Cornabus Farm

A vet & an ecologist learning to farm on the beautiful Isle of Islay. We aim to produce sustainable beef that delivers for the environment & biodiversity

[Cornabus Farm @CornabusFarm]

Scottish Oxpecker

[James Rebanks @herdyshepherd1]

Farmers are totally perplexed

1950-1990 cheap food
1990-2010 oh shit that crashes nature
2016 green BREXIT
2020-23 public goods for public £
2024 not quite enough £
2025 we’ve lost interest - can you do cheap food and nature with no funding?

This wasn’t on anyone’s bingo card

[Cornabus Farm @CornabusFarm]

Sparrows have decided we can't use the squeeze on the cattle crush this nesting season!

[Cornabus Farm @CornabusFarm]

@CliveMcKay1 This dry spring has really focussed the nesting attempts to the wettest bits. A lot of their usual wettish grassland sites unoccupied since early April. Also very protracted with a couple of new nests started last few days

[Cornabus Farm @CornabusFarm]

Day 5 for this brood of four lapwing chicks.. still going strong! #waderweek

[Cornabus Farm @CornabusFarm]

And this morning's heifer calf out of Gigha, AI to Firefox of Upsall

[Cornabus Farm @CornabusFarm]

This morning's beautiful beef shorthorn heifer calf. Out of Dunsyre Venus Opal 28th AI'd to Sandwick Prefer-a-bull.

Samara's first AI success!

[Cornabus Farm @CornabusFarm]

@KaneBrides David feeling a bit grizzly is he?

[Cornabus Farm @CornabusFarm]

What every livestock farmer should hope to see when turning over a cowpat! Massive Geotrupes dung beetle burrow. Nutrient cycling dreamland.

[Cornabus Farm @CornabusFarm]

@LowAuldgirth A leaky dam or two would go great in there!

[Clive McKay @CliveMcKay1]

Greenland White-fronts leaving Islay on a NW flightline over my house this morning. This is the only time that they fly over in this direction in any numbers. Volume up.

[Cornabus Farm @CornabusFarm]

@CliveMcKay1 @barrabirder Irish birds tend to leave a bit earlier than ours Clive. Mine still have a way to go to get body condition to where it needs to be really. Our telemetry birds tend to move end of the first week of April onwards

[Cornabus Farm @CornabusFarm]

@beefshorthorn @PrecisionGraze Thank you very much!

[Dee Ward @DeeWardRottal]

To grow food, we need nature. The UK Government must increase investment in nature friendly farming. #NatureCantWait

Sign and share the petition. https://t.co/fqdHtQLRbb

[Cornabus Farm @CornabusFarm]

@_Stickybeak As if on cue, redshank back now!

[Cornabus Farm @CornabusFarm]

Barnacle geese arriving in to the fields this morning. Alongside 3 other goose spp, 4 spp duck, 4 spp of wader displaying (🤞redshank back any day now too).

33 whoppers heading North overhead.

Waiting on our first real spring migrants to arrive (LBB gulls barely count!)

[Cornabus Farm @CornabusFarm]

@_Stickybeak Spot on! Need redshank to return and then that's our full house. Steadily increasing from just 3 prs lapwing and similar numbers of snipe 5 years ago

[Cornabus Farm @CornabusFarm]

@_Stickybeak Need to get over there one day soon! Look at Rathlin every day and never been...

[Cornabus Farm @CornabusFarm]

@NatureNorthEast 27 curlew is good for this time of year.. hopefully some new recruits. Are yours back on territory?

[Cornabus Farm @CornabusFarm]

@NatureNorthEast That wall along the track is my go to for an early wheatear!