BBC: The secret life of farm animals

[ollie989898]

Lots of animal factoids, quite imaginative narrative and story telling. Wonder what the forum makes of the Knepp rewilding and how they keep their cattle?

Basically they let them run wild. Over 3000 acres and left to run.

 

[Gulli]

Fallen stock removal must be a right pain with all the brambles they have there now

 

[spin cycle]

....sounds like a bigger version of my place cept i've sheep

 

[Adam@Rumen]

A lovely story, a questionable use of land and an awful way to feed people.

 

[Agrivator]

What are the tourists going to say when they find a dead cow cowped ( rigged, cast etc) with a calf sticking half out?

 

[Dman2]

Enjoyed watching it
Pity it wasn`t on BBC1 prime time instead of BBC4 or whatever it was

 

[msheep66]

I think its already been shown on BBC 1, certainly been shown on BBC 4 before.

 

[David.]

Was that the thing last night with the chap in France, who had found solace in the company of his cows?

 

[AGN76]

Was that the thing last night with the chap in France, who had found solace in the company of his cows?

Don't we all!

 

[Greenbeast]

The Knepp story is told in 'Wilding' by Isabella Tree, a good read (so far, i'm half way through)

 

[ollie989898]

Was that the thing last night with the chap in France, who had found solace in the company of his cows?

That was it.

 

[Clive]

A lovely story, a questionable use of land and an awful way to feed people.

and completely sub dependant

so fine as long as everyone wants to pay for it !

 

[ollie989898]

What are the tourists going to say when they find a dead cow cowped ( rigged, cast etc) with a calf sticking half out?

From what I saw you could hide a heap of 100 dead cattle in that area and no one would see a thing. So vast an expanse and with trees etc becoming much larger and grown in.

 

[David.]

Probably much easier if you inherited the necessary 3500ac. I suppose we could possibly all be a leading light given such circumstances.
So I have some difficulty with taking it too seriously.
Got the book and the above prejudice has so far prevented me getting into it.

 

[John Slejpner]

Wonder what the forum makes of the Knepp rewilding and how they keep their cattle?

Basically they let them run wild. Over 3000 acres and left to run.

No problem with how they keep cattle....but as a Thatcherite with a socialist streak, what i think of the public money involved in the rewilding bit is absolutely unprintable!!

But i have a problem with mid tier / HLS etc as a use of public funds, despite running a farm ideally suited to it. My own worst enemy i know.

 

[Dman2]

Doesn`t matter whether its sustainable or not
To the average punter it looked like a bunch of very happy cows
Unlike the program last week

 

[yellow belly]

I understand they have non farming income streams like many estates that is until Corbin destroys the private rented sector

 

[Swarfmonkey]

It's fair to say that Lady Isabella Burrell (née Tree) and her husband have their fingers in more than a few pies. A search at Companies House brings up the following active businesses for one, the other, or both:

Knepp Energy Limited
Knepp Farms LLP
Brookhouse Knepp Limited
Blakers Yard Limited
The Bronze Oak Project Limited

CAP search returns a figure of £542,897.01 in total subs by way of Rural Development (£336,676.23) and Direct Aid (£206,220.78) last year as well.

Nice work, if you can get it...

 

[Brisel]

I understand they have non farming income streams like many estates that is until Corbin destroys the private rented sector

Most of those are related to the Knepp project. They've wrung every marketing advantage out of rewilding. Premium meat sales, safaris, glamping etc.

I think Knepp is a great experiment. The Burrells have never said it would feed the world nor be appropriate for everyone - they were keen on seeing a few oases in the "desert" of modern agriculture, ideally on a large scale and linked as much as possible. IMO they've done something different which is inspiring, as an experiment.

 

[czechmate]

Was that the thing last night with the chap in France, who had found solace in the company of his cows?

I thought it was a good program.

As I understood it, he had lived in France for a few years, then his brother died, so he returned to the uk ...
And found solace in the company of his (formally his brothers) cows.