"songbird" wrote in message
David Hare-Scott wrote:
Farm1 wrote:
David Hare-Scott wrote:
After two years of La Nina and plenty of rain we haven't had
significant rain in three months. But clever people still want to
burn their pasture

????? Is that how it started or was it a farm burnoff? The only
people who I've heard of seen who still burn stubble are the odd
wheat farmers out west.


I am in a beef cattle area where there are many landholders who still do
things the way that Grandpa did. Every Spring just before the expiry of
the
burn-without-permit season they burn their paddocks. They overstock and
use
set stocking in big paddocks and don't mind if their bulls cover their
own
offspring. It's a time warp.

if the genes are weak then the inbreeding will make
it obvious.

i don't understand the burning thing though, as it
puts nutrients into the air instead of into the cow.

Actually burning is quite beneficial to the soil because it adds (if I
recall correctly) phoshorus to the soil (although it may be another, or even
a number of other nutrients). Australian Aboriginals and many other native
peoples did it as a 'farming' technique as after the burning, grass grew
strongly and brought in grazing animals that they then killed for food.
It's not a good technique though in fire prone areas and quite antisocial
these days because of pollution.