24th – 26th March

Cows are still calving fast . We have crossed the 300 mark and now have only 60 left to calve. We now have sufficient replacement heifer calves to grow on and can sell the surplus to other farmers for some welcome extra income.

The drier weather has allowed us to continue fencing some boundaries on the farm which had deteriorated. We are also muck spreading and harrowing fields.

We will soon be putting on extra fertilizer to encourage grass to grow for silage.

This will be harvested at the end of May or Early June to provide food for next winter.

13th – 16th March

Up to date we have calved 259 cows. 85 of them are heifers, 164 bull calves. Out of these 259 calves 10 of them died due to illnesses or difficult births. Also during calving we had 10 sets of twins. This is the most that we have ever had on our farm. Having twin is not always a good thing for a cattle farmer. This is because when a cow gives birth to two boys or two girls they both survive and live a healthy life but once the cow gives birth to a male and female it gets more complicated due to the male tending to get all the important organs leaving the female with none. This is not the same with all animals though. Due to being a dairy farm we only keep a few of the male calves. This is because of the female calves only being able to produce milk, because of this factor we sell the majority of our male calves to a local farmer for him to rear for beef. At this point of time we have kept behind 14 male calves and sold 160. The ones that we have kept have been hand picked by the farm manager for them to be reared and then placed with the herd in mating season.

There is a special shed on the farm where all the calves are kept, you could call it a nursery. There is a systematic approach used when rearing calves due to a large quantity being born. The calves are placed in groups, which are separate gated pens that contain a bed of straw. The groups are placed into groups according to how old they are and how fast they can drink milk. This is to ensure that each calf is treated equally and they all drink the same amount of milk.

The milk is fed with calf milk feeders which have teats similar to a cow’s teat from which calves suck their milk from. They also receive hay and cattle meal. Calves are weaned on to dry feed at 8 weeks old.

3rd – 5th March

The bad weather which has come to the UK this spring has left farmers badly affected. We take a moment to think about the farmers that have lost land and stock due to the flooding and storms.

The following link displays how farmers in Wales are helping the farmers of Somerset through providing feed for their animals. During these traumatic times all farmers must work together.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-mid-wales-26706024

Our farm was lucky to avoid the flooding due to being on high ground. We did have trees fall on roads and in fields, which meant extra work. We also had a lot of rain during this period, which meant the grass was affected and tractor work was put on hold due to the ground being so wet. Being a farmer is a 24/7 job and even though the stormy weather has hit us hard we still have to continue looking after our stock. Due to the weather being so bad we kept our cows inside for their safety and continued to feed them silage (fermented grass), which we had cut over the summer period. This way the cows would still obtain the energy, protein and minerals that are needed and be kept out of harms way.

Once the weather was over we took the opportunity to move some young stock over to our other holding. These young stock are almost ready to go outside and begin to eat grass once they are strong enough and the weather had warmed up. Each calf is given a number and passport on birth. Passports are necessary to monitor the movement of stock throughout their life. The information on movements is kept by the Ministry of Agriculture on a central file. It became necessary after issues caused by foot and mouth 10 years ago.

12th February

Spring has arrived and we have officially begun calving. It is that time of year where we need all hands on deck due to 360 cows preparing to calve. The calving process is a staggered one over a period of 3 months and a cow could calve at anytime. Even though this is the hardest time of year for a farmer it is one of the most rewarding as we bring new life into the world. We support these newborn calves from the first day that they are born all the way through to becoming a part of the herd. The reason why we calve our cows in the spring is due to being on a New Zealand grass based system.

A New Zealand grass based system is a type of  free range dairy farming system .The cows calve in the spring to match the time when the grass begins to grow and they have a mostly grass based diet throughout their lactation. This is a more natural system and allows milk to be produced more cheaply.