Sheep Farm of 2023 — Windshiel Organic Farm

 

 

 

We had the great pleas­ure of a vis­it to one of our most long stand­ing traders, Windshiel Organic Farm, to see what they are doing to help stem the prob­lems of the cli­mate emer­gency. Many see intens­ive meat pro­duc­tion as incom­pat­ible with a sus­tain­able future but the way in which Windshiel care for their anim­als and pro­duce their mut­ton, lamb and bacon res­ul­ted in it being awar­ded the AgriScot sheep farm of the year 2023, an award sponsored by Quality Meat Scotland and Thornton’s. Windshiel is a mil­lion miles away from fact­ory farming.

The 200 hec­tare farm near Duns in the Lammermuir hills ranges from 180 to 300 metres above sea level and has been organ­ic since 2001. There is no inocu­la­tion or mass treat­ment of their anim­als instead rely­ing on good hus­bandry and pas­ture rota­tion to achieve a healthy bal­ance in both the stock and the arable pas­ture it feeds on.

The aim is to become a net zero pro­du­cer with no reli­ance on man­u­fac­tured energy-intens­ive products by ensur­ing that for­age is bal­ance with a mix­ture of grasses, clover, chicory and herbs. Essential trace ele­ments, such as phos­phate and cal­ci­um, come from hen manure obtained from an organ­ic source and as the grasses grow, car­bon from the atmo­sphere is fixed in. The secret is that the anim­als are allowed to feed in a pas­ture when the grass is at an optim­um length for max­im­um nutri­tion. The stock is then moved after around three to four days to allow the grass to recov­er before it is grazed too short. This also means there is little chance of pick­ing up para­site infec­tions, foot rot and oth­er con­di­tions help­ing to main­tain heathy anim­als with no chem­ic­al interventions.

A pro­gramme of hedge plant­ing along field bound­ar­ies has been suc­cess­ful which is good as a shel­ter against the winds for the stock. This also intro­duces bio-diversity in a land­scape that has been denuded by over-graz­ing and provides an envir­on­ment for wild life.

Windshiel Organic Farm can be found at Portobello Local Market and offer a deliv­ery ser­vice for their products. Find out more at: http://www.windshiel.co.uk/