News from the farm – February update

Uploaded on behalf of Donald Barrie, Farm Manager, Glensaugh

Pregnancy scanning of ewes, a key event in Glensaugh’s livestock calendar, took place in January. This allows us to separate singles, twins and triplets and feed according to nutritional need. Nutrition is key to successful livestock husbandry, but allied to this is disease control.

Collaborative work with the Moredun Institute has brought livestock science back to Glensaugh; the recent collection of blood samples from our leaner ewes will support an investigation into the prevalence of Johnes disease in sheep. Johnes, a degenerative gut condition, was once endemic in our suckler cows where it has been successfully eradicated. Contentment levels are high in well fed, healthy animals, which includes a group of home-bred heifers calving for the first time. The first calf arrived on 18 February.

The forestry calendar also has key events; there is a “right time of year” for most jobs. After a couple of months of tree pruning we are now moving into the planting season. We are supporting our catchment management programme by planting pockets of native Scots pine, downy birch and juniper woodland on the Cairn Burn, forming communities of plants which will help to attenuate peak water flow. Further attenuation will be provided by “leaky dams” made from small roundwood which we have harvested from one of our windblown stands of larch.

Visitors to Glensaugh will find changes in the office which is being refurbished end to end. Please bear with us while work progresses. A meeting room will soon be available again.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this blog post are the views of the author(s), and not an official position of the institute or funder.