderstood. I’m only a city-slicker after all.
The whole mob grazing thing starts with calculating/estimating the amount of feed you will likely have and making your herd size fit to that number without exceeding it. The short intensive grazing followed by a long rest period is supposed to be better for vegetation to recover.
Yes I think so. What happens if you get a piece of scrubby weedy pasture and regularly mow it you end up getting grass.
AwesomeO said:
party_pants said:
AwesomeO said:The idea of mob grazing AFAIK is the opposite of light grazing, the idea is that by forcing the mob into smaller pasture eats most of the pasture which includes weeds. The light grazing on larger lots mean the cattle only eats the stuff it likes which means after a while weeds that the cattle don’t like begin to outcompete everything else. By reducing all the pasture it lies fallow longer and the advocates think it tends to encourage grass which is fast growing compared to other weeds.
I thought that is what we were talking about here, but I might have misunderstood. I’m only a city-slicker after all.
The whole mob grazing thing starts with calculating/estimating the amount of feed you will likely have and making your herd size fit to that number without exceeding it. The short intensive grazing followed by a long rest period is supposed to be better for vegetation to recover.
Yes I think so. What happens if you get a piece of scrubby weedy pasture and regularly mow it you end up getting grass.
Care to only graze when the weeds are seeding. Don’t graze when the natives are seeding=smart grazier.
party_pants said:
roughbarked said:
mollwollfumble said:But what is it?
“He began adopting regenerative practices in 1999, increasing the amount of native vegetation and tree coverage on his property from just 3 per cent to 20 per cent.”
So all it is is not doing land clearance? I happened to notice way way back when overflying Australia on the way to Perth how those livestock farms that had not bulldozed their trees were doing much better than those that had.
The downside, of course, is that it makes it much more difficult to muster stock.
It isn’t all about replanting trees and or allowing them to regenerate. You missed the biggest part; Destocking at the first sign of trouble and managing the numbers of stock while moving them around more often. It has nothing to do with mustering stock. The people who do that simply set stock to run wild and when the prices look worth the effort they bully them into stockyards and onto trucks. They really aren’t farmers those types.
I have read a bit about this technique of frequently moving stock from one small area to the next. Mob grazing or some such other buzz words are often used. I guess the biggest drawback is that it is more labour intensive than large area grazing. Electric fences have to be set up, cattle or sheep driven in the new area, water has to be provided to the new grazing patch. Then the old fences need to be taken down and set up ahead ready for the next move. Doing it daily or even a couple of times a day can become a bit of a grind.
Farmers just do what suits them best, of the 320 acres here about half is cleared and half forested.
You still get grass in the forested areas although it’s different species to the cleared area grasses, gives them some variety, they also go into the forested areas for shelter and to calve.
I just keep the regrowth and lantana down, the farmer keeps all the paddock gates open so they can go wherever they want, he knows how much stock the property can handle at any given time and adjusts the numbers accordingly.
As for mustering all you need to do is turn up with a bale of hay in the ute and they come running from everywhere, they will follow a trail of hay right into the mustering yard, don’t need to stress them with bikes or dogs.
Peak Warming Man said:
party_pants said:
roughbarked said:It isn’t all about replanting trees and or allowing them to regenerate. You missed the biggest part; Destocking at the first sign of trouble and managing the numbers of stock while moving them around more often. It has nothing to do with mustering stock. The people who do that simply set stock to run wild and when the prices look worth the effort they bully them into stockyards and onto trucks. They really aren’t farmers those types.
I have read a bit about this technique of frequently moving stock from one small area to the next. Mob grazing or some such other buzz words are often used. I guess the biggest drawback is that it is more labour intensive than large area grazing. Electric fences have to be set up, cattle or sheep driven in the new area, water has to be provided to the new grazing patch. Then the old fences need to be taken down and set up ahead ready for the next move. Doing it daily or even a couple of times a day can become a bit of a grind.
Farmers just do what suits them best, of the 320 acres here about half is cleared and half forested.
You still get grass in the forested areas although it’s different species to the cleared area grasses, gives them some variety, they also go into the forested areas for shelter and to calve.
I just keep the regrowth and lantana down, the farmer keeps all the paddock gates open so they can go wherever they want, he knows how much stock the property can handle at any given time and adjusts the numbers accordingly.
As for mustering all you need to do is turn up with a bale of hay in the ute and they come running from everywhere, they will follow a trail of hay right into the mustering yard, don’t need to stress them with bikes or dogs.
:)
roughbarked said:
mollwollfumble said:
roughbarked said:
It is nothing new yet it seems most farmers would rather kill their farm and commit suicide than take it up.https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2019-03-10/regenerative-agriculture-attracts-solid-backing-amid-success/10871130
But what is it?
“He began adopting regenerative practices in 1999, increasing the amount of native vegetation and tree coverage on his property from just 3 per cent to 20 per cent.”
So all it is is not doing land clearance? I happened to notice way way back when overflying Australia on the way to Perth how those livestock farms that had not bulldozed their trees were doing much better than those that had.
The downside, of course, is that it makes it much more difficult to muster stock.
It isn’t all about replanting trees and or allowing them to regenerate. You missed the biggest part; Destocking at the first sign of trouble and managing the numbers of stock while moving them around more often. It has nothing to do with mustering stock. The people who do that simply set stock to run wild and when the prices look worth the effort they bully them into stockyards and onto trucks. They really aren’t farmers those types.
Destocking, well duh, every farmer does that.