The weather continued much in the same vein throughout October, very warm days with plenty of sunshine and very little rainfall. The only difference was that the end of the month brought some very cold conditions and the first ground frosts.
Traditionally on the farm October is a quiet month and a good chance to take a well earned rest or even a holiday. After a busy summer harvesting and haymaking, these are much in demand. But with livestock someone always has to be here and the work goes on. The muckspreading was finished just in time before the ground got too wet! October is also a great time to do grassland topping and we managed to cut all the grass on the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, this will make a huge difference in the spring to grass growth and is our only tool in combating weeds.
Our bull Grove Wellington was housed in late October, he is now in his winter quarters for 6 months until the spring. We do this because as last years calves get bigger and stronger there becomes a risk that they might get served by the bull and this would not be good because they are too young.
Two brand new rams were purchased early in the month and are ready to go with the ewes, with the 2 that we already had. When you get new rams they need to be shut in with the old rams in a small pen until they are used to each other and to make sure they don’t have any run up and chance of fighting each other.
As we look ahead to November, we will be starting to organise Christmas orders and finalise delivery dates. We plan to sell some cattle and they must be TB tested.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
September - Cullimores Organics Farm News
September was an exceptionally dry month and we had hardly any rainfall throughout, with temperatures consistently in the 20s. This meant that all the arable (crop) farmers could get the combines out and harvest at long last, after a very challenging August this must have come as a huge relief.
We were also relieved in September as we were able to fetch our straw bales from the fields at nearby Wickwar, straw is a traditional by product of harvesting wheat, oats and barley and we need it for bedding during the winter months when the cattle are housed. This is roughly a week’s work to bring all of this into our stores at the farm, long days backwards and forwards are only made worthwhile when the last bale is in the barn and it rains.
Elsewhere on the farm we continued with topping fields, to ensure that we had fresh grass coming through for the autumn and winter. We also managed to take advantage of the dry weather to spread muck on certain fields to give it an organic nitrogen boost and ensure maximum growth ready for next spring and summer. The much is spread by a contractor and then harrowed ourselves to ensure it goes into the ground. The other main job in September is to foot trim all of the ewes on the farm, by hand, this is tough work but needs to be done before the ewes go with the rams in October.
September also saw the launch of Cullimores Organics website as a fully functional e commerce website, where you can pay by card and have your order delivered anywhere in the UK. We could not have anticipated the demand for this service and record sales were achieved. The whole system allows us to process orders far more efficiently. So it’s well worth a visit – http://www.cullimoresorganics.co.uk/
As we look ahead to October, we hope to purchase 2 new rams, put the rams with the ewes and shut in the bull into his winter quarters.
We were also relieved in September as we were able to fetch our straw bales from the fields at nearby Wickwar, straw is a traditional by product of harvesting wheat, oats and barley and we need it for bedding during the winter months when the cattle are housed. This is roughly a week’s work to bring all of this into our stores at the farm, long days backwards and forwards are only made worthwhile when the last bale is in the barn and it rains.
Elsewhere on the farm we continued with topping fields, to ensure that we had fresh grass coming through for the autumn and winter. We also managed to take advantage of the dry weather to spread muck on certain fields to give it an organic nitrogen boost and ensure maximum growth ready for next spring and summer. The much is spread by a contractor and then harrowed ourselves to ensure it goes into the ground. The other main job in September is to foot trim all of the ewes on the farm, by hand, this is tough work but needs to be done before the ewes go with the rams in October.
September also saw the launch of Cullimores Organics website as a fully functional e commerce website, where you can pay by card and have your order delivered anywhere in the UK. We could not have anticipated the demand for this service and record sales were achieved. The whole system allows us to process orders far more efficiently. So it’s well worth a visit – http://www.cullimoresorganics.co.uk/
As we look ahead to October, we hope to purchase 2 new rams, put the rams with the ewes and shut in the bull into his winter quarters.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
August - Cullimores Organics Farm News
Much like the end of July, the weather gradually deteriorated during August and ended up being a fairly wet month. This makes life tricky for us because we need to haul a lot of straw that we need for winter bedding for the cattle, and this can only be combined when the weather is dry. We did manage to get around 100 bales into our store at the farm in early August, but this is only about a ¼ of the amount we need.
August also brings about the traditional time of year when the lambs are separated from their mothers. This is a crucial job to get right on timing because the ewes need time to dry their milk up before going back with the rams to get in lamb for next year. The ewes are taken away and placed on fields with very little grass, this means they won’t keep producing milk. The lambs are placed in fields where there is lush grass as we want them to fatten quickly. For the first few days of separation we have to make sure all the fences and gates are good as they will be trying to get back with each other.
Elsewhere on the farm we got all of the fattening cattle (beef cattle) in to the pens at the farm and sorted 6 bigger fatter cattle to be shut indoors in the building, these will go for beef within the next 3 months. The rest of the cattle were taken down over the canal bridge into fresh pastures.
We also continued to move sheep regularly, as this is crucial for the prevention of diseases such as foot rot, which we have none of.
Meanwhile we managed to buy 50 new breeding ewes for next years lambing flock from another organic farmer who breeds ewes. These come on to the farm and need to be separated from the other sheep for two weeks incase they are carrying anything that might spread to the other sheep. This is part of our Organic status that we have to do this. After the two weeks is up they can go with the other sheep and our attentions will turn to trimming all of their feet.
Our new E Commerce website is now up and running and orders can now be placed through this site and paid for via credit/debit card. Look out for special offers on the launch of the website – for your first orders. This system should now make the ordering system more efficient and less hassle to the customer as you can order at a time to suit you.
Looking ahead to September, we hope to finish buying in all of our winter straw, the ewes will also be foot trimmed, and possibly foot bathed ready to go with the rams in October. So each month quickly fills up with important jobs to be done.
August also brings about the traditional time of year when the lambs are separated from their mothers. This is a crucial job to get right on timing because the ewes need time to dry their milk up before going back with the rams to get in lamb for next year. The ewes are taken away and placed on fields with very little grass, this means they won’t keep producing milk. The lambs are placed in fields where there is lush grass as we want them to fatten quickly. For the first few days of separation we have to make sure all the fences and gates are good as they will be trying to get back with each other.
Elsewhere on the farm we got all of the fattening cattle (beef cattle) in to the pens at the farm and sorted 6 bigger fatter cattle to be shut indoors in the building, these will go for beef within the next 3 months. The rest of the cattle were taken down over the canal bridge into fresh pastures.
We also continued to move sheep regularly, as this is crucial for the prevention of diseases such as foot rot, which we have none of.
Meanwhile we managed to buy 50 new breeding ewes for next years lambing flock from another organic farmer who breeds ewes. These come on to the farm and need to be separated from the other sheep for two weeks incase they are carrying anything that might spread to the other sheep. This is part of our Organic status that we have to do this. After the two weeks is up they can go with the other sheep and our attentions will turn to trimming all of their feet.
Our new E Commerce website is now up and running and orders can now be placed through this site and paid for via credit/debit card. Look out for special offers on the launch of the website – for your first orders. This system should now make the ordering system more efficient and less hassle to the customer as you can order at a time to suit you.
Looking ahead to September, we hope to finish buying in all of our winter straw, the ewes will also be foot trimmed, and possibly foot bathed ready to go with the rams in October. So each month quickly fills up with important jobs to be done.
July - Cullimores Organics Farm news
July is often the wet month out of the 3 traditional hay making months and this year was no different. The month started of hot and dry but by the middle to end of the month it was really quite wet at times, which was nothing to complain about because so many people needed the rain for crops etc.
We managed to completely finish our haymaking operations by early July, we had made far more than we needed but we felt sure that the demand would be there from other farmers who perhaps farmed drier ground and would be short of feed.
As with the previous two months grassland topping was our main job in July and it really is endless. Because we have a high acreage and low numbers the grass never really gets eaten, so we use a machine called a topper to mulch the grass down short and ensure a good re growth of fresh grass. This is also our only tool in the fight against thistles and rushes, as being organic, we can’t use any chemicals. The new machine we bought last year is much wider than our old one and covers the land a lot quicker and more efficiently.
Meanwhile other jobs that are on going are getting the lambs in every two weeks to check for fat one and either use them through our meat retail business or send them to market. We also continue to clean out sheds at the farm an stack the manure in the fields, in between hay making and sheep work.
Farmers markets and direct selling are obviously a huge part of our business now and although time consuming and hard work, we feel that it is of huge benefit to us to know exactly where our produce ends up. We also feel that it is of huge benefit to all of our customers to have complete faith in every single thing that they buy from us and to know that it has had the best life possible and was a happy contented animal. This we believe is reflected in the finished product on your plate being of superior quality and consistency. Thank you to all of our customers who support us continuously and we hope that you continue to do so for many years to come.
Looking ahead to August, we hope to have our new website up and running and this will mean that customers will be able to buy any of our produce online and pay by credit/ debit card and have it delivered anywhere in the UK.
We managed to completely finish our haymaking operations by early July, we had made far more than we needed but we felt sure that the demand would be there from other farmers who perhaps farmed drier ground and would be short of feed.
As with the previous two months grassland topping was our main job in July and it really is endless. Because we have a high acreage and low numbers the grass never really gets eaten, so we use a machine called a topper to mulch the grass down short and ensure a good re growth of fresh grass. This is also our only tool in the fight against thistles and rushes, as being organic, we can’t use any chemicals. The new machine we bought last year is much wider than our old one and covers the land a lot quicker and more efficiently.
Meanwhile other jobs that are on going are getting the lambs in every two weeks to check for fat one and either use them through our meat retail business or send them to market. We also continue to clean out sheds at the farm an stack the manure in the fields, in between hay making and sheep work.
Farmers markets and direct selling are obviously a huge part of our business now and although time consuming and hard work, we feel that it is of huge benefit to us to know exactly where our produce ends up. We also feel that it is of huge benefit to all of our customers to have complete faith in every single thing that they buy from us and to know that it has had the best life possible and was a happy contented animal. This we believe is reflected in the finished product on your plate being of superior quality and consistency. Thank you to all of our customers who support us continuously and we hope that you continue to do so for many years to come.
Looking ahead to August, we hope to have our new website up and running and this will mean that customers will be able to buy any of our produce online and pay by credit/ debit card and have it delivered anywhere in the UK.
June - Cullimores Organics Farm News
June continued to be hot and dry which suited us well because we had a lot of hay and silage to make. We are only allowed to cut certain fields in June as part of our ongoing commitment to the Countryside Stewardship Scheme and to the nesting birds. This is often difficult to manage but we feel that the advantages to nature far outweigh the need for intensive farming methods.
We cut around 60 acres of grass for hay and silage during the month and this made approx 400 round bales of feed for the cattle and sheep when they are in their winter quarters. It was an absolute luxury to just keep going all day everyday without thinking about heavy downpours and the floods of the previous two years. We possibly made some of the best feed this year that we have ever made. We are incredibly lucky with the type of land we farm because whilst other farmers grass was not growing, we have natural irrigation from the river Severn which means the grass keeps growing and growing.
Elsewhere on the farm we managed to footbath all of the sheep, this is where they walk through a footbath that contains a special solution to stop sore feet, it creates a balm around the hoof to stop any infections getting in. Lambs also need to be sorted, to select enough to go for meat and to market, they need to come into the pen every two weeks to remove any that are above a certain weight.
Grassland topping (mowing) continues throughout June, rushes are a real problem on our wet ground but the machine that we bought last year coupled with our new larger tractor really does get on top of the job.
Meanwhile we clean out cattle sheds at the farm which are full of manure from the winter and take it out into the field ready to spread on the land in September, to give the ground a boost of nitrogen ready for next years growth.
By the end of June, things are starting to get a bit more up together, and we look ahead to July and hope the weather continues in the same vein and we can make more crucial winter supplies.
We cut around 60 acres of grass for hay and silage during the month and this made approx 400 round bales of feed for the cattle and sheep when they are in their winter quarters. It was an absolute luxury to just keep going all day everyday without thinking about heavy downpours and the floods of the previous two years. We possibly made some of the best feed this year that we have ever made. We are incredibly lucky with the type of land we farm because whilst other farmers grass was not growing, we have natural irrigation from the river Severn which means the grass keeps growing and growing.
Elsewhere on the farm we managed to footbath all of the sheep, this is where they walk through a footbath that contains a special solution to stop sore feet, it creates a balm around the hoof to stop any infections getting in. Lambs also need to be sorted, to select enough to go for meat and to market, they need to come into the pen every two weeks to remove any that are above a certain weight.
Grassland topping (mowing) continues throughout June, rushes are a real problem on our wet ground but the machine that we bought last year coupled with our new larger tractor really does get on top of the job.
Meanwhile we clean out cattle sheds at the farm which are full of manure from the winter and take it out into the field ready to spread on the land in September, to give the ground a boost of nitrogen ready for next years growth.
By the end of June, things are starting to get a bit more up together, and we look ahead to July and hope the weather continues in the same vein and we can make more crucial winter supplies.
May - Cullimores Organics Farm News
May continued much in the same vein as April weather wise, with long hot days and very little rain fall. With all the Bank Holidays in May it’s always nice to take things slightly easier after the busy lambing period. But there’s always something to be done on the farm and as you will see, May is still a busy month.
The ewes all need trimming around their tails at some point in May (this is known as dagging), to keep the sheep clean. This is very labour intensive as it all needs to be done by hand.
We managed to get all of the sheep sheared early in the month, which is always a big relief as the hot humid weather makes the ewes lie down a lot and the lambs can’t feed from them, which in turn means the lambs don’t grow fast enough.
We also managed to gain permission to cut some rushes early on our Countryside Stewardship land. Usually you can’t cut any until 1st July, because of nesting birds, but we made the case that to control the rushes we needed to cut them early. We walked the land prior to cutting it to check that there were no nesting birds. In addition to cutting this rush land, we also managed to make 20 acres of good quality silage which will prove crucial to feed the cattle indoors during the winter months – this is just the start of the hay / silage making operations.
Meanwhile we continue to move sheep on a regular basis to keep them on fresh pastures and prevent any disease problems. This often means moving electric fences, to stop sheep getting into the ditches.
The weather continued to be hot and dry throughout the month with very little rainfall and looking ahead to June we hope for some rain to make the grass growing for hay making, but not too much to saturate the ground. Farmers are never happy with the weather.
The ewes all need trimming around their tails at some point in May (this is known as dagging), to keep the sheep clean. This is very labour intensive as it all needs to be done by hand.
We managed to get all of the sheep sheared early in the month, which is always a big relief as the hot humid weather makes the ewes lie down a lot and the lambs can’t feed from them, which in turn means the lambs don’t grow fast enough.
We also managed to gain permission to cut some rushes early on our Countryside Stewardship land. Usually you can’t cut any until 1st July, because of nesting birds, but we made the case that to control the rushes we needed to cut them early. We walked the land prior to cutting it to check that there were no nesting birds. In addition to cutting this rush land, we also managed to make 20 acres of good quality silage which will prove crucial to feed the cattle indoors during the winter months – this is just the start of the hay / silage making operations.
Meanwhile we continue to move sheep on a regular basis to keep them on fresh pastures and prevent any disease problems. This often means moving electric fences, to stop sheep getting into the ditches.
The weather continued to be hot and dry throughout the month with very little rainfall and looking ahead to June we hope for some rain to make the grass growing for hay making, but not too much to saturate the ground. Farmers are never happy with the weather.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
April - Cullimores Organics Farm News
April brought about a massive change in the weather, a real surprise and treat for everyone, warm sunny days (but still cold at night). What a real treat it is to be able to wear a t-shirt after all the cold of the winter, this now seemed like a distant memory as daytime temperatures reached 20c.
Lambing was nearing the end in April and it had been a successful year with all the lambs out at grass and growing at an alarming rate. Just 1 triplet hanging on until nearly the end of April, she had 3 very large and strong lambs.
The weather was absolutely perfect in April for grass growth with warm sunny days and some warm rain at night. This meant that we now had enough grass to let all the cattle out into the fields on the 14th April, about 2 weeks later than usual. This is my favourite time of year, seeing all your hard work of the winter flourishing in large open spaces is truly a very special feeling.
With mainly dry weather throughout April, markets were very busy especially around Easter with record sales being achieved, lamb proving ever popular for that extra special Easter meal.
Looking ahead to May, we hope to be able to shear all of our ewes, and possibly start to make some silage, all weather dependant though and for this we keep our fingers firmly crossed.
April brought about a massive change in the weather, a real surprise and treat for everyone, warm sunny days (but still cold at night). What a real treat it is to be able to wear a t-shirt after all the cold of the winter, this now seemed like a distant memory as daytime temperatures reached 20c.
Lambing was nearing the end in April and it had been a successful year with all the lambs out at grass and growing at an alarming rate. Just 1 triplet hanging on until nearly the end of April, she had 3 very large and strong lambs.
The weather was absolutely perfect in April for grass growth with warm sunny days and some warm rain at night. This meant that we now had enough grass to let all the cattle out into the fields on the 14th April, about 2 weeks later than usual. This is my favourite time of year, seeing all your hard work of the winter flourishing in large open spaces is truly a very special feeling.
With mainly dry weather throughout April, markets were very busy especially around Easter with record sales being achieved, lamb proving ever popular for that extra special Easter meal.
Looking ahead to May, we hope to be able to shear all of our ewes, and possibly start to make some silage, all weather dependant though and for this we keep our fingers firmly crossed.
March - Cullimores Organics Farm News
March brought about a change in the weather as we moved from much colder conditions to much wetter conditions (and when I say wet I mean wet, the rain just fell and fell all through March).
March is traditionally a very tense time on the farm as all the ewes are now very heavily pregnant and are close to lambing, they need constant supervision prior to lambing to see that all there needs are met. During lambing they are supervised up to 22hours a day and assisted in birth as necessary. John, our senior partner starts his shift at 4am and works through the day until 7pm, when Jamie takes over and works through until around 1am depending on how busy things are. This system works very well and you get very few lambing between 1am and 4am.
March / April lambing is by far the best way – the grass is always there at this time and the ewes and lambs can go straight out to grass when they are strong enough, this also keeps the milk coming to feed the lambs.
Should you want to know more about lambing why not check out our video diary which can be found following this link.
http://www.mikelusmore.com/lambing.html
Elsewhere on the farm, farmers markets have to continue during lambing and an extra special effort is needed to keep everything going, markets remained very busy despite the weather. We had a very busy end to the month with unprecedented levels of orders coming in for Easter, which is now only a week away.
March brought about a change in the weather as we moved from much colder conditions to much wetter conditions (and when I say wet I mean wet, the rain just fell and fell all through March).
March is traditionally a very tense time on the farm as all the ewes are now very heavily pregnant and are close to lambing, they need constant supervision prior to lambing to see that all there needs are met. During lambing they are supervised up to 22hours a day and assisted in birth as necessary. John, our senior partner starts his shift at 4am and works through the day until 7pm, when Jamie takes over and works through until around 1am depending on how busy things are. This system works very well and you get very few lambing between 1am and 4am.
March / April lambing is by far the best way – the grass is always there at this time and the ewes and lambs can go straight out to grass when they are strong enough, this also keeps the milk coming to feed the lambs.
Should you want to know more about lambing why not check out our video diary which can be found following this link.
http://www.mikelusmore.com/lambing.html
Elsewhere on the farm, farmers markets have to continue during lambing and an extra special effort is needed to keep everything going, markets remained very busy despite the weather. We had a very busy end to the month with unprecedented levels of orders coming in for Easter, which is now only a week away.
February - Cullimores Farm News
Cold and windy weather continued to dominate through February, with lots of cold dry days and one particular day of horrendous snow storms, which caused chaos on the roads for making deliveries.
February is traditionally the month when we look towards housing our sheep in anticipation of lambing time, they are all pregnancy scanned to tell us how many lambs each ewe is carrying. This is a vital management tool for us, so that we can feed the correct amount of cake to each ewe and avoid the lambs being very large or very small. When they are scanned they are then separated into pens according to how many lambs they are carrying and housed indoors until they give birth. The ewes scanned and around 190% which is exceptional.
Meanwhile the cows continue to calve with minimal assistance, but it is vital that there is someone on hand to assist if necessary. We have had up to date one of the best calving periods ever – with the calves being very strong and healthy right from the word go, and we have had 3 sets of twins which is very rare.
Farmers markets continue to be very busy and trade is brisk. Our beef and lamb burgers continue to be as popular as ever on the cross on Fridays. Stroud farmers market has also gone from strength to strength with Maggie continuing to strengthen sales and fulfilling all of our customers needs.
Cold and windy weather continued to dominate through February, with lots of cold dry days and one particular day of horrendous snow storms, which caused chaos on the roads for making deliveries.
February is traditionally the month when we look towards housing our sheep in anticipation of lambing time, they are all pregnancy scanned to tell us how many lambs each ewe is carrying. This is a vital management tool for us, so that we can feed the correct amount of cake to each ewe and avoid the lambs being very large or very small. When they are scanned they are then separated into pens according to how many lambs they are carrying and housed indoors until they give birth. The ewes scanned and around 190% which is exceptional.
Meanwhile the cows continue to calve with minimal assistance, but it is vital that there is someone on hand to assist if necessary. We have had up to date one of the best calving periods ever – with the calves being very strong and healthy right from the word go, and we have had 3 sets of twins which is very rare.
Farmers markets continue to be very busy and trade is brisk. Our beef and lamb burgers continue to be as popular as ever on the cross on Fridays. Stroud farmers market has also gone from strength to strength with Maggie continuing to strengthen sales and fulfilling all of our customers needs.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
January Cullimores Organics Farm News
With all the Christmas festivities over, January hit us hard, with temperatures falling to an all time low. With some parts of the country experiencing temperatures as low as -21.6 c, this made getting out and about a dangerous occupation, and we had one market cancelled in Gloucester and the ones that we did attend were very quiet. We did however manage to fulfil all of our deliveries to restaurants, pubs, nurseries and shops.
The sheep managed to survive through the snow and cold weather, and actually tend to thrive in such conditions although they eat twice as much. It also makes life easier to take food to them when the ground is hard through frost. Cattle also seem to stay much healthier during colder weather and the fattening animals are doing unbelievably well and with no concentrates being fed they are thriving purely on our excellent silage.
January also sees the start of our calving season and the first chance to get a glimpse of the calves produced by our new stock bull – Grove Wellington 49. The results are staggering and the calves are big and strong and healthy, and seem to just arrive with no assistance from us. There are always jobs to be done where calves are concerned and each one needs to be registered online with DEFRA so that they receive a passport which stays with them and identifies them for life. All time consuming work, but it ties in quite nicely with the whole traceability aspect of our meat – giving you absolute confidence in our produce.
We also had our annual bovine Tuberculosis test in Jan and we were all clear, and that job is now out of the way for another year.
John, our senior partner was proved right about the harsh winter weather, I guess you get to know these things when you are so close to nature. Let’s hope that the snow and cold have gone and warmer drier weather is on its
The sheep managed to survive through the snow and cold weather, and actually tend to thrive in such conditions although they eat twice as much. It also makes life easier to take food to them when the ground is hard through frost. Cattle also seem to stay much healthier during colder weather and the fattening animals are doing unbelievably well and with no concentrates being fed they are thriving purely on our excellent silage.
January also sees the start of our calving season and the first chance to get a glimpse of the calves produced by our new stock bull – Grove Wellington 49. The results are staggering and the calves are big and strong and healthy, and seem to just arrive with no assistance from us. There are always jobs to be done where calves are concerned and each one needs to be registered online with DEFRA so that they receive a passport which stays with them and identifies them for life. All time consuming work, but it ties in quite nicely with the whole traceability aspect of our meat – giving you absolute confidence in our produce.
We also had our annual bovine Tuberculosis test in Jan and we were all clear, and that job is now out of the way for another year.
John, our senior partner was proved right about the harsh winter weather, I guess you get to know these things when you are so close to nature. Let’s hope that the snow and cold have gone and warmer drier weather is on its
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