Marchweeke Farm,

Each month we provide an update on the activities and events that have taken place at Marchweeke Farm as we develop our own beef, lamb, pork and poultry enterprises.

The hottest April on record has been followed by the wettest May on record and now it looks as though June wants to enter the wettest record books too! When we see the news footage of the poor folk in Yorkshire paddling around their kitchens we really don’t have much to complain about. With the rain has come grass and plenty of it. When we turned the ewes and lambs into East Gratton they simply disappeared into the long grass; only the rippling of the grass seed heads provided any evidence of their presence; we hope they eat the grass faster than it’s growing or we may have trouble finding them again! We have fifteen acres of grass that is ready to be cut but the long range forecast shows rain every day until the second week of July which is going to test our patience.

At this time of the year we are usually filling a wallow with water for the Large Black sows to help them keep cool but the pigs’ paddock is nothing but a mud wallow at the moment. One litter of piglets have discovered that life is far more exciting on the other side of the electric fence; they have been becoming more adventurous, even straying into the yard; they eventually found the grain store and we discovered them tucking into an assortment of feeds. When they were shooed out they ran home like a bunch of naughty schoolboys who have been caught red-handed while raiding the tuckshop. As each one squeezes under the electric fence there is a small electric “crack” followed by a loud squeal. The piglets seem to take the approach that the electric shock is a small price to pay for their freedom! On Saturday we returned from an afternoon celebrating my parent’s golden wedding anniversary to find the piglets in JM’s immaculate garden; the piglets appear to have a penchant for snowdrop bulbs! Although the piglets are still escaping under the electric fence they have now been restricted to the field (for the moment).

We recently took delivery of thirty six weaned calves. Like last year, these are Aberdeen Angus cross heifer calves that have been contract-reared to twelve weeks of age and weigh just over 100 kgs. Initially we kept the “New Girls” indoors to prevent them getting chilled with the persistent rain but now they are out by day and in by night. When you buy contract reared calves in this manner you are in effect buying blind because you don’t see them until the day they arrive. It is a significant investment and always an anxious few moments when inspecting them for the first time. Fortunately this group are in good condition with bright eyes, shiny coats and wet noses. A few are coughing but this appears to be the after effects of an infection and now that they are outside they should quickly shake it off.

This year we have grown some winter oats for the first time; oats have a reputation for producing good yields in this part of Devon; like the old adage “oats on the high ground, barley by the sea and wheat on the good ground wherever that might be”! We probably applied too much manure on some parts of the field because with all the rain the oats were up to my chin; after the thundery rain the same patches are now flat and up to my ankle!

Despite the rain the swallows appear to be finding plenty of flies to feed their respective chicks gauging by the frequent feeding flights to the nests and the rapid growth of their progeny. Both the pair nesting in the garage and the pair in the Nissan hut have produced four chicks each. The swallows’ nest in the stable was destroyed by a gang of marauding jackdaws; it is unclear whether the jackdaws were after the eggs or fledglings but the nest was abandoned. The swallows are persistent though and they have now completed a replacement nest in a less obvious site to the back of the same stable. This morning one of the swallows was carrying a white hen’s feather so we can assume she is lining the nest in preparation for laying another clutch of eggs.

Have a great month. Julie, Simon and Rebecca