Miles Saunders
Miles Saunders
Miles Saunders farms in partnership with his parents on an organic, mixed 370ha (915-acre) farm in Oxfordshire. Main enterprises are 200 milking cows and followers, 190 Mule ewes, 50 beef cross stores and 70 beef cross calves. Winter wheat, barley, oats and beans are also grown, and sold on the organic market.
CALVING has now started in earnest, with 30 cows under way in the first two weeks of August.
Condition score is generally about 3.5, and birth difficulties have been minimal, although some of the calves are getting rather large.
Pre-calvers are on a ration comprising 10kg of 18% CP Silage and 1kg of 18% protein concentrate mix. After calving, the cows and calves are moved from the field into a calving box, where we ensure the calf gets its colostrum. Once we are happy it has had enough, it is moved to the rearing area, where it receives three litres of whole milk twice a day.
The first finished lambs of the season were sold at the end of July, through the Organic Livestock Marketing Co-operative. The average weight was 20.5kg. The lambs should fetch the SQQ price plus 20p/kg dead weight.
Harvest is also in full swing. The yields on our organic cereals seem to be slightly above average, which is pleasing. Fighter winter barley yielded about 1.75t/acre. Winter oat Gerald followed with a yield of 2t/acre, and we have nearly finished combining the winter wheats, Avalon and Hereward, which look set to reach 2t/acre.
We decided this year to bale all our straw ourselves, rather than use contractors. It is being made into small bales with a flat 10 sledge, which was originally the prototype, designed by my father, for the Cooks Flat 8 Automatic and the Flat 10 Automatic sledges. The bales are handled on and off trailers by the Matbro using a squeeze loader lifting 40 bales at a time. This makes handling quick and easy.
Third-cut silage is about three weeks earlier than normal, and we are to start moving this week. This means we will leave the straw baling and get the silage in before the quality falls. Finding somewhere for the silage to go is going to be the biggest problem, as the silage clamps are already full, and the third-cut yield looks good, with excellent clover growth again. *
Third cut silage is earlier than normal at Willow Farm, and its an excellent crop with plenty of clover. Quality is high, and the main concern is finding somewhere for it to go as the silage clamps are already full.