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Small land and small herbivores, Allan can it still be HPG?

 
pollinator
Posts: 1981
Location: La Palma (Canary island) Zone 11
9
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Hi
I have read http://www.savoryinstitute.com/faq/
especially "How small can your land area be?" and "Can I use any herbivore for Holistic Planned Grazing?"

But are you still thinking of only hoofed animals and large enough ranches and pastoral areas?

I need animals because I do not eat grains, but my land is a steep terraced place of 1 & 1/2 hectare. I grow trees and veggies on about 1 acre.
The rest is rocky and pastured by the local neighbors' goats. He will not change his traditional habits. My other neighbors are not locals and they are vegan. They just cut the herbs growing under their trees.

What can I do with my planned animals?
Can I do something like holistic planned grazing with mainly chickens and and other birds, + guinea pigs?
Can the chicken tractor be considered as a sort of HPG and managed according to holistic planned grazing?
I think they can be managed in the crop area!

I also know a 1 horse + 1 goat owner. Should I consider to look for an agreement? Is there a way to use any hoofed animal without them eating the trees?
Or, in your system and any pastoral system, are the animals managed only APPART from any crop?

Thanks
 
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Xisca
With such small land units in an environment such as you describe you would be well advised I think to look at ways of using any small animals or chickens and Joel Salatin is a good example of someone being creative in doing so.
In the long run as more people understand how using the holistic framework helps everyone in any community you may be able to collaborate with neighbours. Once you do that and all work within a defined and common holistic context any manner of things become possible as long as in working together you do not confuse "ownership" and "management". In other words while each might own small pieces of land there are things you can jointly doing with livestock over all small owned bits of land in collaborative management to the good of everyone and the environment and local economy.
There are two current trends in the world I find damaging. Farms are because of mainstream industrial agriculture getting larger and rangelands or non-cropland areas are tending to get smaller. Both to be ecologically (and thus ultimately economically and socially) viable need to be moving in the opposite direction. We can do this in both cases as soon as management is holistic and ownership is not confused with management. In other words a large farm owned by one person or company can be divided into many smaller management units, or small areas of land not suited to crops can be managed collaboratively as larger land units.
 
Xisca Nicolas
pollinator
Posts: 1981
Location: La Palma (Canary island) Zone 11
9
purity forest garden tiny house wofati bike solar
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Ok then, I will mainly go on with the project to keep hens and other birds, and the guinea pigs.
And I do have rats!!!

I think I have an idea:
I will ask soon my neighbor if he would put his 20 or more goats in there for 2 days...
He is herding himself his goats every day.

I just have to learn what small trees I have to protect.
(do not tell me to learn from experience!)
I am sure big orange trees and avocado are at no risk.

- it will cut the grass that is anyway drying now
- I will not have to buy him manure bags
- I will not have to carry them
goats can come in, and a car cannot!
 
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