River Friendly Farming and a cow spa day!

It sounds contradictory, doesn’t it? Keeping our watercourses clean is something that impacts us all – and that includes our wildlife and cattle!

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We have been passionately working on our silvopasture project over the last year – planting trees for both forage and medicinal benefits – and so water was our natural next step in our landscape story. Ensuring that the legacy we leave behind at Fordhall is as healthy and resilient as possible.  

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Surveys earlier in the year had highlighted that our river boundary, The Tern, is not happy! High nutrient levels from run-off upstream are harming our native wildlife, and whilst the streams and ponds onsite fared much better, we knew we could be doing more.

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Being fully organic pasture at Fordhall does put us ahead of others. We don’t have to worry about much erosion or fertiliser run-off. However, that does not get us off the hook, as we do have cattle and they do poo!

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So, one of our more exciting ventures over the next12-months will be cow bathing pools, as well as planting more trees, restoring Castle Hill Pond and installing yet more water butts onsite. Our work will support the cleanliness of the river as it passes by, expand the wildlife value of our ponds and streams, and reduce our demands on mains water.

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Many people have been asking about the cow bathing pools in particular – they have sparked your imagination as much as ours! Who thought that cow-bathing or indeed a cow spa-day was a thing! Well, why not? Question is, what will they look like and how will we build them?

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Well, to be honest these are current and on-going discussions. The present thought is to create a fenced-in scrape (shallow pond of less than 1m depth) within our spring-fed water meadows, line the base with reclaimed concrete railway sleepers to reduce poaching (damage to the underlying soil), and surround it with water-cleaning rushes and reeds. This plant life should thrive and indeed be grateful for the nutrients coming from the livestock. In turn, for the gift of nutrients, they will add oxygen to the now-cleaned water before it enters our river. Regular sampling and controlling access to the scrape will also be crucial to its management.

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Our aim is to ensure there is both a place for wildlife and livestock within Fordhall’s water system. A relationship that will be complimentary not conflicting.

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This is a learning journey, so if you have any thoughts, please do let us know. In any case, we will have fun sharing the journey with you all.

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Charlotte Hollins, General Manager

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Find out more at: www.fordhallfarm.com/RiverFriendly

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