Ground Cover and Soil Carbon Article

The following link contains a great little article by Christine Jones on the link between ground cover and soil carbon sequestration.
 http://www.fromthesoilup.com.au/images/stories/Feb_11/Carbon_that_Counts.pdf

Monster Crickets Living on Ochre Arch

On 2nd February 2011 we came across the large insect in the accompanying photograph on the old Sunshine Gate at the entrance of the house yard. We had no clue on how best to identify the species and a friend suggested we contact the Australian Museum.

We went onto the Australian Museum website and found the spot where scientific queries can be lodged. This was a fairly straightforward process.
Today we received a reply from the Australian Museum which reads in part:
You have found a female Thick-legged raspy Cricket Ametrus tibialis one of the family Gryllacrididae. The females are the ones with the long egg laying tube at the back end which allows them to hide their eggs deep underground. These are generally beneficial insects and feed on seeds and flower parts but also any insects they find amongst the same plants. They also defend themselves quite vigorously so don't pick them up with your bare hands! Here is a link to some relatives of your species but yours being an inland species is not represented in the east coast fauna and unfortunately there is little published information on your species that I can send you:- http://www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane_grasshoppers/Gryllacrididae.htm
It's neat to have things like this living here on the farm.

Hands-on Learning from our Farm Water Scheme

In recent months with the seasonally warmer weather we have been using and relying our farm water scheme (refer previous post) to provide drinking water to our sheep via the portable troughs. Given that the Ooma Water Scheme is not yet finished we are using gravity fed dam water to fill the Rhino tank as the stock water source.

What follows are some of the practical hands-on learnings we have had so far. I’m sure our experiences are not unique, but figured they were worth sharing.

Frogs in the Rhino Tank

When we had the Rhino tank installed we requested that ‘dust and vermin’ proofing be installed. Our thinking was that it would keep dust, mice, locusts and other small critters out which in turn would help maintain water quality and reduce the risk of pump, pipe and trough valve blockages. The ‘proofing’ is achieved by putting a filler of sorts between the corrugated zincalume roof sheeting and the supporting wall of the tank. The contractor from Molong who did the installation did a great job of constructing the tank but a while after we filled the tank we began to hear frogs in it during the night. It transpired that the contractor omitted to put the filler underneath one side of the access hole and also where the bracket that holds the ladder goes. The omission was a simple oversight but the learning is two fold: need to closely check the work completed and frogs can get through almost any gap.

Air Valves

There are air valves installed at every high point in the main line (4) and on every tank. Pockets of air in pipes act like physical blockages and can dramatically reduce flow rates. The air valves also play a critical role in allowing air into the pipes during intended of unintended rapid flow instances and prevent the polythene pipe from collapsing.

Two different brands of air valves were used by the contractor during the installation: one has a membrane mechanism to seal off the valve once the air has escaped and the other uses a small plastic ball that acts as the stopper. We have had trouble with several of the membrane air valves due to shavings of polythene pipe coming though the pipe and into the air release hole combined with the very high pressure of water in the pipes. The membranes have perforated meaning they do not seal properly and thus leak. We intend having these replaced under warranty. The faulty air valves are VYR brand and are actually manufactured by VYRSA in Spain! We strongly recommend that anyone looking to source air valves stay way from these.

When our scheme was installed the contractor placed small ball valves under only two of the four main line air valves. Without the ball valves it means that to fix a problem with an air valve the main pipe above the air valve has to be emptied of water. Whilst problems are likely to be very rare emptying the pipe takes time and is a nuisance. We have subsequently (ourselves) installed ball valves under the other two air valves.

Ball Valves

A few different brands of ball valve are installed along our scheme. This is not a problem per se but there are different features. For example, one brand has a mechanism that allows for the valve to be locked open (very handy) and another has a direction flow indicator on the side.

With one of the ball valves I’ve removed the handle completely to avoid the risk of it being closed accidentally by stock. We always have a shifting spanner in the ute which can be readily used to close the valve if necessary.

The above photograph shows standard hydrant layout with ball valve (handle removed) and air valve on top. The gate valve is 1.5 inch with male cam lock fitting attached. The safety connection hose is attached and runs to the trough (not visible). You can see the alloy female cam lock with two high quality hose clamps in place.)

Connecting hoses from the hydrants to the troughs

We bought high pressure safety hose from which we manufactured our hoses to connect the portable trough to the hydrants. There are female cam lock fittings on both ends of the hoses, and obviously male fittings on the troughs and hydrants.

Twice (so far) the clamps tightening the cam lock fitting to the end of the hose have “let go’. On both occasions the main 22,730 litre poly tank at the top of the farm emptied. In hindsight the cause of the cam lock fitting slipping out of the safety hose was three fold: 1) We bought cheaper cam lock fittings that have poor ribbing along the shaft that goes into the hose and thus there is less surface area for the hose to connect to the shaft 2) We bought conventional hose clamps that are narrower and more difficult to tighten. 3) The safety hose is quite thick and tends to soften when heated reducing the tightness between the hose and the shaft of the fitting. We have now purchased high quality cam lock fittings (manufactured or imported by Advanced Industrial Products in Brisbane) and the highest quality hose clamps, using two clamps per join. When clamping the hose to the shaft of the cam lock fitting we tighten as much as is possible, connect the pipe to the trough and fill the trough but then shut off the gate valve at the hydrant. Once the sun has properly heated the hose filled with water we tighten once more and repeat the process i.e. the clamps are tightened at least three times. So far so good!

Hose lengths of 5 metres seem to work well.

Checking Troughs

Given our experience we now make sure we check the troughs at least every two days. If we had cattle it would be essential to check them daily, especially during summer.

Low Pressure Safety Switch on the Pump Controller

Both times when the hose fittings let go we had the sheep in paddocks and were using hydrants located not far from the house … and thus not far above the house in terms of elevation. Our pump system has a low pressure safety mechanism that turns off the pump if the pressure in the pipe when pumping is low. There is a manual override in the control box. For us this is very handy, and in fact we did not even know about it at the time of installation. It means that there is a much lower risk to the solar system if something goes wrong while we are away.

Absences from the Farm

We now turn off the pump when going away for a few days, making sure that the top tank is full.

Location of the main storage tank

When designing the farm water scheme one of the toughest decisions was whether to locate the largest storage tank at the house or at the top of the farm. After several conversations with experienced farm water scheme operators we opted to have it at the house given 1) As far as the Ooma Water scheme goes it was very important to us to get the water on farm … and we then at least have it to use. The receiving tank will auto fill once the Ooma Scheme gets going. 2) We don’t need all of the stock water in our scheme to be pumped to the top of the farm as not all the tanks are at the top of the farm. Thus if we don’t need to pump it to the top of the farm it does not make sense to do so as it creates more wear and tear on the pump.

If the main tank had been installed at the top of the farm it would have been set up with a safety mechanism such that it only emptied to about 20 percent capacity, with the ability to access the 20 per cent in an emergency. When we had the problem with the hose fittings in both cases (as stated above) the main top poly tank emptied and we lost 22,730 litres each time. If the main tank was located at the top of the farm we’d have lost around 80,000 litres each time. It’s fabulous to have incorporated the ability to shut off the two other 22,730 litre tanks when not needed. These remained full and in reserve.

(The above photograph shows the end of the connecting hose where it attaches to the fixed trough fitting. The brass section is the pressure reduction valve).

Float Valves

In our view, given our water system has in excess of 100 metres of elevation / head, it can be classed as high pressure. Most of the farm water schemes to the north of us do not have more than around 40 metres of head to deal with. We bought a float valve for one of the troughs that the bloke in the shop at Forbes told us was specifically designed to handle high pressure. Given past excellent experience with this fellow we trusted his advice. During shearing we ended up at one point with about 900 sheep in one paddock. The paddock does not have a dam in it and the sheep would thus be solely reliant on the trough for water. When we filled the trough we found that the float valve ‘got the shudders’ and water was spilling over the side (despite the cover) and when the trough was very close to being full the float valve made an unbelievably loud ‘screaming’ sound.

We rang the fellow who sold us the float valve and he very quickly transferred the call to an irrigation specialist they work with. This subsequent fellow we spoke with explained that the float valve we’d bought was not suited to high pressure, high pressure float valves are available but were not in stock, and that there are pressure reduction fittings that can be purchased.

Pressure Reduction Valves

Continuing the above story, we called our trusty adviser, Phil Wells, who provided us with more detail about the pressure reduction valves and confirmed they were a good option. They are made from brass, are about 15 cm in length and can be purchased in a variety of diameters and pressure reduction outcomes. We ended up buying two 1 inch valves each costing a tad under $140 GST inclusive: one reduces the pressure by one half and the other to one third.

We installed the pressure reduction valves as part of the fixed fittings on two troughs. They work well and mean that we do not need special float valves.

In hindsight it was probably better to have set up cam lock fittings on the pressure reduction valves so that they could be added into the overall connections for the troughs only when needed. Our third trough does not have a pressure reduction valve on it and will only be used in paddocks where the water pressure is much less than at the bottom of the farm.

Hose Clamps

The high quality hose clamps we now are using cost about $6 each. One thing about them … it is more difficult to tell at a glance what the sizes are. When I returned home from buying them I found that one was a size smaller than the others. One needs to look VERY closely at the labelling to make sure it’s the right size.

Cam Lock Fittings

I asked several experienced people whether there was a difference in terms of functionality and durability between the plastic (or whatever the material is) and alloy cam lock fittings. The common response was ‘none at all’. Based on our own recent experience we have a different view … the non-metal cam locks fittings are not the go as they are more flexible and thus prone to leak while the trough is connected and the water is turned on. The alloy ones are made to much finer tolerances as well.

I’ve managed to find what seems to be a good brand of alloy cam lock fittings. They are made or sourced by Advanced Industrial Products in Brisbane and have the initials AIP on the handles of the female fittings.

Height of the Hydrants

We made the hydrants a tad too high out of the ground at about 800 mm. They should have been lower at around 400 mm to reduce the leverage from the trough connection hose when full of water. This then means that there is less chance of water leakage and damage to the hydrants from stock. On the other hand, having them higher does mean they are easier to see and locate.

We’ve still plenty more to learn!

Ochre Arch Farm Water Scheme - The Basics

In July 2010 our own on-farm stock and domestic water scheme was installed on a contract basis by Aquawest from Dubbo. The basic design elements are:

• 104,000 Rhino tank near the back of the house. It has a water depth gauge that is easily visible from the kitchen window making for easy monitoring. The tank has two sources of water: bore water from the Ooma Water Scheme (See post 11 March 2010) and back-up gravity fed water from the main dam in the place. The Ooma scheme is not yet finished so we are currently filling the tank via the second option.
• Grundfos electric water pump located in the same shed where the stand alone power supply scheme is installed. The pump was selected to pump 10,000 litres of water to the tanks at the top of the farm in 2 hours … a flow rate of about 1.5 litres per second. This is the same amount of water as we will be receiving on a daily basis from the Ooma Water scheme and is sufficient to water 2,000 sheep or 200 cattle in mid summer. The pump is located about 1 metre lower than the bottom of the Rhino tank creating what’s called a ‘flooded suction’ line. These are much better than the alternate (where the pump has to suck water up from, say, a dam) as it then means that the only time the pump is likely to run dry is if the tank runs dry.
• A 22,730 litre balance tank located about 4 fifths of the way up the farm and two 22,730 litre tanks at the top of the farm. One of the top tanks acts as a reserve as does the balance tank depending on stock location. The top tanks are just over 100 metres in elevation above the house creating water pressure at the pump of 1040 kilopascals. Each tank has float valves installed, cutting off the water flow when they are full.
• Controls on the pump such that it auto starts at 8.30 am and runs until the balance and top tanks are full. There is a water pressure monitoring mechanism in place and when the pressure reaches 1200 kilopascals (which can only be reached once the tanks and full and the float valves stop the flow) the pump stops.
• Just less than 5 km of 63 mm polythene pipe and 16 water hydrants each fitted with 1.5 inch gate valves and male cam lock fittings. The hydrants have been positioned to allow for further subdivision of paddocks should this prove appropriate. A water flow rate to most of the hydrants is in excess of 2 litres per second. There is one main line of pipe and several spur lines. In essence water is pumped to the 3 tanks up the farm and flows to the appropriate hydrant via gravity.
• 3 portable aluminium water troughs and connecting ‘safety’ hoses

We now have water accessible in every one of our 21 paddocks and remain extremely grateful to Phil Wells from Cootamundra for his awesome knowledge and skill in assisting us with the design.

Herding Animals Return To Safe Places

A few weeks ago in the midst and as a consequence of our Corkscrew Grass outbreak we came across a dead stag hogget. Given what we now know it was not surprising that the animal suffered in response to the heavy seed load but what was surprising was that the sheep left the other animals and found its way into the shearing shed (close to the house) where it died. We’d been in the shed the day before and could not believe our eyes that it was where it was the next day and was dead.

A week or so ago I recounted what had happened to Chris Henggeler from Kachana Station. He felt that the sheep may well have deliberately returned to the shed as this may have been the last place where it had felt really safe. With herding animals there is a strong instinct for them to stay together given there is ‘safety (from predators) in numbers’. On reflection the shearing shed would have been the last place this particular sheep was in close proximity with others as we were running it subsequently with our small group of rams and two other stags.

We have previously witnessed individual animals separate from the mob when close to death and concluded this is a type of auto-response to protect the rest of the herd from infection from whatever the ailment might be.

We had also previously learned during the Low Stress Stockhandling course we did a few years ago that herding animals remember and resist going back to arrears where they feel stressed, such as into cramped areas where they don’t feel free to escape. An animal returning to where it feels safe is the opposite response.

Chris shared with me a recent observation on Kachana to illustrate his point. To give this event context readers need to be aware that Kachana Station is located in the remote Kimberley region of Western Australia, comprises over 770 square km, and Chris manages his main herd of cattle in high densities within a relatively short distance from the main camp. Just over 3 years ago a young heifer escaped from the main herd and as far as Chris knew was gone forever. Recently, though, it returned to where it had been with the herd 3 years ago and gave birth to its first calf. Given there are wild dingoes in the area it would have felt safe close to and with the main herd when calving.

A further observation here on Ochre Arch: We have two pet lambs (Thelma and Louise) that Jan has been caring for since the end of September 2010. They were recently weaned and we have had the rest of our weaned lambs running in the same paddock with them adjacent to the house. Despite our best efforts to get them to move on with the other lambs they continue to return to near the house. It is not us (the people) they feel safe near but the area near the house.

Lambs and Corkscrew Grass Don’t Mix

* THE IMAGE IN THIS ARTICLE MAY UPSET SOME READERS *
We recently experienced significant lamb losses to the extent that we engaged the veterinarian from the Lachlan Livestock Health and Pest Authority to come out and take a look. It transpired that the root cause of the losses was our decision (made in hindsight out of ignorance and inexperience) to put the ewes and lambs post shearing of the ewes into paddocks that had a heavy load of Corkscrew Grass seed. The deciding factors at the time were that the paddocks had not been grazed for quite some time, were next in the grazing rotation plan, contained a solid stand of fresh diverse pasture which would give good nutrition, and we were keen to reduce the herbage mass to reduce fire risk.

With the benefit of hindsight what follows are the key factors that contributed to the lambs losses (no ewes were lost):

• The Corkscrew Grass seeds penetrated the wool and skin of both the ewes and lambs
• The resultant pain and stress on the ewes triggered many of them to wean their lambs as an automatic mechanism. Presumably being larger and older the ewes were still able to seek feed and water although many did lose condition.
• The pain and stress on the lambs was such that many ‘hunched up’ and found it difficult to walk and feed
• The weaning from their mother’s created a simultaneous reduction in nutrition intake for the lambs
• The height and density of the Corkscrew Grass stand coupled with the severing of the coaching relationship with the mothers meant that the lambs either found it difficult to go to the water or were not at all able to go to the water. NB: In all of the paddocks there was a plentiful supply of good quality drinking water. There was also plenty of green feed in the paddock which will have provided for the majority of an animals hydration needs – especially given that the daily maximum ambient temperatures have not been extreme.

The veterinarian who came to our place asked the night before for us to have a couple of affected lambs close to the house – preferably one that had died a short time ago and another that was exhibiting classic symptoms of the problem. Due to the extreme wet conditions the best we could do was bring back two that were still alive but were in an advanced stage of ill-health. She took the temperature of one of the lambs and checked its mouth and eyes. This showed that the animal was not suffering from infection and had good pink colour meaning it was not anaemic. The other significant diagnostic action taken by the vet (with our permission) was to humanely slaughter one of the lambs and conduct a simple autopsy. Some of the specific attributes checked and what each indicated are:

• Inspection of the underside of skin (visible in this photo) to see how much seed had penetrated and how far it had gone. The attached photograph shows a section of the area examined. We found it upsetting and disturbing to see what the lamb was dealing with. Seed numbers were high and in some cases they had completely penetrated, rather than just the sharp seed tip.
• Inspection of the main lymph gland at the shoulder. This was huge in relative terms compared to what would normally be the case indicating the level of stress on the animal from the seed load
• Inspection of the fat around the kidneys and one of the kidneys. Whilst the kidney was in excellent order there was little to no fat around it – proof that the lamb was in poor condition.
• Inspection of the stomach and intestines. This revealed a very low level of worm infestation - nothing that would suggest parasites are causing animal losses.

Last year we had no problems with Corkscrew Grass and lambs but on the other hand seasonal conditions were dry until December. Discussions with our wool broker, shearing contractor and neighbours suggest that this year’s wet conditions really are extraordinary and ‘perfect’ for the proliferation of this species. One neighbour has also had problems with impact of Corkscrew Grass on his lambs and commented that this is the first time this has happened and that he has never experienced a season like this one.

Yesterday we had all of our lambs shorn and have drenched them for worms. This, combined with our intent to keep them on paddocks with little to no Corkscrew Grass, should reduce the risk of further losses. That said we have noticed that the seeding period for this grass now seems to be over i.e. the bulk of the plants have now ‘shed’ their seed which will make it safe for the sheep.

To the future … we will do further research on whether Corkscrew Grass can be managed better through grazing and other management techniques. It may also be time for us to look at acquiring cattle which we know are more effective at enhancing soil conditions and they naturally ‘shed’ seed like Corkscrew. What we do know with absolute certainty is that lambs and Corkscrew grass just don’t mix.

How to make a Worm Tower

I am a big fan of what Nick Ritar and Kirsten Bradley are doing - spreading knowledge of sustainable living (Permaculture) - through their business near Mudgee, Milkwood Permaculture. Anyone with an interest in this subject can sign up to receive their free monthly email distributed newsletters. It's a simple as going to the Milkwood Permaculture website homepage and inserting your name and email address in the registration section and clicking on the 'Subscribe' button.
In this month's newsletter Nick and Kirsten provide step by step instruction on how to make a Worm Tower. Here's a link to the full article for those who would like to know more. Jan and I have decided to give it a go!

Air Conditioner Installed

Yesterday we had an air conditioner installed in readiness for summer. We selected a unit manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries given its products have (one of) the highest energy efficiency ratings and were strongly recommended as best in the market by two trusted contacts ... one of which works in the industry for a competing manufacturer and the other in the solar energy supply industry.

Here are some of the key details:
Model #: SRK71ZEA-S1
Supplier: Coles Hardware & Glass, Cnr Flint & Bathurst Sts, Forbes Phone (02) 6852 1955
Installers: Michael Coles from the above business did the gas fitting work (mike@coleshardware.com.au) and the electrician was Colin Mayo also from Forbes phone 0419 697 168.

We were impressed with the overall supply and installation and are happy to give both Michael and Col a plug.

The first step in the installation is locating the best place for both the 'head' (inside unit) and 'compressor' (outside unit). The head is located in a position in the living room that will allow for the cool air to reach into the two bedrooms. This photo shows the backing plate and hole through the wall for the wiring and pipes.

This photo shows Colin (L) and Mike (R) putting the head on the backing plate. The head is a tad under 1100 mm wide.

Here you can see the compressor unit on the concrete pad supplied as part of the installation. Sitting on top of the unit is a high pressure vacuum unit ... used to basically extract all moisture from the copper pipes prior to releasing the refrigerant (stored in the unit). Most of the compressor units are placed on wall brackets but in our case we opted for a concrete pad on the ground given concerns that being an old weather board home the noise from the compressor would go straight through the wall. It's the way to go for us ... and we also learned that with houses like ours the vibrations can also trigger rattles from windows.
The compressor has to be installed (and is) at least 1500 mm from any gas tanks to comply with regulations.

Here you can see Mike and Col doing the last bit of the installation. There was a reasonable amount of pipe fitting and electrical work involved ... all carried out without fuss. Col was able to source power using one of two spare cables that our local electrician (Alf Zammit) left for this purpose when he originally wired the cottage for us.

In terms of trends we learned that the majority of people locally are now tending to buy evaporative air conditioning units in response to escalating electricity costs. This is turn places pressure on water supplies ... but at least water is a renewable resource. Given we have a stand alone power supply system we don't have power bills ... so a refrigerated unit suits us and we don't also have to muck around connecting water to the unit. During peak usage our air conditioning unit is expected to produce around 3 to 3.5 litres of water per hour.

A comment Mike made that I found enlightening was that one way to determine the quality of a product (such as air conditioners) is by going onto e-Bay and seeing how many spare parts sellers there are. The more spare parts sellers there are the poorer the product quality!

Location of Ochre Arch

The following Google Maps link shows the location of Ochre Arch. Included in the map are the directions to the farm from the towns of Grenfell, Forbes and West Wyalong via the roads we tend to use. The farm area is also marked on the map.

View Ochre Arch, Grenfell, NSW, Australia in a larger map

Solar Panels ... Setting the Angle

In November 2009 I posted an article containing information about our remote power supply setup. Systems such as ours are more commonly known as Stand Alone Power Systems or SAPS.

When Central West Solar installed our system they set the angle of the fixed solar panels on the shed at approximately 43 degrees ... being latitude (34 degrees south of the equator) plus 10 degrees. From this I assumed that the ideal 'rule of thumb' for all solar panels would be the same as ours i.e. latitude plus 10 degrees.

A farming family we know who live south of Grenfell recently had a 10 kW grid-connect solar system installed, with the panels attached to the roof of one of their sheds. The panels have been attached directly to the roof without angle-adjustment frames and thus are at the same angle as the roof pitch. The pitch of this roof is very low ... at a guess around 5 degrees. My initial reaction was that they would most likely be missing out on quite a bit of potential energy capture at this angle.

I've been in contact with Robert at Central West Solar to get some clarification on the solar panel angle conventions and now understand that the angle can and should be set differently depending on the goal of the solar panel installation. Robert advises that "Generally peoples power consumption in this region over winter is approx the same as summer. If you dont take bias of array to suit loads in different seasons then the rule of thumb is: 

• For the best all year round yield: Angle should be equal to the latitude
• For the best summer yield: Angle should be latitude MINUS 10 to 15 degrees
• For the best winter yield: Angle should be latitude PLUS 10 to 15 degrees"

In our own case, given we have a SAPS (and cannot sell surplus or externally source shortfalls), our goal is to maximise the winter yield as this is naturally a low capture part of the year due to shorter day length, less intense light, and higher probability of cloud and fog cover. Thus 43 degrees is spot on for us.

For those who are on grid connect systems where the primarily goal is to reduce the year round power bill (or maximise year round revenue) then the appropriate angle would be equal to latitude. Letting the mind wander creatively for a moment (and assuming all things being equal ... which they are not) people with this goal:

• Living on the equator could install panels directly on to flat roofs
• Living on the south pole could install panels directly on to north facing walls
• With a 20 degree north facing pitch roof living at one of the following places in Australia could affix panels directly to their roof: Camooweal, Charters Towers or Bowen in Queensland; Tanumi or Avon Downs in the Northern Territory; or Port Hedland in Western Australia

What I have not investigated and thus don't have a feel for is what the yield reduction is for each degree the panels are not at the ideal setting. This is the type of information I reckon anyone with a grid connect system should find out as it would allow for cost benefit analysis to be carried out to assess the return from spending money on frames and structures that alter the angle of the panels from the pitch of the roof or for 'follow the sun' moving solar panel support structures.

UBank losing its gloss

On 31^st October 2009 I posted an article on Ochre Archives explaining how in rising rate economic climates financial institutions have a tendency of releasing new variable rate savings based products offering rates that are at the time of release competitive, whilst at the same time either capping or slowing the rate of rises on existing savings based products. In this way they are able to attract ‘new’ money (to the new higher rate accounts) but at the same time broaden the overall margin between lending rates (interest rates on variable rate loans almost always increase in line with market movements) and deposit rates leading to even greater profitability. I also explained how we had moved our main deposit funds to UBank which is part of the National Australia Bank (nab) group in an attempt to keep pace with changes.

When we opened our UBank USaver account they were offering two types of USaver accounts. The ‘standard’ one was for those who did not want or need a regular savings program and the second was for those who were prepared to commit to a regular savings plan. UBank offered a premium of about 0.1 % above the rate payable on the standard product to those who selected the regular savings option.

This morning I decided to have a close look at what UBank/nab had been ‘up to’ since we transferred funds to them in the context of the above and subsequent movements in the ‘official cash rate’ approved and determined by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Board.

On the ‘rate changes’ front from early December 2009 to end June 2010 the following has occurred:

• The RBA made 4 upward / increase rate adjustments totalling 1.0 % in the official cash rate taking the total rate to 4.5 %
• UBank (nab) made 5 upward adjustments totalling 0.55 % (55 % of the increase in the RBA adjustments) in the UBank standard USaver account rate making the current total rate 6.01 %
• UBank (nab) has broadened the margin premium for the regular savings USaver account by about 0.4 % to take the total rate to 6.51 %. Thus the rate on this product has risen roughly in line with the RBA official cash rate.

Thus based on the above anyone who has a standard USaver account has been ‘left behind’ the rise in official cash rates announced by the RBA to the tune of 0.45 % which roughly equates to a $45 opportunity loss for every $10,000 invested over a 12 month period. What I'd suggested normally happens in rising rate environments has been confirmed.

I’ve observed a couple of other changes in the UBank experience and general offering:

1. The complexity of what UBank does has increased. When you call the main switch number you now get an auto message offering superannuation product offerings
2. The nab has re-enforced the ‘right of set-off’ clause with UBank deposits. Essentially and simplistically what this means is that the Bank has the legal right to report in its figures to the regulators the net balances (loans less deposit funds) of ‘same customer’ arrangements. The advantages to the banks are that in some circumstances they can reduce the amount of capital shareholders need to provide to support the balance sheet gearing and they can also physically transfer funds from a customer’s deposit account to the same customer’s loan account/s clear or reduce loans should they choose to do so. The advantage to some customers is that they can opt to only pay interest on the net loan, rather than pay interest on the gross loan balance and receive credit interest on the deposit account/s. Because of the right of set-off clause some customers choose have their deposit funds in a different financial institution to the one they get loans from.

The moral of the above story with variable deposit rate products is basically that as far as the financial services industry goes (or at least some of the players) the saying “If you are on a good thing stick to it” does not apply and we need to regularly check to see that we are being offered competitive deals.

For those who love micro detail below is what has happened with RBA official cash and UBank standard USaver account rate movements during the period I have referred to above.

2-Dec-09 RBA increased the official cash rate by 0.25 % to 3.75 %

9-Dec-09 NAB increased the UBank standard USaver account rate by 0.05 % to 5.51 %

22-Jan-10 NAB increased the UBank standard USaver account rate by 0.11 % to 5.62 %

3-Mar-10 RBA increased the official cash rate by 0.25 % to 4 %

12-Mar-10 NAB increased the UBank standard USaver account rate by 0.13 % to 5.75 %

19-Mar-10 NAB increased the UBank standard USaver account rate by 0.1 % to 5.85 %

7-Apr-10 RBA increased the official cash rate by 0.25 % to 4.25 %

5-May-10 RBA increased the official cash rate by 0.25 % to 4.5 %

24-Jun-10 NAB increased the UBank standard USaver account rate by 0.16 % to 6.01 %

Moving the RA Lister Motor in the Shearing Shed

When we were shearing the weaner lambs at the end of March it became apparent that it would be necessary for us move the old R A Lister petrol engine that used to power the old overhead gear to allow sufficient room for the large fleeces when we shear the older ewes.
Given we are now only a month or two off shearing the ewes I'd been mulling over the best way to move the motor and had been considering hiring some form of heavy lifting device. I then recalled a conversation I'd had a few years ago with David Byrne who owns and runs the Tasmania-based business Solutions for Sustainable Living. During that discussion David mentioned how he at one point was installing and removing fuel (wood) stoves on his own without using any heavy machinery. Basically the technique involved the use of steel pipes (as rollers), ramps and pulleys. Off the back of this knowledge we decided to give it a go with our old motor. Yes ... whilst it did take us quite a while due to lack of experience we found the whole process simple, safe and effective.
The accompanying photo shows the motor after we'd managed to move it from the concrete base it used to be on down a timber ramp and across some steel plating. Since then I've moved the motor to another part of the shed where I suspect it will stay for quite a while.
Moving the motor has had another benefit in that we found the old specification plates that were not previously visible. The single cylinder petrol motor was manufactured by R A Lister & Co Ltd, Dursley, United Kingdom. The engine number is 77599 / Spec 83 J. It is rated at 4 1/2 horse power and runs at 525 revolutions per minute. We are most curious to ascertain the year of manufacture. A bloke who works at Lister Petter Limited in the UK thinks it may have been manufactured in the 1920's but is not sure. We'll keep researching and see what we come up with.
Getting back to the main intent of this post ... the technique we used to move the motor has made us think of possibly how the Egyptians might have constructed the pyramids. Slow and steady but very effective.

Sheep Yards on Ochre Arch

In response to the recent article published in The Grenfell Record titled “Shearing with Sunshine at Ochre Arch” we received a fabulous letter from David and Jenny Johnson who now live at and farm using Permaculture techniques near Woolgoolga on the north coast of New South Wales. David’s father Clarrie at one point owned the property “Rutland” located about 5 km from us further along and to the east on Goodes Lane. David’s sister Marie and her husband Don Hampton owned “Ochre Arch” (“Cleveland” as it was then known) from around 1965 to 1977.

The sheep yards on our place are quite unusual as far as materials go, with the main steel pipes having originally been manufactured for and used as steam engine pipes. The accompanying photograph was taken 15th June 2010 and shows the pipes quite clearly, as well as some of our wether lambs prior to them being transported for sale at Forbes. Our shearing shed can be seen in the background.

In David and Jenny’s letter they explained that the steam pipes Don Hampton used when constructing the yards in came from a large batch that Clarrie Johnson had procured from the railway workshops in Sydney in about 1963 when David owned neighbouring property (to the north of us) “Pinnacle”. “They came as four pipes about 12 foot long in a continuous session with two open ends along side each other with a double flange and three of the joiners like shown in the yard picture”. David used pipes from the same batch for manufacturing cattle yards at the property he owned at that time “Braeside” near Bogolong towards Grenfell. He slipped the pipes over the top of the weldmesh and cemented them in as the corrosion from prior use made the material extremely difficult to weld.

Batteries for Our Remote Power System

Yesterday I re-read the ‘Operating Instructions’ for the batteries that are installed as part of our remote power system and was reminded of quite a few important things to keep in mind about them. To be specific we have 24 X 2 volt ‘valve regulated lead-acid’ “type 8 PVV 1200” batteries manufactured by the German company BAE Batterien GmbH. The purpose of our batteries is to store and provide direct current for conversion to 240 ac volt via the inverter.

The valves on the top of the batteries allow for release of hydrogen and must not be opened as doing so permits the access of oxygen which discharges the energy in the battery cells. Adequate ventilation is essential.

The batteries have to be kept out of direct sunlight and need to be installed and operated such that the ambient temperature difference between the cells or blocks within individual batteries is very small (less than ‘3 K’ … whatever that means!). The strings of batteries are best to be installed in specially designed cabinets for temperature evenness control and the connectors between the cells all need to be the same diameter and length.

During discharge (supply of an electrical current) the active materials in the batteries are converted to lead, sulphate and water. Curiously, the faster the rate of discharge the less amount of aggregate current ends up being available.

For long life the batteries need to be returned to full charge within a period not exceeding 4 weeks. Our batteries are classed as ‘deep discharge’ which means they can be totally discharged from time to time, however it is not our intention to do this. We have our back-up generator set up to auto recharge the batteries by 20 % from 65 % as and when this reduced charge level occurs (as mentioned in a previous blog post). I’m assured that the 65 % minimum is about optimal but have not seen any empirical data supporting this. Car batteries are not at all ‘deep discharge’ and will deteriorate rapidly if this occurs regularly.

If the battery voltage is permanently less than full it will discharge by itself resulting in ‘loss of capacity and possible sulphation of the electrodes’.

What I found particularly interesting is that when a battery is classed as ‘fully discharged’ this does not mean that it has zero voltage. By way of example, each of our ‘2 volt’ batteries are considered fully discharged (called the ‘final’ voltage) when their voltage falls to 1.8. Conversely a ‘full’ battery holds more than 2 volts … and for us this generally occurs when the voltage is 2.4.

The ideal operating temperature range for our batteries is 10 to 30 degrees Celsius. The rated maximum is 45 degrees C however they will handle temperatures for very short periods of up to 55 degrees C. High temperatures have the affect of reducing the operational life of a battery. I was unable to find information on the absolute minimum temperature batteries can handle and have noticed that cold nights do seem to reduce battery voltage more. Cold temperatures have the long term impact of reducing battery storage capacity.

As far as maintenance goes, during the whole life (estimated at 15 years) our batteries do not need to be refilled with water. “The electrolyte is diluted sulphuric acid and fixed as GEL made with micro porous SiO2.” It is recommended that every 6 months the voltage and surface temperature of a sample of batteries be checked and recorded together with the room temperature. Every 12 months the voltages and surface temperature of all batteries are to be measured and recorded.

If the batteries ever need to be stored for extended periods they should be left fully charged and in a dry frost-free room.

So … what does all this mean in the context of how our batteries are presently installed? In short our location and set-up augers well for good extended life and performance of the batteries. We experience very few frosts each year and having the batteries off ground level within a cabinet within a closed room means that they should never reach zero degrees C … especially given that each one weighs 70 kg and they are installed side-by-side effectively creating a 1680 kg block. Whilst our summers are hot it is not common for temperatures to exceed 45 degrees C and since climate records have been kept in the district the hottest day on record was 48 degrees C … well within the 55 degree C maximum. Added to this we do have an additional roof over the container where we keep the batteries, virtually eliminating the chance of temperatures getting higher than the external ambient within the storage room due to heating by sunlight on the roof and walls. The set-up of our back-up generator means that the batteries should never be discharged to high risk levels and the sunlight patterns are such that I’m confident the batteries will get to fully charged levels for short periods at least once every 4 weeks regardless of season.

Dew Quantity Variations

We’ve yet to connect the guttering on the solar-panel shed to one of our new tanks. Consequently each morning when dew has formed on the roof the resultant water runs out of the guttering onto the ground. I decided to measure the quantity of water generated by the dew process over 3 nights by placing a 200 litre drum under one of the gutters.

The shed dimensions are 12.2 metres width and 17 metres in length giving a total roof area of 207.4 square metres. The roof is peaked in the middle with gutters along both of the long edges. This means that the roof area feeding into a single gutter is half of 207.4 square metres = 103.7 square metres. The quantity of water captured from ‘normal’ overnight dew was 3 litres; on a ‘light frost’ night 8.5 litres water was measured and on a ‘heavy frost’ night 22 litres resulted.

22 litres from 103.7 square metres equates to receiving 0.21 litres (210 millilitres) of water per square metre of roof area … or the same as receiving 0.21 mm of rain. This is just less than a cup of water (250 millilitres) per square metre … quite a bit of water in the scheme of things.

Rain Water On Tap

Yesterday we finalised connection of rain water (cold only at this point) into the pipes in the cottage on Ochre Arch. The set-up for rain water supply was described in broad terms in the blog article we posted on 28^th May 2010 titled “Planning Our House Water Supply”. http://ochrearchives.blogspot.com/2010/05/planning-our-house-water-supply.html. We ended up using 63 mm outside diameter polythene pipe in the ground, meaning that there is virtually zero friction loss. The pump is a Grundfos model CH 2 60. After correct priming the flow rate to the top (balance) tank was 22 litres per minute and the pressure was 450 kPa. Both of these figures were / are spot-on with what we were hoping for.

In this photograph you can see the actual connection from the poly pipe into the copper cold water pipe at the rear of the cottage. The internal diameter of the flexible connecting hose is very small at about 4 mm but the pressure generated from the balance tank located 45 metres in elevation above the house ensures adequate volume.

It is worth recording what having the water connection means in practical terms. In the accompanying photograph are the items we can now retire. What we did routinely was:
• Use the 2 X 10 litre containers to carry drinking water from the concrete tank at the shearing shed to the house. The distance is about 75 metres and on average we used 20 litres a day for drinking and hand washing
• From these containers we’d fill on a needs basis the blue 5 litre plastic drink bottle (kept on the bench in the kitchen), the green with white spots jug (kept on the wash-basin in the bathroom) and direct-fill other water bottles, hot water kettles and jugs, and drinking glasses
• Use plastic buckets and 20 litre containers to source washing water for the washing machine from the galvanised iron tank at the house

Right at this minute Jan has a load of washing underway via the washing machine. Not only does the new set-up save a lot of physical energy but it also avoids water inadvertently spilling on the bathroom floor and requiring subsequent clean-up.

A Tale of Two Whistles

Last week I found the whistle seen in the accompanying photograph on the ground about 2 metres to the east of the car shed here on the farm. I was impressed with the quality of the item, which still works superbly, and figured it was likely that previous owners who lived on the farm between around 1935 to 1965 were likely to remember … had any of their members owned and lost it.

With the above in mind my first approach was to Don Bokeyar … whose family owned our place from around 1935 through 1950 and built the house we now live in … around 1940. I sent him an email without an accompanying photo (I’ve only taken the photo this morning). His reply read in part as follows: “That whistle got me into big trouble one day. I was riding my pushbike home from the Feeney’s where I had been dropped after school. Mrs Feeney was the teacher at the Pinnacle school. I was riding up the then dirt track from the mailbox quite happy blowing the whistle all the way home. Not a good idea at the time because Mum thought I had hurt myself or worse. On arriving home Mum found I was all OK, that was when the strap that hung behind the kitchen door was put to very effective use. Needless to say I did not see that whistle again. I recall the incident very clearly.”

There were several aspects of Don’s reply that really hit home for me:

• A mother’s concern for the safety of her children
• The innocence and excitement of youth
• The toughness of justice in days gone by
• The richness of the (real and rarely known) stories behind artefacts
• How well sound travels in the country
• How asking one question leads to a myriad of more questions
• The reason why a whistle is generally considered to be one of the top 10 items to have in any safety kit

I called Don to thank him for his feedback and discuss the incident a bit more. The Feeneys lived on a property on Hoctors Road called ‘Talbalba’; about 1 km to the west of where the Pinnacle Guinea Pig Races are held. The house at ‘Talbalba’ has been unoccupied for about 40 years and is now in total disrepair. It would be about 6 km in all from ‘Talbalba’ to where we live. The distance from the mailbox Don refers to to our own house is a tad over 2 km. At the time Don had a “21” pushbike and recalls the toughest bit of the ride home as being over Simpsons Hill … the property on the north side of this hill is called Milroy (where the Guinea Pig races are held) and was owned by the Heathcote family when I was growing up. Once Don arrived at the Feeneys in the morning they would then travel via horse and sulky to the Pinnacle School … no longer in existence but the site was located not far from the present-day Pinnacle Hall. Don cannot recall a specific occasion for receiving the whistle (e.g. birthday) but knows that he did not have it for longer than a couple of days in total! As we talked further it became clear that the whistle I’d found was not the one he’d been given. His was similar to a referees whistle … complete with a ‘pea’ that meant it was capable of generating even more noise than the one I’d found. After I described the whistle to Don he expressed the view that it was most likely a 'dog whistle'. From a ‘life experiences’ perspective Don looks on the event as a positive learning on the need to be aware of how sound travels in the country and the role sound can play in warning of danger.

This morning I contacted the Causers (Lindsay ... lived here from 1950 to 1965), the Hamptons (Don who owned our farm from 1965 to 1977 and his sons David and Paul) and the Pitts (Ian ... lived on the farm from 1981 to 1987). Lindsay commented that the only whistles they ever had while here were ‘fox’ whistles … round in shape with a hole in the centre. The Hamptons and Ian Pitt have no recollection of the whistle. Ian's daughter Jenny thinks that she once had a necklace that had a whistle on it as a pendant but is not certain.

So … it seems there may have been at least two whistles ‘lost’ on our place … and the story behind the one we have is uncertain. Don’s story will not go to waste … and I’ll likely use the whistle we now have and extracts from his story as education for the school excursions we aim to host here from time to time.

(My thanks go to Don Bokeyar for permitting me to share the above story)

Pregnancy Testing the Ewes

On Thursday 10th June 2010 Andrew Naylor from Canowindra came and pregnancy-tested our older ewes. There were several reasons why we wanted this done:

1. It would provide us with an indication of how well the ewes were travelling health-wise under our management.
2. It enables us to identify those that are not pregnant. We see little point in carrying 'breeding' ewes that don't in fact breed. Culling them sooner rather than later is in our view better all round in that we realise the cash from the sale, have less animals to manage, and have more grass available for the rest of the mob.
3. By identifying single and multiple embryos we can forecast how many lambs are likely to be 'on-ground' when it comes time to do the marking.
4. Had we decided to brand those with multiple embryos we then would have had the option of separating them out and giving them access to better feed which in turn increases their prospects for taking the multiple lambs through to weaning. We did not do this because our flock size is not large and our intent is to give all of the ewes access to the best of our feed.
5. Our joining period was the bare minimum at 35 days (2 full cycles) and if the pregnancy percentage proved to be very low we would have the option of putting the rams back in with the ewes or maybe even getting other rams for the job.

The pregnancy test involves placing an ultra-sound device just near the front of the udder area and identifying from the connected display screen whether the ewe is pregnant or has multiple embryos. In the photo you can see the mini-tent that Andrew places over himself and the equipment. It is positioned at the end of the drafting race enabling us to more easily run the sheep up the ramp and into the crush where each ewe is individually held while the scanning is carried out. The process is very quick at in excess of 200 per hour, although we understand the throughput rate may have been 300 an hour had we been better at pushing up the ewes into the scanning structure i.e. the weak-link was our ability to herd the sheep.

We were pleased with the results (3% 'empty', 37% singles and 60% multiple) and found Andrew great to deal with. No fuss - and his system for setting up, using and removing his equipment was excellent.

Seasonal Sheep Price Variations

Tonight we had a call from our stock agent to de-brief us on the sale of our weaner wethers at Forbes on Tuesday 15^th June 2010.

Whilst the wethers were on the light side they apparently looked excellent when penned up into the 3 lots - larger, main line and small. The agent commented that we should stick with what we are producing as they are the type of sheep the market is looking for.

We asked the agent whether there are any specific seasonal trends we should be aware of in the context of best time to buy and sell sheep. Some of the main points included:

• 50 years ago prices used to peak in January / February as this was when the croppers were cashed up post harvest coupled with crop stubble to put the animals onto
• In very recent times mixed farmers tend to sell stock so that they can fund cropping inputs such as fertiliser, seed and chemicals
• Best time to buy stock in this region is when Victoria is in drought conditions and the local area is not
• Lower prices are generally from March through May
• Peak prices are January / February and August / September

Planning Our House Water Supply

“Ochre Arch” is not located near a town or town water supply and consequently it’s important to try and make sure we have sufficient drinking quality water captured on the farm. Given that we have a remote energy power supply system we also want to optimise available energy sources for moving and heating when needed the house water.

Not long after buying the farm we installed a 22,700 concrete tank at the shearing shed. This has been our primary house water supply since that time. About 12 months ago we installed a new 13,600 litre galvanised iron tank at the house to replace one of the same size that had rusted out but discovered during last winter that the water running off the house roof absorbed smoke from the wood fire making it taste ‘not-so-nice’. Having constructed the new shed for the solar panels last year we recently purchased but have yet to have installed a new 22,700 poly tank. Once this is in place we will then have 59,000 litres of tank storage connected to the main roof areas on the farm.

The location of the above roof areas is such that it is necessary to have some form of pumping in place in order to create sufficient pressure for the house water to run through the pipes producing the appropriate volumes for our needs. Most farms in our situation that are on mains power simply opt for pressure pump/s that run/s virtually every time demand for the water is created via the turning on of a tap. We are not keen on this type of set-up as with many of them the pressure varies to an uncomfortable extent whilst showering and if we had one of these pumps it would use a considerable amount of power.

Six months or so ago we had a visitor (Stafford W) who is an engineer by background and put to us the concept of locating a holding tank up on the hill to the south east of the house into which we could pump the house water … with it then gravity feeding back to the house. We were wrapped with this idea and have been pursuing it – one of the reasons being that we would always have constant water pressure – similar to what people in the towns and cities are used to. Hopefully in the next two months this will be in place via a contractor we have engaged. Another 22,700 poly tank has been purchased to be the holding tank. When this is in place and if it and the other tanks are full we will then have as much as 81,700 litres available to us at any one time. With only two of us living here it is highly unlikely (baring something unforeseen) that we would ever need to bring in water i.e. we should be comfortably self-sufficient.

We identified a suitable location for the holding tank – located approximately 700 metres from the house and sheds and some 29 metres higher in elevation above the house. 29 ‘metres of head’ would, leaving friction loss aside, create 284 kilopascals (kpa) of pressure … more than enough we thought.

The holding tank will have a capacity gauge that can be seen from the house. Whenever the holding tank level falls to, say, half full, we’d then fill it via an electric pump (to be located in to shed that houses the remote energy system) and connecting 50 mm outside diameter (ODI) poly pipe. Our intention was to also install a split solar hot water system at the house that had a LPG booster, meaning we would rarely run out of hot water.

All of the above ‘looked good’ so we had the tank manufacturer place the holding tank at the chosen location … still there at the moment pending the contractor calling to do the installation and connecting. It was then that we contacted a supplier of split solar hot water systems. He suggested that we purchase an electric (rather than gas) boost split system and also informed us that all split systems require a minimum of 375 kpa to function properly.

We are comfortable with the suggestion about the electric boost system as apparently they are extremely effective, our remote energy system can handle it AND it will mean that we will then not have to pay for gas for the booster; although on rare occasions the diesel back-up generator may be required. The need for 375 kpa was a potential problem, though. After a bit of a cooling off period, some lateral thinking and some GPS and other measurements we have managed to locate an alternate site for the holding tank. This will be 45 metres higher in elevation than the house (on the same hill as the one we were going to use but in a different paddock) but involve probably another 100 extra metres of poly pipe AND some very rugged terrain over which the ploy pipe will need to be laid. The contractor was contacted and is comfortable with the change, including relocating the holding tank.

What we needed to do, though, was reach a comfort level that the altered set-up would in fact deliver water at a minimum of 375 kpa. It was then that we contacted our ‘water guru’, Phil W, for advice. He did some calculations and advised us that:

* As a ‘Rule of thumb’ water flow rates for various outlets in houses are generally:

• 0.25 litres per second for bath, basin or shower
• 0.2 litres per second for a kitchen sink
• 0.1 litres per second for a toilet

* Given the set-up of our house water / plumbing here the maximum flow required would be 0.5 litres per second, assuming that say the kitchen sink tap was running at the same time as the shower

* Friction loss, expressed in metres of head, through 800 metres of 50 mm outside diameter PN8 grade poly pipe from a gross height/head of 45 metres would be:

• 2.96 (roughly 3) metres of head assuming a volume rate of 0.5 litres per second
• 10 metres of head assuming a volume rate of 1.0 litres per second
• 35 metres of head assuming a volume rate of 2.0 litres per second

This would then mean that we would have a clear 42 metres of head to work with (45 minus 3). 42 metres of head produces 411 kilopascals of pressure. This is well in excess of the required 375 kpa to run the split solar system.

The critical assumption we are making is that the requirement of 375 kpa is based on INFLOW to the hot water system and not OUTFLOW from the system. Under normal circumstances the outflow through a hot water system would be around 275 kpa where the inflow was 413 kpa.

The investigation process continues but the above provides an insight into factors to be considered. We have decided not to directly connect the tank at the house to the pump given the taste of the water and will only pump directly from the shearing and renewable energy shed tanks.