Memes and…

[gypsie]

It is important to not “play” the fish too long, or they may die. For this reason heavier lines and leaders are used for Catch and Release fishing, so that the fish may be brought in quickly, to give the fish the best chance of survival. also special gel nets are available that cause less trauma. Some fish may still die, but this method of fishing has the least impact (unless you use flies with no hook)

Yep - that matches the research. speed of turnaround and little to no handling.

[L.W. Baxter]

Anyway, I like fishing and will do it until I fall off me twig.

hold on a while yet ya bastid!

[JayInOz]

I felt like I was about to cark it just half an hour ago Lee. We had rain yesterday- first good rain in weeks. Today is hot and really humid. I'm harvesting my corn crop- almost eleven thousand plants, cut one at a time at ground level with a machete, carried/ dragged out of the paddock, and then fed one at a time through the chipper, shovelled into drums with a spray of molasses, pounded down tight with a fifty pound steel shaft with a flange on the end to get all the air out, then sealed and put away to ferment to become silage to feed the cows over the winter. I really am feeling my age right now. Gonna take an hour off- the good lady and I shall go to the creek for an hour so I can cut another couple of bundles of basket willow to be used for weaving projects later in the year.

[RFNK]

The fish still, probably, die.

The stress causes a physiological response that kills the fish.
I was doing a talk with a scientist recently who had a phd student studying catch and release of big fish, sports fishing and sharks. Almost all the fish die within 24 hours of release.

The study was started to see how catching sharks to tag them effected the shark. The tagging not so bad, most sharks recover in 24 hours, tiger sharks shake it off quickly. but the less scientific processes of game fishing stress the animals far more.

Yep. Putting any animal through all that just for fun is sick.

[Ted Hoppe]

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[WszystekPoTrochu]

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[Garret]

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Good one.

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[Hugh MacD]

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bingo!

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[WX]

Courtesy of my son...and his sense of humour.
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nice ^

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[L.W. Baxter]

Courtesy of my son...and his sense of humour.

i can't believe you turned your back on the sea!

[Hallam]

[Lugs]

[WX]

i can't believe you turned your back on the sea!

I wasn't that close but.....

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[robm]

I'm harvesting my corn crop- almost eleven thousand plants, cut one at a time at ground level with a machete, carried/ dragged out of the paddock, and then fed one at a time through the chipper, shovelled into drums with a spray of molasses, pounded down tight with a fifty pound steel shaft with a flange on the end to get all the air out, then sealed and put away to ferment to become silage to feed the cows over the winter.

Gawd help us all, Jay! My great uncle had a dairy herd with 60 cows, and grew acres of corn for silage. He cut it, chipped it (probably at the same time) and put it into silos 60 feet high, with some kind of grain auger. An auger at the bottom pulled it out to distribute to the cows. This was 50 years ago. There has to be a better way now!

I see the popular method now is heap silage, all you need (not counting the corn) is a big flat space and a front end loader, plus rolls of polythene sheet and a bunch of tires to hold it all down. I think my uncle's method was simpler.

[JayInOz]

I know how it should and can be done Rob. If someone gave me the machinery for free I wouldn't be able to afford the diesel to run it I ended up making about a ton of silage by hand but probably seventy percent of the remaining ears were ruined by mice, so I just put the cattle in there to eat it down. Todays problem- the calf is in season- sixth time and she's not quite seven months old yet! So she's not drinking. Her mother the house cow has full udders and is leaking milk on the ground. She refuses to be hand milked and my milking machine won't pump. I actually just came in to the computer to find the contact details of the mob I bought it from to ask for advice. Today isn't going the way I had planned- but my days rarely do JayInOz

[robm]

I know the tall silos are now out of fashion, but would it be possible to use grain bins or similar for the small amount of silage you need? Electric motors to run the augers. How can mice ruin the corn? Reduce the food value for sure, but it will still make food for cows in winter when well fermented.

How many cows have you got? How much silage and hay gets your stock through the winter?

If you want to see scary stuff, look for Youtube videos of people taking down silos in the US. Makes Fred Dibnah look like an H&S requirement paragon.

[JayInOz]

Rob you have to force the air out of the silage-and keep it out- so that it ferments and doesn't just turn into hot compost. In tall silos it's the weight of the silage that does the job. In stacks it's squashed down with heavy machinery before being sealed. The mice ate every single grain off thousands of cobs. Can still be used to make silage but the most nutritious part is gone. Just not worth my time and effort. It doesn't snow where I live so the cattle are out all year round on grass and I'm close to a rural supply store for additional feeds.
I called the company in Queensland where I bought my milking machine and had a pleasant chat with Jasmine. She emailed me the manual as I can't find mine, then she ran through all the possibilities as to why it wouldn't pump. She said lets try the easiest option first- rubber tube off the pump into an elbow which has a ball bearing in it- could be stuck so give it a whack. I did that and we're back in business! Didn't cost me a cent and Jasmine is my new favourite bestie JayInOz

[hawkeye54]

Jay, you gotta love people who will take the time to run thru all the possibilities, like Jasmine did !


Rick

[robm]

Makes sense. I wondered if there was something like that I was missing. Otherwise, why stack it so deep? Although those silage heaps, even if run over by heavy equipment, don't strike as being as well compacted as running it into a 60 foot silo. Maybe a grain bin, with a long tree trunk across it, piston to press it down, and a heavy weight on the end of the tree, like traditional wine presses I have seen in Austria? Take the top off , fill the bin, in layers if necessary, swing the press into place, apply weight to the end, and repeat as necessary until the bin is full, the put the cap on top, with a layer of polythene sheet to keep the air off the top. More work, but less than what you were describing!

That elbow and ball bearing sounds like a check valve. Good on Jasmine for knowing her product so well! I do love competent women!

[JayInOz]

I was thoroughly impressed Rick. Friendly, patient and knowledgeable- especially considering that the machine is made in Europe. And she just emailed to wish me a happy Easter

[JayInOz]

Check this out Rob- how to build a mountain out of corn https://www.google.com/search?q=farm...id:PoF5sj9kUzE JayInOz

[robm]

This is a complete diversion from the original topic, but I know I am learning lots. Jay, have you ever hear of Marty Mone? Irish guy, started off driving trucks and tractors as an agricultural contractor, now he is a fine musician:


And coming to Australia in June!

[Spin_Drift]

Jay, would “barn cats” take down the mice population?

[JayInOz]

Spin our three little dogs kill far more mice than cats ever could because they actively hunt them and dig them out and work as a team. And this place is a haven for small birds- an awful lot of work over a lot of years to make it so- cats have a life expectancy of around three minutes after being spotted- that's how long it takes me to unlock the safe and choose a weapon. And the dogs kill a lot of rats and absolutely love it- cats which will take on a rat are very rare. Also tiny traces of cat poop in hay can cause outbreaks of pregnancy toxaemia and spontaneous abortion in sheep, and I like my sheep. No cats here JayInOz

[Spin_Drift]

Interesting that dogs will do the job ^.
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