Rain at last! The farm breathes a sigh of relief and has a chance to catch up...

We always seem to start with the weather, but then if you have watched Clarkson’s Farm you will know that it is always at the top of a farmers mind! This last few days we have been breathing a sigh of relief as we have had a meaningful amount of rain - and crucially - the wind and sun has held off so that the ground has stayed damp for longer that half an hour! With any luck this will continue and the grass will finally start to grow a little bit.

"Have you got biscuits??" - meet Pennsylvania, one of our Shetlands

As we’ve watched the fields anxiously, and seen how little they’ve grown, one of the fields we set aside as a hay meadow we have now brought into the grazing rotation as it was clear it wasn’t going to reach any great length. Instead we will set aside several other fields now for a late hay harvest, around August time, in the hopes that the summer weather is more conducive to grass growth. The problem with this, is that we don’t have our own hay making equipment, and all the contractors will be busy with the crop harvests by then so we have to hope they will be able to make time for us. The fields have been regularly sprayed with 500 and 501, so once the growing conditions are right, we expect our fields to really take off!

Thistle and 'Betsy', a cow who stopped growing aged 6 months and is very small!

We have also been thinking a lot about the components of our fields. We are signed up to the Countryside Stewardship schemes which required a “species rich” seed mix to be applied to the fields, with the hope that it would support all different forms of wildlife. Certainly, the bees are very happy with the knapweed and ox-eye daisies. The problem is, the grasses included with this seed mix are proving to be not highly palatable to our livestock. For example, crested dog’s tail is very common in our fields now, and will continue to abound as the animals don’t eat it, meaning it will be left to merrily go to seed, while the few other grasses are eaten down. We had a quick chomp on a crested dog’s tail stalk (for research purposes only) which showed that it is very wiry, almost impossible to tear in two, so it’s no wonder the animals choose to avoid it. In the future, we would consider a “herbal ley” mixture, which has the same principles of supporting wildlife, but also remaining palatable to livestock, and includes grasses like Timothy, fescue, cocksfoot, and rye, which are much softer. This is just one of those things you can only learn through experience!

While it is has its problems, the Species Rich Grassland is a haven for insects

On a positive note, the fields are truly humming with wildlife. The flying insects are incredibly abundant, in much greater quantities than we’ve seen in previous years. The birds are also very busy, and we’ve noticed two herons repeatedly flying over our fields, so presumably they have a nest nearby! There have also been many sightings of hares around the farm, and in fields we’ve not seen them in before. In addition to the usual mix of bird life we had a special treat when spraying 500 one sunny evening this week as we saw the ‘Red Devils’ parachute display team over a nearby hill. Very unexpected!

The poly tunnel in the veg garden is starting to look very smart

The big news of the week was our annual Demeter inspection - Demeter are the certification body who make sure our Biodynamic practices are up to scratch. While there is always a bit of background worry about whether our paperwork is up to scratch, we mostly look forward to our inspections as a chance to have a new pair of eyes cast over the farm, as each inspector will have their own areas of interest and expertise. Regardless, we always end up having some very interesting conversations. This time we were happy to welcome back an inspector who hasn’t been to the farm for a good few years, which provided a nice snapshot of how the farm has changed. Oh, and there was no need to worry - the paper was all in order and we passed with flying colours!

On the animal front it has been fairly quiet. Aside from regular moves as we try and keep the various groups rotating through the fields, there hasn’t been much to do. We almost don’t want to mention it, but so far the dreaded eye infections have not made an appearance (don’t tell anyone!!). We have been trying to be hyper-vigilant looking out for cases of fly-strike on the sheep, especially as the weather becomes more humid and our experiment on not docking lamb tails progresses. There was one suspicious looking lamb that we noticed late in the evening, so we were running about the field in the dark, and treating the poor little thing by the light of the headlights. Luckily, it turned out to be a false alarm, but in this case very much better safe than sorry!

Thistle, making sure all is in order...

We haven’t yet sheared the sheep, partly due to a problem with the shears but mostly because with the cold nights the lanolin hadn’t risen as expected. We have continued to ‘roo’ (pluck) the shetlands, who being adapted for colder climes have started to shed their fleeces naturally. Now that the nights are starting to warm up, we will probably be shearing within the next fortnight.

So following the madness of lambing, we have had a bit of a chance to catch our breath before we get our teeth into summer projects on the farm - we will be catching up on fencing, weeding and other site jobs, as well as putting some time into the pantry and our fledgling wool business. Lots to look forward to!

Until next time,

The Rush Farm team

Enjoying some willow branches as an evening treat