Drought continues
29 July 2010 - 2:52pm | morganpell
The drought continues for us in North Bedfordshire with no meaningful rain what seems like months. When it does start however we will wish it to stop. The few drops we do get have a remarkable effect on grass and it can change colour over night if nothing is grazing it. The sheep are in great order, the old folks, I still consider myself youngish!, say she always do better in a dry year, probable because their origins are from dry climates. The books say our stocking rates, i.e. animals per acre, are too low to be efficient, this is true in a wet year but I am thankful they are where they are in these increasingly dry years. We are just managing to keep some grass in front of the cows and have not resorted to giving them extra yet. we continue to make hay and silage, still half the yield we normally get but the amount of bales are beginning to add up as we continue to mow nearly any area of grass offered to us, for free!! if we can bale a useful amount from it.
It will soon be the straw season for those requiring it for animals. If you have a requirement for the winter please give us a ring, we will bale and store it for you ( and deliver ). We tend not to bale many little bales beyond those ordered as they are labour intensive. We will have good quantities of round wheat or barley. As with hay we expect this to be relatively short as there is a stong demand from within the agricultural sector and the powerstation.