Stories from the farm September 26

Nighthawk, one of our 2 stock bulls, observing us.

Quite some years ago I read a book, Ways of Seeing, by John Berger, which I believe was also a television series. The book examines how we look at art and it had a lasting impact on me. Not that I'm in any way engaged with the world of art as a creative or an audience but the ideas explored, particularly around perspective and context still rumble. Educated rather more in the scientific approach, seeing has been more measurable and verifiable, divorced, if such a thing is possible, from perspective. Managing a farm now in the information technology age it is becoming easier every year to measure and gather more and more information on our patch of ground and the farmed and wild animals and plants that inhabit it.

Sensors attached to cows have been around for some time, monitoring health indications, calving proximity, activity, etc., the bovine smart watch perhaps. Bioacoustic monitors can record and decode bird song, telling us something about the birdlife of an area. Highly granular GPS data gives harvest yields in real time as a combine crosses a field. eDNA analysis of a water course can tell us about the creatures that live upstream, perhaps even those that just passed through. Advanced soil testing can deliver lists of microbial communities. LiDAR (light detection and ranging) systems can measure grass volume and growth for pasture management. And on.

We've gathered our share of data here over the years and if the prophets of future faming are to be believed the the next generation of farmers will be office bound software engineers and data managers remotely optimising the farm system. All the data and none of the mud. Maybe, maybe not. In a world awash with data is there a role for anyone doing a bit of seeing anymore?

When I take my early morning walks around the farm and perhaps more noticeably when I return to the farm after a period of time away I'm conscious of assessing the farm. I am gathering data; constantly, accidentally and deliberately. A little of it is permanently recorded, I do have cloud based farm management software in my pocket after all. Mostly though, it's not like that. Mostly I'm just spending time with a place I have a relationship with. In all its beautiful complexity. I seldom measure the height or take the temperature of a friend when I meet up with them and our ability to catch up and know each other a bit better is little affected, useful though those measures may be. So it is that some of the things I see in a morning walk may determine decisions I make that day, others will influence planning for years hence, some become records, some are sadnesses, others are joys. Knowing is enhanced and so therefore is my ability to play my part in the relationship. My seeing is indeed all bound up in perspectives and context. Ultimately data certainly helps me make better decisions but relationship calls the shots.

UPDATED ORDER FORM ONLINE NOW

The September order form is now updated and online. You can find the link below to the order form with all our different meat cuts available, along with practical info about delivery/collection dates.