Gwion & Louise Llwyd Byrdir, Dyffryn Ardudwy, Gwynedd. LL44 2EA Web. http://www.byrdir.co.uk Email. louise@byrdir.co.uk Tel. 01341 247 200 Fax. 07092 20 30 20
July Phew what a scorcher! It was 31 degrees here on the farm last Tuesday, the hottest since records began. This, admittedly, was only the Thursday before when I put our new thermometer on the wall. But still, there’s no denying it’s hot. The hot weather, or more accurately the lack of rain, has been of some concern. All the streams that flow through our land had very little water. We were forced to move the cows from one part of the farm to another so as to ensure they had enough to drink. The lack of rain has also scorched the grass and has forced many of our neighbours to provide their livestock with supplemental feed. Our saviour here at Byrdir is the marshland that we have at the foot of the mountain, which although drier than normal was green enough for our flock of sheep. Earlier on in the month we had been very busy making silage. This involves cutting grass which had been kept free of grazing for a couple of weeks and allowing it to dry in the sun for a day or two. The still green hay is then raked into rows ready to be bailed into big round silage bales. The bales are then wrapped in a type of cling film. The cling film prevents any air or more importantly oxygen from getting at the grass resulting in a process of anaerobic fermentation which helps preserve the nutrients of the grass until winter Silaging has replaced the previously preferred method of hay bailing and dry storage. Partially due to the higher nutritional value of silage and partially due to the high labour demands of small hay bailing. The drawback however is that the communal and social event of harvesting has been replaced by a more sterile mechanised system. A sad bit of news is that the breeding ospreys nearby have lost one of their three chicks. The RSPB who are keeping a close eye on the nest have no explanation. On the positive side however, the remaining two chicks are doing very well and have taken their first tentative flights this month. Our sheep appear to be practising the long jump in their spare time. They have learnt to leap over the cattle grid at the top of our lane and have taken a special liking to Louise’s herb garden. One lamb, when I rapped my knuckles on the window, merely looked up contented, fluttered its eyelids and gave out a minty burp.
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