Glensaugh had an early taste of winter when a cold northerly outflow brought snow showers and 48 hours of sub zero temperatures. As we are not yet into our winter routine we were “caught on the hop”, with cows still out on the hill and no winter feeding regime in place. The photograph shows our yearling heifers out in the Slack Den, covered in snow after foraging in the rushes. This group of youngsters, none of which are in calf, will have to fend for themselves for some time to come, but we have brought in-calf cows inside or on to feed sites for winter feeding.

Tupp time (mating) for our crossbred ewes is all but over and we have now gathered our Blackface ewes for tupping. Meanwhile the Blackface hoggs (ewe lambs retained for breeding) have been housed and are receiving a ration of hay and concentrate. Snow at tupp time is unusual, but ewes in fit condition will easily stand these conditions and forage for grass beneath the snow-cover.

The cattle grazing experiment (WP 2.5) has now ended and the cows have been disposed of. This project ran well and enjoyed fairly benign but not atypical autumn weather. Thanks to all who participated and assisted in its smooth running, especially those who carried out the observation work and our drovers who managed the logistics on site.

Finally, recent “project of the week” was the removal from site of about 12 tonnes of ferrous scrap, including about 7 tonnes of fencing wire. The wire represents a year’s worth of downtaking and is equivalent to around 182 km of 2.5 mm fencing wire. An estimated three years of work could see all of Glensaugh’s scrap wire cleared. Unfortunately its sale value off farm is now nil although scrap merchants will still take it from us, i.e., the cost of shipping is about the same as its value at the steel mill. Further decline in commodity prices could close this outlet altogether.