Straw supplements feedstocks
We have been fortunate in this part of the country to have had 10 days of dry weather enabling us to get our third-cut silage and make haylage. The silage pits are packed full and I will be analysing silage to ensure it is good quality.
Since silaging, the fields have turned wet and cattle will soon have to be moved on to stubble fields or grass, which is due to be ploughed next spring. Spring calving cows are being supplemented with straw and minerals and autumn-calved cows are now being fed last year’s leftover haylage, straw and minerals. But as the end of October nears, silage pits will be opened.
I was worried to read recent reports on falling cow, ewe and sow numbers; before long there will be a severe scarcity of British meat products on the market. Large retailers and supermarkets must act now to provide a respectable return to the primary food producer.
Our stockman has been busy training our entry of nine Simmental bulls and one heifer for the Perth Bull Sales at Stirling. By the time you read this, the sale will be over and hopefully the recent cattle trade will ensure a buoyant sale.
Selected ewes have been dosed with a flukicide for going to the tup next month. Home-bred gimmers have been dosed and vaccinated to the same level as their purchased counterparts, and tups have been fed a high-quality concentrate to fill their fuel tanks ready for mating.
Iain Green farms 1,110ha as a family partnership. Stock includes 130 pedigree Simmentals, 330 Simmental-crosses, plus followers, 500 Highland Mule ewes and 340 sows. The partnership also runs a haulage business
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