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Calf rearing - until January:
Once
the calves are born they remain with their mothers for a few days. This is
important, as they need to drink the colostrum produced by the mother. Once
they are ready, they are moved to a special calf house where they are fed
powdered milk mix and concentrates. The sheds need to have good ventilation
to keep the animals healthy, but they need to be protected from draughts.
They also need to be checked regularly for weight to make sure that they are
growing normally. The mothers go back into the dairy herd, because after they
have produced a calf, they are then producing the maximum daily yield of milk
during their yearly cycle.
March lambing flock being prepared:
The
college has some sheep, which will lamb in January, and others that will lamb
in March. Ewes take around five months to produce lambs and so, at this time
of year, the rams are allowed into the flock. This is known as tupping. In
preparation for this all the sheep have their feet checked and trimmed if
necessary. The college has around 400 ewes – the breeds are Lleyn, Mules
and cross bred , Mule X Poll Dorset. A number of different breeds of ram are
used – Texel, Poll Dorset, Hampshire Down, Isle de France, Berrichon
and Suffolk.
Sowing cereals:
The
farm grows a range of different crops – winter wheat, winter barley,
peas, winter oilseed rape, winter oats winter beans spring barley and lupins,
The winter crops are planted in October and the others in March or April.
Different crops are suited to different soil types and the wettest land is
planted first. Once a seedbed has been made, a drill is used to plant the
seed which is then left to grow, before being sprayed with a herbicide to
control early weeds. The college also hosts some cereal trials for Countrywide
and the students also grow their own plots where they monitor growth and different
varieties.
