(10-12-2021, 06:18 PM)Jags Wrote:

(10-12-2021, 05:57 PM)Ijagibelieve Wrote: Our dilemma is pretty much the same regarding this, though for different reasons.  My "green" way to solve this is to keep part of my "back lawn" cut down by grazing some cattle which is going to happen this next year.  I leased a few acres to a "neighbor" to graze some of his cattle on my property.  Of course it creates cow farts which supposedly is not "green", but it does raise grass fed beef which is better than most commercial beef.  I get cash (of course taxed as "income") and meat for letting the guy do it.

The law simply is not practical for some people.  For people that own a "postage stamp" piece of property with say a 1000 square foot lawn they can probably do it.  For the owner that owns acres of grass or the business that makes their living off of cutting many "postage stamp" properties a day, not so much.

Reality needs to be faced by liberals.  Fossil fuels are essential and are not going away.  Many farmers in our area are holding onto and maintaining older equipment because it doesn't require DEF which is a pain in the [BLEEP].

Can’t agree more.  It may be a 1/4 acre, but when you do 20-30 a day it’s now 5-6+.  And electric power just won’t “cut” it. The average homeowner should be just fine.  Now, if I got out of the business and had to use electric [BLEEP], I’d be pissed off it took me an hour to mow trim edge and blow my own yard.  Those are 45 minutes of wasted time!

For a field or many acres in your situation, I would have recommended goats.  Those silly animals will even eat poison ivy.  But sounds like you’ve got a lot cleared.  And beef tastes pretty damn good.  That’s awesome that you worked out a deal for the meat.  Symbiotic relationships!   Like, well, in nature.   How much of the heifer do you get?

I'll probably get me a few goats, but not necessarily for grass.  There is a massive vine problem in some areas (I think Kudzu?) as well as numerous saplings that need to stay in check.  However it's going to produce goat farts.  Are they as "bad" as cow farts?  I can't get them until I put the infrastructure in place for them (shelter).  The problem is that I don't like goat meat so I would have to get rid of them when they are ready for slaughter and I don't know if there is much demand for that.

As far as the deal with my neighbor, I'll basically get 2 cows a year.  How much beef it turns out to be will depend on their weight when we slaughter them.  It should be plenty enough to fill my freezers and give some to my other family members.

Once we are a bit more established chickens and pigs might be added.  Combine the animals and the trees/garden that we have planned we will almost be self-sustaining.

What kills me right now is that I'm burning whole trees (mostly hickory and oak).  I have more wood than I know what to do with it.  My wife wants to sell firewood and that's fine, she has the time for it (she retired this year).  I don't have the time for it right now.

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