It has been a week of mixed emotions. As I wrote last Friday the silage generated the usual excitement. I was impressed that my 9-year-old was willing to go to school with tractors flying from 7.30am that morning.

Despite the fact that the cutting date was delayed, the quality appears good enough. There was a fast clean-up of the second pit to cope with unexpected bulk. My contractor commented that fertilizer must have been very cheap this Spring!

Then last Sunday morning as I fed my autumn born calves I spotted one in some distress. She’d lie down and then suddenly jump up again. Looking closer I spotted some of her white hair missing suggesting sunburn. It was actually an allergic reaction to toxins in the skin from eating “some plant” which is then triggered by sunlight.

The list of possible plants is growing and no one seems able to pin down exactly which one, although St. John's wort is the prime suspect.

I put her in a house straight away to get out of the sunlight and my vet prescribed anti-inflammatory and vitamins. That evening I discovered another two in trouble. One was in a cold sweat and having difficulty walking. I rang the vet as soon as I realised her temperature was less than 100 and he arrived within half an hour. Humans would be happy with that service. Prognosis was poor with probable severe liver damage and she died the following day despite having looked a bit brighter.

I know the usual expressions “where there’s livestock there is dead stock” and “as long as it’s outside the door”. As a business I add up the costs of treatment, rearing costs to date and income foregone.

As a farmer it’s tough to see an animal in distress. I consider vaccines as a fixed cost, cheaper in the long run than treatment and loss of thrive. No point in dwelling on it, but where normally it is possible to learn from a problem, this particular loss is just an occupational hazard of grazing animals.

Meanwhile, I’ve pulled the bull after eight weeks of fun with the heifers, I’ll keep my hand in with the cows for another week. There’s no point in dragging out the breeding season with a split calving herd.