We have just finished our second lot of shearing. Usually we have one great big day and all 1200 ewes would be strutting up and down showing off to each other, discussing how they hadn't really put too much weight on over the winter, and how so and so looks to have lost a little weight and really Mrs Ba could do with losing a few pounds! Well not today. Today they shivered and shook throwing their eyes up to the heavens asking "why..... Why Now"?
We have had to do it in two lots so far, and still have another lot to go where our sheep are on tack at Llangunllo. Last Monday we shut in 450 ewes and lambs in order to keep them dry ready to shear, and today we did 470 which again had to be shut in from yesterday lunch time in order to ensure them dry ready to shear. As we only have room to shut 470 ewes and their lambs in we had to split them into two batches, so that meant two separate days, we finish off on Wednesday morning when we can say, 'well shearing's finished for another year'
Today must be one of the most awful days we have ever sheared. The wind was driving the rain in through the slats in the sheep shed, and even the shearers, who usually find shearing quite a warm job, were seen to be wearing their woolly hats. I'd cooked a nice Welsh Black Stew for Lunch, not the traditional quiche and salad, and after going back out the men had decided not to turn the ewes out (Oh they do have hearts sometimes!) but to keep them in until the weather improves a little.
We had four men shearing today, then there was Wyn, Len & James moving the ewes in, sorting ewes from lambs and pushing them up into the picking chambers. Philip, Andy, Colin and later Rob (a late arriver) were wrapping fleeces. A total of 11 personnel to do this task. The shearers charge us 65p per fleece sheared and double for tups (male sheep) Wyn and Andy are on the payroll, and believe it or not even the farmers Len, Philip and Colin would like to make some money for their days work. I think the Wool Board are paying 50p per fleece this year so mathematics now
450 ewes @ 65p = £292.50
20 tups @ £1.30 = £30.00
2 x 6 hours wages @ £14 per hour (incl on costs) = £168.00
3 x 6 hours wages .... now what shall we pay the farmers same as the others? yes £14 = £252
Total cost of shearing today = £742.50
(plus I cooked lunch for everybody!!!!!!)
Total income from shearing......
470 fleeces at 50p per fleece £235.00
as you can see shearing has cost us 507.50 today that's from 7am - 1pm, we did the same last Monday, so far shearing has cost us around £1000 ... loss
So when people ask why is lamb so expensive- what can I tell them?
Monday, June 25, 2007
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
'The nation has forgotten why farming matters'
Despite being a country of green rolling fields and fertile farmland, a survey released today by LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming) reveals that British adults have lost touch with farming and its valuable contribution to the food they eat. The survey of over 1,000 GB adults reveals that many don’t know that simple foods such as bacon, porridge, bread and sausages originate from British farms and one in three adults have never visited one.
The findings come ahead of Open Farm Sunday on 10 June, when hundreds of farmers up and down the country will be holding open days to help educate the public about the link between food and farming.
The majority of land in the UK is dominated by farmland, which produces 60 per cent[1] of all the food consumed in this country. Yet the survey shows that 35 per cent did not know that porridge comes from a British farm, 23 per cent of people did not realise that bread originates from a farm and 22 per cent did not believe that sausages and bacon originate there. The knowledge was even lower with younger adults, with 29 per cent of 16-24 year olds failing to recognise that bread originates on a farm, 34 per cent that sausages and bacon come from a farm and a massive 47 per cent did not know farmers are responsible for producing porridge.
The survey also showed a clear divide between rural and urban regions with large cities such as London and Birmingham showing less recognition of the foods produced than the more agricultural South West and East of England.
The findings indicate that the awareness of farming’s contribution to the food cycle is in danger of being forgotten because younger adults and those with children have little idea of what goes on in a modern farm and can’t pass this knowledge on to their children when educating them about food provenance and choice.
There are 195,000 farms in England, 37,000 in Wales and 51,000 in Scotland, yet 29 adults (and 42 per cent adults aged 16-24 years old) have never been on a working farm and for those that have, the experience is a distant memory as 31 per cent haven’t been on one within the last four years.
The trend is apparent with both city dwellers and rural inhabitants. The Scots top the list of those who haven’t visited a working farm, followed by 36 per cent Londoners and 32 per cent Mancunians. People living in the South West and East Anglia are most likely to be familiar with farm activities as 85 per cent and 81 per cent say that they have been on a farm. However, the large agricultural communities of the West Country, Somerset and North Yorkshire appear to have the closest farming connection. Forty-seven per cent South Westerners and 30 per cent of Tyne Tees’ residents say that they have visited a farm within the past year.
Peter Kendall, President of the National Farmers Union (NFU), who will today (Friday 8 June) hold an Open Farm Sunday event at his farm said: “As champions of British farming, the NFU welcomes opportunities to educate the public on why farming matters.
More than half the food consumed in the UK is produced on British farms, yet the public, and especially young people, are unable to make this connection.”
Open Farm Sunday is organised by LEAF, a national charity that helps farmers to care for the environment and the wildlife that it sustains. The campaign aims to educate the public on the work farmers do to care for the land and to encourage us all to appreciate the countryside around us. When asked whether they thought farmers play an important role in helping to protect and preserve the British countryside, 73 per cent of people asked agreed that it was. Amongst 16-24 year olds, this figure was slightly lower but more than six in 10 still agreed. Even though the majority agreed farmers should protect and preserve the countryside there was relatively low awareness of the work farmers actually do.
When asked to name (from a list of options) which activities British farmers are doing to help the environment, 31 per cent did not know. Forty per cent recognised that farmers are reducing the use of non essential chemicals, and that they are encouraging wildlife and replanting hedgerows (both 35 per cent) and are sowing wild flowers (19 per cent). However, they do not associate carbon reduction activities with farming.
Caroline Drummond, Chief Executive of Linking Environment And Farming said: “Open Farm Sunday is a great opportunity for consumers, young and old to visit a local farm and find out why farming matters so much in the 21st Century. Farmers will be on hand to explain to visitors just what they do to protect the land and the wildlife and of course to produce safe, wholesome and affordable food for us all.”
[1] DEFRA 2006
The findings come ahead of Open Farm Sunday on 10 June, when hundreds of farmers up and down the country will be holding open days to help educate the public about the link between food and farming.
The majority of land in the UK is dominated by farmland, which produces 60 per cent[1] of all the food consumed in this country. Yet the survey shows that 35 per cent did not know that porridge comes from a British farm, 23 per cent of people did not realise that bread originates from a farm and 22 per cent did not believe that sausages and bacon originate there. The knowledge was even lower with younger adults, with 29 per cent of 16-24 year olds failing to recognise that bread originates on a farm, 34 per cent that sausages and bacon come from a farm and a massive 47 per cent did not know farmers are responsible for producing porridge.
The survey also showed a clear divide between rural and urban regions with large cities such as London and Birmingham showing less recognition of the foods produced than the more agricultural South West and East of England.
The findings indicate that the awareness of farming’s contribution to the food cycle is in danger of being forgotten because younger adults and those with children have little idea of what goes on in a modern farm and can’t pass this knowledge on to their children when educating them about food provenance and choice.
There are 195,000 farms in England, 37,000 in Wales and 51,000 in Scotland, yet 29 adults (and 42 per cent adults aged 16-24 years old) have never been on a working farm and for those that have, the experience is a distant memory as 31 per cent haven’t been on one within the last four years.
The trend is apparent with both city dwellers and rural inhabitants. The Scots top the list of those who haven’t visited a working farm, followed by 36 per cent Londoners and 32 per cent Mancunians. People living in the South West and East Anglia are most likely to be familiar with farm activities as 85 per cent and 81 per cent say that they have been on a farm. However, the large agricultural communities of the West Country, Somerset and North Yorkshire appear to have the closest farming connection. Forty-seven per cent South Westerners and 30 per cent of Tyne Tees’ residents say that they have visited a farm within the past year.
Peter Kendall, President of the National Farmers Union (NFU), who will today (Friday 8 June) hold an Open Farm Sunday event at his farm said: “As champions of British farming, the NFU welcomes opportunities to educate the public on why farming matters.
More than half the food consumed in the UK is produced on British farms, yet the public, and especially young people, are unable to make this connection.”
Open Farm Sunday is organised by LEAF, a national charity that helps farmers to care for the environment and the wildlife that it sustains. The campaign aims to educate the public on the work farmers do to care for the land and to encourage us all to appreciate the countryside around us. When asked whether they thought farmers play an important role in helping to protect and preserve the British countryside, 73 per cent of people asked agreed that it was. Amongst 16-24 year olds, this figure was slightly lower but more than six in 10 still agreed. Even though the majority agreed farmers should protect and preserve the countryside there was relatively low awareness of the work farmers actually do.
When asked to name (from a list of options) which activities British farmers are doing to help the environment, 31 per cent did not know. Forty per cent recognised that farmers are reducing the use of non essential chemicals, and that they are encouraging wildlife and replanting hedgerows (both 35 per cent) and are sowing wild flowers (19 per cent). However, they do not associate carbon reduction activities with farming.
Caroline Drummond, Chief Executive of Linking Environment And Farming said: “Open Farm Sunday is a great opportunity for consumers, young and old to visit a local farm and find out why farming matters so much in the 21st Century. Farmers will be on hand to explain to visitors just what they do to protect the land and the wildlife and of course to produce safe, wholesome and affordable food for us all.”
[1] DEFRA 2006
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Open farm Sunday - A Huge Sucess.....
After all the efforts of the past few weeks the day arrived. I think we were all fairly pooped before it started, but we were running on adrenalin!
At 11.00am the first began to arrive and they carried on throughout the day, 80 in all ,with varied ages from 3 - 95 and from Stourbridge in the West Midlands, to Leeds, they came from all over.
What I thought was a real shame was that not many locals came. It wasn't for the fact that it hadn't been advertised well enough, oh no!, I'm sure the media in our area were absolutely sick of the sound of my name. It was on Radio Maldwyn, in the County Times on the Powys Intranet, on the school newsletter, the church newsletter, e-mailed to all the local schools, on posters from Aberwystwyth to Stourbridge and from Merthry Tydfil to Wrexham...oh yes people would have certainly known where to find us.
Still a wonderful day out, and that was the consensus of everyone. the tractor and trailer rides were real winners, the second most favourite thing was our Welsh Black Bull.
My daughter Hannah and her friends Sasha and Sarah made £110 for the Brooke Foundations Horses in Need appeal, so our guests could sit under our gazebo in our garden and nibble scones with butter and jam and grab a cup of tea before being spirited away on a tractor with Philip to give them the guided tour.
Well Done and thanks to everyone who helped us organise the event, and thanks to LEAF without whom this national event just wouldn't happen, and it needs to.
Only 7 farms in Wales opened to the public - come on everyone open your eyes we need the general public behind us, we need them to know what we are doing and why we do it, tell them how good we are at our jobs at looking after the country side at, knowing our stock and protecting the environment don't give up fight back, most people will support us, they want to but you have to make contact - give it a go....
PGI Status of Welsh lamb -Good or Bad?
Yet again I hit a bureaucratic brick wall - yes my life is full of them.
For those of you who don't know what PGI is it stands for 'protected geographical indication' and Welsh Lamb has been granted this status after lots of hard work from Hybrid Cig Cymru.
Wonderful, Brilliant, Amazing, Great, yes I thought all these things. Apart from the fact that i was actually born and raised in Staffordshire I am very proud to call myself Welsh, i have a very strong sense of culture and think everything in Wales is fantastic and am happy to be associated with this beautiful country which is steeped in folklore dance and history. I am even more proud of our Welsh Blacks , the traditional breed of Welsh Cattle, and our Welsh Sheep which are born on our Welsh farm and feed on our Welsh Fields, are tended by our Welsh Shepherd, Wyn, who's first language is Welsh, and by Philip, Len & Colin, who are fourth or fifth generation Welsh Citizens. However I am gutted that I have received a letter from trading Standards stating that I am not allowed to sell my produce as 'Welsh lamb' or Welsh Beef'!
The reason why this atrocity has occurred? - I take my stock to Williams of Weobley to Slaughter and they of course are in Herefordshire and not wonderful Wales, therefore my lamb or beef can not be called Welsh!!!!
"Ah Ah" I hear some of you shout "but that abattoir can get PGI status, because the Welsh Assembly allowed for the fact that some Welsh farmers, on the borders (such as you are), would have to use an English Abattoir, especially with the decline of abattoirs in general over the past few years, so you can call your produce Welsh!"
But you forget that the Welsh Assembly funded Hybu Cig Cymru to ensure that Welsh abattoirs conformed with all of the red tape in order to proclaim them fit for PGI Status, this costs between £500 - £600 per abattoir (So I am told by Trading Standards), however the Welsh Assembly will not allow them to sue that funding to pay for the inspections in ENGLISH Abattoirs, only Welsh ones, so although they state that farmers on the borders will not be discriminated against with this ruling they have in fact done just that's Weobley are, understandably, saying, well it won't benefit us to have this inspection, so why should we pay for it?
Yes in fact the only people who would benefit is ourselves and any other Welsh farmer who takes his stock to Weobley. Ever conscious, as are we, of reducing Carbon Foot printing, the necessity for animal welfare the reduction of bottom line costs to support our end of year profits we have chosen Williams of Weobley to ahve the honour of our business . So in truth, to pay for the inspection and the subsequent PGI status that the abaotir owuld be granted, would in fact, only benefit Welsh Farmers, which is exactly what the PGI status was meant to do.
My 9 year old son, James, commented this morning over breakfast, (as you do when you are talking about abattoirs, killing and PGI status at 7.30 am in the morning) "So Mum if you're in the British army and you go over to France and get killed (he's very much into World War Two presently) does that make you French?"
Through the eyes of a child -a future politician perhaps?
I have consequently made my appointment to see our MP Roger Williams in his Llandrindod Wells office on Friday June 29th at 3.30pm will it do any good? - watch this space!
In the mean time I will alter my labels on my 'Welsh Lamb' to read 'Born & Bred in Wales Lamb' ( I have checked with trading Standards), and my Welsh Black Beef? well I'm sorry Hybu Cig Cymru, but it will stay as Welsh Black Beef. That is after all what it is. It;'s Welsh Black and it's Beef the same as if you had Hereford Beef or Aberdeen Angus Beef, I think that's good enough defence for the Welsh Borders......
For those of you who don't know what PGI is it stands for 'protected geographical indication' and Welsh Lamb has been granted this status after lots of hard work from Hybrid Cig Cymru.
Wonderful, Brilliant, Amazing, Great, yes I thought all these things. Apart from the fact that i was actually born and raised in Staffordshire I am very proud to call myself Welsh, i have a very strong sense of culture and think everything in Wales is fantastic and am happy to be associated with this beautiful country which is steeped in folklore dance and history. I am even more proud of our Welsh Blacks , the traditional breed of Welsh Cattle, and our Welsh Sheep which are born on our Welsh farm and feed on our Welsh Fields, are tended by our Welsh Shepherd, Wyn, who's first language is Welsh, and by Philip, Len & Colin, who are fourth or fifth generation Welsh Citizens. However I am gutted that I have received a letter from trading Standards stating that I am not allowed to sell my produce as 'Welsh lamb' or Welsh Beef'!
The reason why this atrocity has occurred? - I take my stock to Williams of Weobley to Slaughter and they of course are in Herefordshire and not wonderful Wales, therefore my lamb or beef can not be called Welsh!!!!
"Ah Ah" I hear some of you shout "but that abattoir can get PGI status, because the Welsh Assembly allowed for the fact that some Welsh farmers, on the borders (such as you are), would have to use an English Abattoir, especially with the decline of abattoirs in general over the past few years, so you can call your produce Welsh!"
But you forget that the Welsh Assembly funded Hybu Cig Cymru to ensure that Welsh abattoirs conformed with all of the red tape in order to proclaim them fit for PGI Status, this costs between £500 - £600 per abattoir (So I am told by Trading Standards), however the Welsh Assembly will not allow them to sue that funding to pay for the inspections in ENGLISH Abattoirs, only Welsh ones, so although they state that farmers on the borders will not be discriminated against with this ruling they have in fact done just that's Weobley are, understandably, saying, well it won't benefit us to have this inspection, so why should we pay for it?
Yes in fact the only people who would benefit is ourselves and any other Welsh farmer who takes his stock to Weobley. Ever conscious, as are we, of reducing Carbon Foot printing, the necessity for animal welfare the reduction of bottom line costs to support our end of year profits we have chosen Williams of Weobley to ahve the honour of our business . So in truth, to pay for the inspection and the subsequent PGI status that the abaotir owuld be granted, would in fact, only benefit Welsh Farmers, which is exactly what the PGI status was meant to do.
My 9 year old son, James, commented this morning over breakfast, (as you do when you are talking about abattoirs, killing and PGI status at 7.30 am in the morning) "So Mum if you're in the British army and you go over to France and get killed (he's very much into World War Two presently) does that make you French?"
Through the eyes of a child -a future politician perhaps?
I have consequently made my appointment to see our MP Roger Williams in his Llandrindod Wells office on Friday June 29th at 3.30pm will it do any good? - watch this space!
In the mean time I will alter my labels on my 'Welsh Lamb' to read 'Born & Bred in Wales Lamb' ( I have checked with trading Standards), and my Welsh Black Beef? well I'm sorry Hybu Cig Cymru, but it will stay as Welsh Black Beef. That is after all what it is. It;'s Welsh Black and it's Beef the same as if you had Hereford Beef or Aberdeen Angus Beef, I think that's good enough defence for the Welsh Borders......
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