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Sorsogon City Profile
The City of Sorsogon was created by virtue of Republic Act 8806, which was signed into law on August 16, 2000 and ratified during a plebiscite on December 16, 2000. RA 8806, also known as the Cityhood Law, called for the merger of the municipalities of Sorsogon and Bacon into a component city of the Province of Sorsogon. Sorsogon thus, functioned as a full-pledged city on June 30, 2001, with the assumption into office of the first city officials.
Brief History
Although relatively young, the city boasts of a colorful history that goes back to the pre-Hispanic times, when Moro pirates frequently trespassed its territorial waters. With the coming of the Spanish colonizers in the 1600s, Bacon was organized into a visita of the town of Casiguran, one of the oldest settlements in Luzon. The municipality of Sorsogon, whose original Site was in Sitio Pocdol in Capuy, was in turn, a visita of Bacon. As its population increased, however, Sorsogon was declared an independent, full-fledged parish in 1628.
The Pueblo Civil de Bacon was established in 1754, with Juan Elias as its first gobernadorcillo. Sorsogon on the other hand, became an independent political unit in 1864.
From their organization as visitas and eventually as independent pueblos, both Bacon and Sorsogon remained under the territorial jurisdiction of the province of Albay. On October 17, 1894, the Spanish authorities organized a geographical unit independent from Albay, with the town of Sorsogon as its seat of government. The new province adopted the name of the town and has since been known as the Province of Sorsogon.
Before the merger to form the City of Sorsogon, Bacon and Sorsogon enjoyed different economic classifications, with Sorsogon classified as first-class municipality and Bacon, fourth class. The merger has resulted in a political unit composed of 64 barangays falling into three districts: Bacon (with 28 barangays), Sorsogon West (with 22 barangays) and Sorsogon East (with 14 barangays).
Geographical and resource endowment
Land Area
Sorsogon City covers 31,292 hectares. (312 sq.km.)
Sorsogon City lies from 1230 53' to 1240 09' east longitude and from 120 55" to 130 08 north latitude. It is 600 km southeast of Manila and is located at the southernmost tip of Luzon.
The city is bounded on the east by the municipalities of Pto. Diaz and Gubat, on the south by the municipality of Casiguran and Sorsogon Bay, on the west by the municipality of Castilla, on the northeast by the municipality of Manito in Albay, and on the north by Albay Gulf. Sorsogon is part of the geographical chain linking Luzon to the rest of the Philippines. It is a transshipment corridor and serves as the seat of the Province of Sorsogon.
Mountain range on the northwest, sloping uplands on the central part, plain areas south western and central north and southeast portion, and marshlands on the southeast deltas.
Type II, No pronounced dry season but with very pronounced maximum rain from November to January
Geology and Natural Resources
Geothermal Energy is extracted in West and Bacon District and Limestone are available in Bato, Bacon District.
Population and language
The 2007 Census conducted by the National Statistics Office places the city's population at 151,454. Projected population is 159,263 based on 1.78% growth rate for the period of 2000-2007. The total number of household is 30,290.
The 2007 census reveals that the city population is relatively young, with only 83,123 of voting age population. The annual growth rate is 1.69 percent for the period 2000–2007 (Geometric Method).
Total Population (2007) 151,454
Total Number of Households 30,290
Annual Growth Rate 1.69% for the period 2000 – 2007
Population Density 627 persons per square kilometer
Male Population 77,117
Female Population 74,337
Voting Age Population 83, 123
Registered Voters (2010) 78,061
Health and nutrition
The primary medical care of the city is provided by the City Health Office, which focuses on providing quality, cost effective, preventive, promotive and curative health care services to the people of Sorsogon City. To ensure that the health programs and activities filter down to the barangays the CHO branched out into three District Health Offices manned by physicians with adequate but non-complementing manpower. Each district health office has several barangay health stations to supervise administratively and technically. These three district health offices are "Sentrong Sigla," OPB and TB DOTS certified, which means that these centers have passed the DOH and PhilHealth standards for quality health servicing. Of the three DHOs, only Bacon district is MCP certified. The two districts are in the process of meeting requirements for the package.
The city has some health initiatives such as the Reproductive Tract Health Clinic (RTHC), which ensures public safety on sexually transmitted infections; Animal Bite Treatment Center (ABTC), which provides anti-rabies vaccination; Teen Center, which provides counselling and area for teen agers; Birthing Facility, which provides supplementary health service to mothers including attendance to normal deliveries, referrals of complicated cases, promotion of breastfeeding and family planning counselling.
For the year 2010, the City Health Budget amounted to 55,479,680.80, which took up 11.90% of the overall city budget.
Curative health services are provided mainly by two tertiary hospitals (private & government owned), two secondary private hospitals and several private medical and dental clinics. These facilities cater not only to people from the city but also from other municipalities of Sorsogon Province.
Environmental sanitation
75.7% of households have sanitary toilets. 97% of households have access to safe water per Rural Sanitation Report. Most of the urban areas access their water source from the Sorsogon City Water District (SCWD). Other household get drinking water from artesian wells built in their barangays while still others have deep wells put up through the Barangay Water System Administration (BAWASA) project.
Financial institutions
As of January 2010, Sorsogon City has 15 banks namely (1) Land Bank of the Philippines; (2)Development Bank of the Philippines; (3)China Banking Corporation; (4)BDO; (5) Metrobank; (6)Postal Bank; (7)Bank of the Philippine Islands; (8) Legaspi Savings Bank; (9) Allied Bank; (10) Green Bank; (11)United Coconut Planters Bank; (12) Philippine National Bank; (13) Agri Bank; (14) Producers Rural Banking Corporation; and (15) Camalig Rural Bank, five (5) insurance companies and twenty-eight (28) lending/financing /pawnshop.
Local lending investors are also available that caters to the local businessmen.
Transportation and communication
Air transport going to the City is available via 45-minute Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, Zest Air and Air Philippines flights which lands at Legaspi City Airport. From the airport, 1 to 1 ½ hours travel time to Sorsogon City by land via public utility vans and FX.
The port of Sorsogon, classified as municipal port, has a 664m causeway and reinforced concrete pier. Incoming cargoes like cement, plywood and beer comes from Manila and Cebu. The port is also used by motorized bancas ferrying passengers and goods to and from neighboring towns. No regular trips and routes have been developed or revived since the mode of transportation shifted to land when roads eventually connected towns and barangays. The District of Bacon on the other hand, has two (2) ports, the Poblacion Port and Banao Port.
Tricycle and jeepneys are the primary modes of transportation within the city while outlaying coastal barangays (Osiao and Sto. Niño) can be reached via motorized banca.
Facilities run by Digitel and Bayantel makes long-distance and domestic landline telephone communication possible while Smart Communications, Globe Telecommunications and Sun Cellular Network provide mobile phone services.
Providing for the broadcast media are three (3) AM radios, six (6) FM radios, two (2) broadcast televisions and two (2) cable TV stations that shows local and national programs/networks. The Philippine Postal Corporation – Sorsogon Post Office provides domestic, international and other mail services and four (4) private messengerial and courier service companies. Pawnshops are also make use of for local and international money transfer.
Two (2) national and five (5) local newspapers both in English and Filipino circulate in the city along with local newletters and magazine printed the City the City Government and other entities. Five (5) internet service providers offering dial-up connections and 3G services. Connecting through these five (5) providers are thirteen internet cafes that cater to the public.
Agriculture and fisheries sector is still the driving force of its economy. Main agricultural products include rice, coconut, abaca, pili nuts, root crops and vegetables.
Having abundant raw materials needed by the different industries, coconut oil and by-products, choco-pili candy, seaweed processing and abaca by-products are the business that can be put-up in the city.
Sorsogon City, as the capital town of the province of Sorsogon, is a hub of trade and commerce. Its strategic location has given rise to a busy commercial district composed of local businesses and franchises of national and regional business chain. Business is concentrated in the downtown area near the public market and major commercial establishments primarily geared towards retail and wholesale and the Bacon District is the secondary business district of the City.
An Economic Zone has been identified in the northeast part of the City. It covers the barangays of Buhatan, Cabid-an and Bibincahan. Within the Economic Zone and along the diversion road, a 50-hectare agro-industrial zone is being proposed and targeted. The area can accommodate the food terminal, warehouses, storage facilities and light industries.
The construction of Sorsogon Shopping Center and the Integrated City Terminal will open its door for new investors.
The most important resource is its people. Fifty-six percent (56%) of the total population belongs to the labor force. Sorsoganon's are known for being industrious, law abiding and responsible people.
Learning Resource Development Program (LRD Program), a skills training program for out-of –school youth produced seven hundred (700) graduates of commercial cooking, driving, hairdressing, building wiring, masonry, auto-servicing, garments and tailoring, refrigeration and air conditioning, gas welding, auto-electrical assembly, beauty care, bartending, baking and pastry production, food and beverage services, slaughtering operations and plumbing.
It is for many natural attractions that Sorsogon City is known. The Rompeolas or the Sorsogon City Bay Walk, with its walkway that serves as promenade, offers spectacular views of sunrise and sunset, as thus, Paroja Hill and Grotto, which overlooks Sorsogon Bay. Bucalbucalan, Alburo and Suhi Springs in the West District are ideal for cooling down, especially in the summer months. Bacon District boosts its beautiful beaches, limestone caves, lakes and marine sanctuary. Most notable of these are Paguriran Beach which is surrounded by dark basalt, Tolonggapo in Barangay Caricaran and the Bato Limestone Caves insides which were found prehistoric artifacts.
The Provincial Capitol and Sorsogon National High School main building are just some of the historic turn-of-the century edifice in the city.
To attract more visitors and to highlight the City's tourism potentials, Sosogon Festival is held annually to celebrate the founding anniversary of the city.
Present situation
Sorsogon City has three (3) housing programs for the informal settlers that live in the coastal area. The GK Christian Village in Barangay Guinlajon has 70 units occupied and 30 more units waiting for funds while St. Joseph Village in Barangay Caricaran, Bacon District awarded 25 duplex houses and 40 single units to 50 families and 40 beneficiaries respectively. The LGU-ANCOP Housing Project at Sitio Bancal, Barangay San Roque, Bacon District had its ground breaking ceremony last December 8, 2011. Fund sourcing for the 30 unit houses are on its way.
Education is always on the priority of the present administration. Likas Dunong Program is the scholarship program of the City Government of Sorsogon for the marginalized yet deserving students of the city. As of March 2011, 246 scholars are studying at the state college and different private colleges.
A technical training skill for out-of-school youth is being conducted all throughout the year. The Learning Resource Development (LRD) Program has 700 graduates of different skills in cooperation with Technical Education and Skill Development Authority or TESDA while the Alternative Learning System in tandem with the Department of Education is also on-going.
During summer, Special Program for Employment of Students (SPES) is being implemented to help the poor but eligible high school and college students. These students perform community service and tutorial services to the children of the barangay.
Health on the other hand is never neglected. Laging Dadamay Program, a medical and feeding program of the City Government, bringing basic services into the doorsteps of every barangay.
For the past 5 years, red tide is recurrently occurring at the Sorsogon Bay thus minimizing the income and displaces the fisherfolks. The old City Public Market and the illegal dumping of waste at the river banks and shorelines were identified as a contributory factor to this phenomenon. To combat its effect, coastal and river clean-up and mangrove reforestation are being conducted. A waste water treatment facility has been constructed at the newly renovated Sorsogon City Public Market. Wastewater is treated before going out to the bay.
Solid Waste Management Act is now institutionalized. All offices at the City Government are required to practice segregation and the City Material Recovery Facility or MRF is now under construction.
Climate change adaptation and mitigation and disaster risk reduction is integrated in the plans, programs and activities of the City Government with the support from the UN – Habitat together with the active participation of the non-government organizations and people's organizations.


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Ralf Richardt Strøbech: Return of investment – on the ecology of work and thought
The Danish National School of Performing Arts
The concept of originality runs deep in contemporary artistic practice. This has a couple of side effects that are somewhat less than optimal, the primary being that an enormous amount of work and thinking is done for no apparent reason and with no discernible outcome.
In this lecture we will explore the origins of this thinking a bit further, with the primary goal of finding fruitful ways of being more efficient without being less artistic.
About the speaker
Name, surname: Ralf Richardt Strøbech
Institution, country: The Danish National School of Performing Arts
Discipline and position: Head of Theatre and Performance Making
Short bio (max 200 words):
Ralf is educated from The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture and The University of Copenhagen and worked for many years as scenographer/director with Hotel Pro Forma and on various cross disciplinary projects.
He has been teaching at the Danish National School of Performing arts since 2007, primarily in these subjects: Concept development/performative strategies, space/object and artistic development work.

subset: commoncrawl


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Natural beauty wonderful people
Within convenient driving distance to the communities of Westlake, Irving, Southlake, Keller, Grapevine, Trophy Club, Lewisville and Flower Mound, Solana is a progressive work environment built for employee access. Located in Westlake, an award-winning town known for its stunning natural beauty and wonderful people, Solana resides in one of the most sought-after communities for businesses and residents alike. Solana is situated only eight minutes west of the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. Positioned midway between the premier business districts of Dallas and Fort Worth, Solana possesses the ultimate corporate address – one that provides immediate access to a dense and talented employee base.
In The Neighborhood
- Ingress / Egress
- Restaurants
- Shopping
- Parks / Trails
- Health / Fitness
- Corporate Landscape
Key Location Facts
2-minute drive to 114
6-minute drive to 170
12-minute drive to I-35
8-minute drive to DFW International Airport
15-minute drive to Fort Worth Alliance Airport
30-minute drive to Dallas Love Field Airport
Dining & Retail
1 stroll to on-site shopping and dining options
Neighboring Attractions
7-minute drive to Southlake Town Square
16-minute drive to Grapevine Mills Mall
16-minute drive to Texas Motor Speedway
Parks and Trails
1 short walk to on-site parks and trails
2.5-mile trail on site at Solana
1.3 miles from Bob Jones Park
3.5 miles from Bicentennial Park
4.6 miles from Meadowmere Park
8-minute drive to Westlake Academy
7-minute drive to Carroll ISD
11-minute drive to Grapevine-Colleyville ISD
15-minute drive to Keller ISD
17-minute drive to Northwest ISD


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Ancient Jewels 2
Mahjong Fun
Drop Blocks
Tingly Bubble Shooter
Bejeweled Twist
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Mahjong Gardens
Bubble Shooter
Jewel Quest
Mahjong Tower
Candy Mahjong
Mahjongg Solitaire
Mahjongg Alchemy
Mahjong Titans
Mahjong Dynasty
Candy Mahjong 2
Xmas Mahjong 2016
Chloe S Nail Salon
Bike Rush
Crazy Car Parking
Elsa Frozen Mommy To Be
Elsa Pregnant Checkup
Biozombie Shooter
Dirt Racing
Free Gear
Baby Hazel Hair Day
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Latest News
TCC trustee criticizes vote on chancellor's pay
Tarrant County College District trustee Joe Hudson is asking fellow board members to revisit the pay package offered to Chancellor Leonardo de la Garza, saying he didn't know board members would be voting on the $325,000 a year contract when he left a June 25 meeting before it was adjourned. In a letter to board president Louise Appleman and two other members Monday, Hudson said that the board voted in a June 18 meeting to offer de la Garza a one-year contract at "a salary increase commensurate with what other employees are expected to receive."
He says he was then "shocked" to read a newspaper account June 26 that the board had voted to offer de la Garza a three-year contract and "additional compensation."
"How did this occur? Why was I not informed that the official vote of the trustees on June 18 would be reconsidered - if that is what occurred - on June 25?" Hudson's letter said.
But Appleman, the board president, said the agenda for the June 25 meeting - which was called so trustees could vote on the school's purchase of the Radio Shack Corporate headquarters downtown - made it clear that de la Garza would also be discussed.
She said that after the Radio Shack vote she told members that, after a recess, the board would reconvene "to revisit the issue of the chancellor's contract" with legal counsel and the school's vice chancellor for administration present.
"Everyone knew to anticipate serious discussion and possible action," Appleman said.
Hudson's letter said he left the morning meeting to go to work. He says he would have asked that the vote be postponed if he knew it was planned. Hudson is the board's Northeast Tarrant County representative and has been a critic of the college's former plans for a downtown campus. He was elected to the board in May.
Under his previous contract, de la Garza makes $295,000 a year. Appleman said Tuesday that the 10.2 percent increase was justified because de la Garza had not had a raise in three years - a time when other college employees received yearly bumps of three to five percent. She said Hudson is wrong about the $325,000 amount changing from the June 18 to the June 25 meeting.
Only the length of the contract was changed, she said.


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ZRH Fri, 25 Oct, 10:30 to Sat, 26 Oct, 10:30
ZRH 25 Oct to 26 Oct
ZRH Fri, 25 Oct to Sat, 26 Oct
*Savings based on all holiday package bookings with Flight + Hotel on Expedia.co.uk from January 2018 to December 2018, as compared to the price of the same components booked separately. Savings will vary based on origin/destination, length of trip, stay dates and selected travel supplier(s). Savings not available on all packages.
© 2019 Expedia, Inc. All rights reserved.


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February 28, 2014: Singapore
In the last 24 hours, 3 Bitcoin ATMs have gone live and 1 more is
set to launch tonight in Singapore!
UPDATE: 6 now live!
Why I think this is cool:
An ATM is a great way to spread the word about Bitcoin. People
who may not have otherwise had any idea about Bitcoin will now see
the machines as they are walking home from work or getting a coffee
at school. For small amounts, $2, $10, even $50. it's a fun way to
turn fiat into Bitcoin. It will also be useful for people who may
not have a bank account to get Bitcoin and then do small scale
For larger amounts, and for the sake of convenience, I think
businesses like Coin Republic and exchanges will be used. It's much
simpler to transfer $1000 via iBanking, and have your Bitcoin sent
to your wallet than going to one ATM, getting $1000 in cash, then
going to another ATM and converting that cash into Bitcoin.
If you want to give an ATM a try (I did, bring your mobile wallet):
Numoni has 4 machines now:
The 4Point3 Café at the Singapore Management University at the School of Information Systems at 80 Stamford Road B1-61A, Singapore 178902
Dynasty Audio N Cameras Pte Ltd, 1 Rochor Canal Road, 02-29 Sim Lim Square, Singapore 188504.
Afeita Pte Ltd.304 Orchard Road, #02-48 Lucky Plaza, Singapore 238863.
Pic n Pixel Singapore Pte Ltd, 109 north Bridge Road, 04-16 Funan Digitalife Mall Singapore 179097.
Tembusu has a machine at Spiffy Dapper: 61 Boat Quay 2F.
Bitcoin Exchange is launching their machine tonight at Citylink Mall, B1-K2, 7pm


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Sold for 264,900 This four bedroom home has all the updates you've dreamed of. Complete with three entirely renovated FULL baths, including an en suite in the master with a Pinterest-worthy sliding barn door. A completely renovated kitchen featuring new cabinetry (with soft close drawers and doors), granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. Walk directly […]Read More
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10 Connecticut Ave – Sold!
Sold for 209,000! COMPLETELY RENOVATED FROM TOP TO BOTTOM, INSIDE AND OUT. THIS FOUR BEDROOM HOME IS AS CLOSE TO A NEW BUILD AS IT GETS! ALMOST EVERYTHING IS NEW – ROOF WITH ARCHITECTURAL SHINGLES, SIDING, WINDOWS, GAS FURNACE, CENTRAL AIR, PLUMBING, ELECTRICAL, FRAMEWORK, SHEETROCK, HARDWOOD FLOORS, AND CARPETING. TWO BATHROOMS WITH ALL NEW FIXTURES […]Read More
21 Riverdale Rd – Sold!
21 RIVERDALE ROAD ENFIELD CT 06082! SOLD FOR 220,000! NEW ROOF, NEW WINDOWS, NEW BUDERUS FURNANCE, NEW SIDING, FULLY RENOVATED HOUSE IN A CONVENIENT LOCATION. NEW KITCHEN WITH NEW CABINETS, NEW APPLIANCES AND GORGEOUS STONE COUNTER. 2 NEW FULL BATHROOMS, FRESHLY PAINTED, REFINISHED HARDWOOD, NEW CARPET UPSTAIRS, HUGE OPEN KITCHEN DINING COMBO, SPACIOUS BACKYARD, QUIET […]Read More
12 Debbie Ln – Sold!
SOLD FOR 202,000! $2,100 OVER ASKING PRICE! COZY UP ON A FALL CHILLY DAY IN THIS BEAUTIFULLY UPDATED 3 BEDROOM RANCH WITH FULLY WORKING FIREPLACE. TWO SETS OF BRAND NEW SLIDING GLASS DOORS TAKE YOU FROM YOUR OFFICE OR LIVING ROOM ONTO THE PATIO AND BRAND NEW DECK OVERLOOKING YOUR PRIVATE BACKYARD. KEEP YOUR MESS […]Read More
49 West Shore Dr – Sold!
This two bedroom cottage sold for 209,000! Located in the Shaker Pines Lake Community, this home comes with all the perks of lake living. For more information or to view similar properties please reach out to the WeHa Real Estate GroupRead More
Invest with Our Town Investments
Flipping homes can be risky. You never know what problems may arise once renovation starts. Also, what if the house does not sell? Don't take on the risk yourself, invest with us! Our Town Investments has a proven track record. On average, we sell our flipped homes for $99,000 more than we purchased them for. […]Read More
64 Belmont Ave – Sold!
64 Belmont Ave Enfield CT 06082 – Sold – 172,000 A three bedroom ranch in Enfield with an oversized second family room! We put all new windows, new roof and new furnace in this flip. The kitchen is completely updated as is the kitchen. Hardwood floors have all been refinished and new carpeting was put […]Read More
9 Nelson Drive – Sold!
9 Nelson Drive Enfield CT 06082 – $214,900 – Sold! This four bedroom cape in southern Enfield has been sold! Featuring a two car attached and oversized garage, quiet and fully fenced backyard, completely updated kitchen and bathroom as well as a breezeway that can also function as a mudroom. In addition, 9 Nelson has […]Read More
12 Parky Drive – Sold!
12 Parky Drive in Enfield! Bought on March 21, the home was remodeled and under contract by July 6th. The four bedroom one and a half bath is located in the southern part of Enfield CT. Spacious deck off the dining room leading to a large fully fenced back yard with a fence for extra […]Read More


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The audiobook of The Art of Stalking Parallel Perception is available on Amazon and Audible. You can listen to the audio version on your computer, iPhone, Kindle Fire as well as other Apple, Android, and Windows devices.
Listen to a Sample:
Click here to purchase the audio version
About "The Art of Stalking Parallel Perception"
The Art of Stalking Parallel Perception is a new kind of autobiography – an interdimensional odyssey that weaves its magical threads through one's own existence in a way that has to be experienced to be believed. In this revised edition, Lujan clarifies and expands upon key elements of his teachings. Listeners familiar with the original will be surprised at the awakenings that unfold via powerful additions woven throughout the text. Some chapters have been removed, others expanded upon, and exciting new material has come to light.
Throughout this book, we accompany Lujan Matus during pivotal journeys on his path to becoming a shaman. With in-depth explanations, he and his benefactors impart an empowering sequence of transmissions that offer unprecedented insight into the intricacies of human existence. In sharing his experiences, Lujan opens the door to a universe of mythical proportions and bestows vital keys to access these dimensional possibilities in one's own life.
The Art of Stalking Parallel Perception magnifies the essence of the ancient wisdom traditions in a functional, non-dogmatic format that speaks directly to the heart. One may recognize strands of Tibetan Dzogchen and Taoism, and aficionados of Toltec wisdom will discern the unmistakably potent voice of Don Juan Matus and discover the mysterious guiding influence of the ancient seer, Xoxonapo.
With direct language, Lujan conveys an otherworldly grasp of human nature, not to mention coherent accounts of interdimensional travel, a precise description of the enigmatic manifestation of the energy double, insights into the nonlinear nature of time, and the elucidation of hieroglyphs that are maps to completely open one's perception, this is a bridge to new thresholds unlike any other.
Click here to purchase the audio version
Cover art by Grinning Tree.
Parallel Perception is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.


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What an amazing session I had with Bellingham wedding planner, Krisanna Reiff from Koordination by Krisanna! We had a beautiful evening, a gorgeous location and she brought her boyfriend along so I got photograph them together too! Krisanna is incredibly sweet and beautiful both on the inside and out! If you are looking for a wedding planner I would highly recommend checking her out! Makeup by the AMAZING Ashley Thomasson from Love Beauty .
Thanks so much Krisanna and Tristan! You two are fabulous and I hope you are having a wonderful summer filled with beautiful weddings and lots of research!


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How was your weekend? I had a busy one. As I mentioned last week, I'm about thee days away from a two-week holiday. Well, I don't think I've mentioned where we're going. My 8-year-old and I are off to the Philippines. It's been seven years since our last visit so this is a long time coming.
I wish I could bring my husband and daughter with us, but he can't get time off work; and my daughter is finishing Grade 8. She can't afford to miss two weeks of school, to be honest.
It's a bit of a long arduous flight; three hours to Vancouver, then 14 hours to Manila. Frankly, I'm looking forward to reading. But because I don't know what kind of internet connection we would have when we get there, I'm not sure how often I could go and visit you guys. Just know that I'm going to try my best.
On this trip, I planned on finishing Charley Davidson. I'm two books away. I just noticed that I have the wrong photo up there. Derp. Sorry about that. It's supposed to be book 6 and 7, since I'm already reading book 5. Doh. It's been a crazy busy weekend, to be honest.
I also have Vision in Silver, an instalment that I've been looking forward to reading since I read Murder of Crows. The Sky So Heavy by Claire Zorn is a book that's been well received by my favourite Aussie and Asian bloggers. So of course, I want to read it. The Last Time We Say Goodbye is Cynthia Hand's debut in contemporary fiction. I'm excited to read this one even though it's bound to break me.
I downloaded World After on Audible last week because it was on sale. I now own a paperback, a Kindle copy and an audiobook of this novel. Sheesh.
When My Heart Was Wicked was a daunting read. And that's saying a lot since it's only 192 pages. Fifth Grave Past the Light was fantastic (I mean, surely you should expect this by now). The Glass Arrow was meh. Feed was…gah. It was awesome, and awful. And I hate it so much I want to read the rest of the books in the trilogy.
I hope I can find internet access where ever we may be. If not, I'll talk to you all soon.
Happy reading!


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Trust. Integrity. Respect.
Our program was started in the spring of 2000 by Francis Ford Coppola along with a group of residents and merchants who joined together to discuss the rise of homelessness in their neighborhood. Rather than merely feeding them and sending them on their way, these neighborhood visionaries envisioned a real change; a resource center that homeless and low-income residents could use as a base and a starting point to rebuild their lives and reconnect with their community. North Beach Citizens was born in January 2001 staffed only with volunteers. Within one month, North Beach Citizens was working with 50 homeless citizens.


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Book Direct with the Owner at Aquariums Australia with Accommodation QLD Agent in , for all your adventures and things to do.
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May of 2013 was a fun time in Dalhousie. Every nook and corner of our journey from Punjab to Himachal we bumped into this river called Ravi. The Ravi river is what they referred to as Iravati during the Vedic times. It is one of those northern rivers of the Himalayas which is marked by its endless beauty. Rising from 14,000 ft from the Mid Himalayas, it streams through lithic boulders, lofty gorges and lush forests into the Indian Ocean. Hence, I thought lets gather some facts about it….and see if there is something worth sharing!
The Incredible Tributaries!
Can you believe how many tributaries does this river have? Imagine in its course of 720 kms the river collects water from 7 tributaries! Budhil and Nai are the first ones to join at 13,390 ft followed by the Siawa from Jammu. Then joins the Seul along with its tributary called Baira Nalla from the Pir Panjal Range. Another one joins from the Pir Panjal as well which is called Tant Gari known for its scattered boulders and glacial moronic deposits. And the last one is its major tributary from the Kailash mountains at 14,100 ft called Ujh! The Ravi carries the charm of so many mountains, forests and glaciers of the Himalayas!
The Unbound waters of the Chamera Lake
When so many little rivers join Ravi, it is bound to be deep and mysterious! The sea-green effect of the river buried in the ravine gives a spectacular look of the Chamera lake and its Hydroelectric project from the windy mountain road. When I say unbound, can you guess how deep the lake is? Water levels rise to a maximum of 763 meters while the minimum water level is 747 meters….that sounds quite unending right?
This summer of 2013 was one of the most fascinating time for me….I spent a whole lot of time with my dear friends in Dalhousie amidst the Himalayas, in its pleasant weathers by this beautiful river. The gushing waters of the Ravi, the grandiosity of the Chamera, the Himachali culture and bowls of hot soupy Maggie just added to the enchantment of this place. Sometimes some history and facts make beautiful things even more appealing…thats how I thought the river Ravi was!


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Hands-On With Toshiba's Satellite 14-inch Ultrabook
Toshiba is taking the ultrabook in a newyet familiardirection with the recently announced Toshiba Satellite ultrabook. The slim and light 14-inch laptop echoes the aesthetic of the nascent ultrabook category, while taking cues from the existing Satellite line-up and the long established ultraportable laptop category. We were shown the prototype of the new 14-inch ultrabook, and though details may be scant, we'll tell you everything we know.
The ultrabook is constructed from aluminum, and while the specifics of internal hardware aren't firm yet, Toshiba expects the new thin Satellite to come in at under 4 pounds. Regardless of what hardware winds up appearing in the new model, Toshiba reports that the Satellite will offer eight hours of battery life, and utilize Toshiba's own twist on RapidStart, called "Hi-Speed Start," with fast boot times and near instant wake times.
The Toshiba Satellite ultrabook borrows its look from other members of the Satellite line-up, with a graphite grey color and a striated texture running across the lid. Opening up the lid, you'll find that the Satellite also has a lot in common with Toshiba's other foray into ultrabooks, the Toshiba Portege Z835-P330 ($799.99 list, 3.5 stars). Unlike the Portege Z830, the Satellite has a larger touchpad, with the right and left buttons incorporated into the touchpad surface. This is a particularly nice change from the chrome buttons used on the Portege, which were irritatingly stiff to press, but also easily smudged with fingerprints.
The prototype Satellite ultrabook also features a chiclet-style keyboard, nearly identical to that found on the Portege Z835. The square keys have fairly shallow typing action, but a backlight makes for easy visibility in dim or dark rooms.
The 14-inch screen is a nice change from the smaller displays seen on the 13-inch models introduced in late 2011, providing plenty of screen real estate as well as 1,366-by-768 resolution. On one side of the chassis you'll find an SD/MMC card reader slot, two USB 2.0 ports, and an Ethernet port. On the other, you'll find a case lock slot, a power connection, full-sized HDMI port, a USB 3.0 port, and jacks for headphone and mic.
At the time of our meeting, Toshiba could not yet provide details of the internal components, but it will likely be using low-voltage variations of either the current second-generation Intel Core processors, or the upcoming Ivy Bridge processors due to be released this spring. Details were also unavailable as to whether the Satellite will feature a solid-state drive (SSD) or spinning hard-disk drive (HDD), but Toshiba's Portege ultrabook is available with either a 128GB SSD or a 300GB HDD, so it's not unlikely that both options will be available.
Since this is only a prototype of the Satellite ultrabook, there are a lot of details left up in the air, and no specific details are available regarding a final model name, pricing or a release date.


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At ESCO Digital we work with individuals and clients to boil down their message into a single sound bite. For 2017 we're excited to share with you 365 of them—one sound bite each day that effectively conveys a message and leaves a lasting impression.
Let us know what you think: firstname.lastname@example.com


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When Skulls of the Shogun was released in January, it turned out to be pretty great. So great, in fact, that the game is heading to Steam. Dubbed the "BONE-A-FIED EDITION," the game features the full campaign and multiplayer modes from the original, plus a four-chapter epilogue with a new protagonist and unit type, the Tanuki.
Also included is a developers' commentary mode and new intro from chiptunes DJ, Mega Ran. Those who pre-order the game will receive instant multiplayer beta access and a 20% discount bringing the price down from $14.99 to $11.99. The game will unlock in July.


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I'm a high school student so I don't have an incredible amount of experience writing. I'd appreciate some advice, although I'm sort of nervous about posting here lol.
Immediately, I knew what had happened. I begged for it to have been a rock, or a piece of debris on the road, but I knew better. Supposing it immoral to wish it to be a particular species of animal, I still couldnt resist dearly hoping it not to be a cat.
I pulled over my car. I was incredibly terrified to glance over at what I had done. I, instead, temporarily focused on assessing the damage done to my dilapidated little beater. I couldnt identify any damage to it immediately. Dread creeped inward and shivers ran down my spine realizing that it was time to look at the animal I had mercilessly slaughtered. I doubted that the average person would turn around for such an event, and it provided me a slight amount of comfort in that I felt particularly caring.
It was a raccoon. Its insides had been squeezed out of its mouth like a tube of toothpaste. I nearly vomited at the sight of it. Shock and guilt rung through me like a bell, sending shivers through my body from head to toe. The fragility of mortality never left my thoughts, and the consideration of my inevitable accompaniment of my raccoon acquaintance into nothingness consumed my thinking power.
I sat down quickly upon the pavement, attempting to dismiss the previous events as meaningless. Thinking about the gruesomeness of the death of the raccoon, I forced the conclusion upon myself that the death was quick and relatively painless due to shock. I felt immeasurably envious of what I perceived as the average persons dismissal for the slaughtering of animals. I briefly entertained the idea that perhaps the raccoon experienced some sort of afterlife, but, of course, I dismissed the comforting fantasy almost immediately.
The thought that I would likely keep the trauma and guilt I experienced in this incident to myself forever for fear of ridicule spun me deeper into despondency. With the neverending pondering of the existential nature of our existence infinitely amplified by the gruesome face of the raccoons demise, the thought that I will someday end up like it pounded at my skull.
My consideration for the amount of time I had spent staring at this piece of roadkill had been long since gone. I simply couldnt move on from this incident. It ate at my insides furiously, immobilizing my brain from even considering leaving. I internally wept, having not actually cried for many years. I briefly felt as though I had some sort of cosmic connection with this animal, however the nihilistic nature of my beliefs eventually stripped me of this feeling. I felt hopeless, as if I were in a vast sea of despair of which no other person could relate.
I eventually stumbled back to my car, wishing for the last time to no one that the innocent animal I had slaughtered had had a good, long life. I collapsed into the drivers seat of my car, turned the engine over and continued my way back home. The thought that I could become that poor raccoon, an innocent victim to a reckless driver, at any point never left my brain for the rest of my drive.
I eventually arrived at my destination, much to my dismay. My home was an old, run-down duplex in the worst part of my city. Although I worked a 40 hour work week, such a property was all I could single handedly afford, and even then I was still deep in debt to predatory student loan agencies and regular loan agencies the like. I sat in my chair, and lit a bowl. The cheap cannabis tasted like chemicals, and was probably filled with them. Nonetheless, it did its job of erasing the raccoon forever from my memory.


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I purchased my first moveable journey kettle after staying at a 4 star hotel in Las Vegas which to my shock didn't have tea or espresso making facilities in the room. I have used it mostly to create avatars for games and some recreation backgrounds which have then visited PSP. I do my research and find out whether a recreation makes use of Steamworks in any capacity before buying it. It's a good thing that titles that do use it, have it printed on the again of the DVD casing in stores.
We personally have met with success utilizing the HTML5 Export" module, which permits us to publish pupil games on-line so they can be easily shared with friends and family. I know FF VII was an necessary sport (although I don't assume it was as great as most; FF IX, FF IV, FF VI and FF XII had been higher games, imo) but it surely does not make sense to have it on an inventory plagued by traditional PC or Western styled RPGs.
Selain itu,aplikasi ini mempunyai keistimewaan dalam menambahkan script programming sehingga dapat membuat game yang lebih fleksibel dan sesuai dengan keinginan pembuatnya. Sport Maker Discussion board – In case you are on the lookout for any of the above, it is a good place to start.


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Ivan has found another lab at McGill (not Anne-Marie's lab) that wants our force/displacement measurement system for physiological studies. This system will integrate the Mosquito sensor. This is a great opportunity to put the joint-type transducer to the test. This project will pay for the fabrication of the first butch of scientific grade transducers. It will also generate scientific papers, which will be leveraged by Hyperion and by SENSORICA to market our systems.
See the "Mosquito Scientific Instrument System" project for more and to see if and how you can get involved.


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Here's my final Nuffield report. Just need to do the presentation in November and I'm free.
Category Archives: No-till
The incredible power of rotational ploughing
is, in my opinion, greatly overstated.
Several years ago I went to a Procam talk about blackgrass. I was going to paraphrase what they said, but a quick google brings it up:
Blackgrass seeds decline quickly at depth, so the numbers of viable seeds brought back up will be low, especially if ploughing is only done on a rotational i.e. no more than 1 year in 3.
Well, I don't see it. Until this year we have always ploughed for sugar beet, and it's been interesting to see what has happened with black grass in these fields over the last five years. This field pictured below was last ploughed four and half years ago.
Does that look like adequate weed control? Not to me. Luckily this is just the corner of the field, the rest is fine.
But maybe it would have been even worse without the plough? Luckily we have some no-till sugar beet this year to compare. And like more and more of our fields, it also has a problem patch of blackgrass. This is a ploughed section (also previously ploughed four and a half years ago):
And this is a couple of meters away in the no-till:
I'm not claiming that no-till has less grass weeds, but I fell pretty confident in saying there are no more. And for the same level of control, is it better to spend all the time, money and soil quality ploughing, or to go and do something productive? What I will confidently claim is that there are many, many fewer broad leaf weeds in the no-till area. To be fair, there are less sugar beet plants as well…
For more balance, here's a bit of no-till with plenty of weeds:
The eagle-eyed will notice there are more weeds in the disturbed seeded area than between the rows. This is even more evident in the strip-tilled plots.
And finally, a field that I mentioned in the last blog. It currently has rapeseed growing on it, before that wheat, and before that sugar beet. Before the sugar beet it field had gone five and a half years without being ploughed, but still there is a really terrible patch of blackgrass which we are struggling to deal with. I put this picture up last time, but I will re-use it because it's so clear how big a weed burden is there.
Enough said.
Day 64 – How no-till soils are different in Brazil
Sao Paolo airport has four terminals. In the hour and a bit I spent trying to find a sim card, some reasonably priced Brazilian currency, and a bus to the Ibis hotel, I visited them all, some more than once. It's a fun way to end the day, especially at 11pm. The next morning I had to fly out early to Brasilia, and luckily I set my alarm as the hotel forgot the wake-up call.
In the afternoon I visited the Embrapa Cerrado centre for a very quick but still useful couple of hours. Embrapa is the Brazilian government run agricultural research organisation, which is apparently very well thought of by the farmers – probably a world first?
The land here has come out of what they call Cerrado, which is a type of scrub land, but with some tall trees as well. The soil is very deep (they have found roots going down over 4m) and physically well structured. However it is naturally pretty low in fertility, with a natural SOM level of 3-3.5%, and very little in the way of nutrients. It's also got a pH of 4, and some problems with aluminium toxicity. As a result of this, there are large responses to the standard NP&K fertilisers, and gypsum also has a large beneficial effect both on soil structure & rooting, as well as feeding the plant sulphur. If you ignore these chemical inputs, and farm with tillage, it's possible to drop the SOM to under 0.5% within five years.
They've done quite a bit of work on no-till, which has produced an average yield benefit over the long term of 10%. In some years, growing soya, it has been as high as 40%. They put this difference down to the increased SOM levels under no-till; after 11 years, the tillage plots have 25% less carbon per hectare. This makes a difference with nutrient uptake efficiency in general, but they have specifically tested what happens to organic phosphorus levels – this is the type of phosphorus that is easily utilised by the plant. After 10 years of no-till the organic P is 6% higher, and after 17 years that goes up to 26%.
Like in Argentina & Uruguay, here in Brazil they are just starting to wake up to the idea of cover crops. One trial compared a standard tillage and summer fallow method (the traditional way) against using no-till and a winter cover crop. The traditional method required 25t/ha of carbon to be put onto the surface to retain 1t/ha in the soil. No-till with a millet cover crop needed 12t/ha to retain the same 1t/ha, and using mucuna (a legume you will no doubt remember from Day 61) meant that number dropped to 7t/ha. The theory here is that because the creation of SOM needs nitrogen, the process is more efficient when there is a legume in the ground. However, the millet produced over double the biomass of the mucuna, so although it is less efficient, if you want to build SOM fast, that (and probably added fertiliser) would be the way to go. It might seem fairly obvious that trying a mix of the two plants might be a good idea, but I'm not sure South America is ready for that concept just yet.
That was the first half an hour outside, the second was spent looking at an interesting agroforestry scheme. Some of the land has been very badly degraded by over-grazing and poor pasture management, to the point where it is hardly productive any more. One of the solutions Embrapa is looking at is to use crops, grass and trees to turn it around. Also, since us Europeans chopped all our trees down long enough ago that it doesn't count, we've told the Brazilians they can't do the same to the Amazon. Now they need to find other ways to make their flat pack furniture, and this might be a solution.
Eucalyptus are planted in rows, and for the first two years they can grow three crops per year between the trees: first comes soya, and then maize, both of which can go from planting to harvest in 100 days. A cover crop is planted into the standing maize, so it is ready for grazing immediately after harvest. The same thing happens the second year, except the cover crop then becomes a permanent pasture, as in the photo above. Cattle will graze this for 10-15 years, by which time the trees are tall enough to cut. Eucalyptus has two characteristics which make it ideal for this application. It is very fast growing (in this climate it can average 6m per year), and it will also regrow after the wood has been harvested. Man-sized-cut-and-come-again. Now that the shade has been temporarily removed it's possible to get in another year or two of cash crops before the trees are too big, and it turns back in to grazing. So the cycle continues…
On a different subject, if you're looking for something cheery to watch, don't go and see I Am a Girl, although it is a good documentary. If you do see it, and still feel a bit too upbeat, maybe try Once Were Warriors.
Day 61 – Jesus: Rice Superstar
I'd only ever spent 3 hours in Uruguay before this trip, but for some reason I've always liked it. This time there was no queue at customs, my bag was the first off the plane (that's a new one for me) and I could buy a cheap local sim card at the airport. A great start. Unfortunately I had not been able to arrange anything constructive for the weekend, so it was tourist time. After mucking around for a couple of days I headed to Treinta y Tres (which means thirty three), and spent the night in a hotel which was perfectly comfortable, but wouldn't have been out of place in 1964 Bulgaria.
This morning I had an appointment with Jesus Castillo, a rice agronomist working for INIA. He had been recommended to me by Michael Eyres as someone who knew all about improving soils.
INIA is partly funded by the government, and partly by the farmers, through levies on their sales. They perform trials in both cropping and livestock management, as well as having big labs which will test grains, forage, or whatever the farmer needs. Their building was quite new, and very smart, in stark contrast to similar government organisations over the river in Argentina.
They've got some of the best soil in the country over here, but it's only 30cm deep, with a clay subsoil. That means they don't have a huge water holding capacity, and so are normally either too dry, or totally flooded. Traditionally there has been a lot of grazing, and that continues today. It's one of the few places in the world where it is standard practice to graze both sheep and cattle in the same field at the same time. I've always thought this sounded like a pretty sensible idea, but all my (super conservative) vet friends start having a fit when you mention it.
They have two research stations near Treinta y Tres, for upland and lowland systems. The upland system is dry land farming, and they are testing three rotations. All the rotations have two years where they grow soya beans – wheat – sorghum – oat cover crop. At this point they differ: one starts all over again, and the other two go into pasture, either for two years or four.
On the lowland farms, the main crop is the rice. Uruguay is the second most productive rice growing country on the planet – only the USA averages a higher yield per hectare. On the low land INIA station they also have rotation trials, ranging from intensive rice – cover crop – soya – cover crop, to the traditional rice and perennial pasture.
The cover crop they tend to use in this lowland trial is Italian ryegrass. What's really interesting is that they put it on with an airplane, both into the soya and the rice. Uniquely, in my experience, they are happy with the results, and say it gives a good even germination. This is understandable in the rice, as they put it on just after the field is drained, so there is plenty of moisture in the soil. In the soya it goes on about a month before harvest, timed just before the leaves start to fall off. When the leaf does come off, it covers the ryegrass seed and provides humidity to help germination. In both cases, after harvest the grass is 5cm or so tall, and gets going very quickly – to be grazed before the next cash crop is planted.
The trial results are interesting – SOM is maintained in all the rotations that include pastures, and degraded in the ones that don't. However, they have only just started using cover crops in the last couple of years, and the hope is that this may make the continuous cropping more sustainable.
In the '50s & '60s no-till had not been adopted, and traditional farming methods were terrible at controlling erosion. The average farm lost 20-30t/ha of soil each year, into the rivers. Since the '90s this has improved a lot, but in the last three years the government has decided it had to do something about the country's soils – agriculture is a big proportion of Uruguay's GDP. What they have come up with is a system whereby the landowner (and farmer if it is a different person) must submit their long-term cropping plans for approval. Trial data from INIA is used to predict how this rotation will affect the soil erosion, taking into account topography, soil types, climate, use of cover crops, pasture phases etc. The magic number is 7t/ha. If you lose more soil than this each year, you will not get approval to go farming (or else there's a big fine). It sounds like a pretty sensible way of protecting the country's asset, although given what has happened in the UK with the three crop rule (no one is telling ME how to farm!) I don't think it would be a popular move – especially because here they often stipulate at least some pasture.
Of course it does beg the question, why settle for any soil loss at all? Apparently even with low intensity farming on native grasslands they still lose ~2t/ha/yr, but in the past something must have created the soil. Maybe God? In my opinion, if they find out how to make soil, with profitability taken out of the equation, then maybe some of those techniques could be used in day-to-day farming. Sounds like a good topic for a Nuffield.
Day 58 – Tables (water & food)
The flight didn't turn out so badly; I was asleep before the drinks came round, and woke up 8 hours later. After watching the excellent film Boyhood, which I couldn't figure out how they made, we landed and got in line at immigration. A few hours later, and with some black market Pesos in my pocket, I headed south towards Trenque Lauqen. It was coming up for lunch, so I kept my eyes peeled.
A quick u-turn was needed as I saw a place with loads of cars parked outside, and my Spanish dictionary confirmed "Parrilla" means "Grill". The guy at the table next to me had a good looking rib of beef, so I pointed at it. "Asado?" "Si". Three minutes later a piece of meat easily big enough to flip Fred Flinstone's car turned up. It was a generous two person portion, or a stingy eight peoples' worth. I didn't manage to finish it.
The next day I met up with Eduardo Herrmann, who runs a company which has three farms. One of them is near the small town of Casbas, it's called La Florida.
Eduardo started the day by giving us a short presentation on the farm. I say us because there were also teachers present from the local agricultural high school, and some of the farm employees too. Straight away he said that the most important technology on the farm is CREA. CREA is a nationwide organisation that gets small groups of 10-12 local farmers together to share ideas and problems with each other, aiming to make everyones' farm better. It's a spirit of cooperation that is unfortunately rare in the UK.
The farm is run with a long-term mindset, so the soil quality is considered carefully. They grow four main crops: soya, sunflower, maize & wheat (occasionally barley). Between sunflower and wheat they will sometimes use a cover crop of triticale or forage rye. The cover crop is grazed if it's on the better soils, and left to be incorporated on the worst ones.
There are three main types of soil here. In ascending order of quality, Loma, Media Loma & Bajo. All of them are predominantly sandy, going from 82% in the Loma to 70% in the Bajo. SOM levels increase as the sand content goes down, but even on the best land they are rarely above 2%. Needless to say, the farm has been no-till for 18 years, but apart from a small layer at the top, it is very difficult to add OM to the soil: as Eduardo says "the sand eats organic matter".
There was a good demonstration today of the perils that can await when comparing different areas of a field. These two soya plants (see below) were taken from opposite sides of a small road. One is Loma soil, the other Media Loma. In just a couple of meters the soil has changed so much that the plants it raises are at opposite ends of the spectrum. The moral of the story is, if you want to compare the soil from two different management practices, take them from as close together as possible.
On the very worst soils they plant a species imported from Africa, called Weeping Lovegrass, which provides some cattle grazing, and also stops wind erosion. It is unique in my experience, as it seems to have been successful at what it was meant to do, and hasn't gone out of control. If only all the other introduced species were the same.
One of the techniques which came out of CREA was to measure the water table. There are 13 different sites around the farm which have 3m deep plastic pipes sunk into the ground. Every month the levels are measured with a dipstick and recorded.
This information is used to decide before planting crops what sort of potential they have. If the water levels are high, Eduardo knows that they will not need a lot of rain, so he feels confident in using more expensive varieties and putting down more fertiliser. Something I found very interesting was that this data allows them to see how deep the plants can send their roots, as they can check the water table height when signs of drought start to appear. Maize and sunflower will root to 2-2.5m, but wheat and soya will only go to 1-1.5m. That is pretty important, and has potential implications for nutrient scavenging too – I had been wondering how deep wheat roots go.
15% of the farm's maize, and some of its soya, goes to their on-site feedlot. According to Eduardo most of the beef in Argentina is now finished on grain. What about the grass-fed reputation? "It's history". One of the peculiarities of the beef market here (where the average person eats 70kg per year) is that they really like their carcasses to be as small as possible. In the government's opinion this got out of hand as smaller and smaller animals were being slaughtered, and so it is now illegal to kill a heifer or steer which weighs less than 300kg. That really means the race is on to get to this weight as soon as possible, and the animals here are finished for 90 days on a maize & soya diet and killed before the age of two. I couldn't believe they do not feed any fibre to the cattle; apparently this causes them to get liver problems, but by the time it manifests they are hanging from a hook anyway.
I started off talking about food, and that meal was good. But this one was even better, and what a location. The seven hour drive to Rosario after lunch was less enjoyable.
Day 55 – Worm juice & Claying
I spent the night near Gingin, but I'll come back to that in tomorrow's blog. A bit of last minute planning was called on to arrange a visit to Diane Haggerty, who farms with her husband Ian on the more marginal land on the eastern side of the wheat belt. They have an interesting story, having run a petrol station for the first part of their marriage, before buying 660ha of run down farmland next to Diane's parents' farm. They put all of their money in to the land, and had none left over for machinery. Luckily being next to Dad has its benefits, so they could borrow a drill and tractor. This was in 1994, and luckily two good years followed, which allowed them to make some money. In the early 2000s they took on their first bit of rented land, and promptly had a total crop failure – but they scraped through.
Since then they have managed to buy a little bit more land, but mainly the business has grown by renting degraded land that other farmers don't even bid for. The problem here is that the leases are short term, and once they have reversed the decline in productivity, the landlords then want more money and the neighbours come in with bigger bids. Currently they farm 9,300ha, but that changes year on year.
Like I said at the beginning, this is really marginal land, where 2t/ha is considered a big harvest and the annual rainfall is 100mm. The name of the game is to keep down costs and reduce risk. To achieve this, Diane & Ian have focused heavily on soil health, and nutrient cycling. It is too expensive to ship in quality compost, which costs A$200 before shipping, so they use compost extract, and also worm juice. Worm juice, delicious as it may sound, is actually what seeps out the bottom of compost heaps at special worm factories. I can't help but think it sounds like a kid's version of Snake Oil! These two liquids are applied at 5l/ha, normally at drilling, but the worm juice can also be sprayed on to the plant directly as a foliar application. In addition to these potions, they use some herbicide, but no insecticides or fungicides. Conventional fertilisers are placed at drilling, but in such small amounts I'm amazed they bother: 1kg/ha of phosphate and between 2-10kg/ha of nitrogen. Leaf tissue testing tells them when trace elements are needed, and they are put on as foliar sprays. Needless to say, the sheep operation uses long rest rotational grazing.
So what are the results? Wheat yields are less than conventional in a good year, but the same in drier ones. Quality though is much improved, with top level proteins being produced all the time. The same is true of the sheep flock, as they have increased lambing percentages to somewhere between 90-150% depending on the season, and the wool quality (these are Merinos) normally reaching the second highest grade, AAAM. It's also worth noting that they don't have to de-worm the sheep, which is very unusual.
Diane says her crops stay green a lot longer than the neighbours, and showed me some photos that were fairly emphatic. Unfortunately it's the wrong time of year for me to see with my own eyes. SOM levels are 40-50% higher than the neighbours (at the home farm), but this must be considered whilst remembering how unreliable these tests can be.
I've got a lot of respect for how far these two have come from starting with very little. I certainly wouldn't have wanted, or probably been able to, do what they have. I am noticing a trend with these sort of out-there systems though. More of that in the final Australia blog.
After leaving Diane I went to see someone at the other end of the spectrum. Trevor Syme runs 60 cows, which he feeds on Tagasaste (see above), but is really a specialist arable farmer. Although he farms only about 60km west of the Haggertys, there is much more rain so wheat yields can reach over 4t/ha.
It's still an unfriendly place to farm though, as the top soil is non-wetting sand, which means it is coated in a waxy substance which makes water either sit on the top as a puddle, or just soak through incredibly quickly. His solution is to bring up some of the subsoil clay and mix it in with the sand. There are three ways to do this,
- Mouldboard ploughing – doesn't work too well on these soils as the clay depth is too variable.
- Delving & spading – a huge set of legs are pulled very deep through the soil (see photo above), which brings up the clay, and mixes it through the soil profile. After this a spader is used, which is a bit like putting it in a cement mixer.
- "Claying" – here several pits are dug in the field, and clay is mined out of them. It is then spread out over the rest of the field at a rate of…250t/ha (not a typo). A set of discs are then used to mix the clay into the top 10″. This costs almost A$1,000/ha in total.
Obviously none of these are what you might call low disturbance, but the payoff can be big. Delving and spading can give a 1t/ha increase in wheat yield, and Claying up to 1.6t/ha. It only takes 3 years or so to pay back, and should last for at least 10.
Trevor is unusual in that he grows lupins as a full season cover crop – i.e. he plants in the autumn and then sprays them off before reaching maturity. He doesn't use sheep or cattle to graze the plants as I expected, but he just leaves them until the next autumn and sows directly into it with his NDF disc drill. The reason he does this is mainly for weed control (the dreaded ryegrass), but it also allows him to grow a fertiliser-free wheat crop afterwards.
Two farms and two very different philosophies. Which is better? Who knows?
Day 52 – Some photos
15km/h seems a ludicrously fast speed to combine at, especially with a 13.7m header. I sat on the machine for 2 hours, and we cut about 35ha.
Days 38 & 39
I don't know if these really count as Nuffield travels, but I will scribble about them anyway. If nothing else, the locations were incredibly exotic.These visits were only quick stops, to look at some machinery – two drills to be exact. The first, in Leicestershire, is a John Deere, and the second a Pillar Laser.
These are both interesting tools, with strong North American roots. The John Deere uses their standard single disc openers, the same that you can buy on a standard UK 750a. The difference is that JD only make machines up to 6m wide – if you want them to fit on our little European sized roads. In the rest of the world they make much bigger versions, but they are all 4m+ wide when folded.
When this drill was born in the US, it was 40ft (12m) wide. Last year it was imported to the UK by a guy called Steve Heard, who then spent all winter in the workshop (he claims to not know how long) cutting, welding and modifying. A bit later it popped out, having been reduced to 9m, and the fold had been changed to make it legal on our roads. One key point is that there is a separate tank for fertiliser; something the official UK machines do not offer.
Watch in HD for best effect
So what's it like? Well, the openers are well known and well proven; there's nothing new here apart from custom made closing wheels, that seem to work well. It looks like a brilliantly engineered solution, but one that would be beyond most peoples' capability to make on farm. One potential question is how much weight can it put on to the discs? A 750a can manage ~200kg per opener (when the seed tank is empty). This drill can take a lot of weight off the seed tank wheels – so much so that when I visited two of the rams were bent from doing just that, and were awaiting repair. My suspicion is that there is not enough weight as is, but adding more to the frame as needed should be trivial because there is plenty of space to do it. Overall it's a great idea, and done to a level that looks as if it came straight from the JD factory – very impressive.
My second visit was in Dorset, and it was to see a Pillar Laser in action. You will of course remember that I almost went to the factory in Canada back on Day 30, but I did visit a farmer who was a user. This drill is the only one in the UK (possibly Europe too?) so I was very keen to actually see it in action.
The first thing to greet me was a great looking field of rapeseed. It had been drilled on August 28th and looked excellent – certainly the best crop I have seen this year. The drill must be alright to be able to do this, but to be fair there had been quite a lot of starter fertiliser (100kg of placed DAP) and chicken muck in the spring too. It also doesn't look like flea beetle is a problem in the part of Dorset.
The Laser has two main selling points. The main one is that it combines the lower disturbance of a disc drill with the ability of a tine (or hoe as they say in Canada) to place seed into clean soil. The second is that the seed and fertiliser are separated, both vertically and horizontally. The fertiliser is dropped down directly in the shadow of the disc, and the seed onto a little ledge created by the small winged tine. The photo above shows it pretty clearly (this seed had been blown out when stationary, it would not normally be left on top of the ground).
You have to be dedicated to buy one of these drills to use here. Pillar do not make machines that fold to UK sizes (sound familiar?) so it will always be necessary to get your own frame made up, and then attach the openers afterwards. One benefit of the design is that because the discs have a double angle, which can be seen in the photo four up from here, they pull themselves into the ground. This means that weight is not needed for penetration, unlike the JD (or a Cross Slot). Hence the frame can be much simpler, and the seed cart can be a separate unit. This could be a plus or a minus depending on your point of view!
Watch in HD for best effect
I've gone through the positives of this design, but I do feel there are some drawbacks too. Primarily there is a bit too much disturbance for what I am looking for. Admittedly it is less than a standard tine drill, but it could not be described as ULD (Ultra Low Disturbance). It is possible that agronomically this is actually a good thing, but right now I think as little as possible is desirable. The second point is that there is a potential issue with trash clearance, as can be seen in the video. The problem is that there is not a great deal of distance between the ground and the main disc bearing. I think it was exacerbated in these conditions as there was plenty of loose fluffy material right on the surface (raked cattle muck and OSR stubble), and going into a firmly rooted cover crop or untouched stubble would probably be fine. But it is still a bit of a concern.
All drills have compromises (unfortunately), but does this one have less than the others? I'm not sure: maybe if an off-the-shelf product was available, but I don't think I am convinced enough to consider going through the hassle of having a machine custom made.
Next stop… Australia.
What's happening at home (First edition)
It's the first non Nuffield Travel blog post. Hurray. I thought both my readers may be interested in what we have going on at home this year. Here are five little experiments, listed in what I would consider increasing order of potential for peril.
1) Cover Cropping
This is our third year of cover cropping. The first year I tried two fields, last year four, and this year almost 1/3rd of the entire farm's area will have covers grown on it. Obviously I like them. I changed the mix we had previously used, and dropped out buckwheat (went to seed too quickly) and peas (expensive per seed, and we grow them in our rotation already). I kept in millet, but, for the third straight year, hardly any of it seems to have grown. It may finally have had its final chance.
Harvest had a really early start this year, which was great for planting cover crops. Almost everything was in by August 2nd. Unfortunately the good weather turned cold and grey, and it took a long time for the seeds to germinate. When they finally did (I may have planted them a bit too deep as well), they grew very, very slowly for the rest of August. It has also been a bad year for slugs, and quite a few hectares have been lost to them.
Luckily the start of September has been warmer, and the growth has sped up quite significantly. I have put a few trial strips of nitrogen fertiliser on three of the cover crop fields. For the fist month nothing showed up, and I thought the money was wasted. But now that they are actually growing, everything is changing.
Before the sheep get here in a month or two, I will take some samples and get them tested for dry matter content, to see whether it is worth applying fertiliser or not. My suspicion is that it will not be, but who knows. Whatever happens, it will not be a bumper cover crop season like autumn 2013 was.
2) Companion Cropping
I've been thinking about this for a couple of years, but finally got kicked in to action because of the new ban on using neonicotinoid seed dressings (an insecticide that stops flea beetles from eating tiny rapeseed plants). The theory is that by growing a mix of plants in with your rapeseed, the insects will be confused, and may eat the companions in preference to the rapeseed.
The traditional (if there is such a thing yet) plant to use as a companion crop in the UK is vetch. This is well suited to our climate, and will fix some nitrogen. The main problem is that it will not die over winter, and so must be sprayed off in the spring. I thought I would go a bit different, and so chose buckwheat, lentil and fenugreek.
The idea here was that the buckwheat would get going early, and I had heard flea beetles liked to eat it. The lentils and fenugreek are both legumes, and so would fix some nitrogen. The real benefit is that all of these crops are very sensitive to temperature, and should easily be killed off by our relatively mild winters. I also decided to go with no pre-emergence herbicides on the companion crop field, which is a gamble. All of our rapeseed is direct drilled this year which I hope will mean we have less of a weed burden going in to winter.
So how has it worked? Slugs have been a problem, it seems to be just one of those years. It turns out that they will eat all four types of plants in the field, although buckwheat is not as tasty as the others. And the bigger question – is it deterring the flea beetle? No. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be having much of an effect. Looking at our cover crops, all of the brassicas are relatively unaffected, it's the vetch which has taken the brunt of the attack. I wonder whether next year this should be in the companion crop mix, as a bit of a sacrifice?
3) Very early drilled wheat for grazing
Now we are getting in to the realms of potentially very stupid ideas. In New Zealand they graze ryegrass crops that will then be harvested for seed. A lot of farms in the UK used to, or still do, graze their wheat crops in the spring. If you plant wheat too early, it gets too big too soon, and will suffer badly from diseases. Add all of these up and what is the logical conclusion?
Drill wheat very early, allow it to form a huge and potentially very useful root system, and then graze in the late autumn so the plant is not too big going in to winter. Free grazing, improved yields?
This is what we are trying. 5ha of a 25ha field was drilled with wheat on August 29th, roughly three weeks before it would normally be done. The previous crop was rapeseed, and I left the volunteers to grow freely, and then drilled straight into it, as in the photos above. I decided to wait as long as I dared after drilling before spraying off the volunteers with glyphosate, and I also decided to not use a pre emergence herbicide; the idea being that any further rapeseed plants that grow will make good food for the sheep. I am also hoping that the dying volunteers will create a sort of mulch, which will keep weeds from germinating.
In the end I held off for six days before spraying, which seemed to be about right. I went on holiday immediately afterwards, and when I got back the field looked like the photo above. Actually it looks a complete mess as it is just full of dying plants, but when you look closer it is excellent. Let's hope the aphids don't spoil the party.
4) IRG silage & grain maize
I'm quite excited about this one. Next spring we will be planting some maize (corn to Americans) that will be harvested, hopefully in early October, for grain. The thing about maize is that it is not planted until April at the earliest, and sometimes May. This leaves a big window for growing a cover crop. After my visit to New Zealand I was keen to try out an Italian Ryegrass (IRG) cover crop as it has an excellent and prolific root system. I decided to include a little bit of vetch in the mix too, which increases diversity and fixes some nitrogen. But when the economics of grain maize were investigated further, they did not look so pretty. The plan was changed accordingly, and instead of grazing the IRG with sheep, I have sold it in advance to a local dairy farmer for silage.
Hopefully the silage will be cut in late april, and the maize planted in immediately behind it (no-till of course) with a starter fertiliser. If this works it will be great, as double-cropping like this keeps the land productive for twelve months a year. I'm also hoping that because the field will be killed off with glyphosate in April, the blackgrass problem that is starting to form there can be nipped in the bud.
I've considered this scheme as fairly perilous due to two factors: Firstly sowing grass seeds seems like it could come back to haunt us in years to come, and secondly grain maize is a pretty marginal crop in this country. It is the second smallest field on the farm though, so even if it is a disaster I may escape being fired.
5) Mob grazing & a 3 year herbal ley
Last but not least, the biggest and longest experiment we have. How can I make one field yield more like its neighbour (I'll need to increase its productivity by 20% to get there)? A year ago I planted a legume rich herbal ley after a crop of rapeseed. It contained ryegrass, timothy, cocksfoot, chicory, white clovers, red clovers, trefoil, sainfoin, and probably a few others that I have forgotten.
The field is 18ha in size, and I have about 30 animals grazing it. It is chronically understocked. In about two weeks I will have completed one circuit and they will be back at the start, having been moved in to a new grazing cell every day or two for the last five months.
It has actually gone very well so far. When the cattle density is this high (nowhere near where a professional mob grazier would be) then every type of plant is eaten, and the rest is trampled. Even the really bad blackgrass patches were grazed, and as we all know, cows don't eat blackgrass.
It's lucky that I have not spent any money on the field, as it hasn't produced any either (no cash anyway). The plan is to keep this ley in for three years, and then go back into normal cropping. To break even, I need to increase its yields by 3% over the following 20 years. I believe this is feasible (in fact I would hope for more), but whether it happens or not is anyones' guess. What I am really worried about is all of the grass seed that is being shed by the plants, and what it will mean in those 20 years. Will I be cursing this experiment for the rest of my life?
Day 31
So that's a full month of travelling for Nuffield, only a few more left.I've stayed for a couple of nights with a Nuffield Scholar from 1976, Jim Halford. He might be known to some people because he invented the Conserva Pak drill, the design of which was sold to John Deere in 2007. Jim is a no-till (or zero-till as he calls it) pioneer, and now everyone in the area is using the technique he developed.
I would not say that it is minimum disturbance no-till, as the drill is made up of two tines, the first of which places fertiliser, and the second one seed. The first tine is set a bit deeper, and serves to cultivate a strip for the seed to go into, and the packing wheel means that it leaves very distinct ridges. This is seen as a benefit as the seedlings are protected from wind until they grow bigger and poke out the top. Jim had tried disc drills to begin with, but found they did not work on his soils – hence he developed the Conserva Pak. I wonder if they might work better now the soil is in better condition?
But I didn't visit to see a drill. I came because Jim has a pretty unique (sorry mum) setup. The main farm has been in no-till for over 30 years, but in 2000 he started renting some land next door. This land had been conventionally farmed, which is to say it was cropped one year and then fallowed the next. During the fallow period it would be cultivated 4-5 times to keep the weeds under control. In 2001 Jim put it into a no-till system, where it has been ever since.
In 2002, in conjunction with the Indian Head Agricultural Research Foundation (IHARF), they put a trial site on the long term no-till land, and a few hundred metres away, another on the new land. The trial has been running ever since, in a spring wheat/canola rotation, which is standard around here. There were a few different treatments on the site, one to do with phosphate placement, and the others with varying rate of N, from 0-120kg/ha.
The first 10 years' data has been analysed, and the long term no-till site is much, much more productive than the short term. In fact the long term produced an average of C$120 per year extra profit.
As the graph shows, the longer a field was in no-till, the higher yielding it became, for all levels of nitrogen fertilisation. I think it is interesting that the difference is more pronounced at the lower end, and that ties up with the observations that no-till soils have more available nitrate in them. Another nugget was the in these 10 years, 4 had average rainfall, 3 had above average, and 3 below. In the "normal" years the yields were not very far apart, whereas in extremes the long term was significantly better. Again this would be consistent with the theory that increased organic matter helps both drainage and moisture retention.
Now, the short term field was obviously coming out of about the worst type of treatment you could imagine; half the time it had no growing plants and constant soil disturbance. However, the difference in productivity between these two sites seems so massive to me that it makes me question whether there isn't another factor at play. The two sites are not immediately adjacent, but the soils were tested and found to be effectively identical – although micro nutrients were not looked at. When I visited the Rogers Memorial Farm in Nebraska, and looked at the data from 34 years of tillage trials, there was nowhere near this level of difference between even full tillage (ploughing) and the no-till, even though less disturbance did consistently come out ahead. That is not to say that the results here are not correct, but I am not going to get excited and think that 20-30% yield increases are possible on our land just from adopting no-till. Which is a shame.
IHARF publish a booklet each year that outlines all the trials they have published results from, and it is an interesting read. Most of it is not relevant outside their local area, but a couple caught my eye. One was that they found a significant yield increase from inoculating peas with rhizobium bacteria at drilling time. I think some trials have been done in the UK on this, without such exciting results; I wonder what the difference is?
The second thing was a trial looking at seeding rate for canola in relation to row widths. We have some rapeseed this year planted in 50cm rows, as opposed to our normal 12.5cm. Both of these were drilled at the same seed rate, but we have been saying all year that maybe the wider rows should have had a lower rate, so that individual plants had more room. According to the IHARF results, this is not the case. It may be possible to reduce the rate slightly, but in general the same should be used regardless of row width. A good example of the quote I put in Day 29's blog:
"If common sense always worked we wouldn't need science"


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An elegant look is a classic style that really reaches in many different directions and looks. Below are two examples of receptions that used this theme as their foundation. Let our designers assist you with pulling together the elements to create your ideal decoration for your special day!


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Goals from Ross McCormack and Moussa Dembele helped Fulham to defeat Preston North End 2-1 on Tuesday evening, making it two wins on the bounce for the Cottagers.
Ross McCormack fired Fulham into the lead in the 5th minute after latching onto a long ball from Tim Ream. The Scottish international outmuscled his opponents before rounding the keeper and passing it into an empty net.
Despite being a goal down and losing their captain early on to injury, the home team responded well after falling behind. Calum Woods cut onto his left foot before firing just over the crossbar. Moments later Jordan Hugil almost levelled the score for Preston, only for Michael Madl to head the ball off the line.
Despite a late header going over from Joe Garner, Fulham managed to cling onto their lead until half time.
Preston continued where they left off in the second half, with Vermijl firing over from 20 yards before Joe Garner once again managed to test Marcus Bettinelli, with a somewhat weak header.
Preston were rewarded for their hard work in the 63rd minute. Vermijl danced past an incoming challenge, before firing a powerful shot under Marcus Bettinelli at the keeper's near post. The Fulham shot-stopper will feel he should have done better to block the right-backs attempt.
Despite looking like they would go on and win the match, it was Fulham who retook the lead against the run of play in the 73rd minute. Ross McCormack struck a curling free kick against Anders Lindegaard's right post, allowing a lurking Moussa Dembele to steer the ball in.
Preston continued to push hard for a goal, with substitute Jermaine Beckford coming close in a goalmouth scramble.
Fulham managed to hold on to their lead through 7 minutes of added time, meaning they are now 7 points clear of the relegation zone.
After the match, Fulham boss Slavisa Jokanovic made it clear that Fulham were not yet safe.
"We are not safe. With six games in front of us, now it's six points we don't have reason to think about a holiday.
"We need to do much for our away supporters who travel with us and push us towards safety.
"In this situation that we are in the only important thing for us is the points."
Preston manager Simon Grayson was left frustrated by the result, slating the tactics used by the opposition.
"They got the early goal but we passed the ball better and there was only one team looking to win the game. We weren't helped by some of the tactics they used at times".
Fulham next host Cardiff on Saturday, whilst Preston face a tricky away game to title-chasing Middlesbrough.