Chris's farm update

Hi Chris from Moos on Thames here. We have had a good calving season, with one left to calve. I only had to attend to a few calvings with the majority calving on their own. The cows are milking well. They are out grazing full time although they still have access to silage and hay when they come in for milking. As it's been a really dry spring grass growth isn't where it should be for this time of year. The dry weather has made grazing easier this spring than last year but a drop of rain to keep things moving would be much appreciated. If the dry weather persists we may have to delay cutting silage so the cows can graze the fields that I had planned to cut. This will obviously have a negative impact on silage stocks for next winter. But hopefully there's still plenty of time in the year for the weather gods to be kindier. So in the meantime we will enjoy the sun and work on my farmer's tan.

The dry spring has meant that we've been able to get on with spring field work jobs. Most of the fields have been aerated and harrowed after the cows grazed them for the first time. The aerator has spikes that go in the ground and leave a slot in the ground. Our heavy clay soils can easily get compacted so the slitter helps this. The harrow then pulls any dead grass out of the grass. We also did some reseeding with a direct drill. This means that we don't have to cultivate the soil. Which has helped conserve moisture in this dry spring. The seeds have germinated and are started to grow but do need some rain to really get going.

In vending machine news we have bought a refrigerated van to service the growing demand from coffee shops. Jenny and the kids have christened him “Fred”. So you may see him out and about on his travels. We have also started supplying the newly opened Wild Fig Deli in Cricklade. So another place to get a great tasting coffee using our milk. We have also added strawberry flavoured kefir to the vending machine. If you have any questions please email moosonthames@gmail.com