alternatives in land use

[FireFighterZero]

The NRCS man is Daniel Pratt. Young guy, probably younger than me.

He is hands down the best I have worked with. Did some work on the sage grouse thing, some work on forestry....varied experience. I really like working with him.

The MSU guy is Darrin Boss from the Havre experiment station.

I don't like much of what he has to say. Really, I don't care for much of anything MSU does.

We call NDSU for anything we need or have questions about.

 

[squisher]

Awesome posts Jim. Crazy. I can't imagine what you have to do to manage/run a operation that size.

 

[cory]

Well, I am pissed off again. Not at anything that Cory posted this time, although I am starting to think he does that on purpose.........




We are talking about setting up some quick and dirty tours, and getting some speakers together.

We talked about getting the ranchers and the farmers together. Thats an interesting one, the farmers have all this land that they fallow, the ranchers leave the area to find grass.

Awesome posts!! Btw I trust you are kidding that I try to bug you.

Great ideas about getting creative and run some tours on your place.

It's crazy that the entrenched interests are so against deeply needed improvements but I guess in history that kind of problem has happened hundreds of thousands of times. People will look back on this as a "water shed moment" in working with the earth instead of against it to achieve human goals.

I wish there was something us THers could do to help.

 

[FireFighterZero]

Actually there is something you guys can do Cory.

Support your local producers. Buy local meat and dairy. Local produce. Local made hemp lingerie for the wife.

A big hurdle is getting out from under the control of the big food processors.

It doesn't matter what a farmer or rancher wants to do if it goes against the wishes of the big processors.

 

[cory]

Good answer, thanks.

 

[FireFighterZero]

It may not seem like much, but if local producers can see a demand for products raised in a way that is better for them, you and the planet, we might make some progress.

 

[pantheraba]

I loved reading that, Jim...passion is one of the spices of life. It sounds like the meetings you propose have excellent potential to make some serious changes. Keep that ball rolling...cool your wife is ramped up, too. Keep us posted...this is like a movie.

 

[FireFighterZero]

2 o clock tomorrow is a cover crop meeting in town.

NRCS man called to make sure I would not forget. I had.

 

[Buddy]

After reading the last couple pages I think I am passionate about it too. Great reading, good luck man

 

[pantheraba]

NRCS guy is stoked to be working to keep you on track...

 

[cory]

After reading the last couple pages I think I am passionate about it too

Yup, Jim has a major cause on his hands and he's going to win.

 

[cory]

Jim for the Win.



Here's an article re a perennial grain that is catching on. Seems to be a good example of change for the better.

http://newfoodeconomy.com/general-mills-signs-support-perennial-grain-kernza/

 

[Bermy]

That was a great read. I'm glad that you are posting this stuff here Jim, it really is interesting, helps me get an insight on how things are in your part of the world, and how the big 'Players' are still trying to pooch the small guys.
It's amazing how the 'educated eggheads' refuse to listen to the very people who are doing the growing and harvesting. It seems to come down to only $money$...your methods would reduce reliance on the expensive manufactured additives (fertilizer, pesticides) give more people more options to make a dollar...and yet, somehow your ideas are shelved in favour of the big money guys.
Thank goodness you have found a willing and energetic ally, here's wishing you a massive breakthrough!

 

[Buddy]

How'd your meeting go Jim?

 

[FireFighterZero]

It went well, thanks for asking.

Not a huge turnout, but the folks that were there seemed very receptive.

One producer who came out was looking for information on how to renovate old hay land. After I got to droning on, as I am prone to do, he looked at me and said "I want to do that!".

I was talking about how it makes better sense to grow crops and "stockpile" the forage for fall and winter grazing, than it would be to grow a crop to put up for hay.

When you can grow cover or forage crops and have the cattle graze them standing you should be saving a lot of money and resources. Winter time is the most expensive time for a rancher.

Making hay is very expensive, about 40 to 50 bucks a ton if you do it for yourself. A normal winter up here would take 2 to 3 tons of hay per cow.

Once you make the hay you have to bunch it, haul it home, stack it, and then feed it. One of the problems with that idea is that you "export" a lot of nutrients from the field where the hay is made.

You can plant a crop of sorghum-sudan grass in the summer time for 15 to 20 dollars an acre and winter your cows on that instead.

I had 100 acres of SS grass planted in August, for 15 bucks an acre. It was short, and was plumb brown when we turned the cows into it. That 100 acres, at a cost of 1500 bucks held 350 cows for one month.

Now figure 30 pounds of hay per day for that same month per cow. If you round down to 5 tons per day, for 30 days you get 150 tons of hay at 100 bucks per ton. Thats 15,000 dollars!

Thats mostly the kind of stuff we talked about.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Gawt damn!

 

[Bermy]

wow, some numbers!

 

[Marc-Antoine]

wow too ...
I had no idea about that amount of work/ supply/ money involved.

 

[cory]

Who knew all those numbers lie in that frozen, wind swept dirt.

 

[FireFighterZero]

It takes a shift in your thinking to start looking at these "problems".

I was listening to fellows like Gabe Brown and Jay Furher, they kept on about how our soils are our biggest, most important resource. It did not mean that much to me, the soil was always there. What's the big deal?

The soils were only something that you bought, same as a tractor or a herd of cows. Management of the "assets" was top priority, cows machinery and such. Managing soil health is an afterthought.

Now I realize that we were looking at the problem of farm profitability exactly backwards. Expensive inputs, more and bigger machinery, more land, more efficient extraction of nutrients from the soil.


If we manage for soil health first, we cant help but make strides towards profitability. That 1500 dollar crop of Sorghum-Sudan not only took the place of 15,000 dollars worth of hay, but it supported microbial and insect life in the soil, along with insect and vertebrate life above the soil. Over time the organic matter will increase, the soil will become healthier and we will need to spend less money to get what we want and need from the ground we live on.

My first operating loan was 40,000 dollars when I was a kid. Now it takes well over half a million to run my small operation. The insurance man, banks, chemical salesmen, and machinery mongers dont want me to change anything, even though they know that we will lose vast sums of money this year.....they told us so!

Bunk! 100,000 for hay, another 100,000 for chemical and fertilizer, probably 50,000 for fuel and oil, 50,000 for repairs and machinery payments.........WTF have we been doing for all these years?!?!

 

[DMc]

Haha! Good read, Jim. Let 'er buck!!!

 

[Buddy]

That's a lot of money juggling every year. It's no wonder a lot of farmers and ranchers act like nervous chipmunks from daylight to dark every day...

 

[cory]

Now I realize that we were looking at the problem of farm profitability exactly backwards.

Frequently, when you reallllly need something, you find you already have it, right there under your nose.

 

[FireFighterZero]

Just takes a kick to the head to straighten out your Chi flow sometimes.

With my Chi flow working properly I might become the "one".

(I have been watching a lot of Kung Fu movies)

 

[stig]

Jim, I've been thinking for a long time ( Ever since you started posting here) that there is something crazy about one man having to "Farm" such an extreme number of acres, just to feed his family.