Turning out the cattle will not be simple this year. Peter and I have almost fallen out over how best to deal with the mechanics of turnout - the logistics resulting from the strict foot and mouth restrictions are proving almost too much. The new occupational licences allow a longer distance to be covered within the same holding, which will help enormously. But nothing will save us from the pandemonium that ensues as soon as we open the cattle-shed doors. It is not just a rodeo, but more like Buffalo Bill's grand extravaganza, as the smell of fresh grass and the chance of freedom after almost seven months inside sends the beasts into a highly vocal, pounding frenzy.
Normal practice is to block the road in the yard and down beside the field.
The animals hurtle down the road, mooing loudly, to the field where they will stay for the next few weeks. This year we may have to put them in one field, across from the shed, let them calm down and try to move them again from field to field. This method could take days and days, and by the time the last ones are let out they will be even more frantic, having watched and heard their mates go out shed by shed. It is also a riskier operation as the chance of broken fences, walls and even legs increases every time we try to move them on. Unfortunately, our Limousin cross cattle have always been particularly hot-headed and despite their daily feeding and bedding throughout the long winter, they never seem to quieten.