The tussocky grass is frozen solid and it is difficult to walk up the fell this morning. I am also slow today as I am recovering from flu. Now that cattle have been grazing here instead of sheep for a couple of years, the vegetation is adapting, growing longer and tougher. What may be great for biodiversity can be more challenging to walk across.
Things are changing, that is for sure. Since we took over the farm we have planted thousands of trees in the valley and altered the way that water flows, bringing egret and snipe to the farm.
One of the changes I’m dealing with at the moment is how we feed our cattle through the year, as we now leave areas of tall grass – sometimes called “standing hay” or “deferred grazing” – ungrazed during the summer, to become winter feed for the cows. There is an area of such land near Kendal, where some of our herd have gone to graze. They will now stay there until the spring, eating that tall grass.
Not only is this good for wildlife, we also save money on buying in winter feed, and on contractors to bale the hay in summer. It’s the opposite to the conventional method of having a set number of animals in one area, which stay there until winter when we move them into the sheds.
The result can look somewhat scruffy and unkempt; to some local farmers with a different mindset, it looks like a “total scrow”. It’s an evolving picture. Alpine plants may also suffer as their habitat evolves. But the climate is changing, and what society demands from farming is also changing. What we are trying to achieve is abundance, a thriving ecosystem, a valley alive with biodiversity and possibilities.
Central to this vision is our herd of belted galloway cattle. It is -5C this morning, but sunny and settled. As I walk through the herd, the cows stand still, enjoying the sun on their backs. These ones are staying on the main farm, and snow may be coming later this week, so they’ll be making a move of their own, over to the long grass by the woodland where there is shelter.
• Under the Changing Skies: The Best of the Guardian’s Country Diary, 2018-2024 is published by Guardian Faber; order at guardianbookshop.com and get a 15% discount
