Please share your alternative/old time ways

[Starting late]

I am in my second year of raising beef cattle. I am trying NOT to do everything commercially. A good example is the livestock barn I built. It was built by my 2 sons and I. We used some American Chestnut 2x4's and some Fir 2x10's salvage from an old dairy barn. We used locally sawn red oak 1x6's for the siding, which was put on vertically like on all the old barns. I used the same techniques for putting the siding on as they did 150 years ago. We used free power poles to put it up also. The barn looks great with it's solid oak siding and we built a 28x40 with a new colored steel roof for less than $2,500 total. I want to get into crop rotation and biodiverstiy in the hay fields and pastures. As an example we just tried an experiment by drilling rye into some fields where clover or Alfalfa have been present in order to utilize some of the Nitrogen converted by the legumes. The rye should be a valuable source of hay and winter forage. I also intend to try wheat, barley, oats, turnips, etc. I am specifically looking for ways to cut back on conventional fertilizers and make the soil more self sustaining. I am also curious about feeding "corn fodder" as many of the farmers my Grandpa's age fed alot of it. Can I plant corn in a small patch and harvest it by hand for "fodder". How is the nutrition of fodder? I hope some of you more experienced farmers will share your wisdom. I think that the art of farming for the long term has been replace by a quick buck commercialized version. Thanks for the help.

 

[chippie]

Check into the Small Farmers Journal

http://www.smallfarmersjournal.com/

and Countryside & Small Stock Journal

http://www.countrysidemag.com/

 

[mtncows]

The old fodder was cut earlierr than today's before it was completely dead probably between today's late silage stage and shelling stage. It was "shocked" in the fields and left for the ear to dry some and then husked.We have fed a very limited amout straight from the field when cutting out to start chopping.Don't know how good this was but it didn't hurt in small amounts

 

[SRBeef]

hard to make a meaningful reply with absolutely no idea of where you are located. Responses for TX may be very different from responses if you are in ON or PA or ND

 

[dyates]

Can I plant corn in a small patch and harvest it by hand for "fodder"

Sure you can. We have an old corn binder that was made for harvesting fodder mechanically and tying it in manageable bundles. We use it for sorghum cane. I was thinking of planting some Indian corn to sell as fodder shocks in town. I also have an old cutter that was used to cut fodder up into short pieces when it was being fed. The animals will eat it better that way.

 

[Cowdirt]

The old fodder was cut earlierr than today's before it was completely dead probably between today's late silage stage and shelling stage. It was "shocked" in the fields and left for the ear to dry some and then husked.We have fed a very limited amout straight from the field when cutting out to start chopping.Don't know how good this was but it didn't hurt in small amounts

This topic brings back memories. Seems that the terminology differs depending upon where one is located. When I was a lad in mid TN, we cut the stalk of by hand just above the last ear of corn. This was done when the corn, stalk and fodder were mature but still not completely dry. Shocks of stalks were made and we're bound with a single cornstalk. We never wasted anything. The fodder or blades that remained on the stalk below the ears were stripped off by hand and tied into small bundles using a blade of fodder to tie the bundle. The bundle was then hung on a stalk for later hauling. The corn ears were harvested later after it had dried adequately.