Farmer Focus: Feeding becomes a joy with bale grazing
David Girvan © Michelle Scott Over the past year, the farm has undergone significant changes, notably scaling down the ewe numbers from 500 to 190 for this year’s tupping season.
Despite this reduction only occurring in the past few months, we are already benefiting from a lighter workload.
The smaller flock will now be wintered on grass, requiring additional feed only in the presence of snow on the ground.
It’s nice to no longer wake up with the worry that ewes have broken through the electric fence on the fodder beet.
See also: 4 farmers outline bale grazing benefits in field lab trial
About the author
Historically, our stock levels meant we didn’t feed silage to mature cows unless we had surplus.
This summer, anticipating a reduction in ewe numbers, we established a bale-grazing system by placing wrapped silage in a long line across a dry field.
Currently, 22 second-calving cows are contained within an electric fence, providing controlled access to the bales.
Adjusting the fence twice a week allows them to enjoy four silage bales a week, and a small amount of deferred grass with each shift.
Having witnessed this system succeed elsewhere, I now understand its benefits. Feeding has become a joy.
It’s simply adjusting a fence without having to even start a tractor. We aim to produce silage on the same field, benefiting from the winter’s nutrient return to the soil.
This plan does rely on the field condition, but hopefully, a roll in spring will address this.
The past few weeks have proved busy, after an unannounced sheep inspection from Defra became a priority. This is something we all dread, but thankfully, it wasn’t as difficult or as tasking as I had thought.
We enjoyed a day out to a meeting at the Great Glen Cattle Ranch to learn about converting to an organic system. The meeting was well attended, and we came away mostly convinced that it’s the right thing for us to do.
Using very little fertiliser as we are, in simple terms, there are very few aspects of the way we farm that would need to be altered.
This week, we sat down with the vet to go over our annual health plan, something we always do in winter. This will become even more important in an organic system.