Scarecrow Mania!

If you stay on holiday with one of our Peak District Farm Holidays members you will discover that The Peak District has a fascinating historical and cultural heritage. This diverse region is home to some of the country's finest stately homes, enchanting market towns and picturesque villages but also has many strange, unusual and even unique traditions and customs; from the frantic Shrovetide football played through the streets of Ashbourne, to pancake races, cheese rolling, and stunning well dressings made from colourful flowers.



One increasingly popular custom is that of Scarecrow mania which takes over small villages, such as Brassington, Kniveton, Rainow and many others. The scarecrow displays are amazingly imaginative and are often run in conjunction with the village fete, or traditional wakes or holiday week. Rainow is a relatively small village but the enthusiasm is such that this year there were 115 scarecrows dotted around the village – not just single scarecrows, but whole groups, such as the father shooting the stalk as it arrives with yet another baby!
For more pictures see http://www.macccam.co.uk/RainowKerridgeHurdsfd/Scarecrow.html




Why not book a holiday with Peak District Farm Holidays and discover our unusual and unique customs for yourself!

Sad decision at Hoe Grange

A little publicised European directive to reduce the nitrate levels in ground water is causing great concern, particularly in the dairy industry. Under these new regulations, known as NVZ (Nitrogen venerable zones), farmers are required not to spread slurry between September and January. This in itself is not really a problem, but as well we are now required to have enough slurry storage for 5 months, although the closed spreading period is just 3 months. This extra unnecessary storage will cost the average dairy farmer £50,000 - £100,000, an additional cost with no prospect of additional income, so where will the extra money come from?

This extra burden was the last straw at Hoe Grange, along with yet again falling milk prices, rising costs and being fed up with working 70 hour weeks for very little reward. In July the entire dairy herd will be sold at auction, marking the end of a family enterprise of 50 + years and dairy farming at Hoe Grange for 100s of years. it is a sad fact that 30 years ago the parish of Brassington had over 20 dairy farms, but now there are less than 5!

The good news is that we will still be farming beef cattle, and are planning to expand our holiday log cabins from 2 to 4.

I hope you all like water on you cornflakes because in a few years time there won't be any dairy farms left in the UK, they will all be driven out of business by poor returns and over burdening red tape.

But Hey...... I wont be milking cows on Christmas morning.....

If you want to help those dairy farmers that remain you could sign the online Fair Trade for British Dairy Farmers Petition, which is asking retailers to:

- source British dairy products
- use transparent and stable pricing mechanisms for liquid milk and cheese suppliers that offer producers a sustainable milk price
- promote the Red Tractor logo on all own label British dairy products

go to www.farmersguardian.com

A new spring tine for Spring time!

Like everything else in our modern world today, farm machinery is ever evolving and one of our Peak District Holiday farmers has replaced his traditional chain harrow with a new type of mechanically folding spring tine harrow.



For those who don't know harrowing the fields is an important Spring job to rip out the dead grass and aerate the sward, allowing the younger grass to come through quicker. It also levels out molehills, flattens uneven ground where cattle have trodden up the mud and breaks up and distributes any manure which has already been spread. It has to be done when the conditions are just right - too wet and the tractor churns up the fields leaving tyre marks and a muddy mess, too dry and the dead grass is difficult to pull out. The early Spring sunshine this week has been ideal - you will notice that the fields around the Peak District are gradually becoming beautifully stripped as the harrowing process continues. This process is then followed by rolling to level out the ground ready for the new grass to push through - very similar to raking and rolling your own domestic lawn, just on a larger scale!



The new spring tine harrow has proved a lot easier to transport from one field to another than the old chain harrows as it has folding arms, which also means that you don't get stuck in awkward corners! It is more effective as the tines grip into the ground and are more vigorous than the traditional chains. As the tines are spring like there is less breakage - chain links always seemed to be breaking on the old set of harrows and time was wasted welding them back together. It also saves time as it is wider and because it's easier to handle even on steep upland ground.


The dairy cows have also been out for the first time this year enjoying the Spring sunshine - just like us they love to be out and about when it's sunny - it's a fantastic sight to see them running up the fields, kicking their heels and gamboling about like lambs - you wouldn't believe how agile they can be for such large animals!

Gourmet Meals for cows!

In an attempt to survive the current recession businesses have to become leaner and fitter, and reduce costs whilst increasing output. Just like any other business the same can be said of farming and to that end one of our Peak District Farm Holidays dairy producers has made a substantial investment in a new feeder wagon - yes gourmet food for cows is now on the menu!

They say that "we are what we eat" - I hope this is true of cows as well as humans. Basically this wonderful new machine is just like a giant food mixer so the cow's staple food, sileage, can be chopped and blended with other ingredients such as straw to give roughage, and molases to improve palatability. The resulting blend is easy to digest and provides a high fibre diet that increases the quality and quantity of milk produced per cow. That's the theory, let's hope it works in practice. It is early days yet, but feeding is simple and it seems to be working - we will let you know if the proof is indeed in the pudding!