Archived News

11th December 2008

We are making slow progress with ploughing due to the ground being too wet; just a few fields have been ploughed at Dunsfold and Albury.  Maize stubble has been topped off at Wotton prior to muck spreading in the New Year; however the fields above the cricket pitch in Abinger will be topped and ploughed because the muck spreaders cannot access these fields very easily.

Over the next couple of weeks ploughing should continue at Dunsfold and in the fields west of White Down through to Gomshall.  90 tonne of oil seed rape has been sold to Atlees and the three loads are due to go off farm on Monday and Thursday.

If there’s time, David will be drying maize next week, so you may see clouds of steam coming off the grain drier as it hits the cold air.

25 Friesian cross cattle will go to the abattoir, with only 15 animals remaining from the calves bought during 2006.  This last group will need a few weeks more to reach an ideal weight. 

We have Friesian cross cattle aged between two weeks and 24 months and Belted Galloways aged two months to 13 years.  The Galloways are grazing at Lemons Farm, Hackhurst, and a few at Raikes, however they are given additional hay and malt nuts whilst the grass isn't growing.

Con O’ Kelly is doing a grand job Hazel coppicing a shaw between two fields nearby.  Timber products for hedge laying  are being bundled and saved, whilst brash wood (the branched tops) are either being stacked in piles or used to create ‘dead hedging’ at the top and bottom of the bank.  Both these techniques will create future habitats for mammals, insects and birds. The dead hedging will also provide a barrier against deer, who will eat and damage the emerging new coppice growth in the spring.