Spring Arrivals and Fond Farewells

Lambing and calving become the focus this month with our first calves born to heifers in late February and the main herd beginning in early March. With round the clock care required, we enlist extra help over this period. We are delighted to have Joe for a few weeks with his quiet capable ability and familiarity with our farming system and Maggie back for her second year, bringing not only great energy and ability, but the biggest smile – keeping morale high. Fingers crossed for a good season.

As an experiment this year we are dividing some of our larger fields into smaller paddocks with a Kiwi fencing system which will stay in place for 3-5 years. We can use a single wire to keep cattle in small paddocks, but moving multi-wire fences for sheep has been trailed and is too time consuming. So as a compromise, we have installed these fences to enable sheep to be grazed and moved frequently without the need for winding up and moving the fence each time. By moving sheep frequently, we will be able to manage grass more efficiently and provide better quality forage for the flock. Shorter grass will help reduce lameness which sheep seem to suffer from when they are in long grass. Trial results to follow. 

Just before the end of 2024, we installed another 67Kw solar array on the estate, this time linked to a battery store feeding one of the Biomass district heat systems. As a trial, we wanted to see how this mini – localised power generation system works and will hopefully be replicated elsewhere to reduce our electricity costs. Balcaskie is committed to Net Zero, with the caveat that zero energy use can also be achieved by doing nothing – and since we are equally committed to rural vibrancy and activity – our solution must be production of energy to meet a growing demand.  

By the 1st of March, all hedge cutting must have been completed to allow bird nesting to take place undisturbed. The Redpath family have been diligently trimming the 180km of hedges on the estate since November, with the exception of a few lengths destined for hedge laying. Anyone who has been passed our roadside hedges which have been laid by Torquils team from Angus Boundaries will testify to the beauty of this craft. With so few people able to lay a hedge, we ran another course again last month following the success of the training days in 2024. If anyone is wanting to learn this art, please do get in touch and we can book you in for 2026. 

St Andrews University “Don’t Walk” fashion show returns to Bowhouse again this month. The professional set-up and organisation is incredible to see, organised by final year students, raising money for charities. This year, the Butchery at Bowhouse will also be feeding the students using our BBQ.  

Periodically we organise an estate gathering with all of the staff, taking turns to show others what is involved with each enterprise. Most recently, we were hosted by Andy and Dave in the workshop on the farm, where stations were set up for people to have a go at tasks like welding, gas cutting and plasma cutting – not something most people would have a chance to do during their day job. It was a great opportunity to get tighter, learn and understand more about what happens at Balcaskie.

 

And finally, this month we will sadly say goodbye to Rosie as she moves onto a new role at Loch Leven Larder. Rosie joined Balcaskie in 2018, fresh faced and full of energy, looking after the Bowhouse Markets. Since then, her role has grown to include business development, managing Pitch-Up! and building new relationships with businesses moving to Balcaskie. Although it’s sad to say goodbye, we wish Rosie all the very best and look forward to keeping in touch.