At Glensaugh we are now all back to work and pressing ahead with seasonal stock work and various maintenance projects.

All of our crossbred lambs were weaned in early August and a small number have now been sold, making up to £70 per head which is about 30% more than this time last year. Prices will undoubtedly decline, but demand has been significantly strengthened by scarcity and the weakness of Sterling. We are now weaning our Blackface lambs, which will be sold in mid September.

Part of the red deer husbandry routine is the de-antlering of our five stags. This is done for safety reasons, to prevent injury to humans and to other deer. The penning of the stags (much prone to posturing) can be a nerve wracking job, but once in the handling crate the removal of the antlers is an easy task and is done using a bone saw.

The annual fencing contract is now complete, with the exception of gate hanging which we carry out ourselves. This year our fencer has returned to carry out a second job, which involves fencing the new woodland area (to be known as Compartment 2 until a more original name is found). We have decided to extend the proposed area of livestock exclosure to take in the area of standing timber to the north of Bows Cottage, which will increase the area to be planted and close the gap at the top pf the Bows field. Meanwhile the Forestry Commission has announced a simplification in the grant application process which should allow us to obtain approval for the extended area within about two months.

Finally we have returned to the regular job of stripping and removing redundant fencing. The plots on the Birnie hill have now been completely removed and the Mid Finella plots are now in our sights. This will yield many tonnes of wire which will be sent away as scrap.