An Introduction to Buffaloes

[River Buffaloes]

I am not sure. If I had to guess, I would have to say River Buffalo. We only see them from a far. We drive by them but you can see them in the distance. One ranch has Zebras and Antelope, as well.

I wouldn't like to associate buffaloes with zebras and antelopes, because you see zebras and antelopes are not utility animals, they have no place on a farm. Buffaloes are purely a farm animal, best suited for small and backyard settings. You see in their native range from Philippines to Italy and Romania to Sri Lanka you don't find landholdings consisting of thousands of acres. Most of the farmers practice what is called subsistence agriculture. A type of agriculture whose primary goal is to satisfy the requirements of the family.

I would argue that Buffaloes can contribute more to a homestead than a Llama or an Alpaca, because those distant relatives of camels are kept extensively in the Andes. Ever tried herding Llamas in the mountains of Peru? Nothing but dramas these Llamas.

 

[Kusanar]

Ever tried herding Llamas in the mountains of Peru? Nothing but dramas these Llamas.

LOL! I love that statement

I wouldn't like to associate buffaloes with zebras and antelopes, because you see zebras and antelopes are not utility animals, they have no place on a farm.

Ranches in Texas aren't exactly "farms", they mostly don't grow things, they are sometimes thousands of acres that are fenced and they run stock on them. I seriously doubt the buffalo on those ranches are being used for any work, they are likely hunted rather than worked or milked. That is the same reason that the zebras and antelopes are there, to be hunted for money.

There are people in America that will pay $10,000 or more for a chance to shoot an "exotic" animal so those ranches raise the exotics for that purpose.

 

[River Buffaloes]

LOL! I love that statement


Ranches in Texas aren't exactly "farms", they mostly don't grow things, they are sometimes thousands of acres that are fenced and they run stock on them. I seriously doubt the buffalo on those ranches are being used for any work, they are likely hunted rather than worked or milked. That is the same reason that the zebras and antelopes are there, to be hunted for money.

There are people in America that will pay $10,000 or more for a chance to shoot an "exotic" animal so those ranches raise the exotics for that purpose.

No wonder your homes are owned by banks.

 

[Kusanar]

No wonder your homes are owned by banks.

Fair statement, but typically the people that spend that much money on a hunt are people that have 2-3 houses, several cars, a boat...

I'm going to be debt free fairly soon. I will have my farm completely paid for in about 20 months and then the car in a year or 2 after that. I am 32 years old, and being debt free this young is very rare here. My parents still do not own their house, the house I grew up in.

 

[River Buffaloes]

Fair statement, but typically the people that spend that much money on a hunt are people that have 2-3 houses, several cars, a boat...

I'm going to be debt free fairly soon. I will have my farm completely paid for in about 20 months and then the car in a year or 2 after that. I am 32 years old, and being debt free this young is very rare here. My parents still do not own their house, the house I grew up in.

Why is it that it is always the hardworking people who have to struggle . Anyway I am glad that you will be debt free soon. I think one reason for being indebted is easy credit. It is very complicated for a common man to get a loan in India, perhaps that's why the debt problem is not as large. Also borrowing money is seen as something inherently bad and the money lenders are seen as evil. Perhaps that's why even though unemployment rate is more than 10% and GDP is -9% still so few people (I don't know any) are in danger of getting kicked out of their homes.

Being out of debt is such a relief. I hope you build up a nice saving and invest it wisely.

 

[Kusanar]

Why is it that it is always the hardworking people who have to struggle . Anyway I am glad that you will be debt free soon. I think one reason for being indebted is easy credit. It is very complicated for a common man to get a loan in India, perhaps that's why the debt problem is not as large. Also borrowing money is seen as something inherently bad and the money lenders are seen as evil. Perhaps that's why even though unemployment rate is more than 10% and GDP is -9% still so few people (I don't know any) are in danger of getting kicked out of their homes.

Being out of debt is such a relief. I hope you build up a nice saving and invest it wisely.

Yes, very easy credit. I was getting offers for pre-approved credit cards when I was around 11-12 years old. I do have a credit card and use it a lot, but I keep it paid off. I only use it because if someone steals the information and spends my money, the bank will not charge me for things I did not buy and they will either just pay it, or they will investigate who did it and go after them for the money.

Where I live, a house with a small piece of land like the one my parents have (1,000 square foot house on 3/4 of an acre) will sell from $100,000-150,000. My farm is just land, no house and it is a little over 11 acres for $50,000. A new car is $30,000 or so and mine cost that used.

The company I work for has starting pay of around $10 an hour or $400 per week without overtime. At that pay rate, that small $100,000 house would take 250 weeks or 5 years to pay off IF you did NOT spend a penny on anything else including taxes.

A good job requires education. My husband has around $50,000 in debt just from his college classes last time he said how much he owed. I was lucky and my mom does not work and my dad did not make enough money to keep me from getting scholarships through the local community college so my education was almost free. My mom got a part time job and my dad got a raise and because of that I no longer qualified for the scholarships for the last semester or so that I was going to college but we were able to pay that amount to finish my degree.

 

[River Buffaloes]

Yes, very easy credit. I was getting offers for pre-approved credit cards when I was around 11-12 years old. I do have a credit card and use it a lot, but I keep it paid off. I only use it because if someone steals the information and spends my money, the bank will not charge me for things I did not buy and they will either just pay it, or they will investigate who did it and go after them for the money.

Where I live, a house with a small piece of land like the one my parents have (1,000 square foot house on 3/4 of an acre) will sell from $100,000-150,000. My farm is just land, no house and it is a little over 11 acres for $50,000. A new car is $30,000 or so and mine cost that used.

The company I work for has starting pay of around $10 an hour or $400 per week without overtime. At that pay rate, that small $100,000 house would take 250 weeks or 5 years to pay off IF you did NOT spend a penny on anything else including taxes.

A good job requires education. My husband has around $50,000 in debt just from his college classes last time he said how much he owed. I was lucky and my mom does not work and my dad did not make enough money to keep me from getting scholarships through the local community college so my education was almost free. My mom got a part time job and my dad got a raise and because of that I no longer qualified for the scholarships for the last semester or so that I was going to college but we were able to pay that amount to finish my degree.

I think 11 acres is plenty land for reliable subsistence agriculture practice in a place like Commonwealth of Virginia. I hope you tread very carefully while investing in animals and carve out a part of land for growing food crops like wheat, a vegetable garden and also a plot where you can grow grain for animals like millets, corn, oat, BOSS, flax etc.

Did you list the animals you have in BYH official poll?

 

[Kusanar]

I think 11 acres is plenty land for reliable subsistence agriculture practice in a place like Commonwealth of Virginia. I hope you tread very carefully while investing in animals and carve out a part of land for growing food crops like wheat, a vegetable garden and also a plot where you can grow grain for animals like millets, corn, oat, BOSS, flax etc.

Did you list the animals you have in BYH official poll?

One thing you probably didn't notice when researching Virginia and my area in particular is that it is all mountain...

Here is an image of my farm

The red lines show the property lines

Here are the elevation marks in fairly random places showing how it is all hill. This is also 0.15 miles from the very top point to the one at the bottom left, this is an 11% slope

I have 3 horses out there now, still working on getting all of the fencing up. Once I have the fencing up I will probably be getting some Jacob Sheep for the wool and to help graze down some of the weeds the horses don't eat.

I do have a garden area over in that shadowy area right above the marker at the bottom left and plan to make a much bigger one over there between that bottom left area and that red and white looking building to it's right.

I would also like to get chickens at some point and maybe muscovy ducks, but I need all of the fencing up before I can add any animals out there.

 

[River Buffaloes]

One thing you probably didn't notice when researching Virginia and my area in particular is that it is all mountain...

Here is an image of my farm
View attachment 78113

The red lines show the property lines
View attachment 78114

Here are the elevation marks in fairly random places showing how it is all hill. This is also 0.15 miles from the very top point to the one at the bottom left, this is an 11% slope
View attachment 78116

I have 3 horses out there now, still working on getting all of the fencing up. Once I have the fencing up I will probably be getting some Jacob Sheep for the wool and to help graze down some of the weeds the horses don't eat.

I do have a garden area over in that shadowy area right above the marker at the bottom left and plan to make a much bigger one over there between that bottom left area and that red and white looking building to it's right.

I would also like to get chickens at some point and maybe muscovy ducks, but I need all of the fencing up before I can add any animals out there.

LoL I didn't do any research on Virginia. I was talking about the climate of Virginia being suitable and conducive to agriculture. I know that the Western part of the Commonwealth, bordering West Virginia is rather hilly. I graduated with Geography honours from University, that's how I knew.

I don't consider hilly areas particularly bad for agriculture, unless ofcourse you are situated on it's rain shadow area. The Appalachians are an example of old fold mountains. It means that the geological activities that constructed mountain range has stopped. It also means Appalachians are geologically stable, it means you are not going to experience earthquakes, geysers or volcanic activities and the land is going to continue being more and more flat.

You may think it is a long term process, which honestly it is, but forces that destroy a mountain work faster than those that create, because forces of erosion are consistent. They include rain, snow, wind, plants and animals and most importantly people.

Old fold mountains are suitable for human habitation and agriculture. The soil generally rich in minerals and the land though uneven is not nearly as treacherous as New fold mountains, you know the likes of Himalayas, Andes and Rockies and people do farm on New fold mountains as well. Also low laying flatlands and river valleys are not always sunshine and lollypopski as you might imagine. Just look at my situation.

Some of the world's largest alluvial fans are found on the Indo-Gangetic plains along the Himalayan front. Infact river Kosi forms largest alluvial fan in the world. Alluvial fans are very fertile and very suitable to work on, but they are also very flood-prone. Infact that fertile soil is the result of the floods. I showed you the pictures of the flood. Kosi river floods almost every monsoon, unless there is a particularly bad drought.

Honestly your property looks like a fine piece of land to me. If you selected it and decided to buy it, you should be well proud of yourself.

 

[Kusanar]

LoL I didn't do any research on Virginia. I was talking about the climate of Virginia being suitable and conducive to agriculture. I know that the Western part of the Commonwealth, bordering West Virginia is rather hilly. I graduated with Geography honours from University, that's how I knew.

I don't consider hilly areas particularly bad for agriculture, unless ofcourse you are situated on it's rain shadow area. The Appalachians are an example of old fold mountains. It means that the geological activities that constructed mountain range has stopped. It also means Appalachians are geologically stable, it means you are not going to experience earthquakes, geysers or volcanic activities and the land is going to continue being more and more flat.

You may think it is a long term process, which honestly it is, but forces that destroy a mountain work faster than those that create, because forces of erosion are consistent. They include rain, snow, wind, plants and animals and most importantly people.

Old fold mountains are suitable for human habitation and agriculture. The soil generally rich in minerals and the land though uneven is not nearly as treacherous as New fold mountains, you know the likes of Himalayas, Andes and Rockies and people do farm on New fold mountains as well. Also low laying flatlands and river valleys are not always sunshine and lollypopski as you might imagine. Just look at my situation.

Some of the world's largest alluvial fans are found on the Indo-Gangetic plains along the Himalayan front. Infact river Kosi forms largest alluvial fan in the world. Alluvial fans are very fertile and very suitable to work on, but they are also very flood-prone. Infact that fertile soil is the result of the floods. I showed you the pictures of the flood. Kosi river floods almost every monsoon, unless there is a particularly bad drought.

Honestly your property looks like a fine piece of land to me. If you selected it and decided to buy it, you should be well proud of yourself.

For not researching you have quite the impressive understanding of this little pocket of the world. Where I am is actually pretty much in a bowl with mountain ranges all the way around. We DO actually get earthquakes, but they are fairly mild and not super often. We also get the occasional tornado but they typically follow the major roads as they don't like hills so they hit the roads and just kind of bounce back and forth across the road as they travel.

Some of those spots on my farm are actually too steep to even take the tractor on, which is part of why I want the sheep. The horses don't like those steep places so they get overgrown, but I think I can pen the sheep into a fairly small area at a time and let them graze it all the way down and kill what they can, then re-seed with grass seed and move the sheep to a different place. After a few times of doing that they should have killed out most of the non-grass stuff. I would go behind them and finish cleaning up anything they leave in each patch, but at least I wouldn't have to strip it ALL down to the ground by hand like I would have to without the sheep.