Back Issue - Practical Farm Ideas - 96 # Feb

Made it Myself includes: Mobile cattle handling: trailed, built on chassis of rotted out diet feeder penning, gates and raceway home designed and made in workshop complete system, needs no string! set up in a couple of minutes, could be hired advanced workshop project	Home built cattle handing opens in minutes, is strong and uses recycled components
Triple axle farm trailer farm conversion of artic trailer	Specs for a busy contractor who needs a very versatile trailer Fitted with crane and beaver tail, and more attachments
Silage compactor built by converting a Cousins LandPacker	thinking of improving silage quality by better consolidation? ingenious machine is made by converting a 12 ft plough/soil press
Tractor window glass protectors made in farm workshop at minimal cost	mesh is cut to the right shape and a wire edge welded around fixed to window glass with suckers bought on eBay
Pick-up truck step Made from spare steel the step folds flat	ingenious design hooks over the rear wheel you clamber over the side, so the tailgate stays closed hook over the front wheel and you have easy access under bonnet
Wind break for livestock shed built from a curtain off a 40ft road trailer	made with curtain side from artic trailer easy to pull open when the shed needs air close and secure in minutes - just like a truck reused scrap - very much cheaper than other systems

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Clever Farming Tips:

• Make a strap wrench with a cam belt
• ‘Plug’ flood water with bales
• Dry wellington boots with a hair drier and some drin pipe
• Turn the tractor PTO shaft so it aligns with the implement shaft
• Make a push snow shovel with a bike wheel
• An Osma drain pipe makes a large scale clamp

Compost

• Why is compost such a good soil conditioner?

• How much fertiliser will it replace?

• How to make a compost tea maker

• Making compost from different feedstock

Financial Focus

1. The need for farmers to appoint LPAs*
2. Discretionary trusts are useful succession tools
3. Using a pension as a source of farm finance

FarmWorld

• Price volatility management: IAgrM conference gives valuable tips to control price risks

• Dairy futures trading will not lead to stability

• Raising your forage game

Soil+ Cover Cropping International

Start simple with Cover Crops

• A plan of action: your first seasons, cropping and planting

• Building habitat for natural pollinators

ST: “Many farmers used straw burning to make an easy surface for their direct drill. Dorect drilling and straw burning almost went together. But the heat creates an virtually inert seedbed. Organic matter (carbon) and soil life is destroyed. Today we want to maximise activity in the soil and that means providing a great habitat for biological soil building with worms, invertebrates, bacteria etc. So we prevent soil from drying out, we keep it covered, have active plant life to harvest sunlight, create natural drainage, build humus. Exactly the opposite of cultivation systems in the 1970s"

Farm Walk

Renovating grassland

• tips from an expert contractor who works on farms, horse race tracks and other amenity sites, and also football fields