‘The Girls’ (our herd of organic Friesian cows) at Kirkham Farm celebrated St George’s Day in style as I turned them out for the first time this year onto the new spring pasture on April 23.

They were so excited, frolicking like lambs, running flat out across the field, leaping into the air and bouncing up and down on all fours.  Their joy was infectious.  The pastures are full of luscious grass with clover and wild flowers; I have never seen so many cowslips.

I have to restrict the time the Girls spend out in the fields when they first go out, the pasture is so rich before it is cut that they over eat and get bloated if they are left to their own devices.  They go out for just two hours on the first two days with the time being extended by an hour each day until they are out full time.

Their calves will all go out for the first time in June after the pastures have had their first cut.  They will be just as excited as their mothers were - it will be quite a spectacle!

There is a notable absence in the fields at the moment as my dog Rook got run over by one of the tractors in the farmyard, but miraculously escaped with no serious injuries.  He is now ‘resting’ for a few weeks and my old dog Jack has had to come out of retirement.  He is doing a good job and it’s just as well that the weather has been warm and dry as he now suffers from arthritis.

Don’t forget to take care when walking your dogs through fields where there are cows.  If they have young they can become aggressive and there have been a couple of incidents recently of people being fatally trampled.  When Rook was a puppy my wife Marion was walking him in the fields with the Girls and one of them took exception and knocked her to the ground.  This was despite the fact that they knew her, which shows you can never be too careful.