Farming Friends

There are certain signs to look out for when a cow is near to calving.

A few days before.

• Bagging up - the udder begins to fill with milk.
• The bottom muscles relax.

About a day before.

• Tendons on tail head relax.

Up to four hours before.

• Sniff ground.
• Move round in circles.
• Become restless - stand up and sit down alot.
• Tail lifts up slightly.

From this point onwards the cow may become aggressive.

• The sacs appear.

• The feet of the calf appear - hopefully the front feet.

If the calf is not correctly positioned, then the farmer or vet will need to assist the birth.

If the calf is laid correctly.

• The head appears.
• Calf born.

Visit the video gallery to watch a Charolais cow calving.

My guinea fowl feed daily on a mix of;

• layers pellets &
• wheat

When they free range they also eat;

• apples
• sugar beet
• fodder beet
• seeds
• nettles
• grass
• insects
• berries
• grain

I have found that my guinea fowl like to feed in the open so that they can flock together.

When they wander into the vegetable garden they like to eat;

• lettuce
• cabbage &
• runner beans

Guinea fowl keets (chicks) eat;

• chick crumbs &
• they love lettuce

• Potatoes are mainly grown for human consumption.
• Potatoes are now part of the British staple diet.
• The market price of potatoes fluctuates according to supply and demand.
• Potatoes are put in storage to meet the demand for year round potatoes.
• They are susceptible to frost and must be stored in insulated buildings to keep them in good condition.
• Potatoes are a root crop.
• Growers need to irrigate their potato crops since this plant is very susceptible to drought.
• This crop must be rotated and only grown in a field once in every seven years due to a soil borne pest called potato cyst nematode.
• Blight is another disease which can ruin the potato crop and growers use fungicides to protect their crop from blight.
• This disease caused the Irish Potato famine of 1845 to 1850.
• Potatoes are a versatile food which can be cooked in a variety of ways.
• They can be roasted, boiled, baked, mashed or fried.
• Potatoes can also be processed into crisps, frozen chips or roasties, instant mash or canned new potatoes.

The Potato Crop

The potato crop is produced in four batches;

1. First earlies.
2. Second earlies.
3. Early maincrop.
4. Late maincrop.

Earlies

• Earlies are more commonly known as new potatoes.
• Some earlies are imported from warmer climates.
• Earlies are planted in February/March and harvested between late May and August.

Maincrop

• Maincrop potatoes are planted in April and harvesting continues throughout September and October.
• Types of maincrop potatoes are Maris Piper, Desiree, King Edward and Pentland Dell.
• Most maincrop potatoes are stored inorder to meet the demand for potatoes all year round.

• Barley is a cereal crop.
• It is a strain of grass that is cultivated and harvested for it’s grain.
• There are many different varieties of barley, some are sown in the Spring and some in the Autumn.
• Spring sown barley is known as Spring barley and is harvested in early August.
• Autumn sown barley is known as Winter barley and is harvested in mid July.
• Winter barley is higher yielding than Spring barley.
• Barley is grown for it’s high food value for animals.
• The energy content of barley is lower than that of wheat.
• An ear of barley has long spikes on it known as awns.

• When the barley crop is ripe the ear points towards the ground.
• A barley ear contains an average of 30 grains.
• Barley is used mainly for malting and as animal feed.
• Malting is the process where barley grain is germinated, converting the starch into maltose sugar.
• This sugar is then used in brewing and distilling to produce alcohol.
• Barley used for malting must be low in protein. The grower achieves this by controlling nitrogen fertiliser input.
• High protein barley is used as animal feed for pigs and cattle.
• Barley used for human consumption is dehusked to get rid of the fibre and sold as pearl barley or as a breakfast cereal.

• Oats are a cereal crop.
• They are a strain of grass that are cultivated and harvested for their grain.
• Oats were commonly fed to cattle and horses.
• The production of oats has declined since the mechanisation of farming and the replacement of the horse by the tractor.
• The decline has also come about because barley is a higher yielding crop with a better animal feed value than oats.
• Harvesting oats is difficult since the grain and ears fall off easily if they become over ripe.
• Oats are still grown as animal feed and also for porridge and other cereal foods.

Beef cattle mainly eat;

1. Grass - Cattle graze on grass in the Summer.

2. Silage - In Winter cattle eat conserved grass which is silage.

3. Fodder beet / Sugar beet / Potatoes / Turnips.

4. Crushed barley.

• In Winter all beef cattle are given a vitamin and mineral supplement.
• A mature cow can eat up to 50kg of food a day.
• Different cattle eat different combinations of food.

1. Cows for breeding eat grass in the Summer, silage and fodder beet.

2. Heifers eat silage with some crushed barley.

3. Fattening bulls eat mainly crushed barley and straw.

4. Fattening bullocks eat silage with some crushed barley.

Click on the image below to visit Amazon.co.uk to find out more about this book or visit one of the Farming Friends Bookshops.

Take a look at the butterflies I have spotted in my garden, vegetable plot and the hedgerows of our fields during the Spring and Summer months.

The Small White or Cabbage White

The Comma Butterfly

The Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly

The Peacock Butterfly

The Red Admiral Butterfly

Click on the image below to visit Amazon.co.uk to find out more about this book or visit one of the Farming Friends Bookshops.