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.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
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.
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