Hay Cutting
Hay cutting involves mowing and bailing grass at a particular time of year – when there are sufficient nutrients in the grass for it to be used as food for animals during the winter months.
With the help of our farming partner, we carry out hay cutting every year to help support our livestock. For hundreds of years, collecting and storing sufficient hay for the lean winter months used to mean the difference between life and death for cattle and sheep and often for the survival of the farm. Now we have access to other foods to supplement their diet, but it is more environmentally responsible to feed them on locally grown grass.
We also cut hay for biodiversity reasons. Our hay meadows have been sown with native wildflowers. This helps provide much needed food for pollinators such as bees and butterflies, species that are increasingly under threat. Mowing the land and removing the hay reduces nitrate levels released into the soil and over the years encourages wildflowers to compete with the nitrate hungry grass.
Find out how we care for over 6,000 acres of green space including parks, ancient woodlands, lakes, river valleys and 80 miles of landscaped areas along the grid roads.
