Farm Diary

The cows are still munching their way through the huge grass covers and have over a week of this material still in front of them.

Silage aftermaths will be ready for grazing after that, which will be tastier for them. We are busy rolling the cow tracks with a 'vibra-roller' so that any stones can be crushed and pushed into the tracks, making them more comfortable for the cows to walk on.

The New Zealand farmers always say that the test is to run up the track bare-footed; ours need a little attention before we attempt to do that.

We have a forest of cow parsley on each side of the farm drive, and mayflower everywhere in the hedgerows.

The nightingale is singing every night (and in the daytime), and a fox has killed the cockerel in broad daylight. There are foxes everywhere, and until now have not caused me any problems.

Taking my cockerel at 3pm is a declaration of war, and there are fewer foxes on the farm already! If one is seeing foxes in broad daylight every day on the farm (as we are), there are too many of them and numbers need managing '“ just like all wildlife.

FGor full feature see West Sussex Gazette May 28 2008