Alex Bebbington

Project Officer for #FarmNetZero at @duchyRBS. Small-time shepherd. Tweeting in a personal capacity.

[Alex Bebbington @_AlexBebbington]

@howemill Try Cornwall, it’s not England and we have named gritters.
https://t.co/ZMehyM9q9L

[Alex Bebbington @_AlexBebbington]

Some boy.

[Farmers Weekly @FarmersWeekly]

🏆 Worm resilience, a beef-to-dairy switch and forage use in cow diets are the three different focus areas of our Livestock Adviser of the Year finalists.

READ MORE: https://t.co/dPFI2r6TEH

[Alex Bebbington @_AlexBebbington]

@Slug_95 @RhysLlwydfaen The sampler or the lab might have used a bit of soil that had a lot of dung in it. It’s important to make sure the bag of soil is well mixed.

[Alex Bebbington @_AlexBebbington]

@Slug_95 @RhysLlwydfaen I would ask them to retest Rob. Tricky to say without seeing the field/soil, but any samples I’ve seen over 20% are usually veg beds with lots of compost or proper peat moorland soils (I’ve seen those at 35% and even 70%!)
15% is about right for old permanent pasture.

[Alex Bebbington @_AlexBebbington]

@Slug_95 You still need 🧻 though, right?

[Alex Bebbington @_AlexBebbington]

Awesome bit of research!
The full report is very readable too.

[Rothamsted Research @Rothamsted]

📢It's well known that cell grazing 🐄🐄can boost productivity, but a new 4 year study suggests it can improve soil health as well.
Read the full story 👇
https://t.co/k24YKYhXEw

[Alex Bebbington @_AlexBebbington]

@cvfarming @cornishgrill @Slug_95 You’re right. Apart from supporting a brilliant, complicated web of life and cheering me up on a wet spring day, what are they actually achieving?

[Alex Bebbington @_AlexBebbington]

@cornishgrill @Slug_95 @cvfarming Should cut them all back really. It would be much safer that way. After all, the car is king!

[Alex Bebbington @_AlexBebbington]

@cornishgrill @Slug_95 @cvfarming Don’t forget all those bloody flowers. So distracting at this time of year, it’s a real driving hazard.

[Alex Bebbington @_AlexBebbington]

Tell me you’re lambing, without telling me you’re lambing:

[James Rebanks @herdyshepherd1]

I think sheep are great.
I’ve always loved sheep.

Sheep piss me off.
Sheep massively piss me off.

Cows are way easier than sheep.

All of these statements are true.

[Alex Bebbington @_AlexBebbington]

@howemill The very first sentence makes me laugh! Surely it means his own moral lines are drawn in arbitrary places… I’m not sure I’d be taking anything he writes after that very seriously.

[Alex Bebbington @_AlexBebbington]

@herdyshepherd1 @PhilFarmVet Need to remember that even the most progressive vets can only make progress if the client wants to listen.

Anyway, this isn’t the place for nuance. I think your system is excellent and it informs a lot of our own farming endeavours (backward-thinking vet dad included!)

[Alex Bebbington @_AlexBebbington]

@herdyshepherd1 @PhilFarmVet I’m pretty sure my dad was on that trip! I’ll let him know how crap he is 👍
(Joking, and I doubt he would have said anything like that)

I see your point re working with conventional systems, but l don’t think vets are dead set on maintaining the “status quo”.

[Alex Bebbington @_AlexBebbington]

@herdyshepherd1 @PhilFarmVet You’ve been talking to some rubbish vets. That’s certainly not true of any I know.

[Alex Bebbington @_AlexBebbington]

@herdyshepherd1 Pigs do a great job at making them, no diggers required!

[Alex Bebbington @_AlexBebbington]

@Slug_95 Check out Field Work by Bella Bathurst - a whole book of stories just like this. An excellent summary of farming life in my view.

[Alex Bebbington @_AlexBebbington]

@Slug_95 Much better for the carbon footprint

[Alex Bebbington @_AlexBebbington]

@FavColour_Green “Unruly”?? They should see my hedges!

[Alex Bebbington @_AlexBebbington]

@SwaledaleMutton @cornishgrill I can ask.
Are you trying to ID a particular egg? Would looking for a photo of one be good enough or do you actually need a physical egg/s?

[Alex Bebbington @_AlexBebbington]

@Slug_95 @farmermat1 We find that they can’t be grazed like a more basic ley - they are more suited to rotational grazing, not set stocking for too long. We made that mistake and the herbs were grazed out. Awesome feed value though and certainly grow more in the dry.