DDFJ_09-02-2009

Doud Dairy Farm Journal

Thursday, September 02, 2009

 

Feed the animals, no real events. The Swedish Blues seem to get the pattern faster than the Pekins. When they are done eating their grain I drive them down to the pond. The Blues took a few times to get it, but today they just headed out the gate and on down to the pond with very little direction. The Pekins still have to be given direction, at least until they get about half way down, then they seem to get it. The chickens stayed in the pen and scratched at the newly exposed ground, I have been making by raking the hay and weeds up everyday.

 

We waste a lot of hay putting it on the ground, I need to build a manger for the hay, so it won't get used as bedding. We should get straw for bedding.

 

We got contacted by the person that owns the 44 acres in Williamstown, NY. They haven't said no to the lease idea, so this may be the place. I will go out to see it tomorrow after we finish up with the animals. I want to see how the power lines run through the property, as this will be a deal breaker. If I can live with the location of the power lines, and this guy wants to lease for the winter, it is a done deal.

 

The trouble with the property and financing it is that it is empty land, just woods and a couple of open spots. This is fine for my animals, but makes it difficult to get financing for. We can build on the land, if we get the lease terms we want, and then in Spring we would purchase the property, using the animals and improvements as collateral. I would want a continuous lease agreement, at least a month to month with automatic renewal, with the option at any time over the period of the first two years and any end of a year after that. I would also want to lock in the rent for the first two years, before there could be a raise in rents, so that I don't lose my investment. I would consider $10.00 an acre for the rent to be reasonable for the first two years, as it would be unimproved property. If I drop a well and septic on the property, at my expense, then I want some assurance that with that and any improvements I otherwise make are mine until they pass to the original owner through default at the end of the lease terms. I also want our lease payments to be considered as part of the down for the property, so that there will be no down payment at the time of option, or at least very little. I would finance through Pioneer Farm Credit for the land next spring, after we have leased through the winter, and made improvements, as well as purchased additional animals.

 

We would need to build a barn, and a water system, which would include a well, a grey water system, and black water (waste treatment) system. I would need to do a grid tie in with the energy network, which would include a power station (most likely bio-gas digester), connected to a hot water (steam) turbine, or a methane generator, which would also make use of any additional power generated through solar power or wind energy. As I have said before certain energies produce certain types of energy more efficiently. Wind is better for mechanical energy, although it can be used to generate electrical power, it is not as efficient. Solar energy generates heat better than electrical energy, so it may be used to boost the energy of the hot water system, or as spot energy for remote operation of electrical systems, like fencers or pumps. We would need to build a DC plant, that would then convert the energy to AC at the locations of use, or at the power plant and then provided to the locations as AC current. I would build a bank of batteries that were in series and parallel to provide the best conditioned power to the system, and back on to the grid as provided overage allows. For now I would go with a grid tie in for solar energy on several banks of solar panels I build from cheap solar cells. I am only looking for minimal energy usage, as we will only be milking a few cattle and maybe a goat or two for the winter. Next spring, if we buy the property, which we most likely will, we will reconsider the energy equation entirely. We have no choice but to sell our milk products direct, as we will not have the facilities to build the milk parlor or milk room until after we get the financing for the property, as that will be part of the financing package.

 

Over the winter I will work independently to earn enough money to pay the cost of living and save some money for purchase cost, so we can purchase the property in the Spring. I will build a basic free stall barn for the winter, of at least a barn that could be easily converted to a free stall barn, while I wait for financing in the Spring. I will build a basic pole barn, with stalls for the goats and cows, and pens for the other animals (mostly roost and nesting boxes for the poultry). The idea will be to build one of sufficient size that it will be of use as a heifer barn next year, and have enough overhead storage to accommodate hay and straw storage. I will build in a few tie stalls for milking stations, but as we will be bucket milking for the first winter, it will not be bulk tanked, at least not in a standard bulk tank. We will have to meet some criteria to sell the milk, either raw or processed, I think we will have to sell privately for the winter, using a small insulated tank as a bulk tank(s) until we can build the milking barn next Spring.

 

We will be seeking funding for many projects in the Spring, the energy project (DEC, EPA, USDA), the AWI certification and NOFA-NY certification, and other more ambitious projects like a creamery, and meat processing and packaging plant. We also will by Spring need to build a plant for the personal care products, as they will have out grown the processing in the kitchen stage. We will have to build a house as well, as the cabin we will build to winter over in will be inadequate for our needs by Spring. I will look at building a partially subterranean house, to take advantage of the geo-thermal properties, and to provide us with a better living condition without losing land use. We will not get the green house done this year, so we will have to establish beds, and begin our plants in our cabin and barn, setting them in tunnels as soon as the ground allows. I am going to use raised insulated beds, with high tunnels on them to simulate the conditions of the green house that will be built by next fall when we have arranged for the financing of the improvements.

 

Well that is enough about the farm for today. Tomorrow we will move the fence, and begin building the first temporary structure at the current location, although we may make it more permanent if it is so determined that such a structure could benefit the owner (Arleta's Aunt Lois).   I was thinking some thing that looked and worked like a little boat house. An inverted U shaped building with a storage space on the north side (this would at this time house the stalls for the goats and nesting boxes for the poultry), an open deck down the south side, this would allow entry to the boat house, and provide a place to sit and look out over the southern face of the water. The cross over would have space for indoor activities including a shower and a composting toilet. It would be built around the slip, which could be built to allow for small water craft to be put in the water, but also kept out of the water in the winter and in bad weather. We may need a permit to build it, but I have to check on the local codes to see what we can get a way with before they have to file for a permit. If Raymond wants to help with the building, as it is on his mother's property, and he would be the most likely user of the slip, that would be even better. Either way, if Lois wants it built, and we can build it with or with out the permit, we will build it from local materials, and she will have a decent boat house for her pond. If she were smart she wouldn't allow motors of any kind on the water, not even trolling motors, as this would damage the ecology of the pond, but I can't tell her what she can do with her pond. I will build it, and buy a small used row boat (john boat) that will stay with the boat house for her family's use. This is of course contingent on what the owner agrees to as to the other acreage in Williamstown, because if we are able to close that deal soon (within the month of September), then I can't see investment in the current property beyond a better lean-to as shelter for the animals. That's all for today...

Peace.