Uses for pasture

[youngsbury]

Maybe a nearby farm would put there rams in there for a small fee / lamb saves all the aggravation for you . 

[Guest Gimlet]

Been talking to my brother tonight who keeps beef cattle and has lots of bits of pasture scattered about in various locations. I've basically got four options I reckon. 

 

1. Let out the grass keep to someone else. Means sub-letting which may not be acceptable. Also means I no longer get to use the land myself. Rent will be poor. My brother pays about £80/acre for grass keep in Dorset from 1st March to 31st October. £320 a year.. Likely to be less in Cumbria if the season is shorter. Also depends what the grass is like. If it's poor with low diversity it will be worth less if it can be let at all. So essentially, it's a cashless let for a carcass or a bit if one. 

 

2. Put calves on it myself in March. Brother recommends Angus calves. Again, whether it's worth doing or not depends on the biodiversity of the sward. If there a high diversity of useful species they could do well. If its nearly all fescue and loads of buttercups, they'll do nothing at all and I'll end up supplementing feed which is pointless.

 

3. Mow it for hay. This means finding someone who has small hay making machinery and would be willing to come in and mow it, turn it and bale it for their own use or will do it for payment while I keep the hay, but that's likely to involve a financial loss, especially in poor wet summers which may be frequent - it's Cumbria. That may be hard with four acres unless there's such a person half a mile up the road. Any further away and it's not worth the effort for that acreage.

 

4. Manage it for wildlife and keep bees. Encourage increased floral diversity and take a late cut of hay after flowers have seeded. Same problem as above: who's going to mow it and make the hay? Not worth buying my own machinery for that acreage. And topping may be required early in the season before flowering species emerge. Who's going to do that and where is the return? Bees will be a hobby with very little cash, not enough to pay for maintaining wild flower meadow. 

 

So essentially, anything but letting the keep in return for a bit of meat is likely to involve a work and expense for no return. 

I'm beginning to see why no one's taken the lease..

[AHPP]

Would running things like quad bike and shooting training courses be sufficiently agricultural?

Edited May 19, 2021 by AHPP

[Will C]

Does it have to stay as pasture? 4 acre would make a good market garden supplying high end organic veg via a farm shop. It’s a job in its self tho.

[MattyF]

Turkeys ??

[Guest Gimlet]

2 hours ago, Will C said:

Does it have to stay as pasture? 4 acre would make a good market garden supplying high end organic veg via a farm shop. It’s a job in its self tho.

I will be asking them whether it can be cultivated. If they insisted it has to be maintained as pasture that will explain why they've got no tenant because without letting the keep I really don't see a way to do that except at a loss. 

Interestingly I asked the letting agent for directions yesterday for a viewing. The lady I got through to hadn't been to the place herself and only had the postcode, but she said "we've never had any problems with people finding it before", which suggests a high turnover of tenants. We shall see.

[Guest Gimlet]

2 hours ago, Will C said:

Does it have to stay as pasture? 4 acre would make a good market garden supplying high end organic veg via a farm shop. It’s a job in its self tho.

I've always fancied doing that but I couldn't do it by myself. That's the problem. And there aren't enough buildings available on this site. It's still something I'd like to do though. I'd like to grow garlic commercially as well, with all kinds of rare and obscure varieties and smoked garlic and garlic products. You need the facilities though. 

[Stere]

Garlic likes a light free draining soil whats the soil like there?

 

Gardening on a heavy clay V loam etc is completely different proposition just in effort required to get a nice tilth for cultivation

[muttley9050]

Christmas trees are a good blag if your allowed to plant.

[Guest Gimlet]

1 hour ago, Stere said:

Garlic likes a light free draining soil whats the soil like there?

 

Gardening on a heavy clay V loam etc is completely different proposition just in effort required to get a nice tilth for cultivation

Just checked on Soilscapes. It's free draining, slightly acidic, loamy. But low fertility so for garlic it would need enriching with a lot of organic matter. On the other hand if there's a lot of clover in the grass the soil might be rich enough already. Just rotate it with nitrogen fixing cover crops and green manures.

@muttley9050 Christmas trees I would think would grow very well there but by the sound of it they want the pasture maintained. I'd be very surprised if they'd allow it to be planted with trees. 

 

Some form of veg cultivation is maybe a possibility. I'd rotovate beds and leave the grass between intact for paths. It wouldn't take much to reinstate pasture in the future. 

Edited May 20, 2021 by Gimlet