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New piglets!

Down in West Devon we enjoyed a hot and sunny weekend, but the wind and rain has returned on Monday and it seemed as though the rest of the country was suffering a heat wave whilst we all splash around in wellies and rain coats!  Due to good luck and wise timing, our farm manager Malcolm managed to get the hay crop cut, dried and bailed in the sun before the rain set in on Sunday evening.

The cattle, sheep and pigs don’t seem to mind the weather too much and we’re hoping that the recent warm burst combined with the rain will encourage more grass growth, which has been behind expectation this summer.

Our latest litter of piglets has started to arrive with the first Meidam sow delivering 16 healthy babies over the weekend, we sadly lost 4 piglets from this large litter.  The heavy rain has meant that the litter is preferring to stay inside the pig arcs but we expect them to explore their world soon. This was the first litter produced by crossing our Large White boar with Meidam sows and we’re hoping for lots of long backed pigs in a few months to provide plenty of pork loin for our award winning organic bacon!  We’re expecting around 150 piglets before the autumn, and in our second full year of organic pig farming the breeding cycle is now organised into Spring and Autumn farrows producing around 300 piglets each year.

The spring lambs have been weaned and are now grazing in small juvenile flocks, while our ewes are moved onto rich grassland to stimulate the breeding cycle before our male ‘tups’ run with them again later this year.

Why buy New Zealand lamb when the very best ´New Season´ organic British lamb is available from Devon!

New Zealand lamb is famous for its taste and quality and has long been a favourite of British consumers. However, buying lamb which has to be frozen and flown half way around the world has to take second place to British organic lamb - naturally reared and freshly prepared to order.

Few could argue against buying British farm produce which is also better for the environment and better for the economy than foreign imports. New Season lamb is often sold in March for the Easter traditional roast, however this is only possible if farmers ´force´ ewes into an early breeding cycle so that lambs are born in winter and weaned in the spring.

At Eversfield we work with nature and breed from our ewes at the end of year, lambs are born in March producing new season lamb from the summer onwards.

Eversfield twin lambs with their Ewe

Cut hay drying in the sun

Finally the sun is shining over Eversfield, and our hay meadows are ready to be cut and baled.  The tractors went out a few days ago and the cut grass has been laying in the hot sun and drying.  It’s turned once to make sure it’s completely dried through before the clever machinery gathers up the chopped hay and packs it tightly into a round bale which is secured with a special kind of netting.  Our livestock will enjoy eating this sweet organic hay through the winter, the sheep will stay outside but be given hay, whilst our cattle will be fed on hay and silage once they come into the barns at the end of the year. 

Some of our Hay Bales

Hay contains all the goodness of summer grass, but because it’s dried it can be stored, it also provides a good amount of fibre which is essential for digestion.

At the moment all our animals are enjoying being outside in the sunny weather and lush green organic meadows.

Long may it continue!

If you’re out and about in the British countryside at this time of year you may see lots of large black plastic bales dotted around the fields - it´s silage season.

Here in Devon during late June, the fields around the Eversfield Organic farm were humming with the sound of tractors as the first silage crop of the year was harvested.

What´s silage?

‘Silage’ is the agricultural name given to cut grass which is packed into large round bales, wrapped in plastic, allowed to ferment during several months of storage before being used as feed for our cattle in the winter months. It’s really just ‘pickled grass’ which doesn’t sound very tasty - but cows love it!

Why do we need silage?

During the winter our organic meadows are dormant and not very rich in nutrients.  So, we bring our cattle into the barns where they’re given organic food including silage. They also enjoy the protection from the wet and windy winter weather. At the same time, it gives the meadows a chance to rest before the spring growing season.

We harvest the grass when it is richest - in summer, so the cattle can still benefit from all that goodness even in winter.

Our organic silage is special.

Organic silage bales coming into the farmyard

The meadows are now left to grow again for several weeks before another silage harvest in late summer.

These photos show some of our meadows being cut and the silage bales stored in the farmyard.

Our flock of 450 Suffolk cross ewes and their growing lambs were brought down from the Eversfield meadows this morning to begin the annual spring shearing, filling the farmyard with a chorus of bleating throughout the day!

How do you shear a sheep?
A team of 4 shearers and 2 handlers under the management of our farm manager in our woolshed started the first ewes at 7.30am at the start of a very long day which finishes around 7pm.

The ewes and lambs are first moved in small groups into the catching pens where the lambs are separated and given a basic health check before being allowed out into the yard – we bring them back in late summer to shear the soft lamb’s wool.

Each ewe is then moved down into a small holding area, and taken out one at a time by the shearers to receive their haircut!

The wool is removed efficiently in under 3 minutes using machine operated shears. The shearers expertly restrain each ewe during the short procedure which is completely harmless, starting in the belly area first then around the legs and entire body to completely remove the fleece in one piece.

Each ewe is also given a health check with particular attention to their feet before being reunited with her lambs and a chance to show off her new ´look´ to the rest of the flock.

The fleece itself is thrown flat onto a sheet to be checked, trimmed and graded before being rolled and packed into large bags for transportation. Our Eversfield Organic wool is sent to the Wool Marketing Board where it’s processed and sold as a raw material.

Good things come to those who wait. . .

Whilst most farms are frantically cutting their first silage crop up and down the length and breadth of Britain, here at Eversfield we work with nature to provide the very best silage crop, in order to give our livestock the very best winter feed. How do we do this? It’s simple. . .  we leave it to nature, and then we wait. Non organic farms will spray and fertilise fields to stimulate grass growth and minimise weeds and wildflowers.  At Eversfield, our silage is 100% organically grown without the use of chemicals, this allows nature’s wildflowers and grasses to grow and proliferate unhindered, giving a rich and nutritionally balanced silage crop. Many farms will cut silage in May and June, before the seed heads develop on the grasses. They do this to minimise the fibre content of the grass thus aiding digestion.  However, at Eversfield, we know that our beef cows benefit from an increased fibre content - WHY?  With a higher percentage of fibre in the grass, the cow’s digestive system takes longer to digest the grass so it sits in the stomach for longer. Whilst it’s sitting there, it gives the cattle’s digestive system more time to extract nutrients from the silage. This means our cows get the maximum nutrition from the silage.

Our Farm Manager Malcolm Light keeps an eye on the silage fields at this time of year to carefully assess the growth of the grasses, wildflowers, clover and other nutritional plants which grow in our organic pastures. Only when the time is right will Malcolm call in the contractors to begin cutting.  Each meadow enjoys different growing conditions - drainage and moisture levels, differing soil variations, sunlight, exposure to winds and so by assessing each meadow individually, Malcolm can plan to cut the silage when he feels the meadow is ready. Our silage fields are therefore cut at different times to suit the conditions. During the silage cutting, the silage is rolled into bales and stored where it matures through the summer in time for winter feeding.

Good for our cows and good for wildlife. . .

There’s another happy benefit of our approach to making silage.  Whilst most farms cut silage in May or June before the grasses and flowers have flowered and seeded, our Eversfield Organic meadows are allowed to proliferate with wild flowers providing a spring habitat for insects, birds, bees and butterflies creating a vital food source to support the bio diversity of wildlife around the farm.

So whilst others may be rushing to cut their silage crops, we wait until July - better for our cows and better for nature!

The spring hedgerows around Eversfield are blooming and blossoming with colour and life. Foxgloves, honeysuckle wild strawberries are all in flower attracting the birds and bees and all manner of crawling life providing food for young birds and mammals.

Wild Flowers in our Organic meadows