Another harvesting process

An alternative to grass and silage is wholecrop silage. This is where a wheat crop is harvested early whilst the grain is still soft. The entire crop, straw and all (hence the name wholecrop) is mown off, chopped into small pieces, and then carted to the farm, and stored in a large pit. The air is excluded as with grass silage using plastic sheeting which is weighed down.



The crop then ferments and produces a high protein version of silage suitable for dairy cows. This video shows the forage harvester, with special attachments for cutting, in action.

Book a holiday on one of our farms here in the Peak District to experience farm life at first hand!

Struggle in the snow

Even in the heaviest of snow falls, the animals must be fed, and that means getting to some farms that might not be on the easiest of roads. This essential corn delivery to Bassetwood Farm, home of the Carringtons, one of our B&B farms, needed considerable help to get into the farmyard.

It's not just getting the corn in, there is then the problem of getting the fresh milk out every day! Add to that problems with frozen water pipes and tractors that won't start, and everything becomes hard work - the snow may look very pretty, but it can be a farmers worst nightmare.

Fortunately the snow now seems to be disappearing as fast as it came.

It does however give our stunning Peak District scenery a different dimension. The Peak District is very much still open for bussiness - so load up you sledge and catch a last minute pre Christmas break.

Beechenhill B&B stunning in the sparkling sunshine

Hoe Grange Holidays (below) - this self catering log cabin could be in the snowy alps!

Summer Silaging

The weather has been strange this year with a very dry Spring followed by a moderate August with little very hot sunshine, but still not much rain. Our cattle are enjoying the warmth, but the traditional stone lined dew ponds on many of the upland farms are nearly dry, and as low as we have seen them for many years.

The amount of grass on our fields throughout the Peak District has therefore been much less than usual and there may be a shortage of cattle fodder this winter. However we have harvested what we can and you can see our video of how one of our members got on baling and wrapping his silage crop in the White Peak area.