They cows are back at Wheatland Farm – so it must be summer! Here’s a clip of their release into the field.
If you’re staying in our Devon eco lodges, don’t worry – it won’t be like that advert with the cow sneezing inside the tent!
Higher Punchardon Farm (and Fiona’s Farm Shop) have brought us 7 young cows to graze the turbine field and Popehouse Moor SSSI. They’ll be in the turbine field (Lower Newland Moor) at first, while the orchids flower on Popehouse Moor, then we’ll open the gate between the two fields.
Last summer we had Prime ministers and Presidents grazing at Wheatland Farm. This year the naming theme isn’t so contrained – that’s Bandit there with the spotty face! (Or is it a bovine skull trooper??)
Although we manage the field with the eco lodges with mechanical mowers and a mosaic of cutting, it’s important for us to have cows too for the wilder bits of Wheatland Farm. They ‘eat the right way’, ripping up clumps of grass rather than nibbling like sheep do, and by moving between their two fields they should help spread wildflower seeds around. The cows will be here, on and off, probably until around late September (weather permitting). Sometimes the cows are hearded home, as this clip from 2012 shows. Yes, we’ve been doing this for a while now!
So, thanks to our graziers, and thanks also to Natural England, for support through the Higher Level Stewardship Scheme.
Meantime, we ask everyone staying at Wheatland Farm to please leave gates as you find them, and take care with dogs around the cows. Happy summer everyone!