Passive Income From Your Ranch

[Travlr]

I've never looked at a piece of wood and not thought of what I could make out of it, or as they say "being able to see what is inside of it." I turned a hobby of woodworking into a 36 year carpentry career but never had a desire to carve for a living as the thought of trying to please someone else was pressure that kinda takes the fun out and as a result my creativity suffers. I have instead just done it for a pressure relief and if someone acted like they loved it more than me, I gave it to them. I still am in construction (46 years) and still haul a lot of tools around with me, but I haven't worn a tool belt in at least 20. Would you believe my very first chainsaw carving made the front page of the newspaper? I was only trying to make something to put in the garden because it looked empty. It, along with many others through the years, was stolen in the night. One of the reasons I like carving in tree trunks or stumps as the ones in these photos. I started another one a few weeks ago but got rained out if and when I finish it, I'll post it here. I also have a tree on my place that needs cutting and I plan to make a ranch sign out of it and a few rocks on the place.

I paint and sculpt and have been known to carve... It takes me a while to see what's in the wood. I had a nice chunk saved for several years, a small block of twisted wood... and over a few years I finally saw what was in it. I'm pretty patient (I procrastinate) and thought about that chunk of wood for a couple more years trying to see if there was anything I was missing. Finally I decided to start working on it... and it was gone. I have no idea what happened to it. After all that time and effort thinking about it, it's been a great regret of mine that I never carved that wood.

 

[Ouachita]

I've never looked at a piece of wood and not thought of what I could make out of it,……..snip………

Okay, what do you see in this piece of wood?

 

[Twisted]

Okay, what do you see in this piece of wood?
View attachment 42352

A hole?


Actually not all wood is good for carving, but you could make all types of creative faces with that hole as a mouth or just a modern sculpture. Nothing is more disappointing than to get nearly finished with a piece you've spend all day on and hit a hollow or rotten spot in the wood that the more you do makes it worse. I've got a picture somewhere of a 4 ft wide crappie I carved that I hit a bad spot right by his dorsal fin. I was finished with the entire piece and was just fine tuning.

 

[Gale Seddon]

This is what I did last year: I had someone come to mow and bale all he could get off of the property, mostly round bales. He gave me some square bales for my three donkeys and he took all the rest of the hay. This worked out fine for me because he provided all the necessary fuel to do this. Not sure if he'll want to do this again this year, but I'll find out soon enough.

Downside of this: I had purchased a number of older square bales the year before from a friend; the donkeys preferred this hay that I purchased over last year's square bales made from hay on my property! I guess that's donkeys for you!

 

[Mark Reynolds]

This is what I did last year: I had someone come to mow and bale all he could get off of the property, mostly round bales. He gave me some square bales for my three donkeys and he took all the rest of the hay. This worked out fine for me because he provided all the necessary fuel to do this. Not sure if he'll want to do this again this year, but I'll find out soon enough.

Downside of this: I had purchased a number of older square bales the year before from a friend; the donkeys preferred this hay that I purchased over last year's square bales made from hay on my property! I guess that's donkeys for you!

Your donkeys are trying to tell you something about your hay on your property, the grass plants the hay is coming from, and the soil those plants are in I suspect.

I don't know this for a fact, but what I think I'm seeing here is hay ground that is being 'mined' of nutrients that aren't being replaced. Your donkeys having a preference for the hay purchased from a friend is only one of several 'symptoms' I suspect you are seeing or will see relatively soon.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

My donkeys will often pass up good hay and go eat some burdock, alder bark, aspen buds, dirt, goldenrod, etc and they are obese. They are weird critters.

 

[Mark Reynolds]

My donkeys will often pass up good hay and go eat some burdock, alder bark, aspen buds, dirt, goldenrod, etc and they are obese. They are weird critters.

I've seen a few like that.

 

[Ouachita]

Your donkeys are trying to tell you something about your hay on your property, the grass plants the hay is coming from, and the soil those plants are in I suspect.

I don't know this for a fact, but what I think I'm seeing here is hay ground that is being 'mined' of nutrients that aren't being replaced. Your donkeys having a preference for the hay purchased from a friend is only one of several 'symptoms' I suspect you are seeing or will see relatively soon.

I know there is some argument to be made about the necessity of leaving out free choice loose mineral (whether it's really worth it or not). For me, that mineral feeder is a gauge. When they don't touch it for weeks, or when they nail it and start consuming a lot; it gives me a clue.
Big changes in the loose mineral consumption (more or less) gives me a heads-up

 

[Ouachita]

Another consideration, especially this time of year, is how fast the forage grows. When it grows really fast with all the rain and fresh nutrient, it may not uptake the trace minerals as efficiently.

People look at me like I have two heads when I mow my hay meadow 6-8 weeks before hay cutting time. Still produces as much or more than if I don't, but adds that nutrient back to the soil for an impressive growth.

Is it worth the time, fuel, and wear on the the tractor (and myself)? I cannot yet give an answer that I'm confident with, but I can say that the grasslands are improving at a much faster rate, meaning my goals will be achieved sooner.

Our greatest resource is time. If I have to spend more time now, to make tomorrow easier on my older self, that seems a bargain.

 

[Travlr]

People look at me like I have two heads when I mow my hay meadow 6-8 weeks before hay cutting time. Still produces as much or more than if I don't, but adds that nutrient back to the soil for an impressive growth.

I've often wondered, driving down the road past lush stands of future hay, why people wait until the rainy season starts to cut hay. Cut early, and like you say you get practically the same amount of hay and you miss the rains... and an early start on a better second cutting.

I'm no hay guy and admit it freely, always contracting for my hay to be done on shares. But I've always asked that my hay gets baled earlier than they usually do it.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

Around here that early cutting is the wet season, both rain and wet soggy clay that won't support equipment.

Early to mid June our hay crop would be ideal but typically even with duals on your rutting up the fields.

So do you make an "ideally timed" hay cutting and tear up your fields, or cut in late June or July and have a usable field left for years to come?

And when your covering significant acreage some hay will be early and some will be late thats just the name of the game.

 

[gman4691]

Around here that early cutting is the wet season, both rain and wet soggy clay that won't support equipment.

Early to mid June our hay crop would be ideal but typically even with duals on your rutting up the fields.

So do you make an "ideally timed" hay cutting and tear up your fields, or cut in late June or July and have a usable field left for years to come?

And when your covering significant acreage some hay will be early and some will be late thats just the name of the game.

Same here but a mid- to late June cutting is usually the way it goes. April is by far the wettest month…first part of May can be, too. By June, we can cut if the grass is growing good. Trying to time cutting the rye that's out there now is tricky. Want to cut so it has 5 or so days to cure but don't want to wait too long so the coastal Bermuda can come on. Still a bit cool here for the Bermuda to really get going so the temps are working in my favor. It's the rain that makes it hard to time cutting this time of the year.

 

[gman4691]

Another consideration, especially this time of year, is how fast the forage grows. When it grows really fast with all the rain and fresh nutrient, it may not uptake the trace minerals as efficiently.

People look at me like I have two heads when I mow my hay meadow 6-8 weeks before hay cutting time. Still produces as much or more than if I don't, but adds that nutrient back to the soil for an impressive growth.

Is it worth the time, fuel, and wear on the the tractor (and myself)? I cannot yet give an answer that I'm confident with, but I can say that the grasslands are improving at a much faster rate, meaning my goals will be achieved sooner.

Our greatest resource is time. If I have to spend more time now, to make tomorrow easier on my older self, that seems a bargain.

I've never done that but…the last two springs were too wet for us to bale the rye. So I let the cows eat the rye in the smaller pasture and just mowed the larger one. They are both thick with rye this year but the larger one is especially thick. I think it's due to the bush hog scattering the seed combined with the chicken litter…but I'm no hayologist.

 

[Brute 23]

I have some hay that could get cut right now. It's not the best because it has a little old grass from last year in the bottom. I fert early this year and we have had some decent rains. Probably going to cut it end of the month and hope the best for some more moisture.

We have to watch cutting right before July and Aug. It can really burn it bad if you don't get a little growth back going in to the summer and it's dry.

 

[Ouachita]

For the folks that assumed that I was mowing and baling 6-8 weeks early, no.
No, I don't do hay earlier than anyone else around here.
I'm saying that I mow/shred/cut my hay meadows down to about 5-6 inches, and I let the chaff lay. That grass left standing under the hog grows real good after I get the shade shaved away.

I don't do hay myself. Never could get my pencil to agree with me.

 

[Bob Kinford]

My donkeys will often pass up good hay and go eat some burdock, alder bark, aspen buds, dirt, goldenrod, etc and they are obese. They are weird critters.

You'd probably be surprised if you did a mineral test on the dirt they eat and forage test on the rest. Your opinion might change from weird to wondering how the heck they know where the most nutrition is

 

[Gale Seddon]

Your donkeys are trying to tell you something about your hay on your property, the grass plants the hay is coming from, and the soil those plants are in I suspect.

I don't know this for a fact, but what I think I'm seeing here is hay ground that is being 'mined' of nutrients that aren't being replaced. Your donkeys having a preference for the hay purchased from a friend is only one of several 'symptoms' I suspect you are seeing or will see relatively soon.

 

[Gale Seddon]

This is interesting. Some facts and some questions: This property was sitting idle for a long time. Cattle and donkeys have been here for a while (no more cows now). Would a soil test help determine any issue(s)? How does one replace nutrients? What does resting a pasture do -- and for how long should it rest?

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

You'd probably be surprised if you did a mineral test on the dirt they eat and forage test on the rest. Your opinion might change from weird to wondering how the heck they know where the most nutrition is

Where to donkeys "exist in the wild"? Every been to Oatman, AZ? The donkeys roam free and eat sagebrush, cactus, etc. Their energy requirements are very low, they don't need lush forage to exist. In fact typically in any sort of improved pasture scenario donkeys will become obese, and founder.

 

[gman4691]

I have some hay that could get cut right now. It's not the best because it has a little old grass from last year in the bottom. I fert early this year and we have had some decent rains. Probably going to cut it end of the month and hope the best for some more moisture.

We have to watch cutting right before July and Aug. It can really burn it bad if you don't get a little growth back going in to the summer and it's dry.

Yup…cutting right before July or August brings in the potential for a grass catastrophe. Gotta watch the forecast and decide whether to trust it or not…almost always a crap shoot.