Three Farms, One Day

On Wednesday we went to three farms in one day! It was a long day but super interesting. The first farm we went to was another sheep farm, which all knew a good amount about but we learned about his farm specifcally. After he talked to us for a while we got back on the bus and drove around his property while he was pointing out specifc things he had mentioned earlier. The one thing I found the most interesting where the fallen trees in the shelter belt (a belt of trees to shelter the livestock from the winds and other weather conditions) from a wind storm. These trees were pretty huge and the fact that they were all torn out fromt he roots was amazing to me and indicated that it must have been a really strong wind. After that we went to the second farm, which was really just his house, we didn't go out to see his farm. He had a beutiful lawn that we all sat on while he told us a little about his farm ( he used it to grow crops and now his son uses it as a dairy farm) and a lot about a program that he is in to get extensive irrigation so the farms in the community can irrigate even if they can't get water by drilling wells. We had our bag lunches on his lawn and his wife made us some mini meat pies and sausage rolls, otherwise known as savorys, and there was tea, coffee, water and juice. They were such amazing hosts and they had a beautiful home. On the way to our third farm our bus broke down and we were stuck for about 30 minutes before they could get a new bus to us but it wasn't so bad. The third and final farm we went to was mainly a deer farm, he also has sheep and cattle but focuses on harvest velvet from the deers. Velvet is what deers antlers are called before they calcify and is in high demand in the Asian markets for its medicinal properties. The way it is harvested is pretty simple, you just cut it. First you have to gove the deer muscle relaxers and an anesthetic so it doesn't feel it, then you apply a tournequet (it is living tissue so it bleeds) and cut it off. It was very interesting to learn about because it isn't something I have learned about anywhere else! Although it was a long day, it was deffinetely very interesting and we all learned a lot!



Comments

  1. UnknownJanuary 23, 2014 at 7:18 AM

    I never knew that about deer antlers! Also, I am curious.....do you know what kind of meat is in the meat pies?

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownJanuary 23, 2014 at 3:56 PM

    I'm not sure but it's red meat! Probably beef.

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownJanuary 23, 2014 at 7:51 PM

    Most likely :)

    ReplyDelete

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