Something Blue

Prior to being an owner of laying hens I thought all eggs were white and brown. I had no idea that there were dark chocolate coloured eggs, blue eggs, olive eggs, or green eggs. 

Having said that, Dr.Seuss did tip me off as a child, but I guess I didn't believe it!

I never tire of collecting the eggs.

It's like each hen gives me a wee gift in the morning, and in return I shower them with fresh greens, homemade breads, and cornmeal.  My barred rocks routinely come up to say hello, and they appreciate a head scratch even on the coldest of days.    Like a school of fish, they all come running to me as I enter the coop. I simply can't wait for the spring to arrive, so that I can let them out of their winter home - and allow them to run freely around the yard.  

We need a plan

So where to begin in developing a farm plan? There are a number of excellent online resources. By far the best resource is an online Farm Plan software, offered for free by the University of Minnesota.

https://www.agplan.umn.edu/Default.aspx

This software not only walks you through the development of a Business Plan, it also provides tips and resources for the plan development. A huge hats off to the University of Minnesota for developing this software, and for offering it FREE to farms everywhere.

Can we visit your farm? Biosecurity

Ah, the farm. A glorious expanse of space. Fields of lush green grasses, and wildflowers dotted with cows serenely grazing. A peaceful and tranquil place to lie on a summer day and listen to the sounds of insects hard at work.

It's hard sometimes to remember what lurks below the surface. We have only recently begun to think about biosecurity, and the steps we must take as new food produces to ensure the safety of the food we produce, and ensure the health and wellness of our livestock.

Biosecurity at the farm level can be defined as the day to day practices that prevent the movement of disease-causing agents onto and off of the farm. We have to look at all aspects of "farm management", such as disease control and prevention (e.g. closed herd, vaccinations), nutrient management and visitor control. Tracing and tracking the movement of livestock is recognised as the most important biosecurity measure for most diseases, but many important hazards can be carried on contaminated clothing, boots, equipment and vehicles. This means that the single most important way we can reduce biosecurity risks is to limit the flow of visitors, particularly to fields/barns/and barnyards where animals are housed.

Issues such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, foot and mouth disease, avian influenza and Newcastle disease are very real, and can be transferred from farm to farm on shoes and clothing.  All visitors to our farm need to understand the possible risk they present when entering a farm, and what precautions need to be taken when visiting. Visitors can unknowingly bring harmful agents onto a farm via contaminated clothing and footwear, equipment and vehicles. 


So what are we doing?

• We have implemented a "no visitor" area in our barnyard, signage will advise visitors that they are entering a biosecure area.
• All visitors must "Check in" at the house and we have begun to keep a record of farm visitors, including contact information.
• Visitors must advise us if they have visited another farm within the last 7 days.
• If visitors have been to another farm, we provide them with footwear to wear on our farm if they have to go down to the barnyard area.
• We limit contact with our livestock.
• We wear "off farm boots and clothing" and remove it when we enter the farm. It is stored in an outbuilding away from the barns.
• Visitors must wash their hands before and after contact with our livestock.

We get many requests to have "parties" on the farm, but friends and family now understand that in order to be a part of their food chain, we need to ensure the safety of their food.  In the end, it means being able to offer them farm fresh naturally raised beef, pork and chicken - without the risk of disease.

Help for New Farmers

Part of jumping into farming with two feet is that you tend to spend a lot of time treading water and not really getting anywhere.

We have been on this farming adventure for 8 months now - and while it feels like decades, our chequing account is slowly taking a beating. So we realized that we needed to get serious about the "business" side of farming.

A quick google search turns up tons of resources for new farmers. In the province of Ontario (where we reside, in the great country of Canada) there are the following places to start:

• New farmer self assessment "Am I suited to farming?" (too late for us if the answer is no!) http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/busdev/newentrant/sec1.htm 
• Resources for new farmers http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/busdev/newentrant/sec9.htm
• FarmStart supports and encourages a new generation of farmers http://www.farmstart.ca/
• Farmlink - a farming network http://www.farmlink.net/new-farmers/ 
• Ministry of Agriculture has everything from free podcasts to info sheets http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/ 
• Free courses and workshops http://www.ontariosoilcrop.org/default.htm 
• Ministry of Natural Resources http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/   

 We are now signed up to take a workshop in Environmental Planning, and a Business Management for Ontario Farmers workshop. Out of this we hope to have two action plans, one for our environmental planning and one for our 3-year Business Plan. We have also been hard at work developing our biosecurity protocols. PHEW! Please remind me again why people call this a "hobby" farm?

Which do you prefer?

Maybe I should just flip a coin. In the end, I think the decision would be a whole lot easier.

Donkey or Llama?

We need something to stay in with the pigs at night when we eventually get them. It's funny really, farming is such a snowball of events. First, we will get pigs. But they need hay and grain, so we will fill the barn with hay and grain. But the grain will bring mice. So we need more barn cats. And the pigs need protecting at night, so we need a livestock guardian with them... see what I mean?

We do have two amazing livestock guardian dogs, but they come in the house at night. So we need something that lives in the pasture.

Donkey's are great because they sound the alarm, and are fairly easy to keep. However like a horse they require winter stabling. They also need a visit to the farrier on occasion.

Llamas don't require winter stabling, but don't really "raise the alarm".  I have also been told they spit and get quite a strong odour - however they are low maintenance.

I thought about simply going on the cute factor, donkey's do seem cuter. However that does seem to take the seriousness out of the decision.

I do have a fondness for donkey's, and I suppose part of that comes from my love of horses - but I don't want to be biased.

Maybe we should just get a camel.

Rainbow Bridge

It's amazing really how dogs find a way to get right into your heart. They have a way of always knowing what it is you need, whether it's a quiet companion at your feet, or just a head on your knee.

My mum's wee Maltese died today.

There was no signs of illness, he just passed away in his sleep at the age of 4. My mum came home to find his tiny body curled up on his favorite bed, peacefully asleep forever more.

My heart broke as she began to pour out her pain and it travelled across the miles of telephone cable, I could here in her voice the love she had for that tiny bundle of fur, who would steal things to be naughty and then bring them back again knowing he would get a treat.

Yes, he was spoilt. In a sense, he was her last child. Not long after my younger brother left the nest, the little dog arrived. My step-father is not a dog lover, but eventually he grew to love "Just this dog. Just our dog", and I would see him sneaking the best bits of meat to the dog who was not allowed to be fed from the table.

I had no words to offer her that would make it all right, and for a change I was the parent - offering promises that this too would pass and the pain would lessen every day.

He was a great dog. 

Make Hay When the Sun Shines

It seemed simple enough in the beginning. The farm has hayfields which have been cared for very well over the years, and are a healthy mix of Timothy grasses, clover, and alfalfa – with a smattering of cowpea mixed in for good measure. Conceivably we could take three cuts if the weather conditions favour us this year. Our idea was to get into a calf/cow operation and keep a small herd of cows.


However, we are beginning to wonder if haying our own land makes economic sense.

A cattle farmer pointed out to us that depending on the type of operation we foray in to (calf cow, stocker, yearlings etc.) it may put more dollars in our pocket to buy hay.

Initially, I objected to the idea. Buy hay?!!! Why would I buy hay when I could grow my own and with a little sweat equity fill my barn for the winter? However, as time went on, I began to explore this interesting idea.

Perhaps a calf cow operation with a hay crop is not the best option for small farmers.

Let’s look at some numbers.

We have a 50 acre holding, with about 28 acres in hay and 12 acres in pasture. (The rest is a mix of residential area and hardwood forest).

If we decide to go the route of putting away our own hay, that leaves us with only 12 acres to pasture livestock on during the summer months. Depending on the type of operation we chose, it would conceivably allow us to pasture 1 cow per acre during the early summer months, and 1 cow per 2-3 acres during the dryer months. So we could only keep 5-6 cows. (We are fortunate that our fields never get too dry as we are located above an aquifer.)

Our 28 acres of hay, with 3 cuts, may give us 60-80 five foot rounds. If we have a calf/cow operation a 1300 lb. dry pregnant cow in good condition needs to eat about 27 lbs. of hay per day to maintain her and grow her calf during the winter months. (But accounting for “spillage” or wasted hay, that figure becomes more like 35-40lbs per day.) For a small herd of 5-6 cattle, one round bale per day and a half is a good estimate. This means that we would have about 4 months of hay from our own fields, and we would then have to buy hay to make it through the remaining 3 months.

This scenario works if several factors are true.

1) That we invest money to buy a round baler and a hay bine

2) That the quality of the hay we pull from our fields is good

3) That we have some sort of structure to store round bales in. This would require buying a coverall building of some sort.



Now let’s look at the second scenario. In this scenario, we could choose to pasture cattle on all of our available pasture land. This would give us 40 acres of pasture and hayfields. If we rotational graze, we could conceivably keep 20-25 (or more!) cattle over the summer months. If we choose to go with a yearling plan, we could send ALL of the cattle to market in the fall and have an empty barn come winter. This situation would mean that:

1) We don’t have to buy a baler or a hay bine

2) We wouldn’t need anywhere to store a large amount of round bales

3) We would have less upkeep over the winter months

4) We don’t have to worry about the quality of our hay – when we buy hay we simple buy the best

Each option creates money in the bank for the farm, and it’s important to think about all aspects that will impact your return on investment. (Will grain be required for cattle? Veterinary costs? Fencing requirements? ) Market values for cattle need to be measured against the expected outcome, and in the end a the most profitable solution will emerge.

It’s kind of appealing to think of going with scenario two…as it would mean less work in the summer months and far less work in the winter months.

An interesting idea indeed.