farmingGeorge’s Fobbing Farm Update Quite the month... The beginning of July saw me running my breeding herd back through the handling system to administer the second dose of the leptospirosis vaccine.  This had also been timed to work with removing Kestrel the bull, who had been in with the cows to inseminate the Spring-calvers.  And also to remove Wensleydale and Roquefort, the two bull calves who I am keeping entire to sell (hopefully) as breeding bulls. Mia having fun helping out. Since they were only four or five months old, I didn’t want to wean them fr ..read more

farmingGeorge’s Fobbing Farm Update Jam-packed May Wow.  May has really turned into a jam-packed month!  One with plenty of issues to contend with, but some truly inspiring farm visits to make up for that. The month began with ‘UK Grain Lab’.  This is the third time this event has occurred at Small Food Bakery in Nottingham, and is the brainchild of baker Kim Bell.  The first time was in 2017, then 2018 (when I first attended), and the third occurrence then spent a couple of years in covid-limbo.  So it was super for it to be able to finally go ahead again. UK Grai ..read more

farmingGeorge’s Fobbing Farm Update Odds & Sods The month of April has very much been one full of odd jobs.  And I expect that farming theme to continue pretty much up until harvest in August – finishing off lots of projects that have been progressing over the past couple of years. One of the important things was to tackle the agroforestry field, Spratts.  When we initially planted the field with over 6,500 trees, I was advised to use some compostable weed suppressant mats.  These were made from hessian and jute and would apparently last for approximately four years, keep ..read more

#GlyphosateIsVital.  I might have believed it three years ago, but I sure don't now! Three years ago I partook in a social media campaign with the hashtag glyphosate is vital.  And I can stand here today to say that I was categorically wrong:  glyphosate is anything but vital within agriculture. Glyphosate, or RoundUp, enabled me to become a zero-tillage farmer.  I was able to ditch my plough, and continuously farm arable crops.  But certain pesticides and artificial fertilisers are still necessary in this no-till method of farming.  Nitrogen fertilisers require t ..read more

farmingGeorge’s Fobbing Farm Update Harvest 2020 – Not a year to remember! It’s the evening of Wednesday 12th August as I type this, and as of yesterday the bulk of our harvest has been finished, with just five hectares of buckwheat and three of hemp left to put through the combine harvester.  Whilst CoViD-19 might not have directly affected many farmers in this part of the country, growing primarily arable crops on a large scale, we have instead been affected by a peculiar year of weather: beset by an horrendously wet winter, followed by a spring drought, and now some of the most consist ..read more

farmingGeorge’s Fobbing Farm Update Harvest prep As I write this on 10th July, #harvest20 is most definitely approaching.  I am pleased that the wheat crops are still holding on.  I had thought that the rain had come too late for them, but I am being proved wrong about that, which is obviously a good thing – giving more time for the ears to swell with grain. Wheat ears from one of my heritage wheat trial plots. In preparation for harvest, we have set to cleaning out our grain stores.  The last of 2019’s wheat crop was moved off farm (to be made into biscuits instead of ..read more

farmingGeorge’s Fobbing Farm Update Tough learning curves As I wrote my last article detailing the dead first calf, followed by a healthy bull calf, I assumed that my calving bad luck should be over.  But how wrong was I! At the beginning of March on my morning checks I saw that we had a lovely little heifer calf (Jasmine) and noted that both Cow-101 and Cow-81 were due to calve – intriguing since they calved on the same day last year also: obviously very in sync. Jasmine.  Just born. Cow-101 began calving in the afternoon, with front hooves visible from the cow’s back e ..read more

farmingGeorge’s Fobbing Farm Update Trials & Tribulations The past few months have been relatively so dry, such that the 1st February saw us out on the land with our seed-drill planting wheat destined for bread-making.  Sowing at this time of year is a rarity and it was super to get some more seed in the ground.  Unfortunately, a couple of the fields had already been planted back in October / November last year, but a frustrating mix of rabbits, slugs and an huge excess of birds had caused those fields to fail (making me doubly pleased to have this timely chance to re-establish ..read more

farmingGeorge’s Fobbing Farm Update Weaning With Christmas out of the way, the relative busy-ness of the farm continued.  Luckily I was at least able to take a couple of days away at my girlfriend’s for some much needed headspace. The most important task post-festivites was weaning my calves.  Something about which I knew nothing and was very nervous.  There are lots of options for taking the calves away from their mums, and even one option where you don’t take them away at all! Here is Engelbert standing behind his mum, cow-624, suckling.  He is massive, and clear ..read more

farmingGeorge’s Fobbing Farm Update So long, 2021 December has been a fun month where we got a lot done.  The run up to Christmas seemed to pass so quickly that I was astonished when it suddenly arrived. The first major and important project completion was phase one of my farm ring-fence.  The entirety of the High Road in Fobbing, plus Marsh Lane and the Recreation Ground, have all been fenced, giving me a tremendous amount more solace with cows now grazing all over the farm. Fencing around the Recreation Ground in Fobbing, showing the galvanised metal strainers and stakes o ..read more