John Bainbridge rushes to get the grass cut for hay

The last week of July was spent frantically cutting grass, trusting that the weather would hold long enough for us to get the last 90 acres finished and possibly make some decent hay. One snag was that the new mower conditioner broke down, the supplier suggesting I had hit something hard.

On the contrary I found a universal joint within the drive mechanism had completely collapsed. So the two 10-year-old drum mowers, that I fortunately decided to keep, were dragged out of retirement to complete the job.

During the showery conditions in July I had 15 hectares (38 acres) of ground slot seeded with various combinations of seed to see which would provide the best take. It’s an attempt to rejuvenate some of the meadows without the risk of doing a complete re-seed, but time will tell how successful this system is.

Over the past few years I have had a problem with crows pecking holes in round bales on the surface of a silage heap, spoiling perfectly good silage. Therefore, I invested in a net to cover the heap and put up two makeshift scarecrows to hopefully solve the problem.

Humid weather has led to an increase in fly numbers, with horned lambs suffering at the hands of head fly. As a precautionary measure we have been putting some stock rams inside during the day to keep them from the aggravation that flies can cause. With clipping thankfully behind us, I will look to begin shower dipping soon.

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