We still have some cattle out finishing grass before coming in for the winter. We are allocating the grass on a daily basis with an electric fence, and there have been very few problems until last weekend. I thought I was seeing double when what looked like a bullock was grazing happily on the headland of a winter barley field. It was, in fact, no mirage – he was one of a bunch of 25 cattle rambling around the margins of two fields of oilseed rape and winter barley.

They rushed and broke a double electric fence and stampeded onto an internal lane

The cause of the trouble then became clear – three wild deer. It was clear that the cattle had panicked as the deer galloped into their paddock. They rushed and broke a double electric fence and stampeded onto an internal lane. Wild deer are a menace to crops, stock and can also be dangerous to humans.

After being locked up for many years in a row with bovine TB, the Department’s culling work of infected badgers has been a godsend

There is no doubt that deer are directly implicated in the spread of bovine TB in west Wicklow and they should be culled if they appear on farmed land. Ironically, the latest visit from the deer coincided with the Department of Agriculture continuing their field work on developing a vaccine to control TB in badgers. After being locked up for many years in a row with bovine TB, the Department’s culling work of infected badgers has been a godsend. It will be interesting to see their progress on the vaccination work. But the badgers are, apart from when they are infected, comparatively harmless compared to wild deer.

With the absence of frost, the oilseed rape has – at least visually – made up for being sown 10 days late

For the crops, the mild weather has encouraged germination, with everything including wheat and the gluten-free oats appearing above ground within a fortnight of sowing. With the absence of frost, the oilseed rape has – at least visually – made up for being sown 10 days late and I am reasonably confident that we should have sufficient root development to withstand possible pigeon damage over the winter with the ground cover that has been achieved. But after the very wet early days of the week, I am in two minds as to whether we should go out with the aphicide. There was some progress in monitoring aphicide numbers and infectivity some years ago, but I have heard little about the work in recent years. It could do with being resuscitated.

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