A month on the farm

by Libby and Lisa Buchanan

February, March and April are peak calving months so life is very busy on the farm. This year is particularly exciting because we have a new bull, Louis, and about half of the calves are his off-spring. The funny thing about bulls is they can look fabulous, but you never know whether his genes will work well with your cows until you see the product! We are pleased to report they are simply lovely and we are really pleased.

We have, however, had one calf born with deformed front legs. The vet has come across quite a few and after a blood test it has been confirmed as Schmallenberg – a virus carried by midges. They bite the cow when it is in the early stages of pregnancy and the calf is born deformed. Fortunately, with our wonderful vet, Kate Parish, we have been able to rectify the worst of the deformities with splints on his legs for four days. Now he is up and running around with the rest of them. But it means we are always worried every time a cow calves until we can check it over.

We have made a big decision recently. As we shift towards true regenerative agriculture, not just organic, we need to allow the grass to grow much longer before we graze it and we cannot do that with the number of cattle we are running – at least for two years. So we have decided to sell all our youngstock that we would normally sell straight to Waitrose next Winter. We received a terrific price and, without them eating our grass we can speed up our transition to the new and better way for Nature and the cattle. If you walk across the farm on the public footpath this Summer, you should be able to see the changes underway, which will also include some of our hedges being laid in September. We will give you warning so everyone can come and watch.

Spring is always full of delights and surprise. Nothing
matches the first sighting of the Celandines in the
verges and around the edges of the fields. Opening
their gorgeous flowers for the Sun and then closing
them up again as it goes down, they are a wonderful
herald of better things to come. And then we had the
greatest excitement – we saw a pair of snipe. If only
they would nest here.... Seeing beautiful and special
birds like this makes farming so rewarding. It also reminds us of the responsibility we have to ensure they – and so many other wonderful and precious plants and animals - have the environment they need to thrive.

Photo by John Harrison