Giles Henry
Giles Henry
Giles Henry rents 105ha
(260 acres) on a 10-year
lease and 114ha (280
acres) of heather moorland
near Selkirk in the Scottish
Borders which is in organic
conversion. Cropping is
mainly grass with 14ha (36
acres) of spring barley. The
farm is stocked with 450
breeding ewes, 85 hoggs
and 50 Luing cows with
followers and finishers
COMBINES have not turned a wheel in the Borders area for two weeks.
Our harvest is not spoiling yet, but it would be nice to get our barley cut and straw baled. This would allow undersown grass to flourish in time to give us some back-end grazing for sheep. I had hoped to be feeding some barley to finishing steers and as calf creep feed, but I might need to buy some in before we start cutting ours.
I spent a couple of weeks in September looking after the drier for Mertoun Estates. This was a pleasant change from ones own solitary work at home and also some extra income. Lord Haskins recommends part-time work on a more permanent basis, so large arable units could provide work at certain times of the year to benefit all parties concerned – skilled stock labour on arable units and vice-versa. It would certainly be an option when there is no BMW factory in the vicinity.
Timber has been chipped and then levelled for our new cattle corral. Chips are a good size and have given us an 46cm (18in) bed depth. Timbers for the feed barrier are ordered, electric fencing is required to contain stock and, with only water to plumb in, corral completion requires just a couple of days work. The cost for 40 cattle is going to be £32 a head and with no bedding costs or poaching of ground the benefits are tremendous.
We have weaned ewes in the last week and lambs are as strong as we have had them for a number of years. Many are in a forward condition and, hopefully, will be fit for sale by the time we obtain our full organic status at the end of October.
I will sort through ewes, although we should not have many culls as we are working with fairly young ages. All ewes and ewe lambs will be dipped and then ewes will go to the hill until mid-November. At least with the relaxation in local movement restrictions we can walk them up the road to the hill, which saves the hassle of loading them on to vehicles to move. *