Hi everyone, Chris from Moos on Thames here.
It’s been a really wet summer and although that’s not been great for making hay, harvest or the school holidays. It has been great for growing grass. We have seen growth of over 100 kilos of dry matter per hectare for two weeks in a row. Demand is 30 kg dm ha. This is in complete contrast to last summer where we were in a serious drought; having to feed silage in the fields to the cows.
The excellent grass growth has meant that the cows are looking great and performing well. We recently passed another TB test which we have to have every six months. This was a big relief to everyone.
As all the cows are calved, silage made and straw got in. I have some more time to do a few maintenance jobs. One of these is repairing part of the cow track. It’s become worn out over time so I’ve been building in back up with some more stone. I’ll grade it to get a good dome on it so the rain doesn’t collect and make potholes. Then roll it and roll out some astro turf over the top.
Cow tracks are vitality important to our paddock grazing system so its important to keep them in good condition. Otherwise they might go lame if a stone gets stuck in there feet. It’s also time to set up the bale grazing for out wintering the in-calf heifers; whilst the ground conditions are good. This is where I put haylage bales out in rows ready to graze the heifers with over winter.
In vending machine news we have some exciting new products. Our organic milk cooperative Omsco has rebranded to Organic herd and has released some new products made using our milk.
We have Garlic and herb Velvety cheese and drinking chocolate flakes currently in the vending machine. There are several other products including cheddars, butter, flavoured butter and chocolate.
We will be adding these into the vending machine over the next few months. If you have any questions, please email moosonthames@gmail.com
Chris Freeth