Wiltshire Village Meats Farm Diary - September 2007 - Autumn planting, pen building

	Wiltshire Village Meats Welfare - - Quality				In association with Walter Rose and son Family Butchers
AUG 2008 JUL 2008 JUN 2008 MAY 2008 APR 2008 MAR 2008 FEB 2008 JAN 2008 DEC 2007 NOV 2007 OCT 2007 SEP 2007 AUG 2007	FARM DIARY THE EVERYDAY STORY OF LIFE ON A WILTSHIRE FARM
	Links to other pages HOME FARM SHOP FARM SHOP - Greeting Cards WALTER ROSE ABOUT OUR FARMING FARM DIARY RECIPES QUESTIONS CONTACT US		September 2007 Autumn planting, Pen building and field moving The fields are cleared of straw and the next crops are being planted. The fields change from gold to brown to green in very quick succession. At the Soley pig unit we are moving the pigs onto fresh fields. This happens every two years and is a major undertaking. First we have to mark out the pens on the fields, putting stakes in to show where the posts have to go. The pens have to be the right sizes for the numbers of pigs and the right shapes to fit into the shape of the field. Once the pens are marked out (Muriels job) those who feel fit bang the posts into the ground. Then the electric fencing is put up, the water piped in and the huts moved in - last of all the pigs. We have two relief staff Steve and Stuart staying to help get the job done quickly. The land has to be cleared quickly so that a crop can be sown in time for the autumn. Some of the land we're moving onto is stubble so we have planted some grass seed, the rest has been setaside for two years so has a good green cover that the pigs will love. There are many wild flowers 'arable weeds' on the setaside some of which I have photographed. It is only in recent years that people have become interested in arable weeds and many are now actively conserved by leaving strips of cultivated land to naturally regenerate. The menagerie of animals at West End Farm continue to grow and thrive. The two fat white sheep in the photograph are almost unrecognisable as the sweet black lambs photographed in the spring. Many breeds of sheep have black lambs that gradually grow out the black wool and are completely white by the end of the year - apart from the faces and socks of these two Suffolk lambs. They are still very friendly and come running when they are called. All the kittens are thriving - the ginger kittens are very adventureous and are enthusiastic mouse hunters already. 12th September 2007 Oh no! Not again! - Foot and Mouth is back I can't believe it's all starting again but all animal movements are banned again as another case of foot and mouth is found. We are still struggling with a backlog of pigs from the last shut-down. Prices were possibly just beginning to move up but now the supermarkets will use this as an excuse to push prices down. Due to the spiralling cost of animal feed we are losing maybe £15 per pig - maybe more! We can't afford to do so for long. There isn't much we can do except maintain biosecurity and hope and pray the outbreak is contained quickly. We always maintain high levels of biosecurity, all vehicles entering the farm have to go through a disinfectant spray gate and we have boot tubs and a boot washer to ensure boots are disinfected. All visitors are supplied with boiler suits and boots so we have a 'mud room' full of boots of every size (except the size you need on a particular day of course!). We use different boots and clean clothes for Crooked Soley and West End Farm - even the children have to abide by the rules.
	For further information on anything on this site please contact Muriel Naughton Email: Naughton@Farming.co.uk