Farmer Writes: spring has finally sprung

There is no one day that clearly marks when winter ends and spring begins, nor does it just happen all of a sudden.

It’s as if spring hides inside the tail end of winter and gradually emerges.

Slowly at first, with brighter mornings and longer evenings, then birds begin to chirp before dawn, a cutting wind changes into a cool breeze, dark hedges begin to turn green and the sun starts to warm us through our overcoats and woolly hats.

There’s nothing like that first morning throwing off the outer layer as we get too warm working outdoors, similar to cattle losing their winter hair around this time too.

Unexpected tenants

Having a few dry weeks to start March off is wonderful, as the farm jobs can be done with gusto in the hopes of a good year. While we have no slurry out so far, most meadows and pasture have been rolled as many were in dire need of being flattened, certainly not comfortably traversable by quad unless you stood ‘jockey style’ in the seat.

Surprisingly, nobody is racing to complete that particular eviction

As the tractor has not been used for many jobs over winter except bringing in bales, it was the first time getting a day’s work in a few months and to our dismay (or my father’s as he was the one in the tractor) a wasps’ nest was discovered shortly after the heater had been switched on. It was promptly turned off and windows opened and they have yet to be removed. Surprisingly, nobody is racing to complete that particular eviction.

After being cooped up indoors for the last few months – between wet weather and short days – it’s great to get back out walking each evening.

I find it a very relaxing hobby, simply wandering the bylanes and boreens which crisscross the countryside, and as my grandfather would say, “I’ve wintered well”, so it’s good for the body as well as the mind.

New arrivals

In the shed, spring has also been progressing with a very strong heifer calf born instead of the bull I was expecting. The cow has previous form in choosing a cold night to calve, last year picking a snowy night which was a toasty -5°C, so when the forecast had -3°C and a full moon, I didn’t even need to look at the cow to know she’d be up to her usual tricks that night. She duly obliged with a golden girl by Scarduane Mark who is our go-to Charolais bull as we’ve never had any calving problems over the years we’ve been using him.

All the cows have received a liver fluke dose in preparation for turnout in the next few weeks

The following night, not to be outdone, a second heifer by the same bull was born to our sole Salers cow, this time with the signature white tail which the bull is inclined to bring at times.

All the cows have received a liver fluke dose in preparation for turnout in the next few weeks, a simple 10-minute job – once a pour-on is used with a list of weights to work off. Long gone are the days of Trodax which would make a person look like a lifelong smoker if it got on your fingers, not to mention the hassle of injections.

We’ve only two weanling heifers let out to graze as yet, though if the weather continues to remain dry we hope to get out a few late-calving cows and perhaps the two older calved ones who have already managed to teach the two newborns how to jump through the feed barrier.

It’s a version of wacky races at times when four of them are running around the feed passage like lambs kicking up their heels, though it does mean they get the best bits out of the bales to pick at and their personal choice of sleeping spots.