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  • From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lflj@intrex.net>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [permaculture] A small-scale grain harvesting project. New equipment to be made available.
  • Date: Thu, 29 Jan 2009 22:03:51 -0500


Subject: [livestockprocessing-l] OT for some: A small-scale grain
harvesting project
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2009 02:58:35 -0800 (PST)
From: Bob Comis <[log in to unmask]>

Hello all,

First, I apologize for the cross posting and the off-topic, for some, post.

I am very much interested in growing grain crops on a small scale (5 to
50 acres, total), including corn, small grains, and dry beans. However,
as I am sure you are all well aware, affordable small-scale harvesting
equipment is no longer available. The old Allis Chalmers, IH, and other
equipment is getting older and harder to find, and soon finding parts
will begin to be more of a problem.

I believe that part of the burgeoning cultural shift toward
smaller-scale diversified farming will include a desire to return to
growing grain crops, for animals and humans, on a small scale. In order
to do satisfy this desire, however, we will need harvesting equipment
that is both appropriately sized and affordable.

I would like to begin lobbying the major (and minor) equipment
manufacturers to start manufacturing again small-scale harvesting
equipment, preferably pull-behind, and of the "all crop" type. These
manufacturers are not going to start manufacturing them again if they
cannot profitably do so, and I, obviously, would not be able to convince
them that the market will be there just because I believe it will. What
I would like to do, therefore, is take a survey, a proper survey that is
both internet and paper based.

Using a free on-line Survey Monkey account, I can create a simple survey
(up to ten questions) and receive up to 100 total responses, which is
where I would like to start. If it looks like there is actually interest
in this survey, I can sign up for a paid account that comes with
unlimited questions and 1,000 responses per month for $19.95 per month.
I would be willing to pay the account fee for six months. I would also
be willing to pay the envelope, label, ink, and postage fees for up to
500 mailed surveys, and do the actual mailing (in each mailing would be
a request that the recipient photocopy the survey and send out copies).
However, I would of course welcome assistance. I may even be able to
find funding somewhere for such a project.

The thing that I need the most help with is distributing the survey and
finalizing the list of questions. The survey distribution needs to be
national, but I am only connected to farmers in the northeast.
Collectively, however, and going by the whole six degrees of separation
thing, we should be able to generate a national distribution. Especially
helpful to this distribution process would be our various listserve
memberships, especially those with national (or even international)
memberships. However, that only gets the survey out to regular internet
users. I want to also survey non-internet using farmers, and to do that,
I need a list of mailing addresses, which will be much harder to
generate. I thought about using cooperative extensions as distribution
hubs, requesting that they send the survey out to their membership, but
I'm not sure if that will work. Any thoughts on that issue would be
greatly appreciated.

Here is a proposed list of questions:

1) Would you be interested in small-scale grain harvesting equipment?
Yes or No
2) Would you prefer a pull-type or self-propelled? Pull type or
Self-propelled
3) What crops are you likely to plant (select all that apply)? Corn, soy
beans, oats, wheat, barley, etc.
4) How many total acres might you harvest? 1-5, 6-10, 11-20, 21-40, 41
or more
5) Of those acres, how many might you plant of corn, of soy beans, of
wheat, of barley, of etc.?
6) What is the minimum tractor horse power requirement of the pull-type
equipment that you would like to see? Select from a range of HPs
7) What is the maximum you would be willing/able to pay for such
equipment? Select from a range of prices
8) How likely are you to purchase such equipment if it is made available
at a price you can afford? Select from list
9) What state do you live in?
10) ???

Any additions, subtractions, revisions etc. to the questions would be
more than appreciated.

My feeling is that any discussion of this should take place on-list on
those lists for which it is not off topic (Go-NOFA and Farm and Food)
and off-list on those for which it is off-topic, although, my preference
would be to discuss it on list on all of the lists.

I am not unaware of the pie-in-the-sky nature of this project, both in
terms of getting responses to the survey and actually getting
manufacturers to start maufacturing the equipment.

Best regards,
Bob

Bob Comis
Stony Brook Farm
Pastured pork and chicken; Eggs from pastured hens; Grassfed lamb and goat
Schoharie, NY
518-295-6065




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