Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[Baymule]

Winter just doesn't want to let go! Please take it easy and don't push too hard or you may get sicker and make this mess last longer.

What do y'all do to keep your fence rows clean? Or do you let them grow up in brush and small trees? The place I am buying is fenced for cattle, so I will have to take the barbed wire down and replace it with sheep and goat wire. A lot of the fence row is grown up in brush and is a mess. I don't want to put up a nice and EXPENSIVE fence for it all to grow up again. I read about the mares dropping their foals after eating grass sprayed with round up, don't want that. Plus I am sensitive to chemicals myself. Will grazeon keep a fence row from growing up in brush, briars and trees?

 

[farmerjan]

@Baymule ... look under the Tx NRCS usda.gov (for your state)... it is in with the extension service. If you call your local county extension service, they should be able to tell you what is available. I do know that our program runs July to July, that is why my DS is putting his off to "qualify" in July... it gives you 2 years to do the work once you qualify. I do not know what is available for different states. It is to improve water quality and with your ponds you should qualify.
The local extension service will have to send someone out to look at what you want to do, talk to you about all sorts of stuff, tell you what will qualify.... If that is the case, get it so you get in it, at the first of July... that is the date here, but it might be different there... because then you have 2 years to get it completed. Sure you want to get it all done sooner... but if you qualify... get it approved for EVERYTHING and ANYTHING you are thinking of doing... You have to pay all up front, and will get reimbursed when it is completed. No partial payments, but if you are looking at doing alot, and the finances are tight, a home/farm equity loan for a currently low interest rate NOW, would be the way to go and then pay it off when you get reimbursed. So anything you don't do, is not the end of the world. Better for them to approve abcd, xyz and you decide to only do abc,x....There are set backs for the water.... and you get paid more if you set back like 50 ft from the water as opposed to being 25 ft from it.... But if you go on that site, you will get some ideas and then talk to an "agent"..... that is what DS did and he got some good ideas and they were working up a plan.... they will inspect when it is done and then pay on the actual # of posts, wire, everything... KEEP RECEIPTS for EVERYTHING.

 

[farmerjan]

We find the cows do a decent job of keeping most of the junk out of the fence rows.... we have multiflora rose that is a B*#@H... and autumn olive trees... and cedars. We just start in the spring, and walk every fence... Cut trees off/down that are a problem... cut out any brush.... we don't bother with the cedars in the fence rows as they will actually help to keep the cattle off the fences. We also try to bush hog once a year most of the places, right up as close to the fences as we can. No we don't use much in the way of chemicals. DS does use something on the multiflora roses some places... usually gets the co-op to come in and spray if we have alot of "junk" in the field... we do have a lot of trouble with horse nettle in the hayfields and I do know that DS uses Grazon on them. Normally see it in 2nd cutting. The only place he uses Roundup is on the corn, where he is renovating to put back in orchard grass and trying to kill off the johnson grass. As a rule we do not hardly ever use any herbicides in pastures. Mostly, mowing before the seeds are mature will help to keep stuff in check. And we are not fanatical about clean pretty fence rows.
That is something to ask your extension agent about too. Your weeds there will be somewhat different than what we have here.

 

[farmerjan]

One suggestion @Baymule ... get an estimate from a fencing company.... if they do it right, they should take a skid loader or a bull dozer and put fence up in a cleared out fence row. Make it so you can drive around the inside (where possible). Then if you start out clean, it will be alot easier to keep it "clean". It might be your best use of time, money and energy to get a professional company to do the outside perimeter fence... Can't hurt to get estimates...
DS has decided to get a friend/fence builder to come in and drive all the posts that he hasn't gotten to, because they can do it faster than he can with the guy he has helping him... then he can go and put up the fence later. The fence builders do it for a living and that means they want to get it done "faster" .... Since your farm is being divided off a bigger piece, there might be some way to get some of the perimeter paid for????

 

[Baymule]

With up coming knee surgery, I won’t be outside afterward doing heavy hard work. My goal is to get enough fenced to be able to move the sheep.

The fence rows have some good posts in them. I’d hate for a bull dozer to roll them up. I’ll just have to “get there” and figure out what to do. I may call out a fence contractor for an estimate, that is a good idea. Or maybe hire a few guys to go clear the fence rows, it would take me a long time!

By May, it will already start getting hot and I’ll have to hit it early in the mornings and be careful not to over do myself.

7’ T-posts are ranging from $7.99 to $12.99 EACH! Sheep and goat wire has jumped from $249 to $339 per 330’ roll. Good thing the NRCS gives 2 years, I may have to buy a little at a time. Since they only reimburse for interior fence, just leave the outer fence rows and do them after getting reimbursed? LOL

 

[Bruce]

Since they only reimburse for interior fence, just leave the outer fence rows and do them after getting reimbursed? LOL

Sure, why not? Explain to the sheep and especially the dogs that they aren't supposed to go past where the perimeter fence is, kinda sorta.

 

[Alaskan]

With up coming knee surgery, I won’t be outside afterward doing heavy hard work. My goal is to get enough fenced to be able to move the sheep.

The fence rows have some good posts in them. I’d hate for a bull dozer to roll them up. I’ll just have to “get there” and figure out what to do. I may call out a fence contractor for an estimate, that is a good idea. Or maybe hire a few guys to go clear the fence rows, it would take me a long time!

By May, it will already start getting hot and I’ll have to hit it early in the mornings and be careful not to over do myself.

7’ T-posts are ranging from $7.99 to $12.99 EACH! Sheep and goat wire has jumped from $249 to $339 per 330’ roll. Good thing the NRCS gives 2 years, I may have to buy a little at a time. Since they only reimburse for interior fence, just leave the outer fence rows and do them after getting reimbursed? LOL

Could you use a headlamp and do fencing at night? Good and cool then.... usually.

 

[farmerjan]

If you get someone to give an estimate, then maybe you could get the good T-posts out before they come? Then let them get the fence and crappy posts all taken out? Don't know how bad it is.
If you get the nrcs to agree and give you a plan, then the fencing will have to be done before they will pay... Not saying that you couldn't leave the exterior fence for now, except where you want the sheep for the time being.... and then get the interior fencing up with money you have set aside... and then after getting paid for it, use it for the exterior fence costs.... I guess that as long as you put up what is on the agreed on plan, there isn't much they can say what you use the reimbursed money for... they will only reimburse you for what ever is on the plan.... One way or another, you are going to be paying for the exterior fence and hopefully they are going to pay a percentage for the interior fence... no one said you have to do the exterior first.... do as @Bruce said and tell the sheep and dogs they can only go to a certain distance even if it is not "fenced"....

 

[farmerjan]

Turned out to be a nice day today. Sun was out, very light breeze. It finally warmed up to the low 60's.
Carried the water out to the chickens, did that. Got the meter brackets that I will need, changed for the next farm and the extras into the storage box. Figure the rest can just get switched over to whatever vehicle I am going to drive. Got the bags of garbage for the dumpster in the back of the truck with the old net wrap... will take it tomorrow down to the dumpster. Got a couple more small bags here in the house to go too.

Stomach was growling so I made a sandwich and then sat for a little bit. Put some laundry in... and noticed that it looked like some of the seeds were sprouting. So, decided I needed to work on them. Had real good germination on the tomatoes that I had sprouted... red cherry, red pear, yellow pear, and a large red called indigo... from PineTree seeds 2 years ago. There is another bag with seeds but they are 10 yrs old according to the date I found on the pkg... So, will give them another day or 2 and then just toss that paper towel. The pepper seeds I planted directly into the pots... not up yet. Then did a second load of clothes... all are jeans and sweatshirts... and got them hung late this afternoon. I will do the white load tomorrow... towels and such... It is supposed to be mostly sunny, then clouding up Monday and rain on Tuesday. If I get them done and out on the line tomorrow morning, they ought to be good by evening... and the jeans and all ought to be dry by then too. We are supposed to get more wind tomorrow too...so nice soft towels....

Then locked up chickens and in for the night . Made some flavored rice package... been trying to be a little careful of stomach from this cold because I have so much sinus drip and nose blowing. I wasn't really hungry so figured that getting something to "fill up the empty space" would make it easier to go to sleep later. I have been blowing my nose so much that I have gotten a bloody nose again....GRRRR....

Some of the african violets that I treated myself to have some blooms on them... one of the tiny miniatures has variegated white and green leaves and pretty little white flower .... one of the bigger ones has a pretty purple and white flower... even the one that had 3 broken leaves is growing more leaves now. The rest of the rescued/salvaged ones are starting to look real nice and dark green and healthy and I see some flower stalks coming up through the leaves. It will be fun to see what they are.
Got a half dozen baby spider plants in cups rooting...

Did not find an egg for the brown hen again... and I saw her go in the spot where they have both been laying some... the white one had already laid in the crate before I let them out...but no egg so the brown hen must be going somewhere else to lay....

Got 3 of the 4 herds set up for next week... just have not talked to the owner sampler herd. 500+ cow herd with DS on Tuesday afternoon... 125 mile away herd in northern Va on Wed, the other smaller herd of 75 cows on Thursday. That ought to give the farmer that does the owner sampler a couple days to figure out what he wants to do.... I will be going through there within 5-6 miles of his farm all 3 days... I can leave the meters and hoses Tues and he can test any days between Tues aft and Thurs morning; and then pick them up on thursday; and I can use the meters on Thursday afternoon at the other herd. Tues and Wed don't use meters. I didn't hear back from him and he does not "conduct business" on Sunday, they are Mennonite; so I will be on the phone first thing Monday to find out what is what.

So, I think that was enough for today. Going in to take a shower and maybe read a little and get some sleep.

 

[farmerjan]

Up and clothes in the washer. White socks and stuff, so they are soaking for a bit. It is already 56 outside. Only got down to 44. There is a stronger breeze than yesterday, already. Going to be warmer but much windier according to the weather forecast.

Gotta eat, so might as well be eggs for the protein.

And I need to see whether the truck will start, or if I need to put it on the battery charger so I can get rid of the trash stuff later. If it starts, then maybe I can get by with this battery for awhile.

Making a list of what needs to be done this week so I don't forget something.