The cattle started the season with a similar anticipation to the market garden; “when will it all start to grow?!” It took a while and it wasn’t until May that the grass really started to get going which had some substantial consequences; premature grazing of certain fields and the purchasing of organic hay from a local farm. This meant that a longer ‘rest period’ was required for these fields and more hay bought equates to less profit made – a tough start to the season!
On a more positive note, our first few calves were a doddle. I (Matt) would arrive at the paddock for the morning move to find a new calf with mum either licking and suckling or peacefully resting together. Then Crystal, our oldest cow now into her 17th year, had a prolapse which required a vet to stitch her up. The stitches would however impede the calf from emerging so extreme attention was required. It was a really nerve-wracking week but with a little help from modern technology, I received a message at 1am from a sensor on Crystal’s tail that calving was imminent. I rushed up to the farm in my pyjamas and removed the stitches before leaving her to it. When I arrived back at the farm later that morning, little Colin had been born and since then they have both been healthy and well!
One big project was the reseeding of one of our biggest fields; Ash Path West. We slit (to break the mossy cap and encourage water infiltration), over seeded with a diverse mix of grasses, herbs and legumes to increase diversity and sprayed a ‘biostimulant’ to kickstart the life in the soil. Monitoring is ongoing to measure the effectiveness of these treatments so we can reproduce elsewhere on our farm and share our experience with other farms. Meanwhile, in Ash Path East the wildflower sowing was largely unsuccessful so we will be reseeding again this autumn.
Grazing through spring and summer has been a real joy. Luscious grass as far as Colin can run, evidence of more sward diversity in certain pastures compared to previous years, older grasses being trampled by the mob to break down and build more soil for the cycles to come, the ‘condition’ of the cattle getting better and better, move after move after mooooove…(sorry).
One hurdle arose with Patience developing mastitis in one of her ‘quarters’ (of her udder); the big one that Percy (short for Perseverance for all her efforts) didn’t manage to find for a couple of weeks. Many conventional farms would have treated Patience with antibiotics to clear the infection but with some extra hours input ‘stripping her out’ (milking the quarter in question) it looks like the mastitis is clearing by itself and Percy has now found all 4 teats to suckle from! We believe that cattle raised in the most natural way possible leads to healthy, low-input animals that take care of themselves; treatment with antibiotics is a last resort and this time perseverance seems to have paid off.
Our last calf of the season, Moog, daughter of Mavis, was born on the equinox which marked the journey into autumn and winter. Thoughts now turn to grass and hay reserves, stocking rates and pasture (/mud) management – let’s hope for a drier one than last year!
Matt Dowen
