A NEW DIRECTION FOR THE OLD RAM

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'day folks, today I was so excited to be involvel in a ZOOM with Indgo Ag. the guest speaker was Prof Fred Provenza (do a Google search).Fred and I have been involved over many years in the projects we have devoloped and it was an oppertunity to talk about our programs to both ranchers and academics in the USA.

If I am "lucky" enough to be invited back I will let you know so those who are interested can be involved in the discussion...T.O.R.

 

[Baymule]

Wow! What a good thing to be able to participate in. You have a lifetime of experience and are an asset to the entire sheep industry.

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

Thank you ,everyone.There was one moment which was memorable for me .I suggested ,"that the most under vauled" asset on the farm was the "farmers wife"? A "cheer" went up from the moderater as I went on to explain that the running of a household budget is an exersise in Economics and the profitability of a farm is no different.T.O.R.

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'day folks, I would like your views and opinuins on the following.

Given the gobal state of things,would you."Invest in increasing the output from for your present farm,or,maintain your current output and reduce your Cost Of Production by modifying your management thinking"?

This is going to be the topic for this weeks radio chat. Our circumstances as an exporting country will be different to your own,but I am interested in your views of your own domestic market...T.O.R.

 

[Bruce]

I'm not in the animal business but here are my 2 cents: Both could make sense.

Seems like producing the same for less money would pretty much always be a good idea and a goal for any producer.

With Covid vaccines becoming available people will be getting out more so there is potential for the demand to increase. Producing more might make more money depending on the net profit from each model.

If no one increases production and demand rises, sell prices will rise as well. If everyone starts producing more and the demand doesn't increase at the same rate, prices go down. I'm sure you know that though

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'day folks,I took some photos this morning of one of the ewe groups and the rams that are running with them.The ewes are a mix of W.H.Dorpers and Wiltipols,the rams are also the same breeds ,2 Wilti's and 1 Dorper.

The idea of this small group about 25 ewes is to produce a 1x ewe lamb well on the way to being locally adapted to the farm and from there to use different breeds of rams to start the process of our "ideal" mother.

P1.The two Rams,the Dorper is on the right and the Wilti is the other,both have desirable traits although the Dorper is quite a deal heavier,but the Wilti has "length".

P2/3. Are some of the ewes,both breeds in the females are quite similar and you can only distingish the difference at very close quarters..Hope you enjoy...T.O.R.

 

[farmerjan]

The sheep look really good. I like that you are trying to produce an animal that will thrive in your environment instead of chasing a "type" that has become popular.
Liked the pictures of the water and the effects of your swales to slow down and retain the water as well as keeping the soil in place with the grasses....
We had rain last night and today. Thunderstorms and some fast downpours, I saw a creek that runs along side the road that was very muddy after the hard rain earlier.

Thanks for sharing the pictures and all with us.
Seems I have heard of Fred Provenza in conjunction with rotational grazing?

With the way things are going, we are trying to cut some of our costs rather than expand our cattle herd. We are also doing a little trading since there is a buyer who can use some of the more common average cattle and wants them at a weight that seems to be a good weight for us to be able to buy "cheaply". So we are doing a little buying and selling to this person. Not having a lot invested and for not a real long time so that there is some turn over at a little bit of a profit. But we are trying to maybe manage our grass better, and trying to keep some more productive, "better cattle".... culling those that are not as good, or raise as good a calf .
I am concerned about the world wide situation, and especially the situation here in the states after our last election and the current administration. Things like the "PAUSE" bill that has been proposed in Colorado, makes you very leery of some of the extremists trying to control even the animal industries.... That bill has about as much common sense as wearing your bathing suit in a snowstorm....as far as the restrictions they want to put on farmers.... all in the name of animal welfare and all..... by people that have no idea of what really goes into safe and sensible farming practices... If you have a chance to google it, please do. I would be interested in your take on it.

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

Thank you fartmerjan, observing water flows is an important task if you wish to improve water infliltration on your farm.In reality I think you don't have to invest in expensive Swales.We were lucky in that the work had already been done,but the lack of ability by the then owners to understand meant that it never functioned until we purchased the farm and learned how to manage it.

To begin with if you have poor penertration of rainfall you have to go out there when it is raining to identify the natural water floes.Once you know how water moves ,you can then devolop systems to control those floes.Our farm is generally speaking "rolling countryside"with the fall from the highest to the lowest point s about 70 mts and our main catchment is about 400 acs.Understanding the way water moves is just your first step in understanding how to control it. When we started I had to learn about the highest part of the catchment and improve the penertration there before I could change the problems at the bottom.Ideally the flow at the bottom needs to have dispersed before the arrival of the upper catchment flows arrive. This is not an "easy task" and it took me several years to understand how to control it.

I looked for a link to how it will effect farmers but I think you will have to send me a link.Prof Fred Provenza from Utah State is a world authority in a range of HM and animal behavor subjects.

Down here I believe we as farmers are the most over regulated and taxed farmers on earth.We have to record everything we do and we are subject to being audited at any time.We must have recorded any actions relating to the stock on our farm even if we move animals from the home farm to another we own.every action we take in relation the livestock must be recorded.Right down to any chemical or fertilizer inputs used ,where and when.We must keep records when we use preditor controls at what time and where on the farm.

Your ability to devolop a buy and sell market is great along with the culling of unproductive animals.Breeding the best and selling the rest will result in a locally adapted animals which will require less work and inputs over time I am sure....Thank you for your input to the topic...T.O.R.

 

[Baymule]

PAUSE: Ballot initiative to criminalize husbandry practices would cost consumers, limit food availability

A ballot initiative proposed, currently known as Protect Animals from Unnecessary Suffering and Exploitation (PAUSE), is awaiting an appearance before the title board after being filed with the Colorado Secretary of State. Proponents Alexander Sage…

www.thefencepost.com

Remember the MeatOut Day controversy? That's nothing compared to a proposed ballot initiative.

The proposed ballot measure would make ranchers wait to slaughter animals until they are older, which ranchers say would devastate Colorado’s agriculture economy.

coloradosun.com

I couldn't find the actual bill, but found plenty of articles against it. Killing the agriculture in Colorado would mean that food would just come from other states while the idiots would congratulate themselves on "saving" animals in Colorado. How in the world did people get so stupid? Oh, wait, maybe because the marijuana stoners brains are numbed down?

 

[Baymule]

As a stubborn, independent, Remember The Alamo, Texan, I can't imagine the extreme government intrusion that you suffer under. It's getting just as bad here though. I have nothing good to say about our present administration and I'll leave it at that or I'll start saying ugly (true) things.

Hard to tell you what to do with your flock. Invest more? Hold what you have? The uncertain future market does make you think. I would think worst case scenario, since Australia is an export country, what if sales went down? Who is your market and what is the state of affairs in those countries? Then go to best case scenario with an optimistic approach, then probably hit somewhere in the middle.

For myself, we were developing a decent (small) meat business until Covid hit and it became next to impossible to get slaughter dates. We sold meat or live lambs and took them to slaughter, where people paid us for the lamb, then paid the slaughter fee when they picked up their meat. We not only broke even last year, but made a small profit. Pigs I can plan on, buying piglets and raising them to slaughter age, and book a date a year or more away. Lambs, not so much. Just a month or two can make a difference. Ewes don't ALL lamb in the same week, or even month, no matter how I plan. So we are taking ours to auction and skipping the slaughter/meat sales.

This go around, we are selling half the ewes, a grand total of 6 to auction. I am keeping 6 ewe lambs that are of much better quality. We will take lambs to auction after they get a little more size on them, they are two months old now. I'll be looking for some registered ewes to add to the flock. I have a ram that I want registered sons from, I don't want to "lose" his bloodline.

So for me, I'm upgrading my flock and will invest in better quality ewes. My flock is small, if the economy crashes and prices hit the skids, we can eat well. I could supply family and neighbors with meat. Maybe help a few others establish a small starter flock to raise their own meat. I purposely chose small livestock with an eye on worst case scenario, so I could help family and friends survive. I am optimistic that prices will go up or hold steady because people like lamb. I can jump to either best or worst case, but planning for best, prepared for worst.

I have bought giant bermuda grass seed to sow in a particularly barren strip of our land. For the past two years, we have fed the horses their hay on it, moving the bale each time, to build up the humus from the waste hay and horse manure. Going to clean out the horse barn to spread the manure in a few places the hay bales skipped over. Then disc it all in so the seed can make good ground contact and pray for rain. My "investment" is only $300 for a 25 pound bag of seed, so a much smaller scale than yours.

We have been attending local auctions, learning best time to market. Since we have put aside individual sales, we now have to learn a new game. We discovered we are in the wrong market time of year and it may take two breedings to hit the best market time for our lambs. Plus we live in an area that sheep and goats are not in the best prices, to take to a "better" auction would be over 200 miles away and 4 hours drive time. So any better price would be eaten up by fuel costs.

So that's my take on my very small operation. I'm nowhere near your operation, just a very small flock. My target is around 15 ewes, high quality registered and commercial. That will give me options of selling the top few for registered breeding stock or commercial to take to auction.