FireFighterZero
Captain Zero!
Aw, shit.
Well, maybe Stig likes lentils and safflower.......
Well, maybe Stig likes lentils and safflower.......
alternatives in land use
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FireFighterZero
Captain Zero!
This is how I got started out south breaking the old CRP until it got too tough.
FireFighterZero
Captain Zero!
Then it got too tight and I had to rent a disc.
MasterBlaster
Administrator Emeritus
FireFighterZero
Captain Zero!
Just a farming and shit dozing pic.
Cool pics!
Damn that is a hella horizon you have there!! Its funny you are a regular at a tree site, there aint a tree for miles and miles there!
Ummm, I thought you weren't gonna break the ground, cover crops and all that? Obviously you know what you are doing, but just tell, if you would, how the pics fit in with your new scheme. Thanks.
Damn that is a hella horizon you have there!! Its funny you are a regular at a tree site, there aint a tree for miles and miles there!
Ummm, I thought you weren't gonna break the ground, cover crops and all that? Obviously you know what you are doing, but just tell, if you would, how the pics fit in with your new scheme. Thanks.
pantheraba
More biners!!!
Cool picts....serious equipment...and LOTS of dirt there.
FireFighterZero
Captain Zero!
Ha! I knew you were gonna call me on that one!
Tell you the truth, I and still trying to figure it out. I am not sure how to get sodded in land into production. The ground has been in CRP since a year after grandpa died, 1999. It is tighter than hell and I am in a bit of a time crunch.
I have this piece of ground contracted to for organic spring wheat, only made the decision to farm it up last fall. It has to be in farmable by May.
So the old way is to disc it a couple of times, tool bar it twice and seed it. Really expensive. Another option is to burn it off, but I dont want too. Cant use chemicals you know.
So I figure that I want to get another 500 acres in organic production but have some time to mull it over. So I come up with a plan to plant it to tillage radishes to break up the hard pan and shade out the alfalfa and wheat grasses.
If the radishes can do what I think they can, then maybe only a couple of passes with a toolbar or maybe one discing and one toolbar pass would get it ready to plant next spring. That would save a lot of money and build the soil in the process.
I sent a message to Gabe Brown to run all this by him but he has not gotten back to me.
The ground I am working now will all be planted to wheat, next year half of it will be covers.
So yeah, its not ideal I guess, just dont know how to get it producing in a few months. I think I might be on to something with the radishes, but I have not gotten any confirmation from the man.
Gabe does not think that organic ground can be completely no till, but there are some that are working on it.
Tell you the truth, I and still trying to figure it out. I am not sure how to get sodded in land into production. The ground has been in CRP since a year after grandpa died, 1999. It is tighter than hell and I am in a bit of a time crunch.
I have this piece of ground contracted to for organic spring wheat, only made the decision to farm it up last fall. It has to be in farmable by May.
So the old way is to disc it a couple of times, tool bar it twice and seed it. Really expensive. Another option is to burn it off, but I dont want too. Cant use chemicals you know.
So I figure that I want to get another 500 acres in organic production but have some time to mull it over. So I come up with a plan to plant it to tillage radishes to break up the hard pan and shade out the alfalfa and wheat grasses.
If the radishes can do what I think they can, then maybe only a couple of passes with a toolbar or maybe one discing and one toolbar pass would get it ready to plant next spring. That would save a lot of money and build the soil in the process.
I sent a message to Gabe Brown to run all this by him but he has not gotten back to me.
The ground I am working now will all be planted to wheat, next year half of it will be covers.
So yeah, its not ideal I guess, just dont know how to get it producing in a few months. I think I might be on to something with the radishes, but I have not gotten any confirmation from the man.
Gabe does not think that organic ground can be completely no till, but there are some that are working on it.
FireFighterZero
Captain Zero!
Yeah, they call it the Big Sky country! My wife had a friend come over from NZ. She got tired of all the people on the plane saying how it is BIG sky country. She could not believe how open it was.
I get screwed up when I get closed in and cant see, others feel uncomfortable when they CAN see so far.
We have hill and mountains that you can get on and see for MILES, not like the midwest.
I get screwed up when I get closed in and cant see, others feel uncomfortable when they CAN see so far.
We have hill and mountains that you can get on and see for MILES, not like the midwest.
kevin bingham
TreeHouser
- Joined
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- Messages
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maybe you can just send some pigs out to dig up the radishes instead of disc ing!
Cool Jim, thanks for the detailed response, I will take it all in tomorrow.
I hear ya on different people feeling different based on the openness of their environment. My buddies gf was from midwest, she got kinda weirded out driving roads in CT, said it was like driving thru tunnels the way all the trees tops grow out over the road.
I hear ya on different people feeling different based on the openness of their environment. My buddies gf was from midwest, she got kinda weirded out driving roads in CT, said it was like driving thru tunnels the way all the trees tops grow out over the road.
MasterBlaster
Administrator Emeritus
Damn...
We just have bayous...
We just have bayous...
FireFighterZero
Captain Zero!
I would like to see them someday Butch.
Steve Mack
Life Member.
Sorry about that, I don't know what happened and I couldn't delete it.
That post was a reply to this one.
I'd done a bit of research on it after watching that movie. See post 271 for the story.
CurSedVoyce
California Hillbilly
Loving the iron 
FireFighterZero
Captain Zero!
We went to a cover crop workshop today. Before the meeting we were able to sit down with the gal that was putting on the workshop. She is an agronomist and sells and designs the mixes for covers.
We were with her for a couple hours prior to the meeting and we now have a good plan going forward. We have most of your mixes roughed out with only some fine tuning to do.
We sat through the workshop and got a lot of questions answered. Feeling better about the new plan.
The agronomist is kinda concerned with how far we are diving into this deal. I feel more confident than ever!
We were with her for a couple hours prior to the meeting and we now have a good plan going forward. We have most of your mixes roughed out with only some fine tuning to do.
We sat through the workshop and got a lot of questions answered. Feeling better about the new plan.
The agronomist is kinda concerned with how far we are diving into this deal. I feel more confident than ever!
FireFighterZero
Captain Zero!
I am not really sure why she is troubled by it. We have made some big changes, safflower, lentils, organic spring wheat, and we might do some peas.
Most producers plant a couple hundred acres or so when they get started out, just to see if it works. There is so much data out there, studies, real life operations, and just plain common sense that makes the switch a no brainer to me. I dont need to stick my head up a bull's ass to see a t bone steak. I can take the butchers word for it. (stolen from Tommy Boy)
Areas with less rainfall than us are using covers to great effect.
She told me that only one in ten farmers that try this stuff ever go back to the old way.
One concern is crop insurance. Cover crops will seriously mess up your insurance.
I dont care about the insurance, it is a scam anyway. The govt and insurance companies force you to raise crops that you lose money on. No more for this dumb farmer. The bank requires you to play the crop insurance game, but if I make my payments and make a profit, what are they gonna do to me? Screw 'em!
Most producers plant a couple hundred acres or so when they get started out, just to see if it works. There is so much data out there, studies, real life operations, and just plain common sense that makes the switch a no brainer to me. I dont need to stick my head up a bull's ass to see a t bone steak. I can take the butchers word for it. (stolen from Tommy Boy)
Areas with less rainfall than us are using covers to great effect.
She told me that only one in ten farmers that try this stuff ever go back to the old way.
One concern is crop insurance. Cover crops will seriously mess up your insurance.
I dont care about the insurance, it is a scam anyway. The govt and insurance companies force you to raise crops that you lose money on. No more for this dumb farmer. The bank requires you to play the crop insurance game, but if I make my payments and make a profit, what are they gonna do to me? Screw 'em!
FireFighterZero
Captain Zero!
All the positives seriously outweigh the negatives in my mind.
I mean, I was going to spend the money anyway, on tillage and spraying. With that same money or less actually, I can plant covers and reap the benefits. Almost all year long.
Whats not to love?
I guess maybe your accountant would be concerned if you decided to sell your business and start a mini golf course.
Thats how radical a change we are making, at least in the eyes of some folks. Only thing is the bank loves the idea, my folks love the idea, consumers like YOU love the idea, and we love it. Shit, maybe ole mother nature loves it too.
I mean, I was going to spend the money anyway, on tillage and spraying. With that same money or less actually, I can plant covers and reap the benefits. Almost all year long.
Whats not to love?
I guess maybe your accountant would be concerned if you decided to sell your business and start a mini golf course.
Thats how radical a change we are making, at least in the eyes of some folks. Only thing is the bank loves the idea, my folks love the idea, consumers like YOU love the idea, and we love it. Shit, maybe ole mother nature loves it too.
pantheraba
More biners!!!
That was a good run of soliloquizing....and it all sounded good to me. I am one of those "consumers like YOU love the idea, " It's what I was taught as a city boy in the 50's that farmers did...used cover crops to let the earth rest between harvests, to build the soil between the major crop seasons. And I remember my Grandaddy doing that...it worked for him.
I appreciate you sharing the journey...I, too, find it exciting.
I appreciate you sharing the journey...I, too, find it exciting.
FireFighterZero
Captain Zero!
I remember you mentioning that he used alfalfa Gary. Alfalfa fixes nitrogen, so he got double the benefit.
After I went to the first meeting in the big town to the south, I came home and told Dad all about it. He was really excited because I was excited. Farming is a good way to carry a low grade depression all the time, and I have been showing the signs for a while. He was happy to see me happy.
He then told me some of the practices that they were talking about when he was a young man. Just like your grandpa, cover crops, diversity, soil health, conservation. Everything old is new again.
One of the big reasons this area was settled was because James J. Hill built his Great Northern railroad up here. There were settlers before, but things took off after that.
He apparently had some pretty smart folks working for him and was quite learned himself. He had commissioned a team of early agronomists from all over the world to study this northern tier of the US to see what farming and ranching techniques would be best suited for these lands. This information was distributed to the homesteaders so they might have a easier time making it in the new land. Of course, he was all too willing to ship the products they produced!
The farming and ranching techniques his team recommended were a very close mirror to what this "new" regenerative ag movement is pushing. These methods are as old as farming itself in the US.
We just forgot about them for various reasons. Crop insurance for instance.
After I went to the first meeting in the big town to the south, I came home and told Dad all about it. He was really excited because I was excited. Farming is a good way to carry a low grade depression all the time, and I have been showing the signs for a while. He was happy to see me happy.
He then told me some of the practices that they were talking about when he was a young man. Just like your grandpa, cover crops, diversity, soil health, conservation. Everything old is new again.
One of the big reasons this area was settled was because James J. Hill built his Great Northern railroad up here. There were settlers before, but things took off after that.
He apparently had some pretty smart folks working for him and was quite learned himself. He had commissioned a team of early agronomists from all over the world to study this northern tier of the US to see what farming and ranching techniques would be best suited for these lands. This information was distributed to the homesteaders so they might have a easier time making it in the new land. Of course, he was all too willing to ship the products they produced!
The farming and ranching techniques his team recommended were a very close mirror to what this "new" regenerative ag movement is pushing. These methods are as old as farming itself in the US.
We just forgot about them for various reasons. Crop insurance for instance.
pantheraba
More biners!!!
Wow...that is interesting info. Seeing that it worked well enough in the past lends validity (plausibility at least) to your endeavors. Change can be exciting for sure. Good stuff.
You have a way with words and life perspective, Jimbo.
Jim it is so awesome what you are doing, jumping in with both feet, exciting to be witness to it, and excited for you.
You outta ship some organic, free ranged, humanely killed meat to the city slickers out there who are down. I'm in for a couple hundo.
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