Tools Of The Trade

This photo illustrates the equipment that I use for Management-intensive Grazing (MiG) here at Liberty Farm. MiG relies on being able to quickly install and remove temporary fence lines to limit grazing to an area that the flock/herd will eat during the grazing duration. Right now this is one day but changes throughout the year based on circumstances. In April, when the grass was growing slower, it was 2-3 days and may go back to that if we get our typical midsummer drought here in mid-Ohio. The equipment shown consists of wire reels, power link, and posts.

The reels are wound with polywire. My preference is for 6-strand 0.2 mm stainless steel. Kencove has good quality wire at a good price. The reels are from Premier. Since our farm is small, we use mini-reels. They are advertised as holding 600' (188 m) of polywire but in the real world of hand rolling it's probably more like 450' (140 m) . They also sell much larger reels for fencing larger fields. The reels have a thumb screw for tightening the spinning part against the handle so it stays tight and a slot in the handle for hanging on an existing fence wire or on a wire loop connected to a temporary post as is shown in the photo.

The power link is an insulated wire with alligator clips on the ends. It is used to carry the charge between wire. Premier has the best price on these but they could probably be made more cheaply from components from Radio Shack. The newer model from Premier has clips on the ends that look like mini jumper cable ends. The wire on the reels is tied off to a non-conductive handle so the only way to energize the temporary wire is through a link like this or simply wrapping a short piece of aluminum wire 4 turns around the hot fence wire and the poly wire.

There are two type of posts shown in the photo. The gray post is a 4' (1.25 m) fiberglass step-in post with three integrated clips. There is a molded plastic piece at the bottom for pressing into the ground with one's foot (hence the name "step-in" post). The lower clip is adjustable, the middle one is about 28" (70cm) and the upper is at about 42" (1.1 m). The second post is simply a 4' fiberglass rod, 3/8" (9.5 mm) diameter, sharpened at one end. The yellow insulators are called "western insulators" and will adapt to any round post that fits the size parameters for that particular insulator (they make different sizes, I think). The white post with the 2 insulators is a little less expensive than the other but the step-in works better for a corner. I also have some black plastic (not fiberglass) step-in posts that the previous owner of this farm left. They have integrated wire clips along the entire length.

Finally, the contents of the blue can in the bottom of the photo helps with any farm chore on a hot summer day (hint: it's not Pepsi).

I've written here before that my boundary fence is made of 5 electrified 14 gauge aluminum wires (7-14-21-31-42 inch spacing). The bottom wire is energized through an energy-limiter (flood-gate controller). The permanent subdivisions are 3 electrified strands of 17 gauge aluminum (14-21-31 inch spacing). The temporary polywire fences that I construct are two wires at about 14 and 24 inch spacing. My calm, gentle rams are easily contained with only one polywire at about 18 inches. This, of course, will change when the rut begins in October and their calm, gentle dispostions become hormonally charged.

Some notes on electric fencing:

• Do not complete the circuit! Unlike applications using conventional electricity, electric fencing should be energized from one end to the other and never the twain shall meet. When installing temporary fences it's important to think about how the charge travels though the fence and not to have any places where there is a completed circuit. Doing so has the same effect as a short.
• Use a powerful, high-quality low-impedance or wide-impedance charger. My charger is a Kencove 4-joule digital model. I have about 3 miles of fence and the charger is rated for 50 miles. If I had a larger farm with many miles of fence, I would get a 20+ joule charger from Kencove or Twin Mountain.
• Make sure the animals are trained to respect the fence. My sheep could physically walk through any fence on my farm but they don't because the fence provides a psychological barrier. (The exception is lambs going through temporary polywire as documented in an earlier post).
  

I Went Back to Ontario But My Village Was Gone

I grew up just outside of Ontario, Ohio which was then a small village. It is now a small city and has become a retail shopping and chain restaurant mecca for about 5 counties in north central Ohio. Everyone considers Ontario to be an extension of Mansfield except for the people who live(d) there.

Yesterday afternoon I had to make a couple stops there on my way between my shop in Mansfield and the farm. I was daydreaming and missed my turn so I went home via a road that I travelled nearly every day for about 3 years in the late 80s and early 90s when I was a teenager. There were literally hundreds of new houses, all built within the last 13 years or so. Most of these are $250,000-$500,000 homes which is high-end for this area. Many are on about 5 acres. One of the most striking things was the hundreds of acres of spotlessly green, weed-free lawn.

I've been leafing through Permaculture: A Designers' Manual this week as it has sat on my desk ready to be loaned to a fellow blogger. Here is what the author, Bill Mollison, has to say about lawns:

We can clearly see the lawn as the world's "third agriculture," after food gardens and farms. Few people realise just how large this agriculture has become following the development of automated mowers, slashers, "whipper snippers," edgers, plug-cutters, aerators, sprinkler systems, and the development of teaching institutes, journals, retail outlets, and very large firms to service the turf and lawn industry.

It is now probable that the lawn cultures of affluent nations use more water, fertiliser, fossil fuels, biocides, and person-hours than either gardens or the formal broadscale agriculture of that country, or indeed any agricultural resource of the third world. Of the lawns developed today, perhaps 13% have any use in recreation, sport, or as rest areas. Most lawns are purely cosmetic in function. Thus, affluent societies have, all unnoticed, developed an agriculture which produces a polluted waste product, in the presence of famine and erosion elsewhere, and the threat of water shortages at home.

Pasture Hijinks

Two mornings this week my wife has looked out in the pasture to see our temporary fence pulled off the posts and stretched way out of position. The ewes won't be in heat for at least another couple months so it has to be the lambs acting goofy. The moon isn't full so I'm not sure what the deal is except perhaps that the walkway to get from the barn to the far east side of the pasture where they are currently grazing is long with a couple turns. Or maybe they're just being prepubescent kids.

You can see the walkway I'm talking about in the photo on the right. The permanent subdivision fence (3-strand 17 ga. aluminum electric wire) is on the right and the temporary fence (2-strand polywire) delineating the walkway is on the left.

Of Real Estate and Antichrists

This is a photo taken from my property at the edge of the road. Across the road, there are 17 acres of ruminant heaven for sale. The land is owned by the sister of my neighbor. He told Jennifer (my wife) that his sister would probably want $4000-$5000 per acre since that's what Countrytyme is paying for farms in this area. Countrytyme Real Estate is a company that buys farms and parcels the land out to people for building on. I have said before that if the Antichrist was to come as a corporation it would be Monsanto. I'm going to revise that and say now that Monsanto will have to share the title with Countrytyme.

We would love to buy this land for grazing cows and sheep but it's way out of our price range. I may look out my bedroom window in a couple years and see a dozen McMansions over there on this pasture.

Sheep Health

On an organic farm, livestock health is a matter of prevention of illness and maintenance of good health. Modern industrial agribusiness is enamored of drugs of all kinds. We take a different path. One of the most important aspects of maintaining good health in the sheep flock is providing the mineral supplements that the animals need in the correct amount and ratios. This means providing grazing animals with a mineral lick that they can use at their own discretion.

Here is a photo of the components of the mineral licks that I use. From left to right: dolomitic lime, yellow sulphur, dried seaweed, copper sulfate, selenium/vitamin E. Omitted from the photo is plain salt. The recipe comes from Pat Coleby and is found in her book Healthy Sheep Naturally (published in the U.S. by Acres USA under the title Natural Sheep Care.) I wasn't sure that I could legally publish the exact recipe but I found lots of other websites out there with it so here it is (parts by weight).

• 25 parts Dolomitic Lime
  
• 4 parts yellow garden Sulphur
• 4 parts Copper Sulfate
• 4 parts dried Seaweed (kelp)

I also offer a selenium and vitamin E supplement which I get from Pipestone Vet Supply. It is a very concentrated mixture that is to be mixed with salt at a 50:1 ratio. For now I'm mixing this with more kelp meal since my sheep like it and it's so good for them. These mineral licks are offered completely free-choice.

Ideally, one would have a soil test and perhaps even a plant tissue analysis done so this basic mix could be tailored to the individual farm. We haven't done that yet though it is my intention to do so. I'm especially interested in the amount of copper we have in our soil here, as well as the amount of molybdenum since high quantities of molybdenum make the copper unavailable.

On the subject of copper, sheep are more sensitive to excess copper than other livestock and can die from copper toxicity if they have too much in their diet. For big agribusiness, this means simply leaving the copper out of commercial sheep mineral mixes entirely. This has filtered down to the small farm to the point where almost all sheep publications (except those mentioned above) explicitly say, "Be sure to choose a mineral supplement that does not contain copper."

Here is what Pat Coleby has to say about it, quoted in Healthy Sheep Naturally.

In the body of the sheep, copper is needed for optimum health, resistance to disease, coccidia, enzootic ataxia, and internal parasites of all kinds. Tapeworms especially are susceptible to copper. It is needed against all diseases of fungal origin and especially for a healthy immune system. Sheep whose copper levels are right will cycle regularly at the correct time. Andre Voisin states categorically that cancer is a result of too little copper in the diet.

The following are due to a lack of copper: foot rot, cowpox, dermo (steely wool), ringworm, foot scald, proud flesh, Johne's disease, brucellosis, poor fleece quality (tender wool)...

I would invite any and all comments on this subject and will be happy to answer any questions or explain in more detail what we do here at Liberty Farm. I have been providing my sheep with copper supplementation since February and have not wormed any of them this season. If you are reading this, Monica, please feel free to write about your experiences in the comments. For those of you who don't raise sheep, you sould know that what I've just written here about copper will probably be viewed as controversial at best and crackpot at worst by others who do.

In her book, Ms. Coleby makes the point that copper carbonate should never be given to livestock, only copper sulfate. I really would suggest that anyone wanting to try this type of supplementation read her book first. I have an extra copy of the Australian edition that I would be willing to sell or lend but the American version is a bargain at $25. Someone once asked what books I would recommend for new shepherds. This one would be at the top of my list.

A Child's Lesson In Direct Marketing

This is a true story told to me recently by a friend. I've changed the names of those involved and done some calculating of live weight vs. carcass weight prices to make equal comparisons.

Ashley has shown a beef steer each of the last three years at the local county fair, including this year. She and her dad, Tom, buy three calves to raise, one for the fair and two to sell. The only difference between the beef they raise and the beef one buys at the supermarket is that it's raised in a pen of three instead of a pen of three thousand. That is, the beef is not by any means organic, grass-fed, etc. The standard 4-H protocol is followed which is the same as the standard industrial/chemical agriculture protocol. The steers are raised primarily on grain with just enough hay to keep the animals from dying from total rumen failure.

The two steers that are sold go for $1.45 per pound live weight. This is one of the highest prices I've ever seen for bulk beef without a price premium for being organic, grass-fed, etc. The kids selling at the fair can usually expect a premium price just for being kids in 4-H. This year the champion beef animals, of which Ashley's was not included, sold for $1.30 per pound. The other animals would be expected to go for less. Tom promptly got on the phone and lined up buyers for the four quarters of Ashley's steer and went to the fair board office to pull her steer from the auction.

When asked why he was taking the steer out of the sale, Tom explained that the champion animals only brought $1.30. The fair board official replied, "We'll make sure every kid gets $1 a pound." "Not good enough," Tom said and they took their steer home from the fair and sold it for $0.45 per pound more money than the "premium" bids given the kids at the fair. For a 1400 pound animal, this equaled $630 more money.

The only reason I can see that Tom got such a good price out of his beef is simply that some people like to know where the meat on their plate comes from. The key is to find these people. Another key is to convince them that the price they're paying is really a bargain compared to the individual cuts in the supermarket. I estimate the total price at about $3.25-$3.50 per pound for actual wrapped meat in the freezer. That may be a lot for 80/20 ground chuck but them's some durn cheap ribeyes.

Hot and Wet

That's what the weather's been like here in North Central Ohio for the last week or so. We got a little over 7 inches (18 cm) of rain between Monday and Friday of last week. There was some standing water on the western edge of the garden remaining yesterday but it's gone today. Our beans are stunted and yellow in the area and some of our late planted cabbage has died. The water in the stream crested the culvert for the second time since we've lived here. It looked like a river delta at the east edge of our property where it completely overflowed the banks and ran about 40 feeet wide (13 m) wide across the neighbor's driveway.

We've had water problems in our cellar for a few months. I've had a pump down there in the lowest spot that we ran once a day as necessary. It's been a real pain and I finally got pissed off enough to do something about it. This afternoon I rented a jackhammer and dug a hole in the corner and dropped in a submersible pump that will run on its own. One less thing to worry about.

Yesterday it was 95 degrees here. (I know metric lengths and volumes but I'm lost when it comes to temperature. For my non-American readers let's just say it's been damned hot). The perfect climate for me would go from late spring straight into early fall. My friends in the Vermont mountains might be all for global warming but I'm going to have to pass.

We're going to be doing some chicken butchering and some sheep footcare here soon so I'll try to write a little more frequently.

Symbiosis

This is a photo of a vision I've had in my mind's eye for years. The vision has finally been realized. On the right you see sheep grazing lush pasture with yesterday's grazing in the foreground. On the left is a flock of chickens grazing the pasture paddock where the sheep grazed about 10 days ago.

I titled this photo "Symbiosis" because of the beneficial relationship between the sheep, the chickens and the grass. The sheep benefit because the chickens will scratch up their manure pellets, eating fly larvae and causing parasite eggs and larvae to die from exposure. The chickens benefit because they prefer to eat short tender grass that has already been grazed by the sheep. Finally, the grass benefits because the sheep eat it and cause it to remain in a tender vegetative state and the chickens scratch in it (de-thatch) and fertilize it with their nitrogen rich manure. Joel Salatin writes that in nature birds always follow herbivores.

In the days before industrial agribusiness replaced pastoral agriculture, farmers knew about the benefits of livestock diversity without giving it much thought. It's a shame that a 33 year old new farmer like me has to learn this stuff from books.