We started silaging at the end of May; Simon mowed the *headlands in the rain, which isn’t ideal!  The forecast was scattered showers with rain on the Sunday.  Thank fully the scattered showers missed our two fields and we managed to bale the grass a few days later.
 
With any luck this lovely weather will stay and we will get our first cut
silaging finished, we have twice as much to do this year as a lot of our
arable was planted with grass, we did this because the grass ley acts as a green fertiliser, this crop will be down for 2 years, after which we will plough and then hopefully grow a good crop of Wheat.
 
Our pet lamb, Fred, is doing well; he has grown considerably and has become quite boisterous when you enter the field.  We will wean him off the bottle soon, and he will be moved into the field where all the other ewes and lambs are.
 
Keith and John have clipped the backsides of the sheep; it’s a pretty mucky job – which is why Simon was really pleased that he was busy dashing out the grass.  Simon and sheep don’t often appear in the same sentence, unless it involves the words ‘sell them’, and yes, I have omitted other words!
 
Trimming tail ends is essential work; the Wool Marketing Board do not like fleeces that are dirty, so trimming the areas that hold excess muck is removed.  It is also a good way to help prevent fly strike, (this is where flies lay their eggs in the damp areas of a fleece and then the maggots feed on the flesh of the living sheep).   Hence the reason why clipping and dipping are so important, but I will mention this in more detail in next month’s diary page.
 
The three boys were released into fields of cows (boys meaning bulls!)  We are trying two young bulls this year with a view to sell one later on in the year, the youngster of the bunch went into a field of 6 cows, the matriarch being Baz (my pet), she is 10 years young and her daughter from five years ago is in their with her calf as well.
 
The month ahead... Silaging, clipping and FABBL (Farm Assurance) inspection.
 
 
*The headlands are the part of the field that is nearest the hedge or fence.   When you start mowing you always cut the circumference of the field first, this could mean going around half a dozen times or more.  Then you cut up and down in straight lines, until the whole field is complete. 
               
We tend to mow the headlands first, baling and leading the silage away before the main part of the field is cut, this prevents the grass around the headlands being trampled on by the tractors as they turn to dash out, row up or bale.
 
‘Dashing out ‘ is a term used for spreading out the cut grass to dry it and then ‘rowing up’ is as it suggests – rowing back into strips so that the baler can pick it up evenly.