Grazer of the Week 16th August; Hywel the Hereford

 Herefords-Wyeswood-Common-Gwent-Wildlife-Trust-Pont-CymruPONT Cymru Grazer of the Week Hywel the Hereford steer is part of an ambitious habitat restoration project from Gwent Wildlife Trust.

In 2008, the Trust purchased 42 hectares of dairy pasture next to their flagship Pentwyn Farm Nature Reserve. Wyeswood Common was modern agricultural land and was relatively species poor. This traditional herd of Hereford steers are helping GWT to restore this land to flower-rich hay meadows.

The cattle graze all year round, some pasture grazing and some aftermath grazing after hay cuts. The are helping to graze out dominant species such as dock, creeping thistle and buttercup. This will help to encourage a greater diversity of wildflowers. The photo shows them in a favourite resting spot!

GWT expects this project to take a couple of hundred years to fully develop! We look forward to seeing their progress.

Would you like to show off your grazing animals? You can enter your animals for the chance to feature as ‘Grazer of the Week’ by using #grazeroftheweek and tagging @pontcymru on Instagram and Facebook. Tell us a bit about you and your animals, we love to hear your stories.

By tagging PONT Cymru in your photos you agree that they can be used on our website and shared on social media at a later date with a credit.

Contact us if you have a site that needs conservation grazing.

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