Conservation Cattle

Red Poll Cattle Grazing Old Grassland

This winter we have an exciting new project on the summit of Bredon Hill. At about 950ft above sea level we have some very thin soil which has been growing enough grass for our sheep since about 1990 when it was converted from crop production. All of the grasses and wild flowers have naturally appeared from the soil seed bank or from birds bringing them in. 

The grassland has become quite old and matted so a change in grazing technique was required. As we have cattle of our own we have very kindly adopted, for a few weeks, some young heifers from the Kemerton pedigree Red Poll herd. Their job is to eat the standing grass, which as this time of year is like a hay crop, and tread in the inedible bits. All of these hooves will push the uneaten old and dead grass into the soil where the biology (bacteria and fungi) will start to break down the material and recycle the nutrients.

Over time this will improve the quality of the grassland enabling wider species to be introduced. The cattle are being fed hay, which we made back in July, from the species rich tower field with the hope that these ancient species will be moved across to improve the diversity of the sward in the neighbouring fields. The cattle will be socked quite tightly to make sure they eat the right amount of grass and moved on accordingly, always with a supply of hay nearby.

It's a great example of how farmers can work together to get the best results for all parties. These cattle are traditional breeds and will be very happy on the hill whatever the British climate will throw at them.

Shooting Wildlife

Over the last couple of days I have carrying my camera around to try and capture some of the wildlife that I am seeing around the farm at the moment. This lovely spell of warm weather is really bringing the wildlife out to enjoy it as much as I am. The picture (above) about shows 7 Brown Hares (BAP Species) adults and young all enjoying the morning sunshine on a recently mowed pollen and nectar mix. The area measures 0.70 Ha and is really crammed with wildlife. The hares were enjoying the shelter of the Oilseed Rape should any predators pass by.

Up on the top of Bredon Hill our resident herd of Fallow Deer are also basking in the sunshine. These are young males that gather together at this time of year. This field hasn't been planted yet as it is part of the hand picked peas operation and will be planted in June.

This little guy was probably the best find of the day (and his 3 other siblings). The Lapwing parents were getting very cross with me as I sneaked up to take the picture of a young Lapwing chick foraging for insects in a flooded part of a wheat field. It's an area of very poor drainage and under the Higher Level Stewardship Scheme I have plans to put a pond here but I might just excavate the scrape more to provide lots of wet feeding grounds for the next generations of lapwings.

An Old RELIC Puts in an Appearance

In the 1970's Dutch Elm Disease killed millions of Elm Trees across the country.  Overbury was no exception with many trees succumbing to the disease.  We have a field called 'Elm Piece' which once hosted many many hedgerow Elm trees, now there are none.  Most British Elms produce suckers  rather than seed and once those suckers reach a certain size they too succumb to the disease.

For reasons not fully understood a very old tree from Comberton survived and under a project called RELIC (Replanting Elms in the Countryside) cuttings were propagated from this 'mother' tree, producing young vigorous 'nurse' trees which we have been able to get hold of.  It will take many years to us to see if the off-spring have inherited the parents restistance.

Derek and Gordon have planted 6 of these trees around the farm.  Here they are having planted one in the Park opposite Silveril House.  If you come to our Lambing Day on the 17th April, you will be able to see this tree for yourselves, as well as the excitment of the new born lambs and the game keeping display.

The first job to do was to site the trees, we put 3 in the parkland and a further 3 in hedgerows dotted around the farm.  They were sited where they would not be shaded from other trees or hedges.  Once the site was found the guard was put uppost frame was erected, rabbit fence dug in and also a pipe put down below the rooting zone so that we could water the trees during dry periods.  I put this pipe under the roots to encourage those roots to go deeper in search of water.  Once the tree was planted, with lots of mushroom compost, to provide nutrients and water retention, garden weed matting was laid over the ground to reduce competition from weeds.  Finally a stake was hammered in and the tree attached, oh and a spirral rabbit guard for 'belt and braces' protection.

The end result is shown here (with it's name tag), not the end of the project by any stretch, there will be watering during the hot weather and next winter we might need to start prunning (depending of the summer growth).  If you are interest in the project then have a look at the Kemerton Conservation Trust and follow the link.  Big thanks to John Clarke who was  one of the founding members of the project and who sourced our trees.  I hope to be able to lay my hands on some more trees and maybe Elm PIece will live up to it's name again.