Movement at Last

It was a bleary eyed Farm Manager and Shepherd who loaded the first lambs into the sheep trailer at 4.15 this morning. The lambs where the first ones

to be moved after the livestock restrictions had been lifted on Sunday. We can now move lambs directly from the farm to the abattoir. These 44 lambs were destined for Randall Parker Foods in Llanidloes in Powys. They will be on Sainsbury's shelves by the weekend marketed under the 'Cotswold Lamb' label. The trip took about 3 hours and was 109 miles. The sunrise was fantastic so I thought I would share it with you all as you were all still in bed! (Not that I am jealous at all)

Working Out at Work

Here is a quick clip for you to test your farming or machinery skills. Does any one have any idea of what I have been doing in the clip? The film was taken by Penelope in the farm yard in the middle of harvest.....maybe a clue there?

A little Red Faced!

What a terrific sight heading down Kinsham Lane, a field of blood red poppies waving their glorious flags for every one to witness. What are we witnessing? It was a slight oversight be me! The field was due to be re-planted with a second crop of salad onions, then it was meant to be peas, then we had the floods, then the harvest started in earnest so the field missed being cultivated to remove the small plants.

The field has been in arable production and has been treated with herbicides, growing food for over 30 years and yet given a chance the flowers re-colonise and establish with a bold bravado. These plants will have re-seeded allowing an other generation to witness the striking scene in the shadow of Bredon Hill. John 'The Fly Catcher' Clarke looked at the plant population and counted 15 further species of plant including Dovesfoot Cranesbill, Red Goosefoot and Pineapple weed. John also spotted a clouded yellow butterfly and a flock of Linnets. The field will soon be cultivated to prepare the soil ready to plant again with winter wheat, returning the seeds to the soil and into dormancy.

Foot and Mouth Disease

Well it's happened again only this time at a very important time for many livestock producers. Over the next month thousands of breeding sheep are due to be sold at auction all over the country. These sheep are born in April and spend the summer grazing the high moor areas of the UK before being brought off the fells and mountains and sold to 'lowland' sheep breeders (like us). These sheep are the main income for many hundreds of hill farmers and go to breed lamb the following year. Cattle farmers will also be weaning spring born calves at this time and they will usually be sold on to other farms for the winter. At the moment there is a complete shutdown on all movements of 'cloven hoofed' animals.

How does this affect us? We can't sell any lamb at the moment, lambs can't be taken to the abattoir and no sheep can be moved across any roads. We can't move the ewes to the stud, where they eat the grass for Simon. This works well for both of us in a normal year. The ewes chew down all the grass that the fussy horses leave. It also gets the ewes in good health ready to be mated. Will we have fewer lambs next lambing? Who knows watch this space.

Did the Government lift the restrictions too early? I didn't realise this but symptoms show in animals after 14 days but the virus can live in the soil, water and forage for up to 50 days!

Let Battle Commence

The annual battle of farmer v's slugs has resumed this week. High tech farmers armed with heavy machinery, slug pellets, a strategy to reduce the slugs invasion and lots of careful watching of the fields. The felon armed with an ability to lay eggs and reproduce faster than even the randiest of rabbits and an insatiable need to eat Oilseed Rape seedlings and newly planted wheat seeds.

Our latest deployment is to pull our two sets of rolls along one behind the other. This is effectively rolling the fields twice but only using one tractor and one pass. This speeds up the operation and reduces the cost. Time is always in short supply at this time of year. With the land consolidated (rolled) the slugs find it harder to move around looking for tasty snacks. We will have to follow up and apply a light dressing of slug pellets to try and protect the crop as it emerges. If germination is even and the crops establishes (grows) well then one application should be enough.

Late Nights

Combining is going well in this 'summer' month! We started cutting wheat on Monday (6th August). This is historically when we would start. Here is the combine cutting Hereward, a bread making variety of wheat, in Big Grass Drier field. The results so far have been disappointing on yield and quality. This wheat will probably not make milling grade and will be down graded to animal feed. I don't think it had enough sunlight when it was growing and the wet weather at the end of it's 'grain filling' time put the crops off resulting in poor grain fill , leading to depressed yields. At least the price is compensating for the lack of yield.

Dog Poo Wrapped Just For You

I went for run last night (madness I know) along the Whorlies track going from Beckford through to Crashmore lane. What did I find along the way? 4 bags of dog poo that the owners had kindly collected in a bag and then left! What is going on? Is it the thought and embarrassment of walking along carrying a little, sweet smelling package? Is it the quandary of what to do with that package when you get home? What ever the excuse, there is no excuse! You have a dog, you clear up after your dog and you take the rubbish home with you PERIOD! You wouldn't leave a package like that in the high street in Cheltenham, or drop food wrappings out of your car window driving down the M5, then why leave that rubbish in the countryside where someone else has to pick it up! Take responsibility for your own lives and live them responsibly or stay at home where the dog can poo in your own garden. It's not just along this track I've found neat packages everywhere on Bredon Hill. If I find out who it is I might be tempted to deliver a little package of my own, and I'll leave you to guess just what that package might contain.