Droppings

I would hope that by now everyone has organized their garden plans complete with seeds and soil preps. Though still a bit early for outside planting of most seed crops, it’s just the right time for onion sets and seed potatoes. Also time to start your indoor seedlings such as tomato. Now, as I’m the livestock and infrastructure guy, our broiler chicks are developing really well in the brooder. They are over a pound each after their first ten days and I only lost one the first day when he drowned in one of the waterers. The baby goats have all been disbudded and tattooed as they progress towards that ‘big day’ of getting to join the rest of the herd upon being weaned, at which point all the milk is mine!!

The well house has been placed up by the new pasture gate and awaits a dryer spell of weather to get an excavator up there to dig the well. In the mean time I’ll be stringing fence wire and spreading some soil amendments along with seed in advance of placing cattle there. Speaking of cattle, we have a new white-face steer scheduled to arrive the beginning of June. We put a deposit down on a new Nubian buck who will also arrive in June when weaned. He boasts truly excellent genetics and will probably be as popular with the does as with folks seeking to purchase his future offspring. I can’t tell you how excited we are to have him join our herd.

We’ve started cutting and splitting firewood in preparation for the coming Winter. It’s interesting how Winter weather varies so much in New England… one year we’ll burn three cords of firewood and then the next requires six cords! Hopefully we’ll get that all securely stacked before haying season commences. The weather is so unpredictable. It’s sort of that way with freezer space too. We have several relatives who decided that it would be a good idea to put away some food – “Just in case”, only to discover they are too late! No freezers available at any of the big box stores.

For my local farming friends who have never read Ol’ Remus’ WOODPILE REPORT, you might enjoy – Have you ever wondered what a collapse would really look like? It’ll make you feel happy to be a farmer!

Heck, if we throw in the forecast food shortages resulting from the Grand Solar Minimum, I can only thank my lucky stars that I chose to farm! I never thought I’d hear myself say that but every season brings an opportunity to try something new. We pay attention to which way the wind blows and try to prepare for life’s surprises. Never did I have any interest in sports anyway so I can’t say I’m going to miss them as I’m too busy getting things ready for this year’s broiler chickens to concern myself with that. My NBA addict (Janice) has resigned herself to getting an early start on high tunnel crop plantings. We’re enjoying farm-fresh salads already!

March weather has been wonderfully mild this year so I figured I’d build a new brooder while I wait for that early morning call from our postmaster. ‘Social distancing’ is another name for farming; There are so many things to keep us occupied at this time of year there’s just no time or reason to be concerned about the outcome of any of the leading MSM headlines. Being quarantined to the farm is a blessing in disguise as there’s only so many hours in a day to complete our chores and socializing, though a nice chance to rest, cuts into it. Food is not an issue on a farm and that fact reminds me of a phrase an old friend often repeated: “Don’t prepare to just survive, prepare to not notice”.

Two more weeks until the goats freshen and all the bottle feedings commence in earnest. Then it starts all over again… cheese making, haying, cutting and stacking firewood, preserving this years crops and celebrating Gods provision. If you haven’t figured it out yet, we have no control over circumstances, but total control over our attitude!

A marked increase in “Nanny state” politics has evolved in both local and Federal government. Mandatory vaccinations, mandatory health care, mandatory compliance with legislation influenced by corporate interests and un-elected officials. The days of informed consent and personal freedom of choice appear to be a thing of the past. Today dairy farmers in this “Live Free or Die” state face potential financial loss due to the opinion of an Agriculture Commissioner who feels that, since he doesn’t believe in the benefits of raw milk and raw milk products, dairy consumers shouldn’t be allowed to have that choice.

In early 2012 legislation sponsored by Reps. Comtois,  Groen,  S. Palmer and Rep. Okerman was brought before the NH House committee on Environment and Agriculture on behalf of several small farmers seeking relief from onerous regulation of farm products. With the support and leadership of the Patriot Pastor – Garrett Lear, well-known defender of our Constitutional rights, this small group of New Hampshire citizens and patriots reestablished the rights of consumers to make their own food choices.

That legislation, House Bill 1402 (HB1402), through the cooperative efforts of NH Health and Human Services and the newly organized Microfarmers of NH, resulted in meaningful changes to existing law allowing New Hampshire’s largest proportion of farmers – those earning less than $100,000 per year – to meet customer demands for raw milk products. Thus, Microfarmers of New Hampshire was born as a group of local farmers determined to advance pro-farm legislation to assure that local demand for healthy farm products will be met for the foreseeable future.

Previous advances allowed for direct sales of raw milk products without a milk producer-distributor license for certain small scale dairy producer-distributors in addition to exempting certain homestead food operations and homestead food products from licensure by the department of health and human services. It is time for Small & Beginner Farmers of NH to voice support for these rights as well as for the passage of HB 1592-FN to our legislators and Governor Sununu who appointed Jasper.

Sale of cheese, yogurt, butter or other dairy products made from raw or heat treated milk:

RSA184:30-a allows for “the sale, within the state, of cheese made from raw milk when such cheese has been aged a minimum of 60 days at a temperature above 35 degrees Fahrenheit, and is clearly labeled as unpasteurized.” This matches the language in section 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations part 133, the federal cheese laws.

RSA184:30-a also states that “This section shall not prohibit the direct sale of yogurt made with raw milk by the producer in this state, provided that such yogurt is clearly labeled as having been made with raw milk.” This is contrary to federal requirements for yogurt and applies only to raw milk yogurt made within the state and sold directly to consumers within the state.

Unfortunately, Commissioner Shawn Jasper has demonstrated a negative personal opinion towards raw milk products and seeks to, once again, challenge consumer and producer freedoms as a result. In pursuing HB-1592, it became evident to its promoters that the current Agriculture Commissioner (Shawn Jasper) and the NH Farm Bureau are pushing to change the raw milk law altogether. Shawn Jasper has made his opinion clear that he does not believe that anyone should be able to sell raw milk. The NHFB and the commissioner are going to try and change the law next legislative session to require testing and licensing of anyone who sells raw milk regardless of size.

• To read HB1402 in its entirety click here.
• To visit the NH Department of Health & Human Services click here.
• To view or search NH Statutes (RSA’s) click here.
• To read HB1592 in its entirety click here.

The need to evacuate my garage has developed so it’s time to take everything outside to place in storage until Spring arrives. What a wonderful adventure this has been to pass the gloomy weather of the past two weeks.

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Here are some photos at various stages, yet prior to siding application…

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Last Summer I placed all the corner H braces and gate openings using railroad ties, support posts at 70 foot intervals using 8’ Pressure Treated timbers and enough insulators to suspend four strands of wire. Come Spring I look forward to actually stringing the wire to enclose the pasture. In the mean time, and the reason for my delinquency, I’ve been designing and assembling all the materials to put a well house along side the fence.

It’s not simply an 8 foot tall 4’ by 4’ wooden structure but rather an attractively cedar-sided shelter for the 16 foot deep dug well head, automated pump controls, fence charger, solar battery charger and communications equipment to relay performance data over our farms wi-fi network. As I mentioned, the pasture is in the middle of nowhere, so resting assured that the water trough is full and the fence is fully operational requires either frequent daily visits or a bit of “high tech”…
I chose “high tech”.

All the programming and control circuitry is finished and tested so construction of the actual well house structure will begin within two weeks (when the garage is freed up).
Today was spent calibrating the sensors and setting up the server page to monitor status online.
I promise there will be blog updates and plenty of pictures as everything comes together.

The past several Summers have not been kind to the local dry bale hay farmers. Long, wet Springs and sporadic showers arising within very short spells of decent baling weather has driven those dry bale prices to outrageous levels. Late Fall pricing at our local farm store was over $10 per bale for first cut hay. Second was obviously higher and, with greater demand due to the abundance of horses and ‘pet‘ goats, nearly impossible to obtain in satisfactory quantity.

For many small farms, turning to baleage rounds has provided a solution to the availability, storage and handling issues of dry bales. Baleage is partially dried forage, preferably 45-55 percent moisture, which is baled and wrapped with at least 6 layers of 1 mil plastic. Rounds are typically left out in the Winter grazing area, eliminating the need for cover. Some advantages over dry hay include less loss during storage, fewer weather delays at harvest, and faster turnaround from when the forage is down in both regrowth and time on the ground. The equipment changes are not significant but need to be considered.

Since the rounds typically weigh between 600 to 800 pounds, an adequate tractor is a requirement. A round bale feeder is also beneficial to reduce waste.

The process of fermentation in baleage is the key to nutrient preservation so once exposed to oxygen, they decay quite rapidly. Ideally the round should be consumed within ten days to avoid waste. Our cows will each consume about 50 pounds per day while the goats will each enjoy 4 to 5 pounds per day. This will increase as the Winter temperatures drop, but is a decent guide to determine if this feed alternative is right for you.

We’ve paid on average $50 in recent years for each round, equating to the equivalent of 15 to 20 dry bales. Since both cost and labor are considerations in our choices, consider this as potentially a viable option.

With that, we wish you all a happy and productive New Year.

The concept of raising our own food is more understandable than the motivation to do so since the reasons vary everywhere from taking a bite out of the food bill to preparing for the end of the world as we know it. In between the extremes we find overlapping concerns such as avoidance of exposure to GMO’s, salmonella contamination, plant-based and cell-cultured meats etc.

Janice and I decided to pursue a ‘farm to table’ agenda for entirely different reasons… me for the independence aspect, and she for the health benefits. From initial concept to the current variation, we learned how to preserve foods year round, market our surplus, and provide for our children and grandchildren with healthy nourishment and a hands-on education not unlike the Foxfire Series. We’ve met and learned so much from like minded people that the journey has truly been more rewarding than any perceived destination.

As for our dear friends experiment, she achieved a very satisfying outcome with a farm to table menu enduring for an entire month. They made it! We’d love to hear from others who have endeavored to achieve that goal.

• • • Unlike big agriculture, which picks their crop prior to it reaching maturity in order to accommodate distribution delay, local farmers pick their crops at peak freshness and deliver them to the market in that condition. Whatever produce isn’t sold that day at a farmers market becomes a liability to the farmer since it rapidly loses its freshness and appearance.
    • Four to five hours spent commuting and tending to the market incurs a cost.
    • There are many farmers who offer meats, fruits or vegetables that are certified “organic” or “grass fed”. This is a costly and often bureaucratic-heavy process but are pesticide, herbicide and GMO free, demanding a premium.

Buying food from local farmers supports your local community and you get to meet, learn from and connect a face to the provider of your food. Unfortunately many farmers, finding it difficult to recover these added costs within the market venue, turn instead to a CSA (community supported agriculture) model.

Through the CSA model, waste is minimized, farmers get to spend time marketing the food early in the year before their 16 hour days in the field begin. They receive payment early in the season, improving the farm’s cash flow and, sometimes several farmers will offer their products together, providing a wider variety to their share holders. There seems to be many advantages to the CSA model resulting in its growing (pun intended) popularity.

How do you feel about this?