31) farmingGeorge’s Fobbing Farm Update: Dairying

  farmingGeorge’s Fobbing Farm UpdateDairyingAt the start of March, 2021 already feels like a drastically different year to the abysmally wet one we started with.  The land is drying out surprisingly swiftly, enabling us to travel with tractors on the fields and not make a mess.  I am really hoping for a clement Spring to get caught up on all the fieldwork and sowing that we didn’t manage to do in the winter!February commenced with the final tree planting session of this season: 3,000 willows in the last two agroforestry belts in Spratts.  Amusingly, these 3,000 trees arrived in just five or six bin liners; versus the large curtain sider lorry that delivered 900 fruit trees in December.Rather than hired in gang labour, this time I managed to utilise a bunch of tremendously keen volunteers.  Six students from the regenerative agriculture course at Writtle University College, Pat from Corringham who reached out to me on the back of my blogs, and my good mate Jim who had some spare days in between jobs.  My brother joined the fray too, able to claim the day from his work as a charity day (thoroughly approved of in the world of insurance), since the trees were funded by the Woodland Trust!My exceptional team of volunteers after a hard day’s workThe trees only needed spading in – i.e. a slot could be made in the soil with a spade, big enough for the roots to fit in, and the whip (little tree) could simply be heeled in.  With this method and a team who were thoroughly invested in the project, we somehow managed to get all 3,000 planted in a single day – despite the weather being pretty heinous.  What a result!  What’s more, I had banked three days for the planting, so it felt as though I had magicked two extra free days out of no-where!My nephews came to help doing the remaining tree guards the next dayIn my role as ‘Agroecology Ambassador’ for the Soil Association, February has been a busy month, recording a few podcasts and being on Zoom panel sessions.  A couple of these were on the Farm Gate Podcast, hosted by ever enthusiastic ffinlo Costain.  He has hosted podcasts with lots of the other ambassadors too, so if you fancy a farming fix I thoroughly recommend checking them out.  The link can be found here: https://www.faifarms.com/podcasts/arable-farming-putting-agroecology-into-practice/Cow D-day also arrived this month.  Mia from Westpoint Vets came out to take bloods from all my cows to test for Neospora – this horrid disease spread by dog poo that I have discussed previously.  It was my first attempt to get a pen and race set up to drive the cows through to the cattle crush, where they could be safely held for bloods to be taken (from the tail).  It may well have not been perfect, but it worked!Proper out-wintering for the cows when we had some snowAt this stage, two of my eleven cows had aborted (so we already knew they were infected), and two more had had calves – Iris and Aster.  Since they were going through the crush anyway, I asked Mia to put her hand up to check if the other seven were still in calf – and I was given a lesson in what to do too.  I felt a bit bad – Mia’s hands & arms are somewhat smaller than mine…  It’s surprisingly difficult to feel anything, so I’ll need a lot more practice – perhaps it’s just a job for the vet.  It certainly felt weird though!  Luckily, all of the remaining cows were still in calf.Being defecated on.  One of the perks of the job of pushing cows through the crush!When the results came back they were a lot worse than I had hoped.  Five out of the eleven have Neospora, brought in from where I purchased the cows.  Quite the sucker punch.  What’s more, cow 238 – Iris’s mum – also has the disease, which means that Iris, my first calf, has it too.  This is pretty devastating since I’m so bonded with them, but they are now destined for the meat market in the next couple of years, when I had imagined I would have been keeping them for fifteen or so years.  It is irresponsible for me to get these infected cows pregnant, since it can further proliferate the disease.  So please, please, pick up your dog poo and prevent diseases like this one from spreading.On a more positive note, we do now have four calves (three of them Neospora-free), often galivanting about together which is an absolute delight to witness.  I love being able to go and spend time with the cows and calves – even better that I can call it work.  I am finding their presence here, whilst stressful from certain perspectives, fantastic for my mental health.Aster!Aster again (she’s a really lovely calf)In age order we have Iris, Aster, Engelbert (my first bull (male) calf) and Dahlia.  I have heard said that male calves are not always the brightest, and Engelbert is doing little to quell that rumour:  somehow twice he has managed to get under the single strand electric fence and not been able to get back to his mum without assistance.Dahlia, still wet.  About 5 minutes old here.  I actually got to see cow 614 calve her.  A super special moment.He was also the unfortunate first experience for performing castration that Dad & I had.  There are a number of options for castration, and having reviewed all of them, we felt that the highest welfare way was banding – putting a rubber band around the scrotum, above the testicles, such that over time it will drop off.  We did give him some painkillers at the same time, but as a man it certainly makes me wince!  It is unfortunately necessary from a management and safety perspective though, meaning they are much calmer and won’t be accidentally impregnating their cousins, sisters or mum!Engelbert!Obviously one of the big goals with my herd is to start a dairy.  So this month I took the opportunity to visit Old Hall Farm in Bungay, Norfolk (www.oldhallfarm.co.uk, @OldHallFarm), taking Dad along for the day out also.  Rebecca Mayhew and her husband Stuart run the farm, and a few years ago set up their ‘cow-with-calf’ dairy with Jersey cattle.  This is a type of high welfare, ethical dairying where the calves are kept with their mums, rather than being separated at a young age.Rebecca was super generous with her time.  We arrived at 9am, towards the tail end of milking, and I got to have a go cleaning the teats and putting a milking cluster on.  It was fantastic to have the chance to discuss some of the logistics of keeping the cows and calves together, and I am beginning to get a semblance of an idea as to how I want to manage my herd.Rebecca’s milking parlourOne thing Rebecca does is to partially separate the calves from the cows overnight once the calves are old enough (a couple of months).  They are still together in the same shed, just penned to restrict udder access.  This ensures that the cow is full of milk for the morning milking (they only milk once a day), but then the calf has all of the milk the cow produces for the day.  At this age, calves are already eating a fair amount of grass anyway.Rebecca’s Jersey cows making their way out to their daytime grazingBesides the milking cows, the Mayhews had a fascinating farm business.  They have a beautiful farm shop with very high-quality local suppliers (for the goods they don’t produce themselves), and a full time butcher.  As a farm they are now on a regenerative path, but previously they were running intensive pigs.  They still have pigs – just not intensive – alongside a small flock of Herdwick sheep.If you are ever travelling up that way in Norfolk, I suggest popping in.  But if not, take a look on their website and visit their online shop.  If you haven’t tried raw milk before then give it a go!  The cows Rebecca uses have been chosen for their ability to produce A2 protein milk, so if you are a little lactose intolerant you may well be fine drinking this.  And I can attest to how delicious and creamy it is!Finally establishing some Spring-sown wheat!The start of March saw us seed-drilling 25 hectares of spring wheat.  I have a fair tonnage more wheat to get in, before peas, beans, lentils, and my flax trial.  If I’m lucky, by the time I write the next article, that will all be done!Contact details:George Young07792 508 611George@FobbingFarms.co.uk@farmingGeorge