cows - anyone had problems with them

[somuch]

i'm starting a crop in what i hope will be a good spot.. bout 150km from the nearest town.. along a river

 

its a little dry however the surrounding plants and reasonable green.. and i was planning on either

 

a. putting 2-5 4x5m crops sites in surrounded by chicken wire.

 

or

 

b. just plant them out at about 5-10m intervals 10-50m from the river maybe 100-200 plants

 

the one problem i see atm is that cows come down to drink. there seems to be a good amount of vegetation on the ground for them to eat.. just wondering if anyone has known them to 'attack' crops?

 

the only thing about the fenced off areas is that they might be seen from the air more easily

[WantDaChronic]

i have heard of cow eating plants and producing thc laced milk before, something i dearly want to have on my ceral every morning ::

 

but you'll need more than chicken wire to protect the crop, barbed wire fence would do it but as you have already said, that would make the crop detectable from the air...so would lining the river bank with 100s of plants, thats a silly idea that leaves all your plants in the one basket too....

 

your best bet would be to seperate the plants into 5 plant lots and spread them atleast 50m apart...while that sounds like a killer effort, if the plants get ripped, eaten, discovered by police, etc. hopefully they wont get them all + if you get caught at a crop, 5 plants is still a personal amount, deny knowledge of other grows in the area and say i just thought my plants smelt real good

[sydneyguy]

Deffinetly spread them out so you can ditch the barbed wire. Even barbed wire is no detetrent to constant movement from cattle, especially the more flimsy and less permanent the set up. Farmers use electric fencing as the only 'true' deterent to livestock.

 

If there's livestock-especially cows then the ground soil is probably compacted to the extent that it's not viable to 'till' the area especially with the amount of plants your considering. It would be back breaking work for something that offers no guarantee. If you look closely at most river banks or water bodies farmers dont grow in these areas due to the soil being compacted by constant visits from livestock and feral animals-that's where irrigation lends a hand ! Maybe be close enough to the river for irrigation set up but far enough to avoid livestock and farmers !

 

Do a search on 'guerilla' farming and that should give you good basic start up advice :smoke !

[mull]

Hey somuch, best of luck with the mission.

Is the chook wire for roos, possums and rabbits etc?

If you want to keep the cows out, get a 12v electric fence energizer and earth stake and simply run 1 strand of fencing wire out around the plot. You'll have to insulate this of course and cam up the insulators (if required). Keep the wire hot all the time and the cows will know and keep away. You'll need either a solar panel or to lug in a charged car battery for charge. OR, if there is a nearby electric fence you can tap onto it and run a wire around your plot.

 

Wantda, I want some of that milk for my cereal too! ::

[boxerbill]

Hey

As the others have covered not much keeps cows at bay.

They always damage my irrigation lines in above ground areas and i even put up militant barb wire fences. Your only chance is electric fence.

 

As for irrigation there are these mad little black bags that contain 9litres of water and last about 6 weeks and keep the soil moist forget what they are called do a google might find something.

[dna]

Can anyone tell me about these 9 litre bags??

[Budman2012]

i have heard of cow eating plants and producing thc laced milk before, something i dearly want to have on my ceral every morning ::

 

Hahahahaha Classic!

 

 

(Ahem) ... Yeah , What are those 9 litre water bags ... never heard of themz ...

 

Nah , but seriously , I kinda just wanted to see if I could quote like than , , Looks to be working ...

But there is only one way to be certain ...

 

Badnum ... 00+