It’s British Science Week!

British Science week takes place from the 8th to the 17th March, and the theme for this year is all about time! What we at White Post Farm are going to address over this period, is looking ahead to the future. Our mission is to promote the conservation of native species and there’s no better time than right now to ensure that these breeds are cemented in our future. In the past, there have been points in time where we have almost lost or have lost many species of animal, so we need to work towards preventing this from happening again in the future.

For 2024, we want to ensure that we are educating as many people as possible about conservation methods, and how they can then put them into practice in their daily lives. Here is some things that we have been up to lately!

Little Farmers Club

This week at Little Farmers club, they have read the book ‘The Journey Home’ by Frann Preston-Gannon. This book is all about a journey that some animals go on to find their homes, as their’s are disappearing, as well as their food sources, meaning that they can no longer stay there. The story ends with the unknown, not knowing when or if they will ever be able to return to their home. Our Little farmers went on their own journey around the farm, to see some of our native species that we are breeding to help conserve the species. They also ventured into our barn to see some of our newest arrivals that are also part of this programme.

Our Little Farmers team love educating our youngest visitors on these matters, and here’s what Farmer Steph had to say about it!

I feel that it is imperative to educate the next generation of animal lovers, about the importance of conservation and the preservation of our world and wildlife!”

Lambing & Kidding Season

On 20th February, It was time to meet our Greyface Dartmoor lambs, after their long awaited arrival. This is the first time at the farm that we have bred this particular breed of sheep, so we were super excited for their arrival. Greyface Dartmoor’s are classed as an at risk breed of sheep by the Rare Breed Survival Trust, meaning that we are helping ensure the breeds survival in the future, along with many others. Here’s a photo of two of our gorgeous Greyface Dartmoor lambs.

For example, our Golden Guernsey goats, who have recently moved inside the Silver Barn ready for kidding! They are due in early April, and we have successfully bred our Golden Guernseys for many years now. In relation to the British Science week theme of time, the Golden Guernsey nearly became extinct during the Second World War and it has been a priority since then, to help conserve the breed. This shows us a prime example of the lengthy process of conservation, and how important it is to keep putting effort into. Take a look at our Golden Guernsey kids from last year, who have now moved on to other collections, so they can then hopefully breed in the future to continue this conservation process!

Our Ranger Academy’s

The whole reason we began these Ranger Academies, is to inspire the next generation of conservationists, and to keep it going and being passed on in the future.

Our Ranger Academies encourage conservation through practical and theory-based sessions, for example, in our previous summer Ranger Academy, our young-learners conducted some butterfly transects. This helps us to observe the bio-diversity in our local areas. Our staff members who conduct these sessions love to hear about the rangers values with regards to conservation. It inspires not only our staff members, but the other rangers to, meaning that sharing these ideas is a crucial part of the process, as we are all constantly learning things we did not know before.