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1st cut silage making:
The
students cut the grass for silage in May. The grass is cut using tractors
and mowers; it is wilted for 24 hours before being picked up by the forage
harvester, and put into the silage clamp. This is the food that will be eaten
by the cattle during the coming winter. It is important that it is made well
so that the dairy cows will produce a good yield of high quality milk. Hopefully
the weather will be warm and dry during this process. Once it is clamped,
the silage clamp is sheeted over, so that all the air is excluded. The grass
will then ferment and the silage will be ready for feeding from November onwards
Prepare maize seed bed and drill:
Maize
should be drilled when soil temperature are around 8oC. The soil is prepared
using harrows so that there is no compaction. Maize generally grows best on
lighter soils so the field most suited are selected. Once the ground is prepared
to a fine seedbed the maize is planted using a specialist precision drill.
Once this is complete the ground is sprayed with a pre-emergence weed control
chemical to prevent competition. It is important to keep weeds out of the
crop as they can cause contamination when it is eventually harvested and put
into the silage clamp.
Sales of January born lambs:
In
May, the January born lambs will be sold. They will weighed regularly as they
grow. The biggest ones are sold first and the other follow once they have
achieved the target weight for slaughter, which is around 40kg depending on
breed.
Shearing:
Shearing
involves cutting of the fleece from the ewes. The sheep are brought into a
shed the night before shearing begins so that they will be dry. It is important
that the weather is reasonably warm because there could be a risk of pneumonia
if the fleece is removed when it is cold. The students take part in the shearing
when individually the sheep are shorn using special clippers.. The clean fleeces
are then bundled up to be sold. The wool is used in the manufacture of clothing
and other textiles.
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