Moving livestock across large transects of land can be challenging, but is often a reality faced by farmers who have parcels of land that are spread out.
In this session, Bracken Morris and Vicky Palmer shared their experience of moving a flerd (a flock of sheep combined with a herd of cattle) at Hillcrest Farm in North Yorkshire through two dales, including a wood, to return to the start of the grazing pattern.
The top tips given included:
- Planning — plan the trek afresh everytime, because circumstances change, and you can always improve things.
- Preparation – using fencing and what’s available to create a walkway.
- Preparation – on the day walk the entire journey before moving livestock, leaving gates open to make it easy to pass through.
- People – briefing the people on your team before you begin so you know who is doing what.
- People — trust each other, adapt to reality on the ground, be flexible.
- Animals – get to know your animals, and let your animals get to know you.
- Ask the question, ‘What would nature do?’
- Think through the move from the animal’s point of view.
You can watch a recording of the session here.