Winter to remember for the wrong reasons

IT LOOKS like this winter is going to be one that we will remember for all the wrong reasons.

There has certainly been more snow this year than in any of the previous six I have been at Kirkton and, speaking to local farmers, opinion is that it has been one of the most challenging for livestock ever.

As our stocks of hay and silage are getting low, it has become more and more difficult to source quality fodder. We are lucky that some of the other SRUC farms have some spare and are willing to contribute.

The persistent snow made gathering the ewes for scanning a particularly difficult task this year, especially when the snow froze and turned to ice.

The wet autumn and cold winter certainly had an effect on the scanning results where the Lleyns, in particular, struggled, as well as the Corrie hirsel and Auchtertyre. The only positive result was the Kirkton Blackface flock which were 137, up one per cent.

We seem to be constantly feeding stock at the moment and, despite this, some of the ewes are still not in great condition. If the weather does not improve, it could make for a very difficult lambing.

Calving is in full swing at the moment and so far, so good. There are 10 calves in the shed from our Aberdeen Angus cross herd at the moment and we still have 14 of them to go.

Our eight Highland cows are outside and are yet to start calving but it definitely won’t be long.

When the weather improves, we plan to put the Aberdeen Angus cross cows outside on the hill with their calves, so they are keeping everyone rather busy.

In the few days when the weather was good, we also had the visit of the BBC Countryfile team. They were very keen to do a piece on the problem of Blackloss, which is the unexplained loss of sheep throughout the year but, in our case, mainly lambs between scanning and weaning.

There are thought to be several reasons for losing these sheep without trace. The weather certainly plays a part - for example, lambs washed away in flooded burns and rivers, predators such as foxes, and diseases also play a part but to what extent, we do not know.

It is something we have been looking into in our hill flock on Auchtertyre and it is linked to the vast mountainous areas where we keep our hill sheep in the Highlands and islands.

When you see how many climbers and hillwalkers go missing on these hills and mountains, some of whom are never found, it puts the scale of the task into perspective.

However, on the day filming took place, the weather beautiful … typical!

As well as being TV stars, we also had our annual visit of BSc students in their final year, from Harper Adams University in England. Around 25 students and two lecturers came to see the farms. We were busy scanning and weighing the sheep, so they had plenty to discover.

My colleagues John Holland and Claire Morgan-Davies took them up the hill and around the farms to show them the various research projects we are doing, the technology kits we have and the issues farmers are facing in this part of the world.

It is always nice to see young people so engaged in farming issues. They certainly had a lovely time with us, and enjoyed a (cold) walk in the sun before heading back down south in a bus. We look forward to seeing them next year.

Keep warm in the meantime and, hopefully, the weather will have improved by the next article. was