Ewen Campbell, SRUC’s Kirkton and Auchtertyre research farms manager
Harvest is now in full swing up and down the country, and seems to be going reasonably well.
Word is that there is less straw this year and with all the competition from anaerobic digesters and the like, it looks like buying straw for bedding is going to be seriously Thexpensive. There are even some suggestions that it could be more expensive than hay. We leave our cows outside at Kirkton and Auchtertyre for as long as possible because of this. But despite the large acreage of the farms, there are not many places suitable for feeding cows outside and eventually we have to bring them in. Hopefully, this is a long way off and it is great to go up the hill at the moment and see them ranging out for miles, right to the top of the hill and enjoying the warm summer. The calves are doing well on just their mothers’ milk. But it will not be long before we take them in for weaning and give the cows a chance to build up some fat cover to take them through the winter.