Blogs

My students have completed their final exams and I am having a meal with them next week to say goodbye.

This month, Roger Evans discusses the downsides of rewilding, reminisces about a farm he once milked at, and details what medical professionals have made of him over the years.

Alan Carter farms in partnership with his parents, Paul and Christine, on a 400-acre, 400-cow dairy unit, at Constantine, Cornwall, supplying Suputo. Alan, also a Parish Councillor, and his wife Sarah, have two children, Ross and Dana.

And we are off: harvest 2023 has begun. Our first crop of babyleaf spinach left the farm last week and, given the weather, quality has been surprisingly good.

Lambing is well and truly underway. Although later than many farms in the area, a mid April lambing works with our farming system and aims to avoid the remaining harsh winter weather. However, this season has brought an unwelcome mix of snow, hail and high winds.

It’s amazing the variety of topics that are discussed by In Your Field columnists, I’m not going to disappoint with this one.

I know for other parts of the country it’s practically summer, but here in the Scottish Borders spring is just around the corner at last.

Calving is well underway with our senior cow Julia kicking things off in mid-February with a lovely heifer calf.

Apart from our grass fields being animated by lambs and calves and the odd daffodil begrudgingly enduring the frosts, snow and rain, there are no obvious signs that spring is around the corner here just yet.

Last year saw the first reduction in the amount of land rented to farmers since Farm Business Tenancies were introduced in 1995, according to Defra’s own figures.