We are fortunate to have had such lovely weather for most of the time we have been in lockdown. Plenty of warm sunshine with at times a few patches of floating cloud and occasionally a cool breeze from the east . Temperatures have on several days been well in the 20s, so I have been eating many of my meals in the garden.

Preparing for and ensiling our first cut of grass silage has been the focus of the past week. The tractors having been recently serviced and cleaned were ready to go, so the final job was to prepare the silage clamp. The clamp has to be lined with a heavy duty plastic sheet as it is of paramount importance to exclude air from the fresh grass. The grass for silage was all ready to cut and the weather forecast was ideal, so the contractor was booked to come with his forage harvester and rake at the end of the week. There were 95 acres of grass to be cut, of both permanent and short term leys, which Ian cut over two days.

The sunshine during the week ensured the sugars in the grass were high, which is just what we need when the grass is cut. The grass was then left to wilt for 24 to 36 hours with the short term rye grass being cut first as it was a far lusher crop than the permanent grass.

After this time the silage making process began in earnest with the large rake putting the cut crop into rows ready for the forage harvester to pick up and chop. As the forage harvester was picking up and chopping the grass, a bacterial inoculant was added. The addition of a three-strain combination of lactobacilli, will help the right kind of fermentation to occur as these bacteria will boost the same bacteria already present in the crop. A good fermentation will ensure valuable dry matter, energy and protein are not lost.

The chopped, inoculated grass was then taken to the silage clamp in one of our barns where it was tipped before being pushed into a wedge shaped pile by a buck-rake. This was fixed to the front of a teleporter. Once a load was in place the teleporter drove up and down over the grass in order to expel as much trapped air as possible. It took just 14 hours to put all 95 acres of grass into the clamp.

It is recommended that the ensiling process is completed in 24 hours. In our case we finished picking up all the grass at 11 pm, so it was decided that we would wait until morning to cover the clamp. Next morning the family were out in force, spreading a thick plastic sheet over the crop. Then it had to be sealed properly using the very useful worn tyres, which are relatively smooth so will not puncture the plastic. The job was soon completed and took 25 hours from the start of ensiling.

Now hopefully the fermentation will produce a high quality, palatable feed for the winter.The first phase in the process is aerobic and occurs in the first 24 hours when all the oxygen in any remaining trapped air is depleted. Then the anaerobic phase can begin during which time the lactic acid bacteria break down the soluble carbohydrates in the crop to produce mainly lactic acid. This process will continue until the pH falls to about 4.5, which will take about two weeks.

My walks around the farm and through the neighbouring wood have been wonderful. The birdsong has been unforgettable the trees have become greener day by day. The number of wild flowers in bloom has increased and there is a diverse range of insects that have taken to the wing, including squash bugs, seed bugs, hover flies (which at first glance resemble wasps or bees ) , iridescent green false oil beetles and a long horn beetle with the longest antennae I have ever seen. Enjoy the countryside.