Category: Agriculture

  • Great Oaks From Little Acorns Grow.

    By The Bevis Trust In , , , | October 31, 2017

    It’s been a good mast year for acorns and we’ve collected plenty. We are planting up about 7 hectares (17.3ac) of the steep north facing banks. Bracken is rapidly taking over on these banks and with Azulox being phased out, it is almost impossible to control it. The banks are too steep for a tractor…

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  • Natural Resources Policy

    By The Bevis Trust In , , | January 23, 2017

    Last week Jo and I attended the Natural Resources Policy Consultation Engagement Event in Cardiff. The title is certainly a mouthful and it was with some trepidation that we traveled to the capital, fearing perhaps some jargon laden attempt at schmoozing the environmental ‘stakeholders’. We could not have been more wrong, yes, of course there was a…

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  • Owl Update

    By The Bevis Trust In , | October 3, 2016

    Like a child leaving home our visiting barn owl has moved on with mixed feelings from the staff. His recovery was very rapid thanks to the expert care of our aviculturalists and as we had a spell of settled weather looming we thought that getting him back out to his home territory was the best…

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  • Slurry Pits

    By The Bevis Trust In , | October 2, 2016

    A neighbour delivered a Barn Owl here on Thursday. He had found it floundering in his slurry pit. It was exhausted and caked in slurry. We tube fed it with finely ground up mouse that we give the baby falcons, and with electrolytes to provide fluids. Then we left it in a dark warm box…

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  • Rewilding and More

    By The Bevis Trust In , | July 21, 2016

    Last week Jo and I attended a meeting at the Knepp Estate down in West Sussex. There, the owners Charlie Burrell and Izzie Tree have devoted their 3,500 acre estate to an ambitious re-wilding project.We took the opportunity to have a walk around some of the estate.   Later that evening I enjoyed staying in their…

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  • Fledgelings

    By The Bevis Trust In , | July 11, 2016

    This is a time of year full of hope, tinged with sadness. All the young animals are leaving their nests and burrows, but they are so vulnerable, and many don’t make it. Evolution has planned ahead and compensated by creating bigger broods, but even so the attrition rate can be horrendous. There have been lots…

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  • Bevis Trust purchases Rickets Mill

    By The Bevis Trust In , | June 14, 2016

    After about six years of negotiations, the Bevis Trust has now purchased Rickets Mill, a 14 acre trout farm adjoining the west end of the farm. This is the first property actually in the name of the Bevis Trust, the intention being that the entire farm will eventually be taken over by the Trust. The…

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  • Yet another new species!

    By The Bevis Trust In , | June 14, 2016

    We accidentally ran over a weasel today with a quad bike on the track below Tula’s Wood. We have never seen a weasel on the farm before. Because we have reduced the grazing pressure on all the north banks, there is a lot more rough grass and this is thick underneath so that voles can…

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  • Another Species

    By The Bevis Trust In , , | June 6, 2016

    We have another species to add to our growing list. This morning Nick was delighted to come across a slow worm basking near the main drive. We have relocated him to a slightly less risky spot!

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  • The Year Moves On

    By The Bevis Trust In , , | May 29, 2016

    Lots of neighbours are on the silage now. The pattern of farming is changing each year. Two of our neighbours have died and their land is let to another neighbour who has committed big time to dairying and built new sheds. So contractors are whizzing round the lanes in massive tractors taking the cut grass…

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