23.04.2020
Notes From the Farm – 23/04/2020
Hello, and welcome to a wee update from Glen Fyne as we figured you might like to know what we’ve been up to in Argyll during the last couple of weeks!
As you might have guessed, there hasn’t been a huge amount of brewing going on – enough to keep the online shop and our retail friends stocked, but overall it’s been pretty quiet on the brewery side. On the farm side though, plenty of fun to be found.
Let’s start by saying thanks to all those who voted to help name wee Eilidh last week; our adorable blonde calf is doing very well and founder Tuggy has described her as “one of the happiest calves we’ve ever had”, so she must like her new moniker.
Eilidh is one of 14 calves born in the glen so far this Spring, with another six due before the season ends – calving can sometimes be stressful time of year for farmer Stu, but this season has been fairly uncomplicated and it’s lovely to have a horde of wee furry beasts roaming the hills.
Meanwhile, the recent lack of rain is proving a slight problem for their mums and dads, including Seamus, our highland bull pictured above. The weather’s quick switch from bitterly cold to dry and sunny means there isn’t much young grass coming through, so cross your fingers for a few showers soon.
And a lack of grass isn’t the only food-related problem facing the herd – our reduced brewing activity will likely cause some issues later in the year – the spent grain from our busy Spring and Summer in the brewery is usually stockpiled to help keep the cows and deer fed through the winter, and with less brewing happening, there’s a big knock-on effect for the farm. And we’re not the only ones, as distilleries up and down the West Coast of Scotland slowing or stopping production, there’s going to be quite a few farms running low on feed in the coming months.
So what does this mean? Well, it means that by buying a few beers from our online shop you’re not only helping keep our wee brewery going during these tough times, but you’re also keeping our lovely coos well fed, and if that isn’t a good reason to fill your glass with Jarl, we don’t know what is!
We’ll be back with another update from the glen soon, hopefully with some news about our first red deer calves of the year – stay safe folks, ad we’ll see you soon.!