Your Mission, Should You Choose To Accept It!

So, the big mission we are on is getting all the super phosphate 3:1 out on the pasture paddocks on one of the blocks. Most of the farm is done already but the furthest block from home is always a challenge. It's a little to far to cart 6 tonnes from home to the paddock each trip. So what do we do? We dump it on the ground or on a tarp on the ground and try and get it all out before any rain can damage the fertiliser itself. We don't want it leaching the nutrients out onto a tarp! 

So with the loader and the top dresser in place, away we go!! Wish us luck!

R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

The land we live on demands respect from us everyday in a multitude of ways. From a very young age we're taught to respect the dangers that are out there. Yes, as kids we got to be 'free range' and escape our mothers watchful eye, but we already had a healthy respect for dams, machinery, bulls, or rotten branches in the climbing trees. As we grow up and start managing to open gates or chop firewood we learn to respect 'pitching in', the fact that we all do our share so that we can all enjoy this life. We respect 'pitching in' because it means we can go to sleep at night knowing the dogs are fed, the silos are shut, and the chooks are safe from the foxes. As we get older again and begin to understand the business side of farming we learn to respect Mother Nature. We respect the way we have to adapt to whatever is thrown our way, usually in a very quick fashion. So, as people who live on the land, we become self reliant, unselfish and adaptive. Living on the land stands us in good stead for contributing to our family, our farm and our community. 

What is troubling to those of us who live on the land is the way we are respected. When we have been taught from a young age to respect everybody for who they are it is thoroughly disillusioning and disheartening to find that people don't respect us for what we do. What's worse is that it would seem some people are happy to disrespect our profession and the way we care for our land and livestock without ever getting to know what we do and how we do it. I have no qualms with letting people make informed decisions as to whether they support our lifestyle and career. However, if you judge us without respecting us enough to understand precisely why we do what we do then you may begin to find that other professions get prejudged. Respect is paramount to a functioning society. If we begin to decide that all factory owners are polluters or all nurses are more likely to take drugs then the trust and respect in our society begins to break down. All I ask is that if you would like to judge farmers, station owners, agronomists or the agricultural sector in general, then please, come and see it first hand or come and talk to someone who does it firsthand. Nobody gets sentenced without expert witnesses on the stand, please let us have our say before you make up your minds.

 

Winter Is Setting In!

Winter time is definitely here now. It's chilly every morning. The fires have been going non stop (the house is freezing if we let them go out). Unfortunately the puddles aren't quite permanent yet but they're getting close to it. Winter for us means extremely minimal growth rates in the pasture. So whatever we have at the moment needs to be enough for the sheep until late July. Luckily we had an early break!

PS. Take a look at this mornings sunrise/moon show. 

Learning Experiences

Today held a lot of new things to learn for me. In a season like we have at the moment the early break has left us with lots of pasture and healthy stock. So what do we do with the pasture we can't graze? Do we buy more sheep? Do we rotate grazing? Do we put more crop in? Or do we improve some of the pastures that aren't performing as well? 

Well we can do all of the above! So today was spent seeding ryegrass and oats into gravel hills that germinated early and died off before the rain continued. Spreading clover, ryegrass and kikuyu grass across some wet patches of cropping country that are dry enough to get to at the moment. We then harrowed it in. 

Every day we learn new things on the land. Today I experienced what I've been told a thousand times. Every time you cultivate the soil you lose so much of the moisture content. It's visibly drier each time you work the same piece of land. 

Harrowing.

The darker patch is where the moisture has been moved to the top by the harrowing. It'll be drier than the rest in no time!

Freedom..

Life on the land is about working. Fortunately work for us is a lifestyle, this means sometimes we go like the clappers to get seed in the ground or fertiliser off it. It also means that some days we get to cruise around on a bike, check the sheep and the crops and take some happy snaps whilst listening to your favourite playlist. Enjoy some of the beautiful things I got to see this afternoon!

Oats poking their way towards the light. 

The old set of cattle yards we occasionally employ. 

This is my favourite light, everything glows at this time of day!

Canola progressing to the next leaf stage.

Old fences...

Dad getting artistic with old tyres!

That light again, and one of my favourite white gums.

Those gentle winter sunset colours. 

Snap! Crunch!

The weather has snapped,

The mercury plummeting.

Beanies, scarves and hats,

Oh so warm, yet unbecoming!

The grass tends to crunch,

On those cold frosty mornings.

You won't be warm until lunch,

The thermometer is warning. 

The doors all slam shut,

As we fight the cold chill

The fires warming our butts.

Of hot drinks, we have our fill. 

In the mornings we wake,

Our breath misty white. 

The thawing windows opaque,

As the cold loses the fight. 

At night the dogs stay warm, 

Taking up residency on door mats. 

It's not uncommon form,

To find them in the boots, under the hat racks. 

Snap! Crunch! Oh dear...

Winter is here.

Misty valleys

Steaming pastures

Breeding spider webs. 

I Love It When Things Just Work!

It's early June, we've had rain, the sun is shining and everything looks amazing down here in Mobrup! There's feed coming out our ears and the crops poking its way out of the ground. I know not all farmers have got it this way at the moment but as farmers we have to take advantage of what we've got and so far I'm loving 2013! There's nothing quite like moving pregnant ewes and watching them bolt down the lane way kicking their legs and playing head butts because they're in such good condition. Putting them on fresh pasture and knowing they are doing well feels like an achievement. It is a thoroughly satisfying feeling knowing everything is at it's highest potential, even though its Mother Nature doing the bulk of the work it's still heart warming!

Moving the fat, pregnant ewes!

Seeding fun :)

Bush walking with the dogs to pick up the motorbikes that get endlessly stranded during seeding! 

Taking Stock

At least once a week we try and get around the stock to see what condition they are in, check the dams and assess the amount of feed they have. I usually do this on a motorbike as it means you can push the mob a little and see how they respond, which gives you an idea of their condition. 

Summer time means we increase the amount of times we 'eyeball' the stock and dams, as the feed is lower and there's no rain to increase water levels. This way we don't end up with sheep stuck in sticky mud at the edges of the dams as the water level drops!

In winter time we try to make sure they are in good condition as they will be lambing in July/August. Healthy ewes means healthy lambs! Which is where the dung samples I've mentioned earlier come in.

The only problem with checking sheep on the Honda 230 is that your legs get really wet from the early morning dew!!

Seeding 2013

Today I was putting oats in the ground with the big John Deere tractor and the air seeder. There's a few things to focus on at once but you tune into them all eventually. You have to watch the depth controller, make sure the fan is going, make sure the seed is coming, be aware of any blockages in the pipes and make sure you're not double seeding anything all at the same time! It's good fun though and watching a crop grow after you seeded it is thoroughly rewarding!

Most beautiful sunset tonight meant I got to play with some shots! Enjoy. :)

The Little Things

Sometimes life on the land is about the little things. Sometimes it's seeing the sun rise, sometimes it's having someone else fuel the ute for you, sometimes it's coming back to find the kettle on already, sometimes it's watching birds wheel across the sky above you and sometimes it's simply being able to see to the horizon. Life on the land has its trials and tribulations but these little things make it all worthwhile. The little things lift you just high enough to get you through a long day. So enjoy the little things I found this morning. :)

Mare's tails across the winter sky. 

The glow of sunrise through the gum trees. 

The sun rising on the end of autumn. 

The new day. 

The glow of a new day across a finished life.

The moon meeting the sun early this morning, best of friends yet never stealing each others light.