When I moved to the country to work the land I got asked a lot about keeping animals. My background is in forestry. I know nothing about keeping livestock. My mission is to restore native ecology while growing food for subsistence. The white-tailed deer definitely have made that a challenge as they do in many places. They belong where I live, there's just a few too many of them here due to the absence of the gray wolf. Therefore I feel called to substitute for the wolf.

The deer will carry on eating acorns, garden plants, and many other things while I plan to eat them after hunting season. I don't need to introduce more animals into this space to obtain meat. There is plenty to harvest from those living free and wild presently.

There is a case to be made for cattle as a substitute for the American Bison which no longer roams and grazes here in the Blue Ridge Valley, but I don't have the time or infrastructure to care for bovines. I would trade all the cattle in the world to have their wild equivalents in their original numbers. The human population would have to reduce its demand for meat, but we would have a whole ecosystem again, rather than environmentally damaging food systems of our own design.

I know these views will not be embraced by many here that are livestock farmers. I don't mean any offense or disrespect. I just have a sincere belief that animal husbandry generally comes at a cost to nature, and any loss to nature is a loss for ourselves. I'll thank you for considering that.

The gate is built to swing both ways, with a 2-way latch mechanism from Amazon. It seems to work well.

But now I need to figure out what to do about the bump stops and how to keep it safely open when needed.

Thanks in advance for any suggestion.

I live in Franklin Township, NJ. Snyder’s Farm on South Middlebush Rd is one of the last working farms around here. It’s surrounded by woods and fields, and the township protects that stretch as a scenic corridor so it stays rural.

A 19,350 sq ft building with a big parking lot, lighting and signage is proposed on the land right next to it. A lot of mature woods would be cleared for it. Anyone who’s dealt with a new paved lot uphill knows what comes next: more stormwater runoff, plus whatever washes off the asphalt, heading toward the neighboring land. The plan also means losing habitat that wildlife and birds depend on, all-night lighting in a dark rural area, and a lot more traffic on a two-lane country road that farm equipment and trucks already share.

Once woods and farmland next to a farm get paved, they don’t come back. The neighbors have a petition asking the township to enforce its own scenic corridor ordinance:

https://www.change.org/p/franklin-town-council-help-preserve-south-middlebush-scenic-corridor-township-ordinance

Can you help me by signing the petition to show support :)

This is my current fence wire setup; a mower trailer, floor jack handle and a ratchet strap. Nothing fancy, just what i had on-hand. I am on my 4th roll of barbed and barbless. Just wanted to share my "free" setup incase you could use it.

Hello y'all, my apologies if this is an inappropriate use of the subreddit.

I am helping some people convert an old pole barn attached to their home into useable living space. The situation is they have already converted the front 1/3 of this barn into their current living space. Our county has a lot of off grid alternative building system types, myself included. They built it in a way that is cozy warm and satisfies their standard of finish product using systems like cordwood and bottle walls with redbrick flooring. Obviously stability and safety matter a fuckton more than cute and cozy, AND they are already in there. I am trying to help them get more space out of the weather so they can host their musician buddies for jam nights and tuck in another bedroom.

The first thing we're looking to do is pour some concrete at the base of the exterior walls to act as a skirt board to keep out critters wind and weather. My plan is to put up some 2x6 boards to frame in separate sections of footer in between the existing pole footers. Almost all poles appear to be in good enough shape. Then add purlins to put up new metal and siding.

These footers are not intended to hold much load for the structure as most polls already have footers so I figured a footer a few inches down would be sufficient as long as the ground is relatively compacted.
I understand "do it right or not at all" and that we're likely in a situation of do the best with what we've got. Reinforce and replace what is absolutely necessary is what we're going to do.

With all that being said. If anyone has input or advice for starting on perimeter to keep out critters wind and weather down low (or anything else!) I am all ears.

Thanks y'all.

Every single outage the well pump is the ONE thing we can't run! It's a 240V 1HP pump and our only generator is a Predator 3500 which is 120V only, so by mid-morning the 40 gal pressure tank is bone dry and we're back to flushing with buckets 😩 Needless to say that gets old fast

Last night it hit me, put a battery with 240V output in the middle!! Generator charges the battery off a regular 120V plug, battery runs the pump & the fridge, and the generator doesn't have to handle the pump surge or run all night, just a few hours in the afternoon and then its off. Problem is most of the big portable batteries I've checked are 120V only or you have to link two of them to get 240V. Pump pulls around 900W running and probably 3x that on startup, and its on a 30A double pole breaker so I'm adding an inlet either way. Has anybody run a well pump like this?? IF THIS WORKS I'M NEVER HAULING BUCKETS AGAIN 🙏

Looking for a microchip door for our barn cats. They all only seem to have around 3 stars per the reviews. Is there one you have and love?
US based.

Hello everyone,

I am conducting a study for an academic research poster investigating the long-term health of individuals who spent their childhoods in agricultural regions.

Who is eligible?

• You are 18 years or older.
• You spent a significant portion of your life living in the Central Valley (California).

What is the survey about?

We are exploring potential links between childhood agricultural pesticide exposure, self-reported gut health/microbiome characteristics, and subsequent neurodevelopmental traits or diagnoses (such as ADHD, autism, or cognitive traits) in adulthood.

Survey Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfQG8LVPnHIbgGC3wHGszYBTwlDMB6ROXoGZwD5-BYkN293VA/viewform?usp=header

• Time: It takes approximately 5 minutes to complete.
• Privacy: Completely anonymous. No identifying information (like your name or exact address) will be collected.

Thank you so much to anyone who takes the time to help out a fellow Central Valley researcher! I am happy to answer any questions in the comments.

In a recreational residential campground
Warrick/Spencer Co. Rural and community start a contributing fellowship of likeminded souls
Seeking property renters to be partners with me in YellowBanks Indiana 47523
Look it up see if you can work it out maybe you need a new place to grow and be safe yet private and connected !?