Overtown Farm

We've started lambing stupidly early.
I've have 2 sets of twins a single and a set of triplets today and 2 others lambed last week.
I also have a really sweet little cow (pictured) and slugs in the upstairs toilet ( definitely not pictured).
Sometimes life feels like a rather bizarre game of consequences 🤔

The bird song has been exceptional on the farm this year with song thrushes, blackbirds, dunnocks and of course the glorious skylarks singing their hearts out.
Robins and wrens are also doing well, as are chaffinch, nuthatch and yellow hammers.
The next highlight I hope, will be the rare Corn bunting with its jangling song, likened to a bunch of keys being jangled. It returned to us about 5 years ago and has been breeding on the farm annually ever since.

The very welcome rain over the weekend has given them all a boost and there are birds washing off the dust in puddles in the farmyard and sitting on fences, preening and singing with renewed oomph.
I first noticed Blackcaps singing here last year. I'm sure they've been about as nationally they are doing fairly well, but they're not usually very obvious up here. Maybe they've been drowned out by the other birds, but this year they are everywhere and really vocal. We even have one in the copse in the farmyard which I can hear every morning when I wake up, and through the day which is a joy!

A warbler, its Latin name Sylvia atricapilla roughly translated means "woodland sprite, black haired".
It's also called The Nightingale of the north, and when you hear it, you'll know why.

Country diary: The blackcap seems shy about the beauty of its song | Mary Montague Crumlin Glen, County Antrim: Along this deeply wooded riverside path, I follow an impish male – or is it two?

Before and after.
Huge thanks to National Trust Cotswolds volunteers and the Cotswold Wardens for a fabulous job.
In a very few years this hedge will be stuffed full of life; acting as a wildlife corridor to adjoining land areas and providing summer shade and winter shelter for livestock.
And this is just the beginning 😊

National Trust volunteers and Cotswold Wardens hard at work on phase one of our hedge planting scheme this morning.

Let's play spot the Corn Bunting. (He's on the telegraph wire singing his heart out)

The wildflower strips are really getting into their stride too with Bee, Pyramid and Common Spotted Orchids appearing almost out of nowhere.
They were planted 8 years ago and are only just maturing now, so this is definitely not a short term project!

A very good comment on the Government's new, and utterly disappointing food strategy.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1535603904427266048.html https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1535603904427266048.html

Thread by @suepritch on Thread Reader App : A bit of a long thread here on the leaked food strategy. So it reads like it shares many aspirations with its critics. More regenerative, carbon and nature positive farming, with support to farmers and f...…

Really interesting article on the No meat carbon footprint versus real meat debate. You'll need to read it all, rather than skimming if you want the full gist of the article.
http://digitaleditions.telegraph.co.uk/data/992/reader/reader.html?social #!preferred/0/package/992/pub/992/page/117/article/NaN

The Telegraph

Terribly lazy journalism from Tim Foster in his Plot lines column in the .
Yet again, we see people trotting out tired old sweeping generalisations about what is going on in agriculture. He may be a lecturer in Horticulture but he doesn't appear to have much understanding of what is going on in agriculture, or perhaps it just fits the brief of his article better not to offer some balance with an acknowledgement of the work being done by so many farmers (not just organic ones) in all corners of the country.
At least he admits later that not all gardeners are environmental heros either, although apparently they are generally "far more sympathetic". A recent set of letters in a weekly gardening magazine on the refusal to believe in the harm caused by peat extraction for gardening was a great illustration that the gardening world has it's fair share of environmental vandals too. People in glass/green houses and all that?

This "them and us" stuff is so unhelpful Tim. Other environmental groups have realised the best way to get farmers on side to effect real change, is to stop attacking and start collaborating, so please drop the farmer bashing. It's so destructive.

Does this look like the face of someone who just bought a load of fertiliser for nearly five times the rate of just two years ago? Getting on for £900 a tonne. 🤦🏼‍♂️

I’ve had to take myself for a walk with the skylarks to get over that coffee-spitter of a bill. Thanks Putin. Thinking of all those in Ukraine puts things in perspective. 🇺🇦

Headlines can be deceptive.
If you read the full article, this study is saying that...

1. Low levels of meat consumption are defined as 5 times a week. As a 2-3 x weekly meat eater, I'd have to increase my consumption by nearly 50% to even be defined as a "low level" consumer!

2. The increase in cancers in higher individuals (5 x weekly consumption or more ) may be explained by factors such as weight and smoking.

3. The lower rate of post-menopausal breast cancer in vegetarian women may be as a result of lower BMI (and this may be due to lifestyle changes such as increased exercise, rather than lack of meat in the diet).

There is also no mention of the type of meat or if it is processed, red or white or organic/grass -fed. It also says that a vegetarian diet isn't necessarily a more healthy one.

So, the take home message is still that moderate, 5 x weekly or less, consumption of meat, ( ideally organic/grass/fed from sustainable systems?!) means you have the same cancer risk as a vegetarian or fish eater, and that other factors such as exercise, smoking, alcohol intake, lifestyle and of course genetics, are a greater factor in the development of cancers.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/feb/24/vegetarians-have-14-lower-cancer-risk-than-meat-eaters-study-finds?utm_term=621710d49e3e56bd8c2c66e4f915662b&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayUK&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=GTUK_email

Vegetarians have 14% lower cancer risk than meat-eaters, study finds Oxford University research also finds pescatarians have 10% reduced risk compared with those who eat meat regularly

The satisfaction of driving round the farm spotting species that are under threat but thriving here.
Although the Golden Plovers love it here, we usually only get the odd Lapwing passing through, but his flock of 40 Lapwings (Peewits/Green Plovers) have been with us for the last 5 days and are feeding all over the farm.
The hares are permanent residents and both species love the same ground as the sheep. Yet another reason why sheep are not the environmental disaster some would have you believe, although some never seem to be quite where they are meant to be!

Highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 has been confirmed at a premises near Newent, Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. More information is available on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/avian-influenza-bird-flu

Flocks of sheep are the firefighting solution we never knew we needed Flocks of sheep are now being used to manage fires as megadrought exacerbated by climate change continues to fuel record-breaking fire seasons in the Western U.S.

Overtown Farm Organic Beef and lamb...

Thinking of stocking up in case of bad weather, global food shortages, lockdown or maybe even Christmas ?

We've finally been able to book in a batch of beef and lamb with the butcher and we are taking orders now.
Mixed beef selection boxes from at £12.50/kg, starting at £60.
Half or whole lamb boxes at @£12.50/kg with weights ranging from approx 8kg to 10kg for a half lamb.
Beef and lamb offal also available.

All meat is from animals born and raised on grass at Overtown, and slaughtered and butchered locally near Stroud. Individually vacuum packed and labelled and supplied ready frozen to put straight in your freezer, or can be collected unfrozen within 24 hours of us collecting it from the butcher.

If you would like to order a beef rib or Topside joint for Christmas please get in touch asap as quantities are limited.
We regret we can not supply Sirloin joints as we already have orders for it in steaks.

Please DM or email [email protected] for more details.

If you buy your meat online PLEASE check where the meat is from 🙏
This statement here in the photo is absolute RUBBISH. We have high welfare pigs backing up on British farms, some farms tragically already having to cull animals on farm never to enter the food chain which is absolutely CRIMINAL. There is no reason why butchers shops cannot source British and that includes online butchers.
Also if it’s REALLY cheap I’d be wondering about the animal welfare standards 🧐
If you care about animal welfare standards ALWAYS look for the red tractor please!!!! Or enquire as to the source of the meat when shopping in a butcher’s shop or farm shop. YOU DESERVE THE TRUTH

NSA is deeply disappointed and concerned over the announcement of an agreement in principle between UK and New Zealand.

CEO Phil Stocker says: “The worry continues that Government is content to wind down livestock farming in the UK, to fulfil climate commitments and grand images of high standards – and then scour the world to feed our nation from sources that are out of sight."

Read more at go.nationalsheep.org.uk/NZtradeagreement

Livestock manure is Mother Nature's fertiliser that provides key nutrients for good soil health. It allows us to farm sustainably as it requires no artificial inputs.

Did you know how many amazing qualities wool has? We can’t think of a better natural, sustainable fibre 😍

British Wool The Campaign for Wool

NSA is reminding policymakers that grasslands are one of the best land management options available for mitigating climate change, ahead of next month’s COP26.

Roughly two-thirds of terrestrial carbon in British landscapes is found below ground with most captured in organic matter and plant roots. Grasslands are particularly rich in both.

go.nationalsheep.org.uk/grasslandscop

Sheep farmers, it would be great if you could take 15 minutes to complete this survey on attitudes to sheep scab please. https://t.co/xlyTFjA9q0

Sheep Scab Survey - 2021 Online survey BOS

As a British farmer, I'm proud to contribute positively to the management of our beautiful and unique landscape with minimal environmental impact from the food we produce.

Another reason why I'm proud to be a British farmer is how we're helping biodiversity to create a more sustainable farming future.

Did you know wool was incredibly valuable before the invention of synthetic fibres? It was the foundation of an economic boom in the 13th century.

That’s why you see pubs called The Fleece, The Lamb and The Drovers Arms, terraces of Weavers’ Cottages and grand Mill Houses in many towns and villages.

Using land that isn't suitable to grow crops but is ideal to graze livestock allows me to produce good-quality, nutritious food for everyone to enjoy.

British farmers are proud to produce food to some of the highest standards in the world and are on the way to . We are part of the solution to achieving a sustainable diet.

A landscape lacking lambs, a countryside without cows, and the loss of Britain’s pastoral heritage would be the stark consequence of an inadequately analysed approach to managing climate change, NSA has warned in a press release issued today.
What do you think?
Do you think the British public fully appreciates the positive influence the nation's sheep farmers have on the countryside or are they swayed by misleading headlines?
Read more at https://www.nationalsheep.org.uk/news/32511/holistic-approach-to-sustainability-is-necessary-to-meet-society-s-needs-says-nsa/