Steve Brown celebrates departure of builders

The good news is that after a traumatic outstay of their welcome the builders have finally left the building. Sharon forbids me to speak further on this matter for legal reasons and because she is sick of me going on about it. Suffice to say, the best thing they did was to pack their gear up into the stagecoach and ride off into the sunset.

The shed, which should be in use now, still needs fixtures and fittings installed, as harvest work disrupts our chances to do this. In fact, the only functional part is the top milking area, which we prepared for new cows arriving in February. We now must ensure work is complete before cows are ready for housing, as in a heavy rain shower it is proven that 170 cows into 116 cubicles doesn’t go. Even on fine days a proportion of our cows favour being inside, despite what those against all-year housing would believe. With all their needs provided indoors they seem lazy and reluctant to stray too far and graze to earn their keep.

From having no grass early in the season, we had a flush of grass that was wasted by the cows who preferred to be indoors eating silage and brewers grains. Reducing the feed indoors reduced milk yield, as the quality of grazing was past its best by the time some cows decided to venture down the field. Some of the excess has been baled up by a neighbour for suckler cows, so we can hopefully re-establish a grazing wedge.

Sadly the attitude of some cows seems to be just like certain sectors of the youth of our society today. They get pregnant, and get provided with housing, in which they have ready prepared meals and all mod cons. With all these benefits, then where is the incentive to go out and “work” for a living?