At Glensaugh we have passed the milestone of 15 April which brings an end to the heather burning season and also sees a winding down of the first (crossbred) lambing. The burning season had an excellent finish with dry conditions and failsafe northerly winds which allowed us to burn many areas of rank old growth. Substantial portions of redundant plot systems have also been burned and these will now be cleared of scrap fencing and returned to their former use as grazing land.

Lambing is not yet over. Lambings two (Blackfaces) and three (Cheviots) run concurrently and will peak about the end of April. The Blackfaces are lambed outside and singles are returned to the hill within a few days while the twins remain on improved pasture until mid summer in the hope that the better pasture and supplementary feed that we offer will assist these ewes to nurse two lambs.

Our wind turbine has been operating well (most of the time) but has shut down a couple of times in strong and very turbulent northerly flows. The market for renewable electricity is complex because a number of government promoted initiatives have been established to route funding from sellers of energy back to renewable generators. Now that Donald is an Ofgem registered SuperUser we are almost up to speed with ROCs, LECs, REGOs and FITs; it all translates into a meaningful price for the electricity we produce, but its not easy remembering what all this jargon stands for.

After a break from farm visits we will open our doors again on 23 April when we have a visit from Aberdeen University Land Economy Masters students. In addition to the science and agricultural facets of Glensaugh these students, who are preparing for careers in land management, might also be interested in our sustainable estate concept which now encompasses renewable energy, timber production and water supply. We are looking forward to a full day and weather permitting will walk from the top of the Cairn o’ Mount to Glensaugh, and then around the core of the farm; hope they are all fit.