COLUMN: A tricky, night-time calving has made us appreciate the skills of vets even more
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From the Farm by Victoria Ballantyne
Good weather makes life much easier
The end of May signals the end of our busiest month in the year, though June is probably a close second so no rest for the weary!
We’ve finished lambing and it was probably the easiest yet. Though the days were still long, they were not as hard as previous years due to the good weather.
In good weather if a lamb is born and maybe not licked for a while or the ewe doesn’t have as much milk, it will still survive. Bad weather means ewes will sometimes leave a weaker second lamb and survival becomes that bit more difficult. It also leads to more mastitis as lambs are hungrier and ewes are also under more stress.
It was all over in four weeks and with only 11 sheep in the last week, we will be taking the rams in earlier next year and cut it back to 25 days.
At time of writing, there are seven cows on strike who have decided to wait a bit before calving. Ninety per cent of the 80 cows calved in the first five weeks, which we are very pleased with.
We’ve had one difficult birth due to the calf not presenting properly. Fortunately the skill and long arms of Neil McRae from Rogart Vets was able to get it into position and out without a caesarean.
As always we’re incredibly grateful for the service provided by our vets. Neil received the call at 11pm and didn’t head home until 3am, then was back at work the next morning.
It has been quite wet recently, but this should set up a good growing year for grass if we can get enough sun to go with it. After grazing all our fields from early April we now have a number of fields shut off for silage/hay which we hope to cut next month. Ensuring we make enough high quality feed for winter is a key task in summer.
We are just starting to get our leader/follower grazing rotation going also. This is key to our business plan and ensures we make the most of our grass. Approx 270 ewes with twins will move ahead of 100 yearling cattle. Each move is around 3ha/7.5ac and they are moved every two days. On the other side of the farm around 250 ewes with single lambs will move ahead of our 80 cows and calves in a similar pattern.
As sheep are less resilient than cattle and more prone to parasites, giving them the lead and the longest grass means they don’t graze as low into the grass sward, reducing the risk of worms in lambs. The cattle then come behind and clean out the fields, meaning we get good, even regrowth for the next grazing. If the grass is growing too much ahead of them we can drop paddocks out and cut them instead.
We will also be overseeding several fields with a herbal mix this year to get more clover back in the ground and increase the diversity. As we don’t like to plough, this will be done after silage or hard grazed with dry stock (not rearing a calf/lamb) and then direct drilled into the existing grass. There is always a fair bit of luck in getting this to establish well so we will be keeping an eye on the weather and ground conditions to try get the timing right.
Our next big event is the Highland Show at the end of June. Having been cancelled for the last few years it is going to be a big event as the show celebrates their 200th anniversary. For many Scottish farmers this is a key social date in the calendar and its return is much anticipated.
Victoria and Jason Ballantyne run Clynelish Farm, Brora
