3 ms·

It costs money to transport the sheep, provide care, farmer pay, and housing for the sheep. The sheep don't stay on site continuously. What I wonder is why don

It costs money to transport the sheep, provide care, farmer pay, and housing for the sheep. The sheep don't stay on site continuously. What I wonder is why don't they seed plants that don't grow high? Like clovers or something and use bee keeping as an additional source of income.

therealdrag0 6y ago
One of the links in the article talks bout the bee point: "Pollinator habitats: The bees' knees of rural solar development" https://www.utilitydive.com/news/pollinator-habitats-the-bees-knees-of-rural-solar-development/530716/ https://www.utilitydive.com/news/pollinator-habitats-the-bee...
abraae 6y ago
That's my point. Why not let the sheep live more or less wild on the site?
- 082349872349872 6y ago
  The fencing mentioned is less for predator protection, and more to move the sheep around on the pasture. Left to their own devices, sheep will[1] overgraze. (7 sheep is a hobby, not a flock. Shepherding does have a reputation as being for the lazy, but that's by agricultural standards. Even Giotto presumably did a fair amount of work in between developing his art.) [1] The animals in Animal Farm are all well characterised. Sheep do do what the other sheep do. Dogs do love making sheep behave according to their master's dictates. Horses do have entirely too good a heart. Donkeys do get to live out their lives with no one paying attention to their carcass value. And pigs do resemble humans: compare long pig.
  - pjc50 6y ago
    I'm reminded of a former colleague who really did keep goats as a hobby. Entertainingly, even a single goat (not recommended, they're social) had to be registered as a "flock" with DEFRA and kept in the national goat surveillance database.
  - isanybodythere 6y ago
    I believe that the parent is referring to the translation of a term formerly used among the Maori and Polynesian peoples for human flesh as food [1]; their reasoning being that pigs resemble humans, since they taste alike. This taste-based taxonomy is reminiscent of Ishmael's taxonomy of whales in Melville's Moby Dick [2]. It is known, and can indeed be readily proved by inspection, that everything tastes like chicken [3]. I thus propose a taste-based taxonomy of edible organisms, aiming at restoring the former prominent role of Gallus gallus [4]. [1] https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/long_pig https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/long_pig [2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cetology_of_Moby-Dick https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cetology_of_Moby-Dick [3] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tastes_like_chicken https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tastes_like_chicken [4] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallic_rooster https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallic_rooster
    - 082349872349872 6y ago
      I'm not sure if they were going off a taste-based or a diet-based taxonomy on [1]. As to [2], back when the austrian alps were underwater, they were home to the today little-known (apart from the occasional frightful skeleton) Krampus Whale. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piemont-Liguria_Ocean https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piemont-Liguria_Ocean [4] Makes a fair taxonomic proposal, however. Could you provide a machine-readable (to make sure it can't be beat) supporting argument, suitable for import into a formal proof management system?
      - isanybodythere 6y ago
        The Krampus Whale appears to be a homophone chimera of the Grampus [1] in Melville's Moby Dick and the Krampus of Central European folklore [2]. Parent's final request is a clear reference to Coq [3]. I yield, mumbling something about lions and claws. [1] https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/grampus https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/grampus [2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krampus#Origins https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krampus#Origins [3] https://coq.inria.fr/ https://coq.inria.fr/
        082349872349872 6y ago
pjc50 6y ago
> why don't they seed plants that don't grow high? Other, higher-growing plants get seeded in very effectively. Small trees. Nettles. Brambles. Ferns. Even tall grasses.
brazzy 6y ago
> What I wonder is why don't they seed plants that don't grow high? Because within a few years, there will be plants that grow high anyway. In a few years more, they will dominate. In climates that support trees and bushes, the only way to have grassland is regular grazing or mowing.
- readarticle 6y ago
  Or burning! Though that requires regular dry conditions.

therealdrag0 6y ago

One of the links in the article talks bout the bee point: "Pollinator habitats: The bees' knees of rural solar development" https://www.utilitydive.com/news/pollinator-habitats-the-bees-knees-of-rural-solar-development/530716/ https://www.utilitydive.com/news/pollinator-habitats-the-bee...

abraae 6y ago

That's my point. Why not let the sheep live more or less wild on the site?

082349872349872 6y ago
The fencing mentioned is less for predator protection, and more to move the sheep around on the pasture. Left to their own devices, sheep will[1] overgraze. (7 sheep is a hobby, not a flock. Shepherding does have a reputation as being for the lazy, but that's by agricultural standards. Even Giotto presumably did a fair amount of work in between developing his art.) [1] The animals in Animal Farm are all well characterised. Sheep do do what the other sheep do. Dogs do love making sheep behave according to their master's dictates. Horses do have entirely too good a heart. Donkeys do get to live out their lives with no one paying attention to their carcass value. And pigs do resemble humans: compare long pig.
- pjc50 6y ago
  I'm reminded of a former colleague who really did keep goats as a hobby. Entertainingly, even a single goat (not recommended, they're social) had to be registered as a "flock" with DEFRA and kept in the national goat surveillance database.
- isanybodythere 6y ago
  I believe that the parent is referring to the translation of a term formerly used among the Maori and Polynesian peoples for human flesh as food [1]; their reasoning being that pigs resemble humans, since they taste alike. This taste-based taxonomy is reminiscent of Ishmael's taxonomy of whales in Melville's Moby Dick [2]. It is known, and can indeed be readily proved by inspection, that everything tastes like chicken [3]. I thus propose a taste-based taxonomy of edible organisms, aiming at restoring the former prominent role of Gallus gallus [4]. [1] https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/long_pig https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/long_pig [2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cetology_of_Moby-Dick https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cetology_of_Moby-Dick [3] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tastes_like_chicken https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tastes_like_chicken [4] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallic_rooster https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallic_rooster
  - 082349872349872 6y ago
    I'm not sure if they were going off a taste-based or a diet-based taxonomy on [1]. As to [2], back when the austrian alps were underwater, they were home to the today little-known (apart from the occasional frightful skeleton) Krampus Whale. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piemont-Liguria_Ocean https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piemont-Liguria_Ocean [4] Makes a fair taxonomic proposal, however. Could you provide a machine-readable (to make sure it can't be beat) supporting argument, suitable for import into a formal proof management system?
    - isanybodythere 6y ago
      The Krampus Whale appears to be a homophone chimera of the Grampus [1] in Melville's Moby Dick and the Krampus of Central European folklore [2]. Parent's final request is a clear reference to Coq [3]. I yield, mumbling something about lions and claws. [1] https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/grampus https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/grampus [2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krampus#Origins https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krampus#Origins [3] https://coq.inria.fr/ https://coq.inria.fr/
      - 082349872349872 6y ago

pjc50 6y ago

> why don't they seed plants that don't grow high? Other, higher-growing plants get seeded in very effectively. Small trees. Nettles. Brambles. Ferns. Even tall grasses.

brazzy 6y ago

> What I wonder is why don't they seed plants that don't grow high? Because within a few years, there will be plants that grow high anyway. In a few years more, they will dominate. In climates that support trees and bushes, the only way to have grassland is regular grazing or mowing.

readarticle 6y ago
Or burning! Though that requires regular dry conditions.