Real farming

FarmHAWLORFC

11 Jan

Whether you are a farmer who works the land, a horse owner who rides along bridleways or a pet owner who loves walks in the countryside, you will all appreciate the beauty of the countryside we are blessed with in the UK. There are ways of farming that work in harmony with this landscape. And of course there will be some approaches to farming that are less sensitive to the natural world.

Last Thursday & Friday I attended the Oxford Real Farm Conference 2018. As the title suggests the conference was based in Oxford and was looking at Real Farming. “What is Real Farming?” you may well ask. I guess you would get a differs answer for different people you asked.

From the various people I talked to, there were various key concepts that kept on coming up. Sustainability, working in harmony with nature, respect for animals, holistic approach were all themes I came across regularly. In essence, the continued underlying theme was one of working with a caring and respectful approach to farming.

For me, the same is very much true for animal health. The better we come to appreciate, respect and work in harmony with the animals in our care, the healthier they are likely to be. Does this take work? The answer is Yes and No.

Yes it takes work to learn and develop the skills that it takes to look after animals to a really high standard. It can be a journey of trial and error. We can make mistakes on the way. Sometimes there are unexpected challenges to deal with.

With persistence though, there will be a point that all people can get to where they are working at a new level of harmony. It is at this level of intuitive interaction with animals in our care that we start to see a different level of health.

We can start to see health as a normal state for animals to be in. We can pick up very quickly when things go out of alignment and make adjustments. We can develop a graceful, loving approach to how we connect with animals.

When you get to that point you will start to use less and less energy. It will feel less and less like work. You will have ways of looking after your animals that are in alignment with their needs. This is the reward that you will get for putting in all the initial work.

Part of being at the conference was to help look after the Homeopathy at Wellie Level stall. We had plenty of interest from many farmers wanting to know about the course. If you haven't yet done the course and want to find out more, then check out the website.

I was also presenting some of the initial findings from our pilot project looking at how a homeopathic approach can help with reduction of antibiotic use on the farm. Our initial findings are very encouraging. Look out for a future blog to find out more.