RE: SP18 Feb 2020 10:14
I still speak to a few of the LTHers regularly and am still in touch with DW. Really looking forward to spud and the opportunity and reward that it’s going to bring 88E for the future. Apart from being busy on the farm and hating the weather I’ve started writing for a couple of my local papers, trying to paste Agriculture in a new light.......
The Countryside Counts
It was always going to be a wet winter as we have had three very dry years, for the first time in 45 years my three ponds were bone dry. The fields are now so saturated that the gateways are impassable, the fields are so wet that machinery cannot travel on them. Since September 21st 2019 we have had 21" of rain resulting in only 10% of the winter crops being planted across the country, this will lead to a substantial shortage of barley, wheat and straw.
Lambing season is nearly here, the ewes have been scanned and marked for singles, doubles, triplets and separated into corresponding groups. The rams have been taken home to recover and rebuild their condition before mating season starts again. Soon the grass fields will be full of skipping lambs, wonderful noises, a smell of freshness in the air, happiness of a new life and the first signs of spring as flowers and hedges begin to bloom. Last year's crop of lambs have almost all been sold making way for the newborn lambs with a few kept back for private supply to local restaurants. It has been a good year for lamb with prices up £10 per head overall but the £88 per head average is still not a lot of money for the hours and care we have to put in. On the downside, beef prices have been dropping for the last year to the point of being £300 per head down compared to last year. It is always hard to make a decent profit but by being a mixed farmer one loss is normally offset by the other - it's the love and enjoyment that we do it for, it's in our blood and a way of life 24/7.
As an industry in the past farmers have been very quiet and secretive keeping themselves to themselves which has lead to a lot of hate and misunderstanding about agriculture, the countryside, the meat and veg that we supply and put on your tables and our care and love for the animals that we breed and rear. We are the new generation of farmers who are the carers of the countryside that want to explain how things happen and share our experiences, why things happen when they do. This will hopefully go some way towards explaining that we (UK) have the highest standards of animal welfare and food production in the world and heal the rift that has developed between the general public and agriculture.
As always, please enjoy the countryside, the walks, the beautiful views, the smell of clean fresh air and animals also please respect the countryside code of staying on footpaths, keeping all dogs on leads and taking your dog poo home as it is highly poisonous to livestock
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