WE recently introduced a gang of beautiful, curly-faced Hereford cows to our herd.

These copper and white cattle are known for their docile, good-natured temperament and meat quality.

My two-year-old daughter loves visiting them and giving their curly faces a good scratch.

It is no secret that we raise cattle for our beef company, however we consider our animals’ welfare paramount.

Not only because it is the kindest way to rear them but it has also been proven that the less stress on an animal creates the best textured meat.

We strive to give our animals a good life and a humane death and are very lucky to have an abattoir not too far away whose ethos matches our own.

They have worked closely with an animal psychologist who designs livestock handling facilities.

In their lairage they use classical music, open and light pens and noise reduction materials to keep the animals as stress-free as possible.

With such understanding available I find it heartbreaking that the British Veterinary Association has had to start an e-petition to end non-stun slaughter.

The UK and EU laws state that all animals must be stunned before slaughter so they do not feel pain, so they accept that animals do feel pain, yet they have permitted a sub-clause that allows some animals to be slaughtered without being stunned. This has come to light following a Food Standards Agency survey of slaughter houses in the UK which shows a sharp increase in non-stun slaughter.

I for one will be signing the e-petition, before the deadline on March 30, so the topic can be considered for debate in the House of Commons, which calls for an end to non-stun slaughter and I urge readers to do the same.

Our cattle are still in their barns for the time being, thanks to the wet weather.

Wet seasons create a lot of stress for livestock; a wet hair coat loses its insulating quality and cattle suffer more cold stress in wet weather than in dry cold and mud is the enemy of cattle health.

Among the many potential diseases wet and mud can result in, foot rot is the most common, an infectious condition that causes swelling, heat and inflammation in the foot, which results in severe lameness.

The swelling and lameness can develop very suddenly.

One day the animal is fine and the next day the foot is so sore the animal cannot put any weight on it.

So our animals will stay tucked up until the ground is drier.

Hopefully this month we can start chain harrowing, rolling and fertilising the grass land and enable the cattle to be turned out into the fields – finally.

It is a fantastic sight when they stretch their legs and spring and skip across the fields.

We would also hope to complete drilling to enable us to finish planting of spring cereals this month, but only time will tell.

The aim is to plant on firm, fine ground to reduce loss of soil nutrients, fertility and crop yields and quality.

All of these factors are out of our control until we get some consistent decent weather.

Fingers crossed.