Guest guest Posted January 17, 2008 Report Share Posted January 17, 2008 Bill, I recently had a very interesting conversation (which I think you would have enjoyed) with a rancher in the Sand Hills of Nebraska. I had called him to get his opinion on some different breeds of bulls he is using in his grass based ranching operation. He told me he runs about 480 head of cows on several thousand acres. He said the sandy soil is very fragile and must not be over grazed or abused in any way. He said outsiders come into this area occasionally and try new methods of farming and ranching such as irrigation and improved varieties of grasses such as fescue and orchard grass but he said these things never work and these people go broke and leave. He said the native grasses are the only vegetation which can survive over the long haul. I was amazed when he told me he does not bale hay for winter feeding. He buys some hay which he feeds to his replacement heifers but the momma cows must forage through the winter with the only supplemental ration being 4 pounds of range cubes per cow per day. There are no trees for wind breaks and these cattle must survive the sub zero temperatures and high winds of their blizzards. I asked him if this caused a high mortality and he said no that he had selectively bred for the type of cattle which can perform under these conditions. The most profound thing which he said in our conversation was that he only took what Mother Nature willing gave to him and no more. Then he told me the greatest problem which his community was faced with was that of Ted buying up the land around them. He said that to the west of him Ted bought up so much of the area and depopulated it to the extent that a whole town turned into a ghost town because there were not enough people left for its survival. Cleve BIG or small? #2 ,Excellent point. When I seem to be an apologist, it isbecause as one of the persons quoted by Pollansays "Sooner or later, everything morphs to the waythe world is."I am distrubed a some of what we do. field/does not have time to wait for us on company farms sothey do the best they can and hope not to get fined. Iactually interviewed with them at one time and turneddown a better job and nearly twice the pay I make forthe state because they were only worried about gettingfined and not good agronomic practices that couldmaximize utilization of swine waste. Many of the smaller farmers who get assistance from NCCost share are contractors. What most have done isborrow from half to a million dollars to buythemselves a job. They will here 3-5 Mexicans and worklike crazy to keep ahead and need all the help theycan get, but as I said in an earlier post, if you areborrowing that much, why not get 10% more as the costof doing business and do it right from the beginning?Bill DunlapBTW, if I had my way Raw Milk would be legal in NC andI would make a good living on 50 acres with 20 cows. Iaccept NO government assistance on my farm. And don'treally want any.__________________________________________________________Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 17, 2008 Report Share Posted January 17, 2008 , I do not approve of absentee landlords like because they do not understand the total dynamic of agriculture. I was only mentioning that Restoring short grass prairie was a good thing. Here in the south we have a great deal of absentee timberland. These folks have no interest in the communities they do not support. When CRP was first announced so many signed up for taking marginal lands out of production that tractor dealerships went out of business. Bill Dunlap --- Cleve wrote: > Bill, > > I recently had a very interesting conversation > (which I think you would have enjoyed) with a > rancher in the Sand Hills of Nebraska. I had called > him to get his opinion on some different breeds of > bulls he is using in his grass based ranching > operation. He told me he runs about 480 head of cows > on several thousand acres. He said the sandy soil is > very fragile and must not be over grazed or abused > in any way. He said outsiders come into this area > occasionally and try new methods of farming and > ranching such as irrigation and improved varieties > of grasses such as fescue and orchard grass but he > said these things never work and these people go > broke and leave. He said the native grasses are the > only vegetation which can survive over the long > haul. I was amazed when he told me he does not bale > hay for winter feeding. He buys some hay which he > feeds to his replacement heifers but the momma cows > must forage through the winter with the only > supplemental ration being 4 pounds of range cubes > per cow per day. There are no trees for wind breaks > and these cattle must survive the sub zero > temperatures and high winds of their blizzards. I > asked him if this caused a high mortality and he > said no that he had selectively bred for the type of > cattle which can perform under these conditions. > > The most profound thing which he said in our > conversation was that he only took what Mother > Nature willing gave to him and no more. > > Then he told me the greatest problem which his > community was faced with was that of Ted > buying up the land around them. He said that to the > west of him Ted bought up so much of the area > and depopulated it to the extent that a whole town > turned into a ghost town because there were not > enough people left for its survival. > > Cleve > BIG or small? #2 > > > > , > > Excellent point. When I seem to be an apologist, > it is > because as one of the persons quoted by > Pollan > says " Sooner or later, everything morphs to the > way > the world is. " > > I am distrubed a some of what we do. > field/ > does not have time to wait for us on company farms > so > they do the best they can and hope not to get > fined. I > actually interviewed with them at one time and > turned > down a better job and nearly twice the pay I make > for > the state because they were only worried about > getting > fined and not good agronomic practices that could > maximize utilization of swine waste. > > Many of the smaller farmers who get assistance > from NC > Cost share are contractors. What most have done is > borrow from half to a million dollars to buy > themselves a job. They will here 3-5 Mexicans and > work > like crazy to keep ahead and need all the help > they > can get, but as I said in an earlier post, if you > are > borrowing that much, why not get 10% more as the > cost > of doing business and do it right from the > beginning? > > Bill Dunlap > > BTW, if I had my way Raw Milk would be legal in NC > and > I would make a good living on 50 acres with 20 > cows. I > accept NO government assistance on my farm. And > don't > really want any. > > > __________________________________________________________ > Be a better friend, newshound, and > know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. > http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ > > > > > ________________________________________________________________________________\ ____ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 18, 2008 Report Share Posted January 18, 2008 , What breed is he working with? http://hillhousewriters.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 18, 2008 Report Share Posted January 18, 2008 , What breed is he working with? http://hillhousewriters.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 18, 2008 Report Share Posted January 18, 2008 , He said originally their stock was all Hereford and they had a lot of problems with pink eye, calving etc so they crossed their cows with Red Angus bulls and he said with the first cross practically all the problems disappeared. He has a total of nearly thirty bulls split equally between British White and Red Poll. He said he liked both of these breeds equally well. At this point many of his cows have British White and Red Poll blood as well as the Hereford and Red Angus. An interesting point here is that all these are British breeds which have smaller frames. He retains ownership of his calves through the feed lot and gets paid by the packer based on weight, yield and grade so he has a vested interest in producing what the packer wants. Cleve Re: BIG or small? #2 , What breed is he working with? http://hillhousewriters.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 18, 2008 Report Share Posted January 18, 2008 , He said originally their stock was all Hereford and they had a lot of problems with pink eye, calving etc so they crossed their cows with Red Angus bulls and he said with the first cross practically all the problems disappeared. He has a total of nearly thirty bulls split equally between British White and Red Poll. He said he liked both of these breeds equally well. At this point many of his cows have British White and Red Poll blood as well as the Hereford and Red Angus. An interesting point here is that all these are British breeds which have smaller frames. He retains ownership of his calves through the feed lot and gets paid by the packer based on weight, yield and grade so he has a vested interest in producing what the packer wants. Cleve Re: BIG or small? #2 , What breed is he working with? http://hillhousewriters.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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