Dennington News…

With the annual Suffolk show only weeks away, it marks one year since Sally, Evie and I moved to Dennington Hall Farms. I would like to thank everybody for being so welcoming and friendly. We feel a real sense of belonging and enjoy being part of the community.

Since the last Dennington News, we have welcomed two new members to the team. Matt Williams moved here with his wife Cayleigh and daughter Skyla and joined the farm team in January. The second member is a red poll bull named Canute Lars who will run with our herd of red poll cows this spring.

Our new Red Poll bull, Canute Lars

On the farm we have been busy planting new hedges and cleaning a couple more ponds, providing habitat for all the lovely wildlife which we share the farmland with. The photo of the pond shows definite ‘cup’ shapes and we wonder if it was used for ‘retting’ flax. This might have been a practice on Low Farm as the pond nearby has a similar profile, but we have not seen it on any other ponds.

Newly planted hedge

The relatively dry weather in February has allowed the spring barley to be drilled straight into the overwinter cover crop, which has gone in well. Sugar beet will be planted very soon, with a trial of strip tilling in two fields meaning we will only cultivate the soil where the row will be planted.

We are keen to try new techniques which have a direct benefit on soil health and, therefore, increase the size and numbers of worms. In the autumn we trialed different methods of crop establishment across the farm: the picture shows winter wheat which was direct drilled, ‘zero tilled’.

Direct drilled wheat

The cows have now finished calving and are looking forward to warmer weather, when they can get out on the spring grass. At the time of writing we have an inch of snow covering the ground and so spring is not quite here yet!

Ryan McCormack, Farm manager, Dennington Hall Farms

Read the full copy of this edition of Dennington News here.