Blogs

It is great to see our oystercatchers, lapwings and curlews have all returned in the past few weeks as the season gradually changes from winter to spring, and hopefully the next to return will be the cuckoo and the swallows.

I have always been in admiration of progressive farmers and their rotational grazing, use of technology and, of course, the latest improvements of weatherproof clothing from New Zealand.

March was a very productive month all round on the farm.

As with most farms in spring, life has been pretty hectic in our part of Dorset.

It is great to be writing my first column this week, with it just being International Women’s Day and the global theme of Women in Leadership.

With the hotel, hospitality and tourist industries still in lockdown, you would think their purchasing power would be missed in the market with the knock-on effect being sharply felt at the farm gate with depressed prices.

We welcomed our son Arthur into the world on February 23. Isobel was an absolute hero and after a long labour and a bit of a scare he arrived surrounded by the midwives and doctors. We were home the next day and cannot thank the NHS enough.

A recently leaked memo revealed that Johnson was looking at implementing a sector-by-sector ‘carbon tax’ to encourage industries and organisations to reduce their emissions. 

A couple of weeks ago we lambed our Leicesters and were in a busy period of calving, the sun was shining and it really felt like spring. Lambs were starting to fill the fields further down the valley.

As spring approaches and the local amateur wildlife photographers start dusting off their cameras, the requests to come and photograph on the land start to come in.