Mastodawn

Y⃒̸̷̝̜̙ͥͥͥngmar

Got some trouble with the hay baroness, who used to mow our meadow for the price of taking the hay. Now she reneged on the deal and wants money as well as the hay. Not sure how much yet, she's "calculating".

Meanwhile I'm calculating our alternatives:

1. Buy a flail mulcher for the tractor and do it ourselves. Hay is wasted but we're not dependent on someone else. Initial cost, but gain a mulcher.

2. Pay someone to cut, turn and bale the hay, then sell the bales ourselves. Depending on prices, we may make money or lose it and end up with a bunch of tractor eggs sitting around. Risky.

3. Find someone else who will accept the original deal and mow for the hay, preferably someone nice and local. We'll ask around a bit.

Prefer 3 because no work for me.

#Hay #Farm #Farming #Homestead

Karl Poe May 26

@yngmar 4 set it on 🔥

Y⃒̸̷̝̜̙ͥͥͥngmar May 26

@karlpoe Probably too many had that idea and thus it's specifically illegal in Lithuania to do so :)

Karl Poe May 26

@yngmar wasn't aware it's illegal. Thought people just got a bit smarter.

kultura_karikatura

@yngmar @karlpoe, buy/rent some goats and/or sheep?

Karl Poe May 26

@rq @yngmar then you have 💩 problem.

kultura_karikatura

@karlpoe it's not a problem, it's a fertilizer! @yngmar

Y⃒̸̷̝̜̙ͥͥͥngmar May 26

@rq @karlpoe Funny thing about pastures is, you still have to mow them once per year. Picky eaters!

kultura_karikatura

@yngmar maybe a robotic mower would also be an option? I'm aware it's not the Amish way, but you said yourself you aren't one. 😀 @karlpoe

Y⃒̸̷̝̜̙ͥͥͥngmar May 26

@rq @karlpoe Dude, it's 4.23 ha of meter-tall grasses, some piece of shit Gardena robo-lawnmower is going to have a nervous breakdown and call its therapist if you show it that 🤣

Y⃒̸̷̝̜̙ͥͥͥngmar May 26

@rq @karlpoe This is option 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5gV-yawxMA

Trinciatrice a Mazze Mateng NEFL-115 da agriragazzi.it

YouTube

kultura_karikatura

@yngmar let me amend my proposal. A coordinated mesh of robotic mowers FTW! @karlpoe

Dominykas Blyžė May 26

@rq @yngmar @karlpoe trust me, it's cheaper to hire someone do it with a scythe than the bots 😁

Says me, who has 2/3 of 1ha covered by bots. The very cheapest dumb ones. Well, there might be cheaper Chinese ones, but they have cameras, etc. And even that might work out cheaper if there was some local kid with a mini tractor 😁

It does look nice tho, having it trimmed all the time... Don't tell that to the nature lovers tho 😁

Dominykas Blyžė May 26

@yngmar @rq @karlpoe you need the big Husqvarna... I think it was €15k for 5ha or smth like that 😁

She’s probably reacting to the oil/gas prices hikes.

Maybe another alternative to float her is a return to the original deal when the war is over.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Or… a tree farm.

4th option. Silviculture with grazing for animals. Plant cover fruit and nut trees, rent the ground for spring grazing. Bad year, you get fruit to sell. Good year you might even get a cut of hay as well if anyone is interested.

Y⃒̸̷̝̜̙ͥͥͥngmar May 26

@tempusfelix @wedge We would like to reforest it, but this is not a hobby garden, its an agricultural plot which is subject to a myriad of regulations. One being you can't just plant trees on it.

Want to plant a forest? Make a project, gain a minimum of points from some point system that requires you to plant certain species of tree only and not more than a few of other species (e.g. oaks are very restricted for some reason) and then plant those specific tree species that you must buy in specific quantities from a certified seedling seller for mucho money, then do other stuff in the following 30 years (that part is actually okay, the first is insane).

Fruit trees make an orchard, not a forest. Thats a different project! Welcome to farming!

Animals? Huh, where did they come from? 😆

Apologies. I run a small holding but with I suspect very different rules. Planting trees is positively encouraged if you can factor it into your land management plan. We laid out the orchard to allow for the compact tractor to fit around them and have local people who want to graze their horses or sheep for a few weeks. The main field we have a contractor from a local vintage tractor association cut and bale.

Y⃒̸̷̝̜̙ͥͥͥngmar May 26

@tempusfelix @wedge Yes, I think the UK has actually pretty good rules for small farms. Here there isn't really anything like that, so small farms often get crushed under the weight of rules made for big farms.

There is a financial support programme for young people starting farming, but basically its just to buy big equipment on a loan and become big farmers in a hurry. It has very little uptake, unsurprisingly. 🤷

Ignas Kiela May 26

@yngmar @tempusfelix @wedge Fun fact - IIRC wallnuts do qualify for orchard, while in practice you can run it as a forest

Y⃒̸̷̝̜̙ͥͥͥngmar May 26

@ignaloidas @wedge @tempusfelix Huh, I gotta look into that, thanks!

@tempusfelix
@yngmar

Rental grazing is a good idea. Does that woman have animals to feed? Maybe a counter offer to pay is to let her graze. Instead of mowing and hauling, she herds her beasts back and forth on occasion. And you get laughing mushrooms to sell along with the fruit and nuts. 🌈 🦄

Y⃒̸̷̝̜̙ͥͥͥngmar May 26

@wedge @tempusfelix Like I said elsewhere, pastures (grazed areas) still require mowing because the animals don't eat everything. Specifically they leave shrubs and small trees, which is what the mowing is about - prevent establishing larger plants. Mowing is the law. Welcome to farming.

Hay requires a huge upfront investment in machinery. Disc mower, rake, baler and in her case, a tractor for each to save time swapping implements. Also staff to operate those machines. Then you use all that on as many hectare as possible to earn.

Also milk prices are in the toilet and farmers are selling their cows, so less demand for hay, at least in this country.

We'll reforest eventually I hope, despite the hurdles, but for now we need it mowed.

@tempusfelix @yngmar

Sorry, late to party response.