A year in the life of a farm

[Dushon]

Mostly soybeans with iron and clay mixed in. Was supposed to be the other way around but the co-op kind of screwed me. Have sorghum in the small grain box.


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[elgato]

Here's a sight that makes a no till cover cropper happy. A 12 acre field crimped and ready to plant.I'll wait a couple weeks for it to warm up a bit first. I'll be planting a combo mix of sunn hemp, cow peas, soybeans, sunflower, and buck wheat. Good for the soil. Good for the deer.

[Puncher51]

Man that’s beautiful!

[bukkskin]

Are you asking how I keep deer out of my garden? The garden is in my yard close to my house. It is also outside the game fence. My neighbor is also an avid gardener. His home and garden are inside the fence and he does have the occasional deer in his garden. He uses a motion activated sprinkler. It's gotten me before stealing his vegetables. Quite a surprise.

Haha, works on deer and people.
Ok, was just curious. Looking for ideas.
Thanks

[gingib]

Here's a sight that makes a no till cover cropper happy. A 12 acre field crimped and ready to plant.I'll wait a couple weeks for it to warm up a bit first. I'll be planting a combo mix of sunn hemp, cow peas, soybeans, sunflower, and buck wheat. Good for the soil. Good for the deer.

So you will no till drill into this?

Yes it makes me happy! I shredded mine because thats all I had

[Sticks&Strings]

I really wish you would write a book. I'd buy it. So much info here but the format is difficult to go back and find some things. I have the pasture, tractor, shredder, sprayer, and a broadcast seeder, but not a drill. And I don't want to buy one and just waste my time and money on seed and fuel to grow weeds.

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[bukkskin]

Here's what he looked like alive. A bull!.

Holy cow, how much do you think that deer weighed?

[bgleaton]

That’s unreal! Talk about a great mulch layer, building lots of organic matter and preserving moisture. That looks amazing! I wish we could get elbon Rye or any other crop to grow that well at our place. Keep up the great work!

[Jbguide]

As with many things the nutritional content of clover 'depends'...Stage of growth, type of clover, soil nutrition etc. But all in all a very high quality feed with some clovers rivaling alfalfa for quality. Frequently protein content is in excess of 20% with very high digestibility.



I do no predator control. Never have. If I shared my full belief system on predators, habitat ecology, and natures symbiotic relationships I would probably be run off the green screen. And yes we have all predators native to our part of the country.



A very short version is that I also have a ranch deep in the heart of the Rio Grande brush country. We have as many predators as the country can support including lions, and a very healthy population of coyotes. Our habitat is very healthy and I see almost no predation problems. The exception to that is occasionally I have to address lions...never coyotes. I can elaborate in great detail if interested but know that we hardly ever loose bucks once they get old enough to be identified.

Please elaborate!!


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[elgato]

Please elaborate!!


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OK, I'll give it a try to explain my approach.

I view both the ranch and the farm as holistic ecosystems. Meaning I consider all aspects of the environment , fauna, flora, the microbes and unimaginable soil life and everything in between as vital to a fully functioning healthy ecosystem. When I'm in the environment I want to see life in all its forms flourishing. I believe it starts with vibrant healthy soil then works upward to the 'highest' life forms [ if one wants to delineate the value of life forms?] So healthy soil yields healthy grasses and forbes, yields healthy shrubs, yields healthy trees, yields healthy mice and rats yields healthy rabbits...and on up the spectrum. Predators fit right in there and have a critical place in achieving balance. Like anything in nature I believe excess pressure or support of any aspect of the overall ecology can have unintended consequences. Balance is valuable.

However we all know that nature achieves balance in sometimes harsh ways from our perspective.The cycles of nature can be long and extreme. so many of us as managers try to moderate balance in shorter cycles according to our value system or priorities. For example we try to keep deer populations in check to avoid the big picture cycles of population explosion and crashes. Or we try to reduce or eliminate predators presumably to increase fawn survival or maybe because we just don't want to see them cause we would rather see more deer. Many times our focus can be misdirected because the building blocks of the habitat are the issue and thats where the solution lies.Simply stated , if we had more grass, would we have more mice rabbits etc thus have easier meals for the predators. If we have a balanced deer herd ratio, would we get tighter fawning with higher survival because of numbers hitting the ground at the same time with abundant grass to hide in? To me it all fits together.

As stated above my value system is to see life flourishing throughout the system. I consider it success to see lots of everything functioning in a healthy system . Magnificent abundance! My experience is by creating a robust habitat, the entire spectrum of indigenous life forms flourishes. I see lots of predators and also lots of small critters that the predators like to eat . In nearly 40 years of kicking around the brush country I have seen 1...ONE...yearling buck getting eaten by coyotes. Of course they get a few fawns that I don't see but what I know is that I get fully acceptable fawn production every year even in droughty years. Good enough for me. I have never seen a coyote eat a deer on my farm and our fawn production is extraordinarily high. So I see no reason to try to reduce or eliminate predators at all. Besides I think they play a critical role in the overall ecology and are fun to watch. [I once watched a bobcat and coyote bump in to each other without knowing the other was there till they were very close. The reactions were comical}

Now, all that said, I have no problem with the occasional predator hunt. Its fun and I think nature replenishes quickly. At the ranch we have had lions get out of control and we addressed it. Take one or two out and problem solved. Beyond that there has been a strong lion population in our country since the day I arrived. Nonetheless we rarely lose mature deer once we start following them . And anybody that has ever seen a lion while tooling around the ranch comes away super excited. Its a rare and rewarding sight.

I consider myself first and foremost a habitat manager striving to create the most vibrant ecosystem and habitat possible. I try to create environments where the full spectrum of life can flourish.I think just about as much how to improve the soil as how to improve the deer herd. Healthy predator populations are just a part of it. In doing so I find the resident deer herd does quite well and with just a little attention meets all the goals I have ever set.....which modestly stated is to have the best dam native deer herd there is. { Trying to catch Marco...high standard! }

[Jbguide]

Thanks for taking the time to explain! What’s the best method for removing lions?


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[elgato]

Goat in protected compartment in trap. Takes patience but works.

Dogs are frequently used. I have had mixed results mostly poor. Unless you hit a hot trail its tough to bring dogs in cold with success. That said we once had an old male that started killing colts. He had been around for years but such behavior got him in trouble. Brought dogs in and after chasing him over 3 ranches got him.

Ny favorite lion chase though involves an old Mexican named Enriche[sp?]. Years back he took his dog and while riding a horse chased a lion up a tree. He took out his lariat, roped the lion in the tree, tide the rope to the horse. Then proceeded to kill the lion with a bat. Amazing the horse was more afraid of him than the lion.

All said there is no easy way to get lions. We generally see 2-3 every season and always get pics every year.

[Jbguide]

Looks awesome! I need to build one for my lease.


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[Reaper87]

Goat in protected compartment in trap. Takes patience but works.

Dogs are frequently used. I have had mixed results mostly poor. Unless you hit a hot trail its tough to bring dogs in cold with success. That said we once had an old male that started killing colts. He had been around for years but such behavior got him in trouble. Brought dogs in and after chasing him over 3 ranches got him.

Ny favorite lion chase though involves an old Mexican named Enriche[sp?]. Years back he took his dog and while riding a horse chased a lion up a tree. He took out his lariat, roped the lion in the tree, tide the rope to the horse. Then proceeded to kill the lion with a bat. Amazing the horse was more afraid of him than the lion.

All said there is no easy way to get lions. We generally see 2-3 every season and always get pics every year.

Enriche is a bad bad man with big stones.

[lovemylegacy]

elgato, watching you is like watching Grant Woods