Farewell To Our Calves - Part 2

Reflecting on my post FAREWELL TO THE CALVES, time really has flown by so quickly.  Since that post, we decreased the number of beef we have,  achieved 5 more additions to the herd, and just recently sold them to our neighbour in preparation to the next lot of additions which we hope will arrive about August this year.

On top of that, we've learnt a lot about feeding the land so that it has enough nutrients to boost the grass production over the entire year.  This isn't a cheap exercise, but if we keep on top of it regularly, I expect the benefits in our beef will outweigh the costs tenfold.

We also gave haylage a try instead of traditional hay bales to help feed the stock.  It apparently has more nutrients than traditional hay because the grass is cut while it is still green.  Looking around neighbouring land, I only saw huge haylage bales which need a large tractor to transport around.  Fortunately for us, an old high school friend of my brother in law who lives down the road, produces smaller bales which can be lifted by hand and transported on a small trailer or a wheel barrow.  A great solution for lifestylers who want the benefits of haylage, but don't have the capacity to buy or need a full on tractor. 

I have to say that having beef on the land is pretty fulfilling and I'm looking forward to seeing how the next 12 months is going to bring.

Happy living peeps!