A NEW DIRECTION FOR THE OLD RAM

The Old Ram-Australia

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G'day folks,Yes Bay,Micro is a great grass,drought tolerant it responds to a fall of rain no matter what time of the year.Terrific for sheep /goats,probably not enough bulk or volume for cattle though bearing in mind that it evolved feeding roos and wombats.Managed thoughtfully it only needs "sheep poo" and ours seems to thrive in the woodland areas.

I will try to post the next photo series later today.Expecting more rain this week and we have to go into town this morning after feeding the sheep for another big bale of hay.....T.O.R.
 

Baymule

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We have been getting a pasture ready to plant grass seed. It's the one we had the forestry mulcher clear for us. Just a couple more weeks until planting. It will be a mix of Bahia and Bermuda. When that takes hold, I will add more grasses and forbs. It is work to get good grass established. Your pictures cheer me up, the before and after!
 

The Old Ram-Australia

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So here are the latest photos of the recovery in our pastures after the rains came.If you return to the first photos of the sacrifice paddocks the first photo is of one after it was "rested" for 7 days.I am hoping that the other one responds in a similar manner....Just had a look at the "grazing budget" for the main one (still grazing and feeding out hay in it) and it has had twice its whole years budget of "sheep grazing days".......The recovery of this paddock will be the biggest test of our management system.We will keep you all in the "loop" with photos as we start the recovery period.....T.O.R.
 

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Baymule

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That green is outstanding. May it continue to grow! You sure had a bad year, drought and fires, enough to knock anybody in the dirt. What a recovery from scorching drought. How is the farm that burned several times? I’m sure the fences are down, good grief, that will be a chore.
 

Bruce

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Nice looking green you have there!
Do the sheep eat the "tufted" grasses?
 

The Old Ram-Australia

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Hi, no Bay ,we have not had the time to get out their again as yet,because the bridge on the direct route has collapsed and it will be another month before they finish the new one.

Hi Bruce,the tufted one is Poa Tussock.After rain it does shoot away ,with the old flock they used to eat the flower and seed heads.The new flock will eat the old as well as the new growth. The nature of the growth is such that it will shade out competition and so we find that if we burn it (in sections) the plant responds with a new flush of growth and seeding and it allows a more diverse group of plants to flourish around them.In its mature form it is very handy when lambing as it provides cover from the cold,wind and heat and cover from roaming foxes,all round a pretty useful plant...T.O.R.
 

Bruce

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And cover FOR the roaming foxes!
I'm sure you are quite glad the fox hunters in the 1800's decided they needed local sport ;)
 

Baymule

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Collapsed the bridge? Back in a month, that's not too bad. When we moved here 5 years ago, it was record breaking rains. A dam broke and washed out a road, it took months to fix it. On another road, the rain washed out half of the road, it was down to 1 lane with steep drop offs, that one took a year before they got it fixed.
 

The Old Ram-Australia

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G'day, i think the reason for the "rush" is that there are only 2 roads to the coast from the nations capital and the other one is prone to being cut for all sorts of reason.

We are so lucky(not) when it comes to the introduction of foreign animals,we have Buffalo,horses, camels, goats ,donkeys, deer,rabbits to mention only some. All of them arrived with the best of intentions ,but in the end were just "turned loose" into the wild.

At the moment i am considering a new topic regarding the education of a young bitch Kelpie X we bred.I am sure it will be of interest but it will be as with everything a time thing ,but i will endevour to talk about my methods of training a herding dog for the benifiet of others....T.O.R.
 

Baymule

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At least some of those animals could be slaughtered for the meat. I dunno how people would feel about eating camels and horses though. The do-gooders here in the USA had the horse slaughter houses closed down, now the horses are shipped long distances to Mexico or Canada. They didn't stop a durn thing, just made it worse for the horses. Rant over.

All those non native animals must wreak havoc on the native animals habitat. Is there any kind of controls, hunting or anything like that?
 
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