Shearing 2025 complete, and the summer sun still beats down...

To keep the tradition alive, we shall start this blog post with notes on the weather. We are farmers, after all! While we've had the odd shower here and there over the last 2 weeks, the West Midlands have had no significant rain since the final week of March. What we mean by this, is that while there has occasionally been a few drops, because the ground is so dry, we need plenty of rain over an extended period of time to first soften the ground, then to penetrate down into the subsoil where it would then be accessible to plant roots. Three months without proper rain is really taking its toll. The grass is dying back in many places, leaving the soil more exposed and beacuase we are on clay, most of the fields now have wide cracks in them. The chestnut and willow trees by the driveway are dropping their leaves, and the scrape - usually still slightly waterlogged at this time of year - is baked dry. We're forecasting expensive hay and straw this season as a result...

The scrape, which has dried out 2 months earlier than usual.

On the bright side, it's been a highly productive week. We've welcomed our latest wwoofer, Max, who is a student from France. He's very competent with machinery and has already fixed our pressure washer for us, and is skilled with the chainsaw. On Friday, he and one of our other volunteers went along the footpaths in Gannow Wood and cleared not only all the hanging branches and fallen trees (so that there's far less bushwacking involved for ramblers) but also 2 substantial fallen trees that were across the permissive path. We have also officially finished shearing for 2025, which is a huge relief, and means the sheep are not wearing their heavy winter coats during this heatwave which seems to be spiking each week. The final two were the big rams, Lloyd and Rambo, who were impeccably well behaved. Given their size, we do them standing up as they're easily double Alice's weight, not easy for rolling over! We were worried they might throw this weight about, but they stood stock still, and even seemed to be enjoying it - certainly they enjoyed the handful of treats we brought as a reward for good behaviour.

Rambo (left) and Lloyd, looking very smart with their new haircuts.

Once shearing was done we could turn our attention to the lambs, who were all vaccinated against clostridial diseases (such as tetanus) on Friday. Many of the lambs are clearly thriving despite the poor grass, which meant there was a lot of weightlifting involved to vaccinate them! Alice, Brendan, and Max all had tired arms by the end of the day. Given how well they look, we will aim to run them through the weigh crate in the next week or two. We will then repeat this every couple of weeks to track their growth rates. This gives us an indication of their overall health - a lamb which might be struggling with a higher worm burden or mineral deficiencies will not grow as fast as the others, so we can target treatments more appropriately. It also tells us which of the ewes provide the best milk for her lambs, which is important when it comes time to decide which ewes to keep for next year. In another 6-7 weeks we will probably wean the lambs, which will then give the ewes a chance to recover and rest prior to "tupping" in the autumn. 

The first ripe tomato! Nothing beats homegrown tomatoes, and we can't wait for the harvest.

The limelight this week has really been focused on the sheep, however the cows are also looking very well this year, despite - or perhaps because of - the lack of grass. While that may sounds counter intuative, our traditional herefords tend to run a bit too fat, so they are looking lovely and sleek on their reduced diet. The mineral boluses, as well as their vaccine boosters in the spring, have perhaps given them the oomph they need to cope with the slightly challenging weather this year. Their coats are lovely and glossy, and the calves are all very bouncy. We've had two new calves in the last couple weeks, who are already very fast, as we found out when we came to tag them! Currently, all the cattle groups are receiving extra hay, as there just isn't enough forage in the fields for them. Thankfully, we have plenty of silage bales still in stock from last winter, which is very gratefully received. 

A close up of a Shetland fleece, note the crimp which makes for a soft yarn when spun.

Looking ahead, Alice and Brendan will be taking a couple days away from the farm to attend Groundswell again. Last year we went as stallholders, representing the Stockwood Community Benefit Society, which piqued the interest of quite a few people, especially other farms who were wondering how to handle the inheritance issue looming over many farms at the moment. This year, we will be attending simply to take advantage of the huge wealth of knowledge sharing available there. With so many inspiring and interesting individuals presenting talks ranging from reviving the British wool industry, to sustainable flower farming, to rethinking the food supply chains for greater national security. We will make plenty of notes, hopefully meet lots of interesting people, and report back on the findings in the next blog post 🙂 

Until next time,

The Rush Farm team

A beautiful rainbow over the business park. Evidence that it did rain somewhere nearby at some point!