Paddock/Pasture Paradise - Anyone have one?

[welsummerchicks]

The soil and water direction is not a result of a few complaints by urban transplants.

It is a much more general trend and standard, out of concern for us, livestock, crops, wildlife and for the water table and soil quality that sustains all of us.

It is a result of attempting to not have the entire rural world turn into over-crowded mud bogs.

During the Great Depression there was widespread erosion and soil loss, no one ever realized what an environmental disaster could happen with a few years of drought. Since that time there has been more and more effort to keep the quality of soil and water in rural areas up to a minimal standard. To not do so is to ruin our country and our...country/nation/USA.

It is really not at all difficult to meet the soil and water requirements. Most of it is just plain old common sense, what our ancestors did on their farms.

And it is not at all burdensome to help your county and your state and your country, have minimally decent quality soil and water. And it's what we all live off of. It's important.

It is not just about your property. If your property has a poor root structure and poor ground cover over a certain percent of your land, then think of how it is if thousands of properties in your county and even region, have a similar layout. You have to think on a bigger scale. If I have 5 acres and 1/2 is mud and my neighbor has 10 acres and 1/2 is mud, and so on and so forth, that adds up to a county that has half of its ground a poor root structure and ground cover. If there is a flood or a drought it is a disaster. Soil structure is lost, more houses and businesses are flooded with more damaging runoff, wells are damaged, water treatment and sewage is affected, it goes on and on, the effects are huge.

For us, with our layout and our soil type, sacrifice areas are the answer. Our horses have plenty of room to run and play, our grass looks beautiful, we have no dust, no mud, our property is resilient during storms and droughts, and most importantly - our costs of maintaining our property are actually LESS - we reseed less because we don't have the trend toward shrubs and weeds trying to fill in, our horses are injured less often, WE are injured less often(my neighbor who did not feel like repairing a gutter flooded her path to the pasture, and SHE broke her leg walking out there on the ice and mud =thousands and thousands in hospital bills, lost income and permanent disability), we lime less, we repair fence less, we have fewer flies, we pay less for fly spray, we keep the poison ivy and poison oak out, we have fewer holes and erosion, we aerate less, we have to redo drainage tiles less often, our horses do not get mud fever, they do not pull shoes outside, our house and garage do not flood, we have less damage and wear and tear on our fences, we have less damage from spring melts - the list goes on and on.

In addition, our property, if we have to sell, is in a far more appealing condition to a buyer and we have far far less we need to do to make it attractive to buyers.

And to top it ALL off - we save money on hay. The better our grass areas are, the more money we save on hay. And the happier and healthier our horses are. They love to eat grass.

If we destroy it, it can cost thousands to have the ground disked, ammended, and reseeded, and overall, we would wind up having EVEN LESS use of it than if we just managed it from the start!

Do yourself a favor and do your pocket book a favor - maintain your root structure and your soil quality. You'll be a lot happier and richer.

 

[chickenzoo]

I'm not saying not to try and improve the pasture, but it urks me that people just run and complain to officials instead of perhaps proposing something to the land owner or voice their concerns directly and perhaps help out. In my situation the run off was minimum, maybe a foot on their woods during heavy heavy rain after much drought. People are quick to complain about animals, but they forget all the things they dump on their lawns...... that's all I'm saying.

 

[welsummerchicks]

Myself, I don't worry so much about what other people do in that sense. I can only control what I do. I would encourage people to do things that are good for the county and region as a whole, but beyond that, I am not worrying about them.

And no, I don't expect my neighbors to come over and help me out with my problems. Those are my responsibility. I'm always grateful for help, but I don't expect it.

And I don't think they earn the right to complain by helping me.

People earn the right to complain by being born with a mouth. Is anyone going to listen to them or change anything because of it, that's another matter.

There are some counties where the goal is getting more money and more development at whatever cost.

I think it's a good idea to know the county government and the township etc before moving in. Making sure their goals align with your goals is a good idea. Reading their meeting minutes tells a lot about what their direction is. Most meeting minutes are freely accessible on the internet.

When a county or township's goals change when you're already moved in, sometimes there are ways to protect oneself from that, and well, a lot of stuff is just a tempest in a teapot and not worth getting upset about.

 

[chickenzoo]

I don't expect anything from anyone. It's just a shame that people now a days can't be more neighborly. People now just call someone and complain instead of finding out first hand from their neighbor......
In my experience we were sold something as one thing, and 18 years later learned it was another. Our fault ... yes I suppose, as we were young and this was our first house and we believed what the real estate people told us. Back then info was not so easy to locate in this area. But I forgot your perfection on things........... You have your opinion, I have mine...... I'm done.

 

[welsummerchicks]

I never said I was perfect, as you well know.

But I try real hard not to upset myself over what others do. And of course many times I let it get the better of me, just like anyone else would. A little support and encouragement from friends does help, though. I don't know what trouble you had with your property but that is a real shame. I DO know that real estate agents are sometimes more interested in making a sale than helping the buyer. We've been through that - we struggled and spent thousands and more thousands, trying to fix drainage problems on this property so our basement does not flood every time it rains. And yes sometimes I get really burned up about that. But I try to just be cool and take a deep breath and think about something else. It's hard, but I feel better if I just try to not get mad about what I can't change.

As far as getting mad at the McMansions because they fertilize their lawn, that is the kind of thing I try to not get into. All it does is make me unhappy if I think about it that way. I try to concentrate on positive things like all the kind gestures and help I get instead of the bad things going on.