As I write this, we have just had our first dry day in what seems like weeks. The fields are saturated, the tracks are muddy and the gateways even worse. Hopefully summer will resume henceforth.
Recently we attended Oswestry Show where we were showing some calves. Sadly it was a complete washout. Such a shame for a small agricultural show.
No doubt attendance was diminished, but credit to the show for its ‘the show must go on' stance. Regardless of the weather it was nice to get out and see people.
We currently seem to have a hundred jobs going on at once and it is difficult to see the wood for the trees.
New sheds
With winter not that far away, our mission to get sheds erected is at the forefront of the list.
We are putting a new calf shed up. This will be for milk calves and weaned calves. We have always struggled with pneumonia at Centenary Farm and we hope a designated calf shed will improve calf health. That said, I am sure we will make some adaptions once in use.
In addition to the calf shed, we are building a youngstock/straw shed. We have always been overstocked during winter and we all know cattle never do as well when crowded, therefore we are hoping we get better growth rates with more space.
Competition
I had the pleasure of stewarding a class for the Cheshire Farms Competition. It was a delight to see such good farms and I know the judge thoroughly enjoyed his day out.
It is always an eye-opener visiting other farms and I came home with several ideas.
What struck me was that all the farms we visited kept youngstock in, only turning out in-calf heifers. This is not something we have considered, but perhaps there are benefits to explore.
There are so many different ways of farming, but not one system suits all. It is always good to remain open-minded and learn from others. Congratulations to the Garnett family on achieving supreme champion farm.
Silage
We have two cuts of silage left to do in Cheshire and one cut left at our Staffordshire farm. We are then reseeding about 121 hectares with a perennial blend of ryegrasses and white clover. This will also meet the requirements for the Sustainable Farming Incentive improved grassland grant.
The lagoon and tower will be emptied prior to ploughing. The lagoon will need to be dug out due to the build-up of sand, one disadvantage of bedding on sand I suppose.
Finally, we have our dry cows grazing in a field next to our drive. The field also backs on to our non-farming neighbours' gardens.
Neighbours
The neighbours really enjoy the maternity ward being on their doorstep and we welcome any questions they have.
Some of recent the phone calls, however have become too frequent. One being: "I hate seeing dead calves." Our reply: "It's not dead, it's just sleeping."
And another phone call: "You better come quick as there is blood on the cow's udder and tail." Our reply: "It's red spray."
