Farm Update - May 2023

Lambing

Lambing is now over and we are enjoying seeing our new arrivals leaping around the fields. This years lambing wasn't without its challenges - the wet, cold weather, including driving rain over night made it tricky for our outdoor lambers. Generally we were able to pick up any wet cold lambs and bring them inside to the intensive care unit (also known as our boot room!). With the help of a hair dryer, hot water bottles, lamb sized jumpers, warm milk, and lots of cuddles, most pulled through. 

Our triplets and singles were kept inside, and whilst they didn't have the weather elements to deal with we struggled with a case of e-coli spreading amongst the triplet lambs. This is often caused by poor hygiene, but this is something we are incredibly careful with so it felt like a blow to experience it. We managed to get on top of it eventually, and ended up turning out all of the ewes to pasture despite the poor weather.

Overall we had more losses than we would have liked, but we also have a great number of fabulous strong lambs. There is nothing better than watching them bounce along the fence lines!

One success of the season was our creation of an automatic lamb feeder for our pet lambs. With the creative use of buckets, fish tank elements, pipes and teats, we now have an auto feeder meaning the lambs can self regulate and feed on demand. Winner!

Calving & Cattle

You'll be pleased (and possibly surprised!) to hear that calving has gone pretty well. The cows have managed to calve independently with little help required, and they are now outside enjoying fresh grass and looking forward to having some sun on their backs. 

We have one little calf that has needed a little extra TLC because it was licked so much by its mother that its skin became red raw. It is not anything we have seen before, and predict that it may have had some sort skin condition when it was born which was then exacerbated by the licking. We have been treating its skin with good old sudocrem, and hope that the fresh air and sunshine will help it to heal. Our vets think the cattle may have a copper deficiency which could have contributed to the skin complaint. This is something we have experienced before, so over the coming weeks we will be giving all of the cattle a copper supplement, this will then be passed to the calves through the mothers milk. 

This week we have collected a series of muck samples that have gone to the vets laboratory for testing. This will check the overall health of the animals, and will inform us whether we need to provide the cattle with any additional supplements or micronutrients to improve their health. This forms part of our focus on health promotion. 

TB

As you'll know this has been an ongoing issue for us. We have our next test booked for the middle of June so we will be keeping our fingers and toes crossed. If we go clear we will need to test 60 days later which will also need to be clear in order for all of the restrictions to be removed. If we don't pass then we remain closed down, and continue to test every 60 days. Our concern is that whilst the cattle are outside grazing they are more likely to come in to contact with wildlife who carry and spread TB. Following post mortems of both deceased cattle and badgers we know that our strain of TB is the same as that carried by the local badger population, so this is a significant worry for us. 

Rain glorious rain  

It's crazy to think that this time last year we were at the start of a drought and we were writing about our serious need for rain. Well the picture couldn't be more different this year - we are now well in to May and still we are experiencing significant rainfall resulting in incredibly wet ground. 

The plus side is that the warm wet weather means the grass is growing well, but as we outlined in our last newsletter we have been unable to plant any arable crops. We have now missed the optimum window to do so and so are having to try and make alternative plans for the land. It's a case of damage limitation in terms of the impact on the business. 

Whilst really it is about a month too late to plant the crops, on some of our drier land we have decided to drill anyway. We are working hard this week to spread muck, incorporate that in to the soil, and get the seeds planted in the hope we will produce a harvestable crop. Obviously this comes at quite a risk as the cost of inputs, labour, machinery hire, and contracting come at quite a cost so we need to ensure we have a crop that is marketable at the end to offset these. What it does mean is that we should (fingers crossed!) end up with straw which is essential for us to use as livestock bedding, as well as ensuring we have the ground covered with a growing crop, which links to our regenerative farming model. We will continue to monitor the remaining arable land that is still too wet to plant, and will make some alternative plans for those parcels of land. 

As well as the impact on the arable crops, the wet ground is also preventing us from doing many other tasks on most of our land… muck spreading on our lower lying ground, topping our dog walking paddock, cutting and baling our herbal leys, and drilling our environmental mixes and wildflower plots. The ground is now so wet that realistically we will need weeks of consistently dry weather for it to dry enough for us to travel on. 

School Visits 

We have now begun this years run of school visits to the farm. We have welcomed a group of 13 year old academic scholars, and have multiple visits scheduled with students from the age of 4 - 12. We have planned activities including experiments to look at water drainage & soil health, bug hunting, nature crafts, exploring how we plant crops on an industrial scale, debates about topical agricultural issues, and so much more. 

We absolutely love welcoming schools to the farm and giving them a true taste of farm life, mud and all! We've made some great connections with a local school who are planning to include regular farm visits across their curriculum - bringing small groups of students multiple times a year to monitor change, explore the farm during different seasons, and really enhance their learning. They are able to make educational links to many different curriculum areas, as well as providing additional enrichment for the students. We are really excited to be working with this school and look forward to bringing the idea to life.

Open Farm Sunday 

On Sunday 25th June we will be opening our farm gates to the public for a guided farm walk as part of the Open Farm Sunday. This will follow a similar format to last year where we will meet in the farm yard for a welcome, and will then depart as a group for a 3 mile farm walk. This will be walked at steady pace with plenty of stopping points and opportunities to ask questions. The terrain is flat but uneven. Visitors will have the chance to hear about our environmental work, to see the cattle and sheep grazing, learn more about regenerative agriculture- what it is and how we put it in to practice on the farm, and to enjoy exploring the beautiful farmland. We would love plenty of our customers to come and learn more about what we do some please join us! You can reserve your place by following this link https://www.trybooking.co.uk/41828. 

Well done for making it to the end of our bumper update. There is so much more we could say but we will stop now. Wishing everyone a dry and sunny month, and we'll hopefully see some of you on 25th June. 

Many thanks,

James & Fi