Uses for pasture

[Guest Gimlet]

Another thought is a few retired dairy cows for beef. They'd graze the grass well, help with the worm burden, I could sell them off in the autumn and rest the ground over winter and keep a wild flower strip set aside for beehives. Would that work.?

Edited May 19, 2021 by Gimlet

[agg221]

11 minutes ago, Gimlet said:

Another thought is a few retired dairy cows for beef. They'd graze the grass well, help with the worm burden, I could sell them off in the autumn and rest the ground over winter and keep a wild flower strip set aside for beehives. Would that work.?

It could work as low-cost lawnmowers but I'm not sure it works commercially (not my area of expertise). The question is, what does grazing them for the spring/summer on your land add to them in value vs. them being sold straight into the meat trade when they leave the dairy industry? They are still going to be older meat regardless of what you do with them. You will have transport costs to add, so even if they have exactly the same carcass value you will lose by that much?

 

Alec

[MattyF]

Another thought is a few retired dairy cows for beef. They'd graze the grass well, help with the worm burden, I could sell them off in the autumn and rest the ground over winter and keep a wild flower strip set aside for beehives. Would that work.?

Would be hard to find .. prices of beef are pretty good, I keep two and a horse on 10acres but the ground is mostly rushes and the horse died @ 32 last month so they will
have a bit more grass now.
Mine where more of an experiment as we have always had sheep but to be honest im not a big sheep fan and find them difficult to handle but £400 for 4 calf’s , sold two after a year for £680 each , I was told they have just gone to market and fetched £980... my two remaining I’m still in two minds on what to do , they will both have to go at the same time but sloughter them or send to market... one is a free martin heffer which means she was born as a twin to a male and supposedly is sterile but I’m not sure! .. any way it’s a difficult decision after feeding them every day in winter for the last two years I’ve got a bit attached to them.

[Guest Gimlet]

That's more like it. This ground looks like it's going to be more productive than what you're working with there. No rushes, good thick sward. It's not as high and exposed as I first thought either. If you had four and a horse on ten acres, I reckon I could get four on this ground. The problem is the cost of winter feeding. 

Ideally I would like to rear something through spring and summer, sell in the autumn with the ground rested over winter and no feed costs. It's not really so much about profit. I don't want to lose money but break even would do if it satisfies the agricultural restriction on the lease, keeps the pasture maintained and gets me the use of the ground with the possibility of doing my own thing as well like keeping a horse or the bees and wild flower strip. 

[AHPP]

And for the opposing view:

[AHPP]

I’d personally go with something different like pandas but within more normal bounds I’d take cows over sheep any day. Sheep are a nightmare.

[gary112]

48 minutes ago, Gimlet said:

That's more like it. This ground looks like it's going to be more productive than what you're working with there. No rushes, good thick sward. It's not as high and exposed as I first thought either. If you had four and a horse on ten acres, I reckon I could get four on this ground. The problem is the cost of winter feeding. 

Ideally I would like to rear something through spring and summer, sell in the autumn with the ground rested over winter and no feed costs. It's not really so much about profit. I don't want to lose money but break even would do if it satisfies the agricultural restriction on the lease, keeps the pasture maintained and gets me the use of the ground with the possibility of doing my own thing as well like keeping a horse or the bees and wild flower strip. 

How about alpacas?apparentley theres good revenue in the fleeces,don,t know how many you can put on 4 acres but someone local to us keeps them and they have quite a few on a small patch

[AHPP]

Alpacas are like charcoal making, just a planning permission tool because they need supervision.

 

[Guest Gimlet]

Not sure they'd qualify under the agricultural condition either. 

[Paul in the woods]

I don't know if you've kept bees before but a couple of hives would be more a labour or love than a money making exercise. Set-up costs for a couple of hives, bees, frames, suit etc would easily be £1000+ and there's no guarantee you're get much honey.

 

I would site hives in a sheltered spot near the house, you'll want to keep an eye on them and they'll be easier to get to. The bees will most likely fly off and forage elsewhere anywhere. No reason not to set aside an area for bees and wildlife of course.

 

We're in a similar position, we have a couple of acres of pasture but even the local farmers can't be bothered to cut it for hay/silage (for free) as the fields are too small. It's now managed purely for wildlife. We do have bees but they mainly forage in the woodland and surrounding hedgerows. They do forage the fields for dandelions, knapweed, plantain and a few other things.

 

Edit to add, bees may be useful for planning as you can need a large amount of equipment and an area to process the honey. Good reasons to build/convert something.

Edited May 19, 2021 by Paul in the woods