When the guy came around asking permission for 3-D Seismic testing, he said I'd have to keep my cows in. My cows are free-range; to keep them in the barn or around the barnyard would mean buying in hay for them. How long would I have to keep them in? If I have to keep them in for the entire process, I'd miss a lot of grazing (I sell my beef as 'pasture-raised', not 'locked in the barn and fed hay'). As I understand, there are wires running from one shot hole to the next...that would be an invitation to disaster with my cows...they'd make a point to drag every wire as far as possible through the woods, so I couldn't let them out until the survey was done and the wires removed. What do people with grazing animals do?

 

The landman still hasn't contacted me; I'm hoping they might forget about me so I don't have to have the seismic survey done. Sounds like a hassle to me.

Views: 576

Replies to This Discussion

Lynn, as I remember you are not leased, so why would you have to agree to seismic?  Granted, they will be doing it around you anyway, but not on your property if you don't agree to it.  We did not sign, because we were not leased.
Someone was supposed to come out and talk about leasing (I'm ready to sign)...they are anxious to lease me so they can include me in the seismic survey.  So far (almost 3 weeks) no one has contacted me.

You sure know about cows, dont you Lynn? They can be pretty curious about anything new. Maybe you could build a fence in between the places where the shot holes and wiring are to be run.  An electric fence would not take too long to run. Maybe the seismic crew might even help you.  How many head of cattle do you have?

 

Bill L.

aka Bummy

I only have about a dozen (4 are sold and will go to the butcher in the fall), but they are used to wandering the whole property and would get into all kinds of trouble if I confined them away from their grass, especially the young ones. A bunch of hooligans. I thought my fence-building days were over (I hate putting up electric fence...I've done miles of it over the years). I also have sheep, but they are never a problem like cows.

A good cow dog can do a wonderful job teaching those "hooligans" of yours just where they can go and where thet cannot go Lynn.  And if your "hooligans"  break the fence down, your cow dog can and will put them right back where they belong all by himself.

 

My neighbor, Ed Heyler, had about 18 herefords get loose one day. I also had herfords of my own. Another neighbor spotted Ed's critters and thought they were mine. I took my cow dog and asked him to put em back in the pasture. My dog looked at me and refused! After scolding him he finally went to work and put them in my pasture.  A few minutes later I discovered that all my own herefords were clear on the other side of my pasture several hundreds yards away.  No wonder my dog was reluctant to put these other herefords in my pasture. He knew they did not belong there!

 

I called Ed's wife who told me that Ed was in Harrisburg and would not be back for a few days. She also told me that another group of his animals were wandering around route 349 toward Sabinsville.  "OK" I said. " I have about 10 of them in my pasture. Ed can come get them whenever he gets back. I have plenty of pasture for all!"

 

Ed owns the the greenhouses by the Champlian cemetary just east of Westfield. He was my Ag teacher back about 1950.

 

Bill L.

aka Bummy

Bill; I used to have an Australian Cattle Dog. That was the smartest dog I've ever seen. She wasn't very well trained in herding, but had a lot of natural instinct. If I could get her behind the cows, she could drive them home. Anyone (visitors, UPS guy, etc) who came into the driveway got herded into the barn.  She was better with sheep; she could hold them all in a corner of the barnyard for hours while they were getting sheared. She'd give them 'the eye' and they wouldn't move till the shearer dragged them out to be sheared.
Lynn, you can tell them where to go on your property and where not..You can draw a map of it, ,walk then through it, you can make demands of no trees cut, fill in the holes, replace soil, you can keep them away from ponds and such..It is really  rather easy and you don't have to put your cows up..Your property is of substancial size , they can move the cords..Ours was very easy to work with..They listened to all concerns and also followed all our wishes.
That is reassuring. I've read (here I think) about them using a 10-12' wide mulcher and taking down trees up to 3". Don't they have to make paths big enough to get the equipment through to drill the shot-holes?
 Lynn,that is what they are saying 10-12' wide mulched paths and taking down the small trees but if you have any existing logging roads or wide paths they can sometimes use those.

That's not what the guy told me. The form they wanted me to sign said "The survey is very low impact with no or very minimal damage done to your property".  10-12' paths doesn't seem like 'low impact'. I'm getting 2 completely different stories...I've heard both versions (minimal damage vs. 10-12' mulched paths) from several sources. Plus, I have a nice little stream with no stream crossing, so they would have to break down the banks to get across with heavy equipment.

I'm still not leased and the landman hasn't come to talk yet (it's been 3 weeks since I told them I wasn't leased). So maybe I can avoid the whole issue.

They told me.. they want to do the seismic testing before leasing.
How much are they willing to pay? They are gaining valuable information from this survey; I hope they don't expect it for free if they aren't willing to lease you first. They didn't offer me any (unleased) compensation, so they can stay the heck off my property.

RSS

© 2024   Created by Keith Mauck (Site Publisher).   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service