From the Farm: A Peak Oil Journal

PhebaAndThePilgrim

Good day from Pheba, from the farm:
I have not posted in a while. Things have been hectic here on the farm. The Pilgrim works full time as a carpenter, and also cares for the farm.
Right now it is calving season. We are having a good season. We have a 100% live birth rate.
I do not know what the future holds for our ability to raise beef cattle.
I have talked it over with the Pilgrim, and we thought that posting a journal might be a good way to give a small insight into farming as it relates to our present economic and energy crisis.
We will not be able to post all of the time, but having a regular thread will help make it easier, especially for the Pilgrim.
He doesn't have much free time, and is just learning about the internet.
We are so grateful for our mild spring weather.
We just barely squeaked by this year on our hay.
We could not afford to fertilize this year so our hay situation for next winter is already iffy. Our yield will be lower. How much lower waits to be seen. The Pilgrim has never omitted fertilizer from our grass raising program before.
We only use nitrogen on the warm season native grass (22 acres). but we need potash and phosphate for the fescue and legumes, especially the clover.
We ended up with one half a bale left in the bale feeder this week. The grass is just coming on.
The cattle are craving the green grass. They would not eat hay right now if we had it.
The problem is that the grass has very little nutrient value this time of the year, and the cows are nursing calves.
We have a lick tank. A lick tank is a huge plastic tank filled with a molasses solution with synthetic urea in it. The cattle lick the supplement and convert it to protein.
The cattle are adapting to the switch in diet from dry roughage to wet grass. The fresh wet grass goes through them quickly resulting in mineral loss.
We went to town Saturday to purchase mineral for the cattle.
Last spring we paid $23.00 a hundred for mineral. this year we paid $41.00.
We were not able to fertilize because fertilizer costs double in one year. We just can't afford it.
Last year we made a profit on the cattle of $700.00. We have been married for 11 years, and this is the second time the farm has shown a profit.
Disaster struck. After calving season and haying season comes breeding season. Gestation for cows is about 9 months.
the goal is to breed most of them at the same time.
For many farmers calving starts in February. We switched to April a few years ago, and have really reduced our calving loss.
We had two bulls last year. We sold one bull. Bulls are expensive to care for. The bull we sold was related to many of our girls, so we had no use for him.
The second bull is a small red angus and is best used on smaller cows, preferably first time calvers (heifers).
Three weeks ago the semen tank (liquid nitrogen) developed a leak and we lost many hundreds of dollars worth of semen.
I wonder at the future of such technology. I wonder at the future of farming.
From the farm, Pheba.
Our plan is to artifically inseminate our cattle

Heineken

You may have to re-think how you farm, Pheba.

What you're growing, and how you grow it.

In Missouri you might, for example, be able to grow mushrooms (e.g., shiitake and oyster). I have had good results with these, on a small (noncommercial) scale.

Or, how about an apple or plum orchard?

Etc.

Think laterally. Farming in this country needs to be completely reprogrammed, in my view. Hay and corn and beef seem like the past to me, not the future.
_________________
"Actually, humans died out long ago."
---Abused, abandoned hunting dog

"Things have entered a stage where the only change that is possible is for things to get worse."
---Me and my brother

threadbear · Expert Joined: Jan 22, 2005 Posts: 7783

I don't know how much land you have, but hemp is a great multi-use crop, and I think you can get strains that are THC free, therefore legal. Not sure about that. Just googled. Not legal in the U.S. Too bad. Considered moving to Canada?

skyemoor

Agree with Heineken that farmers' strategic planning needs to be flexible and adaptive to new situations, such as high fertilizer costs and other resource requirements of the marketable product.

Hay will likely still be with us for some time, though perhaps not in the form it's stored in currently (large round bales). Farm animals will need to have hay for winter feeding, unless one uses a large amount of land for 'stockpiling' of fall grass growth (land that could be growing other crops).
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davep · Expert Joined: Jun 21, 2006 Posts: 1402 Location: Europe

Christ, good luck to you. As Heineken says, try to diversify. There are ways of increasing profitability through a diversified setup, but it takes a lot of energy and, if possible, direct marketing.

I don't know if you've read any of Joel Salatin's books, but they'd be a good place to start.
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UncoveringTruths · Intermediate Crude Joined: Nov 04, 2004 Posts: 902

steam_cannon · Expert Joined: Dec 28, 2006 Posts: 2560 Location: MA

oneplain1 · Tar Sands Joined: Nov 18, 2007 Posts: 54

You are in the same boat as everyone else P&P.
Sounds like you could be just over the hill from me!
We've not been so lucky with calves this spring...lost 2.
The farmers that are spreading fertilizer on hay meadows are surely hoping the high prices for hay hold on....the ones who aren't (me included) are praying for rain.
I plan on reducing the herd here in the next month or two...while hopefully the prices are good..I look for them to be hit hard by the corn prices later on...it's been a rough 12 months in my neck of the woods.
Ironic isn't it...just when the world needs more food....I need to scale back just to save what topsoil I have.
Farmers may not make much on the bottom line....but we sure do eat good Smile

steam_cannon · Expert Joined: Dec 28, 2006 Posts: 2560 Location: MA

PhebaAndThePilgrim

Down here on this farm everything is doing about normal. As Pheba reported, after a more normal winter which followed a very dry growing season, we just squeaked by on forage this winter.
Ive been on this piece of ground for thirty-five years as the caretaker/owner and Pheba has helped for the last eleven. Last year was just our turn to be dry along with other parts of the US.
As for the grousing of ours on the increases in inputs this is just normal for farmers. (Really, almost anyone when they are presented with increasing prices).
Heineken,
We have more than one egg in our basket. A small orchard of apples and peaches. A garden, blackberries ( cash crop ), thinking of planting raspberries on the other side of our place, and we raise some of our cattle for direct sale to local consumers.
Pheba and I, as well as most of the readers on this site, realize that our petroleum based and constant economic growth world cannot be sustained let alone keep increasing. We are attempting to downsize and become more self-reliant. I'm not trying to cut myself off from the rest of the world (although at times I would like to flush a large part of it down the toilet).
There is a young man nearby that is starting a CSA. His great-uncle farmed our place before I purchased it and I worked and learned from his g-uncle. Now we are attempting to help this young man and he is teaching us some new tricks also.
So long for now, Pilgrim.

Heineken

Good luck with your transformation, Pilgrim. Sounds like you're doing it the right way---a bit at a time rather than all at once.

Each year I try a few new things, fully expecting that some will fail.

My main problem, other than Japanese beetles, is that I don't have much help (often, none). So it's unlikely I will ever be able to feed myself off the land, much less make any money at it. Esp. as I get older.

Can one man be a farmer? Probably not. You need a wife, a family, employees, community---some combination of those. I'm a product of our times---socially isolated after passage through the poisonous suburban digestive tract.
_________________
"Actually, humans died out long ago."
---Abused, abandoned hunting dog

"Things have entered a stage where the only change that is possible is for things to get worse."
---Me and my brother

PhebaAndThePilgrim

Good morning from Pheba, from the farm:
It is about 9:00 a.m. here on the farm. I am in a lot of pain this morning. I have lupus, and I get flares when I do not get enough sleep.

Last night shortly after my hubby posted his journal, a neighbor called. He had a cow that was calving, and she was having problems. Pilgrim went to help, and they pulled the calf. Saved the calf and the mother, but it is going to be a battle.
The calf is what we call overcooked. The gestation period went too long, and the calf, a big bull calf, grew too big. The head gets squeezed out of shape, and they have trouble nursing for a few days until the swelling goes down. (you rarely find this problem in heifers. It is mostly the bull calves)

Pilgrim finally made it home about midnight. I could not sleep and
was up until 2:00. Pilgrim left for work at 6:00. At 6:30 our neighbor knocked on the door, and woke me up to borrow some colustrum. (colustrum is the vital first milk for the calf. It contains bacteria necessary to start the digestive process, and immunity for the calf)

This morning I am a train wreck. I hurt all over, and have a pounding headache. I have to go grocery shopping, and run errands. Our 3 grandsons are spending the weekend, and we are setting up a Peak Oil awareness booth at our local Earth Fair this weekend.

We do not mind helping our neighbor last night. That is what it means to be a part of a community. We instantly drop
everything and go help. That is what neighbors do.
We have several neighbors that live in double-wide trailers. They are from the city. They do not speak to us. The only time we hear from them is in the winter. They ask us to blade the snow from their driveway with our tractors. They have no sense of community.

Yes, the transformation is slow. Most folks do not understand farmers, or what it means to be a small farmer. I am not posting this journal to whine about high prices. I am posting to help connect the dots between peak oil, and agriculture.
My husband has been a cow man for most of his life. When I say that the farm and the cattle are a part of him, I do not exaggerate.
It is in his blood.

For decades he followed the Farm Journal mags with their slick ads for the latest chemicals and gadgets. For years he followed the Missouri Ag dept., and other ag. groups.
But in his soul he has always been a pilgrim. His concern for nature was there. He has been working on tree planting and conservation for decades.
For a farmer to make changes, the above voices must be turned off, tuned out, and overcome.

Pilgrim still reads farm journals. But, there are no fancy chemicals on this farm. We do not inject our cattle with any chemicals or hormones.
We do worm them, and treat them for flies.

We are very fortunate. We do not have Japanese Beetles. I would be upset if we did. I have 65 rose shrubs. I raise mostly Buck roses (Univ. of Iowa. Buck Roses). I know they do not feed anybody. But, they are beautiful, and I enjoy them. I raise my roses organically. No sprays.

Heineken, there is no way we could feed ourself from our place. Even with all of our work, we barely make a dent in our food consumption. When I hear people waxing poetic about raising their own food I just nod my head and let them dream.
The work involved is staggering.

We have a neighbor who raises goats. Raise is not actually the best word. He fences goats, and they raise themselves. The goats were brought in to graze on the side of a huge dam behind an irrigation lake. The area is impossible to mow. The goats keep it grubbed down to nothing. This neighbor also has two burros, a llama, several sheep and other assorted strange herbivores thrown into the herd.

It is a sight to drive by and see the menagerie. We call it the petting zoo. I don't like goats. Goats are terribly destructive to pasture. So are sheep. They must be carefully managed, and rotated frequently. Otherwise they are very destructive.

Cattle only have one set of teeth, bottom teeth. They crop grass by tearing it. Horses, goats, and sheep have two sets of teeth. They crop grass by nibbling it. Unless they are moved frequently goats and sheep will nibble grass down to the root and kill it.
Horses are not as bad to do this as sheep and goats.

The Middle East was formerly a paradise, lush trees, pastures, etc.
Sheep, goats, and tree felling have turned the area into a wasteland. A few goats and some olive trees are all that can be supported in the area now. I don't like goats.

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. Actually, this is not true with a cow. Most cattle will stay under fence, if they have enough to eat. A fence jumping cow does not stay on a farm for very long.
A sheep, or a goat on the other hand, is a total nuisance to keep under fence. There is an old saying among sheep farmers: "if the head goes, the body follows". The way a sheep is built, if they can fit their head through a hole, they will squeeze their body through to follow. Sheep are stupid. I raised sheep one time in my life.
Never again.
Sheep die easy. Another farmer saying is: "A down sheep is a dead sheep".

On the positive side, goats will eat just about anything. they are great for clearing brush.

Well, off to get some groceries for the grandkids. Have a great day.
Pheba.

pstarr

Thanks Pheba for the journal and I hope you feel better soon. Smile

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Pops

Bull calves get big and make trouble before and after they hit the ground!

When we first started raising dairy calves on the bottle we thought the big ones were great but have since decided the biggest ones are hardest.

One big guy about a week and a half old took up several hours of my time last night. He wouldn't suck, was bloated, head and ears down and when we looked there was no sign of poop in his pen.

The neighbor had a heifer calf just the same a few weeks ago that died after he gave her every shot imaginable.

Anyway we gave him a couple of "Blue Pills" - a sulfa drug bolus that usually gets their appetite back up pretty quick when they don't want to nurse. Then I tubed him - stuck a plastic tube down his throat to release the gas and relieve the bloat. Then he got a little mineral oil enema and a good belly massage every half hour for several hours.

I was sure he would be dead this morning but he was trying to get over the gate to that bottle!

Sometimes the bums just dare you to keep them alive...

BTW Pheba it reads lots better, thanks!
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patience · Expert Joined: Jan 04, 2008 Posts: 1761

Pheba and Pops,
Farming is way of life that only those who have done it really understand in all it's nuances. I have great respect for folks like you who are trying their best to do it in the best way possible. I've lived that life and it ain't easy, and it's more difficult to swim against the tide of "modern" farming. Hang in there!
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