A good place to get advice – and ideas – is the Facebook page ‘Landbou Sosiaal’. For example, using this page, a Klerksdorp dairy farmer seeking an implement to aerate his pastures was guided to ranchworx.com. This US company prides itself on building the toughest aeration, land-clearing and no-till equipment around. Its page on aeration includes an impressive video and information on its equipment.
Farmers regularly post photos on ‘Landbou Sosiaal’, highlighting their work and new structures that they have built. A farmer recently posted a photograph of his newly completed round cattle race built in an abandoned reservoir using old windmill pipes. Go to bit.ly/cattlerace, join the group (it’s free) and you can learn how he did it. I have phoned several farmers who have posted interesting information and found them more than willing to assist and advise a fellow farmer.
Interactive courses
Short online courses are also available for farmers. Cornell University, for instance, offers interactive farm-related courses “appropriate for a wide geographic range of participants”. If the course is relevant only to a particular US state or region, this is noted. Go to Cornell University for more information. Farm security, always a major issue, is also addressed in several websites.
Another website, freepatentsonline.com, offers numerous plans for handy implements and structures can be built and installed on a farm. A large number of these are for gates that can be opened without leaving your vehicle. Some of these can be opened by a nudge of a vehicle and close automatically once you have driven through. Another example of a self-opening gate is shown in the photograph alongside. This can be found at www.bumpndrive.com.
