13/09/2026
Summer of ‘26 is worthy of a bit of reflection. So dumping some thoughts here… easily forgotten now the rain’s arrived…
A lesson in how quickly things can change, in the space of a couple of weeks we went from lush pastures to desiccated grasslands. Quite humbling.
No regrowth in 45 days, the rain couldn’t come soon enough as we were on the cusp of feeding our haylage.
🍀Skimming the pasture paid off (24hr moves) we were leaving behind grass to graze again but also grass to capture the rain when it came. Spring growth was paid forward.
🪲The drought was an ecological disaster. If it was tough for us it was tough for our subterranean friends, moles, dung beetles and subsequently the ecosystem they support. Noticeably as the ground hardened and the temperature dung wasn’t removed but sat dry on the pasture.
🍀Tall grasses aren’t immune to drought. They stop growing too.
🪲Trampling and leaving residue is great for recovery and supportive of active regrowth in drier periods but to survive a true drought you need un-grazed grasslands to bridge the drought period. Longer rotation required. Thinking summer stock pile of grass, as well as a winter stock pile.
🍀Water in the landscape is so important… leaky dams, ponds, scrapes. Beavers 🦫 😎
🪲Hedges were green… more hedges, more browse for the sheep, and an oasis for our fellow creatures.
🍀Shade EVERYWHERE is required to keep rotating in a way that reduces worm burdens, prevents over grazing.. MORE TREES! But…. Having planted LOTS of trees this will take years to have an impact so best to start now! And think about how you water those trees until they are established!
🪲Water…. Thankful we have drag troughs and water for every area on the farm, we haven’t always… keeping the flock hydrated would have been a big pull on time, and a risk for flock health...
Finally… every farm is different… and the drought presented its own complexities for each individual system with no one solution. Suspect though we’ll all take some learning from the summer of ‘26 🐄 🐑 🚜
