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Much of the past month has been spent tidying up pastures in an attempt to boost our forage supplies for the fast approaching winter. One of the problems associated with organic farming and the inability to apply bagged nitrogen fertiliser is the fact that yields tend to be less than conventionally farmed land. It is sometimes difficult, therefore to ensure an adequate supply of silage and hay for the winter. On the plus side the quality of the forage can be as good, if not better, than conventional material as the dry matter of the plant tends to be naturally higher before mowing.
The harvesting operations have now been completed for another year in what has proved to be quite a successful season on the whole, with only a few loads of triticale having to be dried at the end of the harvest period. Another interesting phenomenon of organic cereals is the amount of clover present in the stubble after combining (due to the lack of sprays). This is a carry over from the previous grass crop and assists in shading any weeds and helps to boost the cereal crop by fixing nitrogen in the soil.
The autumn period is a traditionally busy time for trading breeding livestock. We have bought in some breeding ewes, rams and store cattle over recent weeks. The six day movement standstill makes it very difficult for us all to move livestock, for example to outlying winter grazing or bringing sheep back for tupping. Whilst not advocating scrapping any control on movements, surely we can apply a more flexible approach, especially at this critical time of year in the livestock farming calendar.
Our chickens have been moved to their palatial new quarters and are settling in well. They are reared in batches of 100 and take 10 to 12 weeks before they are ready. The following batch is then given access to fresh pasture and their house is moved to clean ground to avoid any disease build up. Another recent development is the introduction of Guinea Fowl, which will be available shortly through our farm shop and by mail order.
The recent mild weather has been very welcomed, combined with the odd shower it has been excellent for late grass growth. This will help to boost ewe condition prior to the introduction of the rams later on in October and also enable us to keep the cattle out as long as possible to shorten the winter housing period. Grass quality does deteriorate at this time of year and we have just housed our finishing steers to ensure that they keep putting on condition and do not have any un-necessary checks.
Written By: Gareth Jones |
Lord Newborough's overall update
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