I am excited to see the newest Red Poll journal included in mu post vacation stack of mail! Good times ahead reading all of the articles. I will try to pass on tidbits as I learn them.
We are still researching and building our foundation herd, so gathering as much information as we can is vital. The National Red Poll meeting appears to be slated for Louisville, Kentucky this year. I think the date is set for sometime in November.
Until next time!
Filed under Beef, Cattle, Farming, grass fed beef, Grassfed, Red Poll Cattle, Uncategorized
Red Poll (Photo credit: Nick Saltmarsh)
Red Poll Cattle are one of many breeds that are known as Heritage Breeds. Heritage Breeds are typically breeds that are declining in number because they are not the main stream commercial cattle. Many of them have their own niche, such as grass fed beef. Many are also dual purpose animals. Their value is great, perhaps not measurable in dollar amounts, but more in their value for preserving genetic diversity.
Red Poll cattle are a cross between the Norfolk and Suffolk breeds of quality of its beef. They were small, red and white, hardy and horned breed of cattle. Suffolk cattle were a dairy breed that were Red, yellow, and brindle in color. They were a polled breed. Through genetic selection and cross breeding of the two breed, the Red Poll was developed. The traits of Red Poll cattle that make them excel are many of those of the above breeds. Perhaps obvious, but they are a smaller, red and polled breed of cattle.
According to the American Livestock Breed Conservancy, the breed was imported to North America in the 1800s. In 1883, the American Red Poll Association was founded. I am not certain of the numbers nor the membership, but I can state that my farm is registered herd #6500. My herd was registered earlier this year. (I have to laugh a bit to say herd, as we have three heifers that just calved within the past two months.)
The cross resulted in a nice dual purpose breed. Throughout the years, Red Poll cattle have fluctuated from a dairy focus to a beef focus several times. At one point, Red Polls were efficient and competitive dairy cows. This was very evident on farms that tracked total profits above and beyond the cost of feed only. This is likely due to their ability to convert forage into production. They are also known for longevity, often producing 10,000 pounds of milk per year into their teen years. An added benefit of this longevity is that they continue to produce calves into their later years as well.
English: Red Poll cow, Temple Newsam. Home Farm, Temple Newsam, is the largest Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST) Approved Centre. Significant breeding groups of livestock from the RBST Watchlist are kept at Home Farm. This is one of a herd of Red Poll cattle, and there are 8 other breeds of cattle kept here. See http://www.leeds.gov.uk/templenewsam/farm/farm_live.html (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
One of the highlights of the breed are their reproductive traits. Red Poll bulls are very potent. Their traits are predictable and easily inherited. Red Poll females tend to be very fertile and are easy breeders. They are known for calving ease. Red Poll cattle produce a large amount of milk even on forage. This results in good calf growth. They are noted for good survivability of the calf. I saw one study where they were the top producing breed in terms of Rate of gain to day 200. This has to do with good rates of gain, great calving ease, and the survivability of the calf (calf vigor).
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Filed under Animal nutrition., animals, Beef, Cattle, Foraging, grass fed beef, Red Poll Cattle, Uncategorized
So now we move on to the selection of plants. Again this may be higher on the list, but we will discuss it here. The reality is that all of these parts are intertwined.
Selection of plants can be broken down into several categories. First we need to consider what the animals will be eating. So one consideration is the pasture, the other consideration is the crops. Second we will look at the garden plants. Third, and finally, comes the orchard and berry plants.
Plants for the animals.
Pasture:
Crops. View from a bridleway. The different textures and colours are created by barley in the foreground, wheat behind and young sweet corn to the right. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
As can be noted from examining the blog here, we are fans of grazing systems. This allows for less equipment and generally more self-sufficiency. We prefer rotational grazing, but I digress. So what plants do you want to have in your pastures? Pasture should include one or two types of grasses. Typical types include Fescue, Ryegrass,Timothy, Orchard Grass and Kentucky Bluegrass. Other plants that are typically included in pasture are red clover, ladino clover, white clover and alfalfa. It is recommended to have a variety of these plants within a given pasture to provide varying amounts of protein, vitamins, and mineral. Certain plants also thrive at different times of the year. By varying the types of plants within a given pasture, the grazing season can be extended both earlier and later in the year than normal.
Carsington Pastures, Derbyshire (Photo credit: eamoncurry123)
Crops:
Perhaps crops are what many people think of when they think of plants on the farm. Crops are used for many different purposes, the main one of which is food for the animals. Field corn is a crop that is vital to many farming operations. It is very versatile and can be fed to numerous species of animals. Corn has traditionally been a very inexpensive feed source, though that had changed some with the subsidization of the ethanol fuel industry. Soy beans are another crop that is grown in abundance in the United States. It is used as a protein source and also as a way to fix nitrogen into the soil when used in a crop rotation. Other crops that are commonly grown are Wheat, Barley, Rye, Oats, Spelts and many others. Some of these, such as oats and wheat, can be used for two purposes. The grain is harvested for use as a feed and the stalks can be harvested for use as straw (animal bedding).
Garden Plants
The vegetable garden is one of the main focal points of a homestead. A garden serves to provide fresh food and also bountiful harvests that can be stored for winter usage. The plants that can be grown in a garden are limitless. We will discuss a few here, but the scope of this particular series does not permit for an in depth discussion.
USDA 98c0442 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Sweet Corn is the starting point, as it is one of our favorites. The only downside that I see with Sweet corn is the space required to grow it, though the space can be maximized by using interplanting (we plant melons within the rows of corn, which allows the melons to spread out. Both melons and corn take a lot of space, but by growing them in the same row, we can capitalize on some of that space.) Beans are another key crop. We also raise green beans (Green Jade works well as a variety). There are many types of beans, several of which can be dried.
Other vegetables that are traditional garden staples include lettuces, spinach, onions, beets, cucumber, zucchini, squash and many others. Heirloom vegetables are those that are passed from generation to generation. They serve to preserve the plant genetic variability. Heirloom plants (as long as they do not get cross pollinated) will produce seed that it is true, meaning that the seed can be saved and replanted. Once replanted, the seed will produce plants that are the same variety as the mother plant. Hybrids plants do not produce seeds that will grow predictable plant offspring. Oftentimes the seed is not viable. At other times , the seed will produce on of the parent varieties that was used to make the hybrid plant. An example of this is Incredible Sweet Corn. This is our favorite sweet corn. Saving the seeds and replanting them will usually produce a dent corn or field corn that was used in the cross pollination to get the incredible hybrid.
We utilize several varieties of heirloom vegetables so that we can save the seeds if desired. A few examples are blue hopi corn (Below)
and golden bantam corn. Heirloom seeds can be purchased from several suppliers. We usually make our selection from Fedco Seeds.
Orchards and Berries
The third and final category for homesteading plants includes Orchards fruits and berries. This category will be finished in another post due to space and time constraints.
Filed under Animal nutrition., animals, Basic skills, Cattle, Chickens, Farming, Gardening, hay, Organic, Self-Sufficiency, Uncategorized
A sturdy and well-built post and rail fence (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Here we will specifically discuss fencing. Fencing plans again depend upon the type of animal that you are trying to contain. I will try to lay this out in an organized fashion starting with types of fences. I will then try to cover fencing for various farm animals. These animals will include cattle, goats, sheep, pigs and horses. I will not attempt to cover chickens at this time ( other than to say clip their wings and make sure your tightly woven fence is tight against the ground).
Types of Fences
There many various ways to classify fencing. The first way to organize it is electrified versus non-electric. Another way is permanent versus temporary. For the purposes of this article, the focus will center around permanent fencing. Systems can be hybrid with permanent and temporary, but the perimeter fencing should be very solid and permanent (in the opinion of this author).
woven wire fence(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
There are various type of materials that are used to make fencing. Focusing on the modern versions, there are hog paneling, woven wire, barbed wire, high tensile, polywire, vinyl and board fencing. Board
Roll of barbed wire on a farm (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
fencing, woven wire, and hog paneling are suitable for non electric systems. Vinyl may be considered here as well, though animals can lean on the vinyl and pop the rails off. I recommend adding one or two strands of high tensile along the top and bottom of vinyl fencing to prevent the animals from pushing the rails out. Barbed wired, high tensile and polywire are typically electrified. These systems can be non electric if enough horizontal wires are placed to make them visible. Most fencing is, after all, mainly a mental barrier and deterrent.
As for fence posts, the options here vary as well. Vinyl fencing utilizes vertical vinyl posts. Board fencing uses wooden posts. For the wire- type fences, posts materials vary from treated wood to cedar to locusts posts. They can also utilize t posts and even some specialized products like kencove posts.
As a side note when planning a fencing project, it is important to draw out the design in many fashions. Talk to other farmers or fence installers about your project. Describe your setting, animals and goals. Mark out all of the gates that are needed. Gates are needed for entry to the field by the farmer, for equipment and for animals movement.
Cattle:
Cattle may be the easiest animals to contain, as long as they are well fed. The grass is always greener on the other side, so cattle will test fences if better food is available across the fence. I like electrified barbed wire or high tensile. Two to three strands should suffice. The lower strand should be about 24 inches off of the ground and the upper strand at 36 to 30 inches. I like a wire in the middle as well. Wooden fence posts should be placed at no more than 16 feet in order ro have better visibility. Some places suggest further spacing, but I have found that our fence is great with posts every 16 feet. Make certain to keep weeds off of the fence, otherwise a short will be created and it won’t take long for the cattle to figure out that the fence is off. I suggest placing the wires on the outside of the fence posts, so that animals can graze around the base of the fencing. This gives you more grazing space and less weed wacking. Other options for cattle include board fence, vinyl and woven wire. I would add a top strand of barbed wire or electrified high tensile at the tops of the 48 inch woven wire.
Closeup of a smooth wire fence without barbs (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Goats are more of a challenge due to their inquisitive nature. Woven wire works very well for goats. The can be deterred by electric fencing as well, but the fence must be solid and provide an adequate shock to keep them in. Board fencing and vinyl fencing tend to leave larger gaps that the goats can get through or around. These gaps can be closed using electric barbed wire or high tensile.
Barbed wire fence in west Texas (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Sheep are basically like goats in their needs for fencing. It is not their stubborn nor inquisitive nature that make them hard to fence. The problem with them lies in the thick wool coat. This prevents them from perceiving the chock of an electric fence. Woven wire seems to be the best for sheep, though multiple high tensile strands can works as well. The strands should be placed at 6, 12, 18, 24, 36, and 48 inches from the ground on up.
Horses
vinyl fence (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Horses love to lean on fences. They also like to hang their heads over the fence, looking for food to graze upon. They can be kept in with just about any fencing system. Traditional horse people tend to prefer either board fence or vinyl fencing foe aesthetic purposes. One major advantage to these is the decrease in injury potential. Barbed wire and high tensile work well with horses, but can cause serious injury if the horse gets a leg tangled up in the strands. Fence posts should be placed no further apart than 16 feet, as the visibility goes down for a horse after that point.
Pigs
Again, I am going from what I have read, not what I have done. I have read that pigs can be easily trained to electric fencing. Their snouts are very sensitive. In fact, they are very conducive to rotational grazing, but be careful where you leave the gates. It seems that pigs have a good memory, so much that they are reluctant to cross where an electric strand previously stood. The bottom wire is generally set at 5 or 6 inches and the top wire at 10 or 12 inches. They will train quickly according to several sources that I discovered. There are other options as well. Hog paneling is meant for pigs (hence the name….). Premier Supplies makes several electric netting options for hogs as well.
http://www.greatamericanegg.com/blog/?p=89
I hope that this article has been helpful. I know that it just touched the surface of a very complex issue. This is meant to be something to stimulate thought and provide a basis to start. Good luck and keep raising your homestead, taking more control of what you eat and what you do.
We recently built a fence, which we had designed. Our intent was to keep costs low, yet be able to try to contain all of the above animals. The fence that we elected is 6 strand of high tensile, smooth wire fencing. We placed three large gates to move animals and equipment in and out of fields. We also placed two other 4 foot “man gates” in other locations for easier access to the fields. The strands are laid out at 5 inches, 10 inches, 16 inches, 24 inches, 30 inches, and 48 inches. We electrified the top strand, the third strand down and the second lowest strand. We went with this number of strands in order to have a sturdy fence that works even without being electrified. It seems to be working well, though we only have cattle so far.
We just got to witness the first ever calf born to our farm. We have not gotten a chance to see if it is a bull or a heifer. We are very excited. He or she is standing after only 20 minutes. Hopefully he or she will nurse soon.
Filed under Beef, Cattle, grass fed beef, Grassfed, Heritage Breed, Red Poll Cattle, Uncategorized
Filed under animals, Cattle, Farming, grass fed beef, Heritage Breed, Red Poll Cattle, Uncategorized
Well let me start by stating that this is our first calving season, which will lead into our first breeding season.
We are evaluating which breeding program to go with. We know of several potential programs.
The first is simply pasture bull breeding. Due to the presence of young kids on the old homestead, we have not seriously considered this as an option.
The next method would be a timed breeding program , which would require hue use of prostaglandins and follicle stimulating hormones. Seeing that we are trying to go with a hormone free program, this is off the table as well. So what should we do?
The best breeding programs are reliant on heat detection. This can be noted through observation or left to the bull if one is around. The issue facing most farmers is that they are too busy to simply sit on the fence and watch for evidence of heat. These behaviors include increased walking activity, mounting behavior, and willingness to be mounted. Typically a cow that is willing to be mounted is ready to be bred, the cow doing the mounting is about 12 hours away.
I think that we are going to go with some kind of marker-type system. This can be a simple as tail chalking. This method uses chalk to mat the hair over the tailhead down. Once the animal is mounted, the hair stands up, so that it is evident that she is in heat. Another form of the marker system is called a Kamar pak. This is a dye pack that is fixed to the tailhead region. Once the animal is mounted, the dye pack is broken and changes color to alert you to the presence of a breedable heat.
After compiling the above from the vast knowledge contained within my head (Said with tongue in cheek sarcasm), I found the following website, which may be more helpful.
http://www.thebeefsite.com/articles/2362/estrus-detection-in-cattle
I found this to be a great resource. It is organized well and goes through the possible management systems that are available.
Filed under animals, Beef, Cattle, Farming, grass fed beef, Heritage Breed, Natural, Organic, Uncategorized
Red Poll cow, Temple Newsam. Home Farm, Temple Newsam, is the largest Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST) Approved Centre. Significant breeding groups of livestock from the RBST Watchlist are kept at Home Farm. This is one of a herd of Red Poll cattle, and there are 8 other breeds of cattle kept here. See http://www.leeds.gov.uk/templenewsam/farm/farm_live.html (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I was talking to a local farmer today about our small herd. He asked if we were raising beef cattle or dairy. My response to this is usually that we are raising Red Poll cattle. The common retort from people is that we have Red Angus cattle with no horns. I explain that the breed is called Red Poll. That is the name of the breed and that my cattle are registered. They then begin to ask about them, so I explain that they are a heritage breed of cattle that are very good at foraging. They are known for good milk production and have been bred more for grass fed beef.
I then explain that we are believers in grass fed beef and are trying to capture like-minded people within our niche market. To my surprise, this farmer began to tell me how his son is producing grass fed beef for a restaurant in Wisconsin, where he currently resides. They are looking for any and all grass fed beef. This immediately gave me some hope for our products. Though I do not necessarily want to sell the grass fed beef to a distant market, it is nice to know that one exists.
So this got me to thinking: is there an increasing demand fir grass fed beef, or do I simply perceive an increased demand because I am a recent covert? So I began to look into it. I did the common research technique known as ” Google it.” Here is what I found with some links:
http://www.denverpost.com/food/ci_17186593
This article highlighted the growing demand for natural or sustainable beef production. The author discusses that Walmart and McDonalds are even getting in on the movement. She mentions that grass fed beef is no longer just offered in high end restaraunts. In fact the trend has moved more and more mainstream. She also mentions several books about the subject matter such as: “Food, Inc.,” “Eating Animals,” “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” “Animal Factory” and “CAFO.” Those are some titles that perhaps we will read and do a review at some point.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/11/switching-to-grass-fed-beef/
This article. blog talks about the benefits of grassfed beef. These benefits include:
So in summary, there appears to be a greater awareness of the benefits of grass fed beef. These benefits are nutritional, as can be noted above. Other benefits that are linked to grass fed beef production include environmental benefits and humane benefits for the animals themselves. Those are both a discussion for another time and place.
I added some additional articles that are related below. One is one of our own posts, the others are from various authors. It appears that the first one has some concerns about the sustainability of the grass fed industry due to the increased cost per pound for the meat itself.
Cover via Amazon
Filed under Beef, Cattle, Farming, grass fed beef, Grassfed, Heritage Breed, Red Poll Cattle, Self-Sufficiency, Uncategorized
Filed under animals, Beef, Cattle, Farming, grass fed beef, Heritage Breed, Uncategorized
Just letting everybody know to stay posted, as we are attending a soil conference over the weekend. This conference is an informal meeting arranged by a local family of farmers. These farmers practice organic, hormone-free, and natural practices. They produce and market their own milk. I will be able to hopefully update the soil portion of this blog soon. The blogs will tend to be filed under soil and you are what you eat.
Filed under Animal nutrition., Cattle, Farming, Foraging, grass fed beef, Homesteading, Natural, Nutrition, Organic, You Are What You Eat
