Stories from the farm April 26

Leading the ewes to their next grazing strip.

Newsletter by Holly:

As my first newsletter of the year, I would like to say Happy New year, but I suppose it is a bit late for that since it is now April. I certainly feel like this is really the start of the new year as we have finally got some sunshine, the grass is beginning to grow and there is the freshspring green of new buds blooming across the hedgerows. The tax year is onto something I reckon…

Spring seems to have crept on us at the farm here this year as we had our routine of feeding, bedding and pie making while the weather remained cold and damp. Suddenly nowthat the sun has been shining and the grass is growing its all systems go. Preparing fences for this season’s rotational grazing, calving begins at the end of the month and lambing begins imminently… next week!!

This grazing season is going to be an exciting one, as for the first time we are going to be running our cows and sheep flock as one big grazing group also known as a ‘flerd.’ This is something the farm has been wanting to do for years to transition towards having a flerd to maximise the rest periods of our paddocks and improve the health of our soil.

The cows are used to the rotational grazing and are used to coming over to us when we call for them to move to their next shift. In fact, the majority of the time I find myself trying to creep across the fields, so the cows don’t notice me and start shouting and demanding fed. The cows got a bit too used to their bed and breakfast set up in the shed at the start of the year… The sheep however are not used to rotating around the paddocks. So, we had a bit of training to do. Luckily, the sheep, like me, are susceptible to food bribery. It did not take long to have the flock running over at the sight of me. Much like the cows, I now have to sneak around to avoid all the ewes running over expecting fed. It is not just for me either. Anyone to walk by the fields at the end of our track where the sheep are currently being kept, will be followed along the fence line by some heavily pregnant and hangry sheep.

On the topic of heavily pregnant sheep, if you were subscribed to our newsletter last year, you may recall Bodi, my not so little now pet lamb from 2024. She is expecting her first lamb and still comes over for the occasional ‘hello.’ So, despite the tough start to the official start of the year (I still vote for April new year…) there is much to be looking forward to in the year ahead. Stay tuned for lamb and calf spam on our Wark Farm social pages. I promise there will be plenty…

UPDATED ORDER FORM ONLINE NOW

SPECIAL THIS MONTH: Hebridean lamb merguez sausages!!

The April 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.