Australian Talk.

[wbvs58]

Suzie, definately a rabbit, hares are very rare around here but we have lots and lots of rabbits. Remember we are right on the border of NSW, the rabbit fence is about 20km north of us at Cottonvale, there are white lines drawn on the road that the rabbits aren't allowed to cross. Actually the fence goes parallel to the road on both sides for about 1 km and lines drawn where the fence is. I think they work on the principal of keeping the rabbits on the road for a fair way to let the vehicles squash them. They are widespread in Qld now.
I hope your tractor arrived OK Dale, how many rocks have you hit with the slasher so far. If you drop in tomorrow morn and I'm not at the house, I'll be in the very front paddock on the bike checking for love grass. The gate to the paddock is immediately on the left when you come through my entrance gate, you would see me in the first part but if I have been there for a while I might have moved over the hill and you might have to come looking.
I've got a lot of things I want to get done but I'm not starting anything new until I get around the whole place checking for love grass. It is probably the best time of year to search for it, the seed heads will stand well above all the other grasses at the moment, it is imperative to keep on top of it.
Ken

 

[townfarmer]

Good job with the silo Ken. You're photos make it look easy. What are you planning on storing in there?

Heading down to the block at Eukey on Friday for 10 days or so over Christmas. Really looking forward to it. We had about 16 strainer posts delivered this week so that'll keep me from getting bored.

Andrew

 

[burglar]

Ken, Tractor arrived yesterday, spent the day slashing. Still have about 30 acres to go. I promised Peter it would rain this week, so I am trying to get it all done fast. It's a great tractor and I am very pleased. I still plain to drop by today to see you. probably around lunch time after I knock off a few hours of work. Looked at your Dalcouth/Sugarloaf cows and calves. They look great and we can definitely chat about those today as well.

Good job on the Silo too Ken.

 

[jilleroo]

I'm back from Mackay where we welcomed another grandson William last week. A difficult birth, mum and bub have had to stay in hospital but should be out in another couple of days. Toddler grandson and I had a lovely week on the beach at Seaforth. Son and I went mudcrabbing in the tinny, literally launching it from the ramp in his house yard. We went out at night once - I don't know how he knows where he is, let alone where the black string of the pots is tied to the mangroves - I'd still be in there trying to find my way out of the maze. We got some nice crabs - chilli crab, crab linguine and just plain good old crab sandwiches. Also got lychees, pineapples and mangoes to bring home.
Very hot here but we had a good shower at our Winton place over the weekend. There's been some good rain up around the Isa, Camooweal and across the Barkly apparently which is good to see for the time of year.
A fair few heifers calved while I was away, under hubby's watchful eye, but it was all uneventful. The two poddy calves and the milker look great too so he got lots of brownie points.
Now to get ready for Christmas - where do I start? Not frittering away time on here, that's for sure, so I'd better get into it!

Glad to hear you're arrived Burglar! You and Ken won't be chatting on here anymore now, you'll be face to face.

Diana, the grandkids call us Ma Ma and Poppy. Our grand daughter is named Hayley Georgia.

 

[Old_man_emu]

I know what you mean Suzie. He is new in the job and trying to impress and the bosses like that. We just have to communicate and work things out. The thing that gets me most is that its the middle of the day and getting up over 25C and he has decided to put the water on. I irrigate at night as much as possible to take advantage of the low evaporation rates and reduced humidity.
If things stay the way they are for much longer I will be into full feeding here. I don't so much but it would be good to get past Christmas and into the new year before it starts.
I have some cows ear marked to go but I would like to wean their calves. They really are cull cows and I prefer to send them direct to slaughter.
Good buy with the silo Ken. I keep thinking about getting a small one and a self feeder but I just can't make the numbers work. The stuff I feed is a liquid and I buy it in 1000l shuttles so unless I change to grain, and that will cost me more, I will keep doing things as is.
Congrats on the new arrival Jilleroo, sounds like you had a fantastic time away.
And don't get heat stroke out driving the new toy Burglar, does it have a canopy or anything for shade?

 

[wbvs58]

Sounds like you had a ball down at Mackay Jilleroo, glad everything went OK. I really like that name Hayley, she will be a lucky little girl having a brother and 2 cousins to look after her. We have a long line of MaMa's in our family, my grandmother on mum's side was MaMa then my eldest Kerri was just the best when she called mum MaMa, never lost her number one status, then Kerri's kids call Pam MaMa.
When it comes to mudcrabs and prawn they are so nice on their own, I hate spoiling them with other flavours. It's surprising, even around Brisbane you can get some pretty good hauls of mudcrabs. I've done well in Tingalpa Ck and the Logan River.
OME, last year the dollars spent on feeding the bulls really worked out well, but I think I will be hard pushed to get the same dollars next year with saleyard prices down I think it will inevitably flow onto bull prices.
I caught up with Dale (burglar) today, nice to put a face to the name. Had a bit of a wander around the cattle, I'm sure we will be catching up a bit in the new year, that is when the novelty of the new tractor wears out a bit.
Just had a storm go through with a bit of hale, I went out and had a bit of a look at the gauge and the inside cylinder was full (25mm) and about another 5 mm in the outer jar so not bad, we really needed it and a repeat dose over the next few days.
The storms have really been funny this year, this one came down from the north, others have come from the south. The usual direction is out of the SW.
Ken

 

[Suzie Q]

OME I would say he is watering at that time of day because of course that is the time he is worked. Buying him a timer so it can water at night might solve that problem.

Crab - Blech - You can have my share so all the more for you.

We have had 2 storms in the last 2 days and received - not enough to register in the rain gauge. They are predicting more storms and 34 for Ipwich today and we usually get hotter than them. What a shame that I will be in the air conditioning at work!

 

[burglar]

Jilleroo, It is definitely interesting to meet someone face to face when you initially were introduced by a forum living 8000 miles apart. Only to find out you own property 1200 metres from each other. Ken was very gracious is showing me his Stud herd and they are truly great looking Angus cattle.

OME, I did finish with a headache after 7 hours of slashing yesterday, I do have a canopy and drank 3 litres of water, but it was scorcher out there. Should be nicer today, as Ken mentioned we had some good rain over night so shouldn't have dust issues today and it already seems a little milder.

Ken, thanks for you hospitality yesterday mate. I will have to have you over to the house once it is finished.

 

[Suzie Q]

Burglar the first time I spent a day in my tractor or should I say days, well I ended up with every bit of my body in pain. Now I can go a year and not be in the tractor and then spend a week in it with no problems!!!

 

[Old_man_emu]

He puts the water on after he has mowed but you're right Suzie, I need to get tap timers and teach him to water over a couple of days or when the weather is overcast and cool.
I am spoilt with my tractor at work. It's a 75 hp John Deere with a cab and air-con and my favourite accessory, RADIO!!!. I don't know how I would handle going back to the days of a dirty old David Brown with a plywood canopy! I liked that old tractor but it did always concern me when I felt the spray drift back across me when we were sowing wheat or canola. The things we do when we're young and dumb!

 

[Australian]

No rain here. Very hot again but not quite as bad as the other days.

 

[wbvs58]

We ended up with 31mm last night, some pretty heavey bursts along with decent size hail.
25mm at the other block and it stopped just down the road, in town had zero, so we were very lucky.
I have another mornings work on the love grass tomorrow then I'll get onto digging the footings for the silo. The sooner I get it bolted down the better especially while it is empty.
Ken

 

[Suzie Q]

You are soooo right OME. When hubby bought the new tractor, my only stipulation was that it had to have a cab. No worries about using in the day, the night, the hot, the cold, with plenty of insects around, spraying, dust storms, etc, etc, etc and yes ours have a radio as well. One takes tapes and the other CD's which will probably come into play when they switch off the analogue radios. Sigh

 

[jilleroo]

That's a handy shower Ken. There was a bit around here this arve, and its spitting again now. We only had about 5mm I think so need a lot more than that.
Had one of those days today....firstly, I saw a second calf cow at one of the waters who has her tongue hanging out. Not rigid, just hanging there. Nothing else to notice about her. She was near the trough but I couldnt tell whether or not she'd been able to get a drink - I suspect not. I'm thinking botulism? Will go down tomorrow early and see if I can find her again. Her calf is only a few weeks old. That mob is not vaccinated.
Then one of our young "store bought" sene bulls is very wonky in the hindquarters and is lying down in the creek. I suspect he's had a belting from one of the old boys. He could stand up and totter but is probably afraid to come up to the water in case he gets another thumping.
The last issue is an old stud cow with a cancer eye. Charolais don't get eye cancer unless they have an underlying baldy head, due to a hereford ancestor, which this cow has. Brought her in so I can catch her 8 week old calf and hubby shoot the cow tomorrow.
He's put his back out so hope he improves quickly.

The oldest grandson dubbed me MaMa and I don't mind it so that's what I'll stay! We're off to Winton tomorrow, weather permitting, to meet up with the family and also to see more of my niece who is visiting. She is livestock manager at a Mort & Co feedlot on the Downs, a busy girl, and we don't get to see a lot of her.

 

[townfarmer]

I'm planning on trying some seed balling next week. I have my powdered clay and compost ready to go. I just need to get my hands on some pasture seed. I spoke to Stanthorpe rural and they have a pasture mix that includes a couple of clovers, some rye and a couple of tropical varieties. They also have some straight Kikuyu as well. I'm wondering what pasture varieties people have had success with? Ken and Colin; you guys aren't too far from me. Any suggestions on seed type and where to source it from?

Thanks
Andrew

 

[Suzie Q]

Sad news tonight

Our friends son came to see us on his way home tonight. This is the one that we have swapped bulls with and he helps us when we can and we help him when we can.

David has cancer. I knew something was wrong. He came the other night to sell me his Bazadais cows. I said yes but over several years as we don't have the money. He wouldn't stay for tea, he wouldn't even take a piece of cake with his coffee. I told hubby something major was going on and also my neighbour but they all told me I was wrong. I so wish I was.

He has cancer, it has already moved from his pancreas to his liver. The cattle are going to a sale this week. The Bazadais will come here. They are selling the farm and they are going to move him in with them on the Coast to start chemo.

He has a bed here any time he wants to stay to have farm life instead of the city.

 

[wbvs58]

Andrew, I get all my seed from NFW at Cottonvale, they only open Mon, Wed, Fri. but have most seed varieties on hand. Also Richard at Fearnside keeps some seed but he will be closed over Xmas.
At this time of year the subtropicals like Digit would be the best bet though it is a very timid seedling and will not get going with competition, it does increase over the years if you can get a bit going. Plantain is reliable to establish. Legumes are mostly cooler months but are used to fighting their way to surface and if hard seeded will lie there until conditions suit. The grass I have had most success with without doing a proper seed bed is Cocksfoot, it is temperate so not real good for now to germinate, good one to put out at Easter, it forms a fairly decent leafy clump after a couple of years and puts down fairly deep roots so is pretty drought tolerant. It gets going in early autumn and stays green all through winter and mine is still going OK now starting to slow down a bit. Last year being cool it went all through summer, I have used the Kara variety but couldn't get it early this year and used Ambassador and it is going very well still.
Drop around and I can show you what has worked.
What is the process of seed balling?
Ken
Ken

 

[townfarmer]

Hey Ken
Thanks for your advice. Very interesting to hear what you've had success with. I'd love to pop over and see your pasture. Seed balling is a technique where you mix powdered clay, compost, pasture seed and water in a cement mixer forming golf ball size balls. you then put them in the sun to dry and form hard balls. You can then store them and throw them out when the conditions, season etc is right. The idea is to protect the seed from predation by birds and insects. When it rains the balls soften and hopefully the grasses germinate. I haven't done it before so hopefully it'll work.

Andrew

 

[wbvs58]

That sounds interesting Andrew, I might give it a go.
Tough about your friend Suzie, those pancreatic cancers are pretty nasty.
I got my lovegrassing finished this morning, got my holes dug for the silo footings a lot quicker than I expected so was able to go to town and pick up the gravel and cement and came back and got them concreted just before it started a bit of light rain. I feel tired, but pretty satisfied by a productive day.
Ken

 

[jilleroo]

Very sad about your friend Suzie. Here's hoping he doesnt have to suffer too much.
We shot the young bull and the cancer eye cow and buried them. I couldnt find the cow with her tongue out again (not good)
but found a dead beast in that paddock which could be the source of botulism so we buried that too. Don't know what it was, couldnt find a tag anywhere or read an earmark or brand (there's some bought cattle in there.) Now Tulip is sick, one thing after another! She wasnt there for her feed this morning so I knew something was very wrong. She's depressed, not eating, peeing and pooing normally but has a lot of gas coming through so its something digestive. No bloat. She didnt improve during the day - I gave her penicillin but couldnt think what else to do. She's in the stable tonight as there's some showers around. Hope she's still alive in the morning.