Re: Farmer wannabe confused on pasture and tractor hp.

Posted by paul on July 31, 2002 at 23:21:02 from (209.23.145.25):

In Reply to: Farmer wannabe confused on pasture and tractor hp. posted by Mark on July 31, 2002 at 16:33:54:

Pasture: Generally farmers made pasture out
of the land that had some top soil, but was too
rocky, dry, steep, flooded, or trees to actually
farm for a crop. An exsisting pasture may be
plowed into a crop field, but you need to watch
out for physical obstructions & govt
obstructions. My state for example enforces
the no-net-loss of wetlands, and the
sod-buster rules.

Man, 5 acres of crops - why bother? Either get
a 20 acre field, or forget about it. too much
work & machinery to bother with 5 lousy acres.
How are you going to harvest it? You won't find
anyone willing to drive a combine 5 miles to
harvest a lousy 5 acres, and it won't pay for
you to own a combine.... Your costs are going
to be the same on 5 or 20 acres, make it
worthwhile for yourself! Ok, this paragraph is
my soapbox, do what you wish, but think about
it - it'll be easier to harvest 20 acres than 5
acres.

The 8n was a wonderful tractor way ahead of
it's time - 65 years ago. That's retirement age,
you know... ;) If you already have one, fine. But,
if you are buying, don't be like EVERY other city
guy looking to farm, and bit the price of an 8N
up & up & up - these tractors are small, don't
have power steering, have poor hydraulics,
have poor brakes, do not have live pto (which
makes baling, combining, snowblowing really
not fun at all), they are too light for good loader
operation..... But yet, every city guy wants one,
and is willing to pay $3000 for one. Yet the
much better IHC, Case, Oliver, etc. tractors
from the mid 50's & 60's go for $2000, and
have MANY more of the desirable features.
Just think about it. Read up on what live pto &
hydraulics means - often much more
desirable that a 3-point hitch if you know what
you want to do. Put it this way - the 8N can get
you buy. You could make a much better buy
tho for your money.

How many acres, what crops, what grasses,
etc. depends on your location, & you didn't tell
us. Often some version of grass & clover
makes a very good pasture. You need to
reseed the desirable clovers & sometimes
grasses once in a while, every 10 years, lot
more if you abuse it, less if you are good at
managing what you have. You need to mow
out the weeds, some grasses prefer to be
mowed or grazed every now & then to keep a
healthy root mass - depends on what you are
growing.

Now, you have 5 acres of pasture (pasture
with a fence around is for grazing critters) and
5 acres of crops. What are you going to feed
your critters in winter (or if no winter where you
are, very dry periods)? I see no provision in
your plan for hayland, where you raise grass
or alfalfa hay for the critters? Is that something
you need to consider?

Happy to hear more questions.

Oh, there is a good haying & pasturing FAQ
located at

http://www.18james.com/rural/past.shtml

You might enjoy reading that for reference.
That web sight will answer many of your
questions.

Also, there is a homesteading web page that
is helpful for beginners at

http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/

Hope that helps, ask some more. :)

--->Paul

--->Paul

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